 West facade as viewed from theWashington Avenue Bridge | |
 | |
| Established | 1934 (1934) |
|---|---|
| Location | 333 East River Road Minneapolis,MN 55455 |
| Coordinates | 44°58′22″N93°14′17″W / 44.97278°N 93.23806°W /44.97278; -93.23806 |
| Type | Art museum |
| Collection size | 20,000+ |
| Director | Alejandra Peña-Gutiérrez |
| Architect | Frank Gehry / MSR Design, Minneapolis / Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Minneapolis |
| Website | wam.umn.edu |
Weisman Art Museum is anart museum at theUniversity of Minnesota inMinneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university'sNorthrop Auditorium. In 1993, the museum moved to its current building, designed by the Canadian-born American architectFrank Gehry, and renamed in honor of art collector and philanthropist Frederick R. Weisman. Widely known as a "modern art museum," its 20,000+ acquisitions include large collections of traditional Korean furniture and modern American art, including collections of work byMarsden Hartley,Alfred Maurer,Charles Biederman.
Frederick Rand Weisman (April 27, 1912 – September 11, 1994) was a Minneapolis native who became well known as an art collector inLos Angeles. In 1982 Weisman purchased an estate in theHolmby Hills area of Los Angeles that would serve as a showcase for his personal collection of 20th-century art. When he opened the art collection to the public, he wanted to share the experience ofliving with art, rather than the usual, more formal protocol of seeing art in a gallery or museum. The estate remains the home of theFrederick R. Weisman Art Foundation to this day.
The Weisman Foundation estate is a two-storyMediterranean Revival house designed in the late 1920s by Los Angeles architectGordon B. Kaufmann. The Weisman home exhibits the fine craftsmanship characteristic of the period, including custom decorative treatments on the walls and ceilings. Today the foundation estate, annex, and surrounding gardens are made accessible to the public by appointment only.[1]
Another museum bearing Weisman's name, theFrederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, is located on the campus ofPepperdine University inMalibu, California.
The current museum building was designed by architectFrank Gehry with MSR Design as architect of record and completed in November 1993.[2] It is one of the major landmarks on theUniversity of Minnesota campus, situated on a bluff overlooking theMississippi River at the east end of theWashington Avenue Bridge. The abstract structure is considered highly significant because it was built prior to the widespread use ofcomputer aided design in architecture.
The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. To the south and east, it presents a brick facade that blends with the historic buildings alongNorthrop Mall. To the north and west, it is an abstraction of a fish and waterfall in curving and angular brushed steel sheets.[2] The stainless steel skin was fabricated and installed by theA. Zahner Company, a frequent collaborator with Gehry's office.[3]
The museum received a major addition, also designed by Frank Gehry, in 2011.HGA Architects and Engineers served as local consultants for the project.
.jpg)
| Completed works |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Under construction or proposed |
| |
| Furniture design |
| |
| Concepts | ||
| Pop culture | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
