High Museum Of Art

A New High for Atlanta

The grand opening of the new High Museum of Art in November 2005 was a historic milestone not only for the Museum, but also the city of Atlanta and the Southeast. The renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano fashioned an architectural masterpiece in Midtown Atlanta. Richard Meier's critically acclaimed building in 1983 established the High among the nation's leading cultural institutions. Renzo Piano's 2005 expansion takes the High to a new level as one of the nation's great museums of the twenty-first century.

Architect Renzo Piano designed a “Village for the Arts” in Midtown Atlanta and created dynamic new spaces for the High's growing collection and expansive program of museum-organized special exhibitions. Three new buildings now surround the piazza more than doubling the Museum's size to 312,000 square feet—allowing the High to display more of its growing collection, increase public programs, and offer new visitor amenities.

The 177,000-square-foot expansion of the High is the centerpiece of an overall upgrade of the Woodruff Arts Center, which encompasses the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta College of Art, the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Young Audiences of Atlanta and the 14th Street Playhouse.

The new High and Woodruff Arts campus creates a cultural hub where visitors can experience the finest art, music, and theatre in the city. Piano's signature piazza design opens the Arts Center to the surrounding neighborhood, with outdoor seating for the new full-service restaurant and café, Table 1280. Key design features of the new buildings include transparent glass walls on the piazza level and an array of gallery spaces to showcase the Museum's collection.

In the past decade, attendance has risen to nearly 450,000 visitors per year, the collection has nearly doubled and membership reached a high of over 50,000 households—among the top 10 memberships of any art museum in the United States .

The High has been a catalyst for the development of the Midtown district, which has grown into a thriving, economically vital area that now is a destination for nearly half a million citizens each day. The High played a key role in the transformation of Midtown from a transitional neighborhood into one of the city's most robust areas.

History

The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta 's Midtown arts and business district, the High has over 11,000 works of art in its permanent collection.

The High's first permanent home came in 1926 with the donation by Mrs. Joseph M. High of her family's residence on Peachtree Street. In 1955, the Museum moved to a new brick structure adjacent to the old High house. After 122 Georgia art patrons died in a plane crash on a Museum-sponsored European tour in 1962, the Atlanta Arts Alliance was founded in their memory, and the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center opened in 1968, constructed around the existing Museum. In 1979, Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff offered a $7.5 million challenge grant to build a new facility; Museum officials matched and exceeded the grant, generating a total of $20 million. Atlanta 's children broke ground for the new facility in 1981 and the building opened two years later.

In 1983, the Museum's Richard Meier-designed building opened to worldwide acclaim and has received many design awards, including a 1991 citation from the American Institute of Architects as one of the “ten best works of American architecture of the 1980s.” Meier's 135,000-square-foot facility tripled the Museum's space, enabling the institution to mount more comprehensive displays of its collections. In 2003, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Richard Meier-designed building, the High unveiled enhancements to its galleries and interior, and a new, chronological installation of its permanent collection.

Due to the unprecedented growth the High has experienced during the past decade in exhibitions, community programming, and collection building, the Museum initiated a building expansion program. The High Museum of Art opened its expanded facilities to the public in November 2005, creating a vibrant “village for the arts” at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta.

Three new buildings, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, more than double the Museum's size to 312,000 square feet. This allows the High to display more of its growing collection, increase educational and exhibition programs, and offer new visitor amenities to address the needs of larger and more diverse audiences. The expansion will strengthen the High's role as the premier art museum in the Southeast and allow the Museum to better serve its growing audiences in Atlanta and from around the world.