The gallery is open!

After nearly nine months of renovation and reinstallation, the gallery is now once again open to the public! (And I know our nearly 1600 visitors a day appreciate that!)

Opening reception in Whitney

Throngs of people enjoyed the new installation during our opening events. The family of Alexander Phimister Proctor had a special open house and dinner in Proctor’s honor. It was a thrill to share the new studio with them. Friends of the Whitney Gallery came from across the country to see the new installation, and everyone seemed to like it!

Opening reception - admiring Moran

 It was wonderful to see people in the gallery! I think I had a smile for the entire weekend! We also impressed the Press – Cody Enterprise (6/18 and 6/22); Billings Gazette (6/17) and Casper Star Tribune. We believe there might be more to come on that front as well.

Mindy at the opening

This entry marks the last post on the Whitney Gallery reinstallation Blog. From Cody to the world, I am signing out! Have a great summer.

–Mindy

Lighting and other details

Whitney installation

We are truly in the home-stretch now! One week until the opening — public opening on June 21st with activities all day long. On that note, we are still working hard to complete all the tiny details that still remain on the “to do” list — adjust lighting, one or two missing object labels, gallery guide at the printer, install the donor recognition board. Why does it seem that the little things sometimes feel so big?

Whitney installation -- broncos

Overall, I am very pleased about how the gallery looks and feels — it is comfortable, quiet, and most of all — beautiful! I could not have done this without a wonderful and hard-working team!

Whitney installation

The images are a preview of the gallery — just amateur photographs by me. Please come see the gallery for yourself! Once you have, send me an e-mail: mindyb@bbhc.org — I’d love to hear your feedback!

In the flurry of activities this coming week, I will take a week off from the blog. But, I will write again following the opening to let you know how it went. HAPPY 50th WHITNEY GALLERY OF WESTERN ART!

Thomas Moran has arrived in Cody!

Just today, we installed Thomas Moran’s The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. And it looks FANTASTIC! The painting was shipped to Cody from Washington D.C. where it was recently removed from the Grand Salon of the Renwick Gallery. After opening the crate, we needed to move the painting from the dock to the Whitney Gallery. To safely transport the painting through the museum, our team started at 6:30 am to complete the task before onlookers arrived (we open to the public at 8:00 am).

Moving the Moran

We took lots of advice from the Smithsonian American Art Museum crew – from how to move and lift the painting (it weighs approximately 300 pounds), to how to hang the painting (the weight of the painting is supported on a metal bar – like a ledge).  While the Smithsonian will miss seeing the painting in Washington D.C. for these next months, we certainly will enjoy our time with it!

Installation of Moran painting

Without too much trouble, the painting was carefully installed. I, for one, breathed a sigh of relief when it was all said and done. The painting adds one more draw into the Whitney Gallery…and I know our visitors are going to be as moved by the painting as I am. We are very lucky to showcase this painting for almost 6 months — and only an hour and a half away from the actual Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone! (Covered in the Cody Enterprise on Monday, June 8th.)

And don’t forget — our special exhibitions open tomorrow! To the Western Ocean and An Artist with the Corps of Discovery.

Special exhibitions and labels

We continue our flurry of activity this week. On Tuesday, the crew moved out of the Whitney and into our special exhibitions area to start installing “An Artist with the Corps of Discovery,” paintings by Charles Fritz. By Friday, all 100 paintings were installed and we will begin labels on Monday (as well as the other part of our summer special exhibitions, “To the Western Ocean,” with paintings by Michael Haynes).

Installation of Fritz artwork

In the Whitney Gallery, the artwork is almost 100% on the wall. Text panels and labels are installed almost daily! Each thematic section has a text panel with an introduction/overview– a total of 10 in the main gallery.

Text panel in WG

We’re trying something new with the panels –artwork is an important part of the design. In the large spaces of the gallery, smaller artwork gets overlooked. So, much of the smaller work is installed on the text panel to give it more of a presence. For example, the text panel for the “Western Experience” section has a small sketch of Yellowstone Falls by artist Kathy Wipfler. The panel is right next to Wipfler’s final painting of Yellowstone Falls.

