Construction zone
AS THE BRUCE MUSEUM CONTINUES TO GET OVERHAULED, EXHIBITS — AND LIFE — GO ON
The world is changing, and yet, life goes on. It’s a reality we all live with. Epidemics break out. Politicians fights. Natural disasters rage. And yet, every day, people have to wake up, brush their teeth, get dressed and go about their lives. On a much smaller scale, something like this is happening at the Bruce Museum. The art museum, which has been a local institution for more than 100 years, is in the midst of a major renovation.
It’s already finished two phases of that project with the completion of a new parking lot and the addition of two new galleries. The largest phase of the renovation, the $45 million construction of a new art wing, lobby, lecture area and cafe, is slated to start in the summer.
But, in the meantime, life at the museum goes on. On a recent weekday morning, there was a school group visiting the museum. Art lovers were drifting in and out of two recently-opened exhibits, asking questions of staff and generally doing what people do at an art museum.
So how do you run a museum as the ground is shifting underneath you (somewhat literally)? It is a challenge, says museum executive director Robert Wolterstorff. He recalls one recent incident in which he realized that the ongoing construction project meant that the Bruce’s lecture gallery would be closed to the public as of June.
“It was like ‘Oh my God! What are we going to do about that?’ ” Wolterstorff says.
The timing is somewhat unfortunate, he adds, as it comes less than a year after the museum launched The Bruce Presents, a monthly series of special events featuring thought leaders in the fields of art and science. Wolterstorff says there is concern about what would happen to that series once the lecture gallery closes.
In fact, in anticipation of the gallery closing, museum spokesman Scott Smith says the Bruce’s “programming staff is actively exploring off-site venues in the area” that will allow the lectures and other such programs to continue throughout the construction project.
Wolterstorff predicts that complications like this will continue to happen until the construction of the New Bruce is complete — which will likely be in 2022.
Yet, despite the occasional challenge, Wolterstorff is optimistic about the both the Bruce’s future and its present. In the present, he is proud of the museum’s two current exhibits, both of which opened in February. Wolterstorff is particularly excited to have “On the Edge of the World: Masterworks by Laurits Andersen Ring,” which is on loan from the National Gallery of Denmark, and on exhibit at the Bruce through May 24.
Ring, who lived from 1854 to 1933, was one of the most significant figures in Danish art, and his work largely depicts the upheaval of the turn of the 20th century.
The exhibition is traveling to only two sites in the United States, and the Bruce is the only one on the East Coast. “We’re very honored to be trusted with this exhibition,” Wolterstorff says.
The other exhibit is the science-focused “Under the Skin,” which literally looks inside various creatures, including snakes, fishand flying squirrels, using a variety of technologies, including infrared cameras and CT scans.
The museum also has new exhibits slated to open in the coming months, including “House on the Hill: The Changing Face of the Bruce Museum,” which will open April and explore how the Bruce has changed over the past century and a half.
As for the future, Wolterstorff says all the inconveniences of the present will pay off in the long run, when the New Bruce opens. He says the refurbished museum will not only provide more space, but also allow the museum to become more of a community gathering place by offering, among other additions, a restaurant where people can enjoy a meal before or after taking in the exhibits.
“A museum is a social place, where you should be able to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with friends,” Wolterstorff says.
For more information on The Bruce and the ongoing construction project, visit newbruce.org.
‘A MUSEUM IS A SOCIAL PLACE, WHERE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE OR A GLASS OF WINE WITH FRIENDS.’