Bloch Building Opening Events—Opening Weekend

The Architecture of Museums
Friday, June 8
6–8p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
FREE; reservations required

On the eve of the Bloch Building opening, join us for an enlightened panel discussion about the role of architecture in museum expansions.

Moderator
Marc F. Wilson, Menefee D. & Mary Louise Blackwell Director/CEO,
Nelson-Atkins

Panelists
Steven Holl, Architect

Jeffrey Kipnis, Curator of Architecture, Ohio University,
Wexner Center for the Art

Timothy Rub, Cleveland Museum of Art Director

Rebecca Young, Manager of Exhibition Design, Nelson-Atkins

Lebbeus Woods, Architect and Artist

Space is limited, please reserve your place early. Doors will open 5:30p.m., please enter through the north doors of the Museum.

Panelist Biographies

Marc F. Wilson has served as director of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art since 1982, where previously he served as curator of Chinese art. He has overseen current campus transformation of the Museum, which began in 1993. Previously he worked at the National Palace Museum in Taipei as a Ford Foundation scholar.

Steven Holl’s body of work includes The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Bloch Building, The School of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. He has received the AIA Institute of Honor Award and the Alvar Aalto Medal. He is an architecture professor at Columbia University and Pratt Institute.

Jeffrey Kipnis previously served as the founder and director of the Graduate Design Program of the Architectural Association of London. His publications include In the Manor of Nietzsche; Philip Johnson’s Glass House and ChoralWorks: The Eisenman/Derrida Collaboration and Stone & Feather, Steven Holl:Nelson-Atkins Museum Expansion.

Timothy Rub has been the director of the Cleveland Museum of Art since April 2006. He was previously the director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Rub is a specialist in architectural history and modern and contemporary art.

Rebecca Young has served as the manager of exhibition design at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art since 2001. Previous work experience includes furniture construction and design, architecture and sculpture.
She oversaw the exhibition design for the Bloch Building, specializing primarily in exhibition casework located in the African and contemporary ceramics galleries.

Lebbeus Woods is an architect and artist. He initially practiced with Eero Saarinen before 1976 when he began focusing on experimental environments. He co-founded the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture in 1988 a non-profit institution devoted to advancing experimentation and research in the field of architecture, in response to changing political, economic, technological and cultural conditions in the contemporary world, He is an architecture professor at Cooper Union and the author of several books including Radical Reconstruction, War and Architecture, Lebbeus Woods: Experimental Architecture and Anarchitecture: Architecture is a Political Act.

Bloch Building Opening
Saturday, June 9 and Sunday, June 10
10 a.m.—9 p.m.

Everyone is invited! A brief building dedication at 10a.m. on Saturday will kick off two full days of activities to celebrate the official public opening of the Bloch Building. Admission to the Museum’s collection is always free.

Admission to featured exhibitions and parking in the Museum's garage will be FREE on June 9 and 10.

Featured Exhibition tickets for visits beginning June 12 are available for purchase online and by calling 816.751.1ART (option 2).

Saturday, June 9

Shuttle Service
8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Free parking shuttles will run every 15 minutes and drop off at three Museum campus locations. Pick up will be at the following locations:

UMKC, 51st and Oak streets,
Midwest Research Institute, 425 Volker Boulevard
Kauffman Legacy Park, 4801 Rockhill Road.

Jazz Performances
Local jazz performers will entertain visitors at several Bloch Building entrances. Special thanks to the American Jazz Museum for its assistance in organizing and providing the local jazz entertainment. Performers will include:

10:30 – 12:30 p.m.

Scamps on the J.C. Nichols Plaza (north side)
Kerry Strayers Dixieland Band on the Noguchi Court Terrace (south side)

5 – 8:30 p.m.

Jazz Disciples and Friends on the J.C. Nichols Plaza
Rob Whitsitt Quartet on the Noguchi Court Terrace

Dedication Ceremony
10 a.m.
A brief dedication ceremony will kick off the weekend’s activities. After the ceremony, the Bloch Building and the Nelson-Atkins Building will open for the public. Free timed tickets for the featured exhibitions are available to reserve online or you may pick them up on the shuttles or at the Visitor Services Desk.

Family-Friendly and Public Activities
10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
There will fun for everyone including art activities and demonstrations in the Ford Learning Center, outdoor chalk drawing, a “block” construction zone on the South Lawn, strolling entertainers, docent stations, a live local radio broadcast and refreshments for purchase from vendors as well as in the new Café and Rozzelle Court Restaurant.

Free audio-guided tours will be available in the Bloch Building and on the South Lawn. Museum membership will have an information booth open both Saturday and Sunday. The Reading Room in the Spencer Art Reference Library will be open both days as well.

Bloch Building Architect Lecture
2 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
Repeated at 6 p.m.
Chris McVoy will provide insights into the architecture and construction of the Bloch Building. As the partner in charge for Steven Holl Architects, McVoy was responsible for the day-to-day progress and is intimately familiar with all the fascinating details of the project from start to finish.

Lyric Opera Performance
4 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City will present Great American Voices, selections from opera and musical theater, including Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, South Pacific and Les Misérables.

Sunday, June 10

Shuttle Service
9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Free parking shuttles will run every 15 minutes and drop off at three Museum campus locations. Pick up will be at the following locations:

UMKC, 51st and Oak streets,
Midwest Research Institute, 425 Volker Boulevard
Kauffman Legacy Park, 4801 Rockhill Road.

Family-Friendly and Public Activities
10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
There will fun for everyone including art activities and demonstrations in the Ford Learning Center, outdoor chalk drawing, a “block” construction zone on the South Lawn, strolling entertainers, docent stations, a live local radio broadcast and refreshments for purchase from vendors as well as in the new Café and Rozzelle Court Restaurant.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre
1 p.m., Repeated at 2 p.m.
Enjoy a performance by members of the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Kansas City Ballet and Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
4-7 p.m., Atkins Auditorium

Members of the Kansas City Ballet and the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey will perform excerpts from dances that represent a rich diversity of styles.

5 – 8:30 p.m.

Horace Quartet on the J.C. Nichols Plaza (north side)
Al Pearson/ Mike DeLeon Latin Jazz Band on the Noguchi Court Terrace (south side)

7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Pearl Thuston-Brown, jazz pianist,

Have a big group coming to the opening? Connect with our group services department to customize your experience!