San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opens new rooftop sculpture garden

Posted by admin on Apr 29, 2009

On May 10, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) unveils a $24 million expansion with the opening of its 14,400 square-foot rooftop sculpture garden. Featuring two open-air spaces and a luminous glass pavilion, the new gallery affords dramatic views of both the San Francisco skyline and large-scale sculptural works in the museum’s collection.

Conceived as an integral part of SFMOMA’s exhibition space, the garden’s design involved replacing the entire back wall of the fifth-floor galleries with glass. Visitors move from the current building to the rooftop via an enclosed glass-and-steel bridge. The new space is "an extension of the museum, not a remote cul-de-sac," according to architect Mark Jensen. "The garden is a gallery without a ceiling that can be curated."

Rooftop garden exhibits will be comprised of sculptures from the museum’s collection that were either recently acquired or that are rarely seen. Highlights of the inaugural exhibition include Alexander Calder’s Big Crinkly (1969), Stele I (1973) by Ellsworth Kelly, and Zim Zum I (1969) by Barnett Newman. Also on view will be recent gifts of artwork donated specifically for display in the new space, including The Lens of Rotterdam (1988) by Mario Merz, and Joel Shapiro’s Untitled (1983–87).

The rooftop sculpture garden opens on May 10, 2009, one year before the museum’s 75th year anniversary. Admission to the museum is free on opening day (which also happens to be Mother’s Day).