University officials announced today that the Harvard Art Museums will open their new 204,000-square-foot Renzo Piano-designed facility (as seen in this preview of the new building) to the public on November 16, 2014. The $350 million renovation and expansion will bring together the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum under one roof for the first time at 32 Quincy Street, allowing students, faculty, scholars, and the public access to the museum’s acclaimed collections. The space, officials said, is designed specifically to create places for close engagement with individual works of art for both the Harvard community and the general public. A café and a museum shop will flank the courtyard on the first floor, and the public will be able to visit both without an admission fee.
“We knew that we had an opportunity to redefine the Harvard Art Museums as an accessible and connected 21st-century facility for teaching and learning, so we engaged Renzo Piano to design a building to implement that vision,” said Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums Thomas W. Lentz. “We also wanted to strengthen the museums’ role as an integral part of Cambridge and Boston’s cultural ecosystem.”
The opening will include a series of events, beginning with a celebration for Harvard students. Special events—unspecified at this time—for faculty, donors, museum supporters, alumni, and others will follow, culminating in a preview for Cambridge residents ahead of the public opening on November 16.
Read the art museums' announcement here.
