Terrie Sultan, Director of the Parrish Art Museum Announces Its One-Year

Countdown To Summer 2012 Opening Of New $25 Million Building Designed By Herzog & De Meuron
www.parrishart.org
New Building’s Exterior To Be Completed This Summer As Internal Construction Continues
SoutHampton, NY, June 29, 2011 — The Parrish Art Museum begins its yearlong countdown to the summer 2012 opening of its new, $25-million building designed by world-renowned Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. The new building’s exterior is nearly finished with internal construction soon underway. At 615 feet in length—twice the size of a football field—and 34,500 total square feet, the new Parrish Art Museum is clearly visible from Route 27 in Water Mill, in the Town of Southampton, New York. The new Parrish will be the first art museum built on the East End of Long Island in more than a century and will be the cultural centerpiece and most recognizable architectural landmark in the region. The new site can be viewed from Google Earth’s satellite and video updates can be found on the museum’s website.
Terrie Sultan, Director of the Parrish Art Museum, explains, “Seeing the progress we have made on the construction of the new building is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Each time I step on the site, I experience a wave of exhilaration, not only because as the architecture takes shape we can see the beautiful simplicity of the structure, but also because we can begin to understand how the building will function as an art museum and a center for cultural engagement for the entire East End. This is a very special time for the Parrish and the community, and it is wonderful that everyone can now understand the visual impact of the Museum in the landscape.”
Located at 279 Montauk Highway, the Parrish Art Museum broke ground on its new building on July 19, 2010 in the presence of former Governor of New York, David A. Paterson; Tim Bishop, Congressman, New York’s First Congressional District; State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle; State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr.; Anna Throne-Holst, Supervisor, Town of Southampton; Norman Peck, Treasurer of the Parrish, President of the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; Dorothy Lichtenstein, Trustee and Secretary of the Parrish Board of Trustees; Alexandra Stanton, Vice President, Parrish Board of Trustees; and major donors to the project.
The new horizontal structure will nearly double the size of the existing museum on Jobs Lane, and provide more than 12,000 square feet of pristine and flexible gallery spaces. Of this, 4,500 square feet will be for special exhibitions and 7,500 square feet will be dedicated to installations of the Museum’s permanent collection—which features some 2,600 works by such artists as William Merritt Chase, Chuck Close, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Fairfield Porter. A series of north-facing skylights allow for natural, northern light to be evenly filtered throughout the galleries. The new building will also include educational and multi-purpose spaces, a shop, a café, administrative offices, and space for the storage and care of the museum’s permanent collection.
One year out, many key elements of the building’s construction are now complete. The final section of exterior poured-in-place concrete walls is now set, providing the building with a core structural frame. Also complete are the new building’s permanent, cast-concrete benches, built into the exterior walls and running the entire length the building on each side. With the addition of covered porches and terraces, these benches will allow visitors to sit, relax, and interact with the surrounding, East End landscape of native wildflowers and tall grass. Large wooden rafters have recently topped the museum’s previously visible steel supports, each set carefully into place by crane from west to east. The rafters convey the clearest sense so far of what the finished building will look like upon completion.
Next steps of construction, taking place throughout this summer and early fall, will be visible to drivers on Route 27. A long and elegant white corrugated metal roof will be placed atop the building’s wooden rafters. North-facing skylights—made of glass that filters out the harmful UV rays—will be situated just over the galleries, providing an opportunity for visitors to view the museum’s holdings amidst the same natural light for which the East End has become famed and from which so many artists draw inspiration within their studios.
As the Parrish moves forward with construction, it continues to receive strong support. Most recently, the Parrish was named recipient of a $60,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) towards the installation of its cherished permanent collection. Many of the country’s leading arts and culture philanthropists have also made generous gifts, including Founding Partners gifts to the Capital Campaign, the Board of Trustees, and numerous individuals, demonstrating the broad-based support the Museum enjoys. Members of the Board provide leadership in the completion of the Museum’s capital campaign and serve as advocates for the Parrish, raising awareness of the important role the Museum plays in the culture of the East End community, the region, and a broader national and international audience.
The Parrish Art Museum continues its fundraising efforts through both its Capital Campaign and the celebration of its annual benefit, the Midsummer Party. This year’s gala, which takes place Saturday, July 9, 2011, is dedicated to its Founding Partners who have so generously supported the life and vision of the Parrish Art Museum and the development of its new Herzog & de Meuron-designed building. On view during the gala, and until August 14 is Dorothea Rockburne: In My Mind’s Eye, the first career retrospective of this important and influential artist, surveying Rockburne’s work from the late 1960s to the present. As the final gala to be held at its home site, the Parrish honors those who have helped make the Parrish what it is today and what it aims to be in the future. More information is available online at: http://www.parrishart.org/.
About Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron alongside Senior Partners Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler, and Stefan Marbach.
Established in 1978 in Basel, Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron are known for designs that are at once highly inventive and sensitive to the site, geography, and culture of the region for which their buildings are planned. Among their critically acclaimed museum projects are the de Young Museum, in San Francisco (2005); the expansion of the Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis (2005); Schaulager for the Laurenz Foundation in Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland (2003); and the conversion of the Bankside power plant into Tate Modern, in London (2000), as well as the extension of the latter, The Tate Modern Project, London (under construction, projected completion 2012). Herzog & de Meuron are currently working on the new Miami Art Museum, Miami, USA (under construction, projected completion 2013).
Among their many other widely-recognized projects are the Dominus Winery in Yountville, California, USA (1998); the 1111 Lincoln Road car park in Miami Beach, USA, (2010); as well as National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Herzog & de Meuron employ 360 collaborators who are currently working on projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia. The firm’s head office is in Basel with branch offices in Hamburg, London, Madrid, and New York.