Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Bloch Galleries

A transformational gallery houses 29 masterpieces and enhances visitors' connection to art

Information

Location Kansas City, Missouri
Completion 2017
Services Arts and Culture
Project Type Museums

The renovation of the Bloch Impressionist Galleries transforms 9,000 square feet of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins building. The expanded galleries add more than 220 linear feet of wall space and create an open viewing experience with sightlines encouraging viewers to make connections among works. The installation presents themes within the general chronology, presenting a fuller story of Western art. The galleries feature state-of-the-art technology, including tunable dynamic white lighting that can simulate the environments for which the works were originally created. The colors and materials chosen in each period room perfectly enhance the colors and mood conveyed by the art. The tunable lighting is controlled by occupancy sensors and adjusted to protect the artwork, particularly in the Pastel Cabinet Gallery, which features some of the most delicate pieces in the collection and is dimly lit to preserve the sensitive artwork.

Impact + Innovation

The Bloch Impressionist Galleries feature the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Comprised of 29 masterpieces acquired by the Bloch family and gifted to the museum in 2010, the Bloch Collection nearly doubles the museum’s current holdings of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. In 2015, the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation provided an $11.7-million gift to support renovation of the museum’s European art galleries to integrate the Bloch Collection into its existing collections and keep the work on permanent view. The design was developed in the context of strategies for strengthening the audience experience of the 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building. The Bloch Impressionist Galleries had 3,400 visitors who attended the opening weekend.

Process

BNIM’s collaborative relationship with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art led to a highly cohesive project process that leveraged the similarities in approach between art and architecture. BNIM’s design team worked largely with curatorial and exhibit design staff members of the Museum to envision and inform the design of The Bloch Galleries through a collaborative and holistic approach, carefully considering each detail of the design from partition placement to color and texture of wall finishes to artwork platforms. To help visualize the Bloch Galleries, the design team created a large physical model for the project at a scale of approximately four times that of a typical architectural model. The team was able to create miniature print outs of works of art placed throughout the model, which was beneficial not only for architectural studies but for also establishing sightlines to works and exhibition layouts. The team studied everything from special volumes to wall configuration and location to ceiling design. This attention to detail and ongoing collaborative design dialogue was key to the success of the state-of-the-art renovation which integrated contemporary construction methods and cutting-edge technology to feel at peace within an existing portion of this historic Beaux-Arts style museum.