Weisman Museum of Art to get Gehry-designed addition

The Weisman Art Museum (WAM) at the University of Minnesota was and still is the only Gehry-designed art museum in the United States. That museum is about to be expanded. On 13 March the Museum unveiled a bold design for an 11,000 square foot expansion created by Frank O. Gehry. Gehry’s design features three new wings; The Target Studio for Creative Collaboration, a temporary exhibition space devoted to visionary collaborations; A Collection Wing with three new galleries, and a Third Wing perched high above the Mississippi River that houses a café and riverside balcony. Of the commission, Gehry says “ The Weisman is special because it was the beginning of a new design direction for me. But at the time we always felt that the architecture was incomplete with the animation facing the river. In terms of design, the expansion means we can bring the architecture around the museum to the pedestrian bridge and Coffman Plaza, something I felt was lacking from the beginning.” WAM expects to start construction by the end of 2007 and open in 2009.