Courtesy Herzog & de Meuron
Back in January, the long-in-the-planning Calder Gardens, a Philadelphia museum dedicated to the artist Alexander Calder, announced it would open in September, without naming an exact date. Today, the institution revealed that it will open September 21.
The new institution, which recently appointed curator Juana Berrío (formerly of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program) its senior director of programs, has been in the works for four years. It is sited on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, home to iconic museums like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation.
There are two parts to the Calder Gardens: a building designed by Herzog & de Meuron and a sculpture garden by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. Both will be home to a rotating selection of Calder pieces curated by the Calder Foundation in New York, which is headed up by Calder’s grandson, Alexander S. C. Rower.
In an unusual arrangement, Calder Gardens will be administrated in partnership with the Barnes Foundation. As well as the opening date, the Gardens today revealed its new website (designed by Karlssonwilker), along with details about the membership structure: Membership will start at $98 annually, and offer unlimited free admission to both Calder Gardens and the Barnes. Both memberships and select advance tickets go on sale this week.
