Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha reopens after $100m expansion

The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska is reopening today (10 September) following a two-year, $100 million renovation and expansion.

As part of the project, the museum has expanded its exhibition space with a new 42,000-square-foot building, designed by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta and Omaha-based Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture.

The Joslyn Art Museum has also reorganised its 12,000-piece permanent collection for the first time in nearly 100 years, and revitalised its public gardens and outdoor spaces.

The museum campus now includes three buildings to display 5,000 years of art. In addition, the Joslyn has introduced 100 new works to the collection as part of the renovation.

"The expansion renews Joslyn's status as Omaha's premier cultural hub for the visual arts by reorienting the museum grounds around a reimagined public arrival anchored by new community spaces that support the galleries," says Snøhetta's website.

The museum’s director, Jack Becker, toldthe Art Newspaper: "We wanted to think about what’s good for Omaha and what’s good for this community for decades to come.

“What is it that we can do in the cultural arena to keep people – to have people stay in Omaha or move here?”

Chief curator Taylor Acosta said the reinstallation of the collection gave curators a "once-in-a-career chance to evaluate the collection and what additions would help us foreground cross-cultural perspectives".

Rehanging the Joslyn's collection

One of the biggest challenges of the rehang was integrating the Joslyn's significant collection of Native American art into its American and contemporary art galleries, Acosta said.

She told Forbes: "Integrating the Indigenous and non-Indigenous American collections into one American collection was at the forefront of this installation.

"We knew very early on in this reinstallation process that intertwining those historically separated collections was critical."

Images courtesy of the Joslyn Art Museum, lead image credit: Nic Lehoux