Editorial: Cleveland Plain Dealer
In the spirit of innovation, the Cleveland Museum of Art is going west. It's creating an extension on Cleveland's West Side, called the Transformer Station, which will include contemporary art owned by generous Akron collectors Fred and Laura Bidwell.
The move is one of many ways that new museum Director David Franklin -- who marked his one-year anniversary last week -- is trying to beef up the museum's relevance and role in contemporary culture.
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Interview: WCPN
Video: Cool Cleveland Interview
Video: News Conference
The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation announced on September 16, 2011 a collaboration that will bring additional exposure for contemporary art to Northeast Ohio and for the first time in its history expand aspects of the museum's programming and exhibitions to dedicated space outside of its University Circle campus. Titled the Transformer Station, this new arts venue takes root in a former transformer station built in 1924 at 1460 West 29th Street in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.
This video highlights speakers from the announcement event including Director David Franklin, Fred and Laura Bidwell, Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald, Councilman Joe Cimperman and more. Curator of Photography Barbara Tannenbaum and Curator of Contemporary Art Paola Morsiani and Christoper Lynn of Spaces Gallery offer additional commentary on the potential of the new space. Produced by Kesha Williams. Read More...
Article: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Fred and Laura Bidwell of Akron, shown inside their Transformer Station building, are changing the terms of cultural philanthropy in Cleveland through an innovative gallery project in the building in partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Art. Photo: Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the first time in its 95-year history, the Cleveland Museum of Art is creating a permanent artistic presence on the city’s West Side.
In collaboration with the nationally recognized Akron art collectors Fred and Laura Bidwell, the museum will announce today at a news conference that it plans to open a 3,500-square-foot gallery in the former Cleveland Railway Co. transformer station at 1460 West 29th St. in Ohio City, a block south of Detroit Avenue.
In a deal valued by the museum at $5.5 million to $7.5 million, the Bidwells will renovate the building at their expense and pay for operations and maintenance while jointly programming it with the museum for 15 years. At the end of the period, they’ll donate the structure to the museum outright. As part of the arrangement, the Bidwells have also pledged $1 million to the museum’s ongoing $350 million expansion and renovation plus $2 million to create an endowed curatorial chair in contemporary art. Read More...
Press Release: Cleveland Museum of Art
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Alison Bibb-Carson, 216-707-6898, abibbcarson@clevelandart.org
Caroline Guscott, 216-707-2261,cguscott@clevelandart.org
Cleveland Museum of Art Collaborates with Regional Foundation
to Expand Reach into Cleveland’s West Side
The Transformer Station will provide additional venue for contemporary art in Northeast Ohio
CLEVELAND (September 16, 2011) — The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation today announced a collaboration that will bring additional exposure for contemporary art to Northeast Ohio and for the first time in its history expand aspects of the museum’s programming and exhibitions to dedicated space outside of its University Circle campus. Titled the Transformer Station, this new arts venue takes root in a former transformer station built in 1924 at 1460 West 29th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Construction will begin immediately to restore the original building and build an expansion, designed by Process Creative Studios in Ohio City, with a total footprint of nearly 8,000 square feet when completed. The facility may open to the public as early as fourth quarter 2012 with its first programs and exhibitions.
Press Release: Bidwell Foundation
Cleveland, OH - The Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation announced plans today for The Transformer Station, a new museum and gallery space developed by the foundation in Cleveland’s West Side Ohio City neighborhood to store and exhibit the Bidwell collection and serve as offices for the Foundation. Read More...