Today marks the reopening of the permanent collection galleries in UT Austin’s Blanton Museum of Art. Closed for the past year, museum workers have been busily cleaning and restoring the galleries, rebuilding walls, and reconstructing the institution’s layout in an attempt to give visitors a new perspective on the permanent collection.
via Instagram
A shot from the Blanton’s Instagram shows that one of the museum’s main vaulted corridors has gained new temporary walls that allow more works to be displayed, and the space has been painted a uniform bright white. In another move, the museum’s European paintings are no longer hung chronologically, but have been grouped thematically. This includes a vougeish salon-style hang that nearly covers a whole wall in one of the galleries.
The Blanton’s director, Simone Wicha, spoke on the reopening of the museum:
We have a new museum in Austin. I wanted the Blanton’s experience to represent the personality we embody at the museum — energetic, smart, fun, friendly, curious, sophisticated and collaborative. My challenge to the team was for us to reconsider the museum in a way that was more visually arresting, more thought-provoking and nationally innovative.
The Blanton will open today, February 12, from 1PM to 5PM. To learn more, please go here.
You’re definitely not going to miss the new signage.