Label for Leigh painting

Object labels in the gallery match the wall color. Red labels with reverse white text, tan labels with black text, etc. Visually, it helps the labels blend better with the wall and the paintings remain the focus. Aesthetically, the labels are pleasing — but also functional, providing information for our visitors. About half of the total object labels have additional text (about 50 words) about the painting or sculpture.

Pedestal label

Labels may seem like a tiny detail in the overall scheme of the installation, but they are very important. We have spent many hundreds of hours thinking about labels, writing text, verifying information, designing labels, and mounting labels. It’s one of the small details that perhaps we take for granted in museum installations. The information is there if you need it, but should not, in my opinion, interfere with the overall beauty of the gallery.

A wolf! – our newest outdoor sculpture

Michael coleman sculpture

Happy Spring — less than one month to go until our grand re-opening celebration (on June 21, 2009). The installation inside is going very well — we continue to add objects, labels, text panels, and refine other elements daily (there’s still much to do!). But, this week, we also finalized the installation of our newest outdoor sculpture by Michael Coleman, called “Last of the Buffalo.” The sculpture was a recent gift by Naoma Tate — delivered to us my Michael’s family last week. It is placed near the entry to the Center — sitting proudly on top of a group of rocks. The beautiful silhouette against Wyoming’s bright blue sky is striking. This sculpture will be featured as one of 23 outdoor sculptures in our new outdoor sculpture guide–coming soon!

Moving the Coleman bronze

The sculpture itself weighs about 750 pounds. We used a forklift to move it into place. After it was initially placed in location, a mason came to help us level and secure the sculpture.

grout detail - Coleman sculpture

First, rocks were placed on one side of the sculpture to insure that the sculpture was level. Grout was added around the base of the sculpture. The grout does not only secure the sculpture in place, but also prevents water from leaking in between the sculpture and the rock, which is an important step in preventing corrosion under the base. This sculpture, like all of our outdoor sculptures, will be cleaned and waxed on an annual basis to preserve the surface of the sculpture. After all, the Wyoming weather can be a little harsh on sculpture outdoors. Outdoor sculpture maintenance and conservation is a part of our responsibility to the work in the collection.

Next week — the installation of our special exhibitions: artwork by Charles Fritz and artwork by Michael Haynes.

Proctor studio installation

grandson and great-granddaughter admire Proctor

This week, we continued to work on the A. Phimister Proctor studio collection installation. We also had some fantastic input and an enthusiastic approval for the beginnings of the installation–Sandy Church, Proctor’s grandson; and Laura Ames, Proctor’s great-granddaughter were in town to see the progress. It was a rewarding experience to see their expression and reaction to the installation — I think they liked it! The BBHC has Sandy and his wife Sally, and the  A. Phimister Proctor Museum to thank for the gift of the Proctor collection to the BBHC, and I’m thrilled they enjoyed the installation.

Proctor sculpture installation

 In addition to the large plaster sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider (one of the cast monuments is in Portland, Oregon), there are many other things to see.  Opposite the Rough Rider is a display of many of Proctor’s medium to large sculptures. Subjects range from wildlife, to western heroes; and the media ranges from clay to bronze.  The concentration of artwork by one artist offers a great chance to immerse yourself in the work of A. Phimister Proctor, one of the most notable sculptors of the early 20th century!

From time to time, I’d like to also take the opportunity to remind everyone that the Whitney re-installation is not the only thing we are doing this summer to mark the 50th Anniversary. For the summer-long season, there are many programs that will also highlight ART! Larom Summer Institute will be an engaging and interesting session this year — presenting multiple perspectives on western American art from several well-recognized scholars. Check out the link to learn more!

Sculpture case and railings

small sculpture case

The new installation in the Whitney Gallery will have several opportunities for discovery. Around a large wall, a visitor might happily discover this sculpture case with 13 small sculptures by several different artists. As with other areas in the gallery, contemporary artists are mixed with historic artists. Charles Russell’s wax sculptures placed right next to T.D. Kelsey’s small bronze animals. I hope juxtapositions like this will prompt new ideas and conversations about the artwork and artists.

