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Restoring The Gleam To The IUAM's 'Shining Space'

On Monday, May 9, 2011, the IU Art Museum closes its doors for the summer for long-anticipated renovations to the Bloomington campus landmark.

"We're looking at an aging building that needs to be refurbished," explains IU Art Museum Director Heidi Gealt, "and the highest priority is the leaky atrium, because that's our most shining space."

A Showcase Of Light And Shadow



The 110-foot high triangular, sky-lit atrium is the signature of the I.M. Pei structure, completed in 1982. The Bloomington museum is contemporaneous with the pyramids at the Louvre and the East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington-other Pei projects showcasing glass construction.

Adding to the dramatic impact of the IU Art Museum's glass ceiling is the dynamic shadow pattern the ceiling's support grid casts across the atrium's angular interior over the course of the day.

But the ceiling has had maintenance issues for years. Rain has leaked onto a wall adjacent to the Fine Arts Library so frequently over the years that that the color is leaching out of the wall. Additionally, it has been difficult to find an accurate match for the glass of the ceiling where it has been damaged. "The repairs have been less and less sightly," Gealt admits.

Locally-Sourced Restoration



With funding for the atrium renovation approved by the university's office of the Vice President for Capital Projects and Facilities, the contract was awarded to Linel Signature, a Mooresville, Indiana firm with a successful record of museum renovations around the country, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Corcoran Gallery.

Additionally, Gealt boasts, "The glass is coming from Minnesota and the gaskets are being manufactured near Louisville, so it's an all-American project."

Museum staff will take advantage of the summer closing to perform an IT upgrade, make improvements to its dust collection system and paint spray booth, and to begin renovations of each of its galleries. Support for gallery restorations is being supplied by private donors.

Additionally, the Light Totem, originally a temporary fixture at the museum's main entrance, is being re-certified for permanent installation by Risk Management and having its lamps replaced.

The museum is set to reopen August 25, 2011, marking 70 years since the institution's founding on the Bloomington campus by Henry Radford Hope, namesake of IU's Hope School of Fine Arts.

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