Calder GardensA coming Philadelphia cultural project in a city that has recently seen few major new arts institutions moves closer to becoming a reality with the announcement this week of its opening, set for September, and a central tenancy. has gone
Joanna Barrio, currently curatorial and sustainability advisor. Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Programhas been named senior director of programs for the $58 million exhibit space and gardens. Separately, Calder Gardens has plans for $30 million.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was a native of Philadelphia who became one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century, known for his bent wire works, gently turning mobiles, and sturdy stables.
Barrio — who is from Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to the United States in 2006 — has also worked at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
He said it was the institution’s founder’s vision of it as something other than a museum that drew him to the role.
“I’m very interested in experimentation,” Berrio said in an interview. “My thinking is guided by what our needs are today – our lives are more engaged than ever, technology is a big is playing a role, so this project will help develop self-awareness and reflection.”
Berrio added that Calder’s dynamic mobiles, which can move with the breeze, evoke a “notion of impermanence”.
Calder Gardens, on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, will house 18,000 square feet of exhibition space in a building designed by Jack Herzog, founder of the Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm. Herzog and de Meuronand extensive gardens by a Dutch landscape designer Pete Odolph, Known for his work on the High Line.
Although an independent institution, Calder Gardens Will receive administrative, operational and educational programming support from neighboring countries. Barnes Foundation.
Alexander SC Rover, president of the Calder Foundation and grandson of the artist, said in an interview that many of the applicants for the Barrio post “were weak and thought it was going to be a museum.” (Its non-museum features will lack wall labels.)
Rover added that Barrio’s experience working with contemporary artists was relevant because of the early dynamics of Calder’s work – the artist also had his own version of performance art.
In his Paris studio in the 1920s, Roever said, his grandfather would perform a small multi-act circus, “Circ calder“By manipulating his statues.
Rovere, who also chairs the Calder Gardens curatorial committee, said the institution would focus on showcasing Calder’s works, both from the foundation’s extensive holdings as well as loans from other sources. But he added that there may be “invited interference” from other artists’ works in the future, and that Berrio will have a role in their reformation.
First, the building must be completed.
“All the heavy construction is done,” Rover said. “We want to take our time on the installation, and experience the building without the art first.”