In construction news…

railings in the Remington studio

Just yesterday, the railings in the Remington studio and the Proctor studio were  installed. While the construction of the railings was completed many weeks ago, the installation of the artwork needed to be complete before the reailings were installed in the Whitney.  And all the parts were in place this week. The railings look wonderful — they fit perfectly in place and are very classy.

Next week, more information about the Proctor Studio — stay tuned!

Studio installation

Remington studio installation

Last week, the crew started installation of the Frederic Remington studio. As you’ll remember, the studio re-creation will look much like it did in October before the de-installation of the gallery with one major exception — now visitors can walk INTO the studio (on a path that cuts diagonal – allowing you to better see the objects and experience the studio). All new mounts were created- so we were ready to install the nearly 200 studio objects back in place.

Remington studio installation

From the tallest corners near the sky light, to the furniture placed on the floor, the studio was reinstalled in about a week and a half. Photography was completed this week. Next week — railings and labels. 

In other exciting news, the BBHC hosted an event in Washington D.C. at the Renwick Gallery last week to honor a very special loan to Cody this summer. The Historical Center is honored to borrow the Smithsonian’s great painting by Thomas Moran: “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.” The painting is nearly 9 x 14 feet and was considered by Moran to be one of his highest achievements. For 6 months, the painting will hang in the Whitney Gallery to help us celebrate our 50th Anniversary.Visitors to the Whitney Gallery and to Yellowstone National Park are bound to be impressed!

More on the studio installations next week (and more about the Thomas Moran painting also coming soon!).

Installation of over-sized objects

Hanging the large Paxson painting

This week, installation continued to go well. For a day and a half, the entire maintenance crew assisted in moving and installing the oversize objects. This was particularly exciting and rewarding. Paintings and sculpture filled large blank spots on the wall and got us even closer to our April goal of being 100% installed in the main part of the Whitney Gallery.

As I mentioned once before, the gallery design provides a nice combination of wide open spaces – suitable for large artwork; and small intimate spaces – good for small works of art. Our two large paintings depicting the Battle of the Little Big Horn will each hang on their own wall – caddy-corner to one another.

Hanging the Allan Mardon painting

Visitors will be able to compare the two versions: “Custer’s Last Stand” by Edgar Paxson, painted in 1899 and Allan Mardon’s “The Battle of Greasy Grass,” painted in 1996. From past experience, we know that these paintings captivate viewers. So, for additional details about specific people and actions, interactive kiosks for each painting will provide further information.

moving Rumsey's "Buffalo Hunt"

We moved not only large paintings, but heavy sculpture as well. The largest sculpture move this week was Charles Cary Rumsey’s “Buffalo Hunt.” The large bronze relief was moved out of the Whitney Gallery in October and placed in a temporary location down one floor. This week, it was moved back upstairs, and onto a new pedestal for display in the Whitney Gallery.

For this week — I can only again thank other staff and departments in the BBHC for all their help and support. This is a major effort, and we can’t do it without you.

Installation begins!

Staging artwork in the "red" gallery

The moment we’ve been anxiously awaiting finally arrived — we started installation of artwork in the newly completed Whitney Gallery on Monday morning! By dividing into teams, artwork was retrieved from all over the historical center — special exhibitions, staff offices, the Kriendler gallery, and the conservation/preparation area. Good planning enabled us to place artwork fairly quickly. Once it staged on the floor in the gallery, we fine-tuned the spacing of art and examined the “look” of the gallery once more before actual installation.

Installation in "creative process" section

In some cases, adjustments and changes were made.  Once IN the gallery, things feel a little different and look a little different, so we changed the placement of objects accordingly.  You can plan and plan, but once you’re in the actual space, things may change. It’s like moving into a new house — it’s always a little different once you’re really inside versus knowing the floorplan by heart.

Installation of Bama work

In a span of four days, we made great progress on the installation. Many spaces are fully installed, others are on hold until the over-sized paintings and sculpture arrive next week, and still more spaces are still empty.  But, we are all pleased with the installation so far! Again, teamwork and planning seem to be key to our success!

I don’t know about everyone else, but it has lifted my spirits to see the artwork installed in the gallery. We have one of the best collections of western American art in the country, and it deserves to be displayed in a beautiful space. I think we will succeed!

More about installation next week…