The Joslyn Art Museum, located in Omaha (Nebraska), is getting a makeover after two years of work and a 40% expansion plan, worth $100 million. The new permanent exhibition galleries house recent acquisitions and integrate Native American art with collections of 19th and 20th century American art.
The impressive architecture, designed by Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, is inspired by the warm colors and dunes of Nebraska, as well as the “Prairie” style (early 20th century), marked by accentuated horizontal lines. The new 3,900 m² gallery fits harmoniously into the historic 1931 Art Deco building, in pink marble, and into the Scott Pavilion, an extension completed in 2004 by architect Norman Foster. The new building, made up of two levels lit by natural light via skylights, meets the challenge of inserting itself between these two pre-existing architectures.
The new extension offers additional space for the collections, which have been enriched with new acquisitions. The gallery is exhibiting 100 new pieces, as well as works long kept in storage. It is about “the first real reinstallation of the museum since its opening in 1931”explains Taylor Acosta, chief curator of the museum. The first floor was designed to accommodate the recent donation from the Phillip G. Schrager collection, comprising 55 works (paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings). Among recent acquisitions, we find Indian Congress (2021) by Wendy Red Star, a work on the history of Native Americans which joined the collections after being exhibited in 2021.
The permanent exhibition of American art from the 19th and 20th centuries has been completely redesigned, with the integration of the collections of Native American art, which were previously exhibited separately. “Integrating Native and non-Native American collections into a single American collection was at the heart of this installation”Taylor Acosta told Forbes.com. Now, Native American art objects, such as beads, clothing and ornaments, sit alongside paintings by American painters like Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase. A new section, dedicated to the influence of migration and travel, has also been added to the permanent galleries.
The museum, founded in 1931 by philanthropist Sarah H. Joslyn, who donated $3 million to create an art center in Omaha, houses a rich and diverse holdings. Its collections span 5,000 years of history, with more than 12,000 works of ancient European, American and Native American art, as well as works from the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum also has a collection of photographs, Asian art and decorative arts.
