BY MORGAN ROGERS

The Colby College Museum of Art, now the largest art exhibition space in Maine, held a community celebration with art, live music, and free food on July 14, 2013.

The new Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion opened to the public with an additional 10,000 square feet of exhibition space. The celebration’s centerpiece was the installation of “The Lunder Collection: A Gift of Art to Colby College,” featuring more than 260 works of art.

“As we celebrate the bicentennial of the college, we can look forward as never before to welcoming visitors from around the country and the world who are going to discover that our museum has risen to the top in its field,” said Colby President William D. Adams in a news release.

The museum, founded in 1959, now comprises of five wings, nearly 8,000 works, and 38,000 square feet of exhibition space.

Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects, a Los Angeles-based firm, designed the new pavilion, a “light-filled gateway” attached to the existing museum.

“The reflecting nature of the glass expresses the theme that art provides the opportunity to reflect on life. This was central to the museum’s position as a beacon of creativity and innovation on campus,” said Fisher.

The sustainability of the building has been granted a LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The featured Lunder Collection comprises of more than 500 objects by American master artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Winslow Homer, John Signer Sargent, as well as contemporary American works by the likes of Alex Katz, Louise Nevelson, and many more. The collection is valued at more than $100 million.

“The opening of this pavilion will allow generations of visitors to appreciate the extraordinary works of art brought together over decades by the Lunders, alongside our permanent collection and for that I am most grateful,” said Sharon Corwin, the Carolyn Muzzy Director and Chief Curator of the Colby College Museum of Art, in a press release.

The museum admission is free and open to the public from Tuesday through Saturday, from 10a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

– See more at: http://maineinsights.com/perma/waterville-builds-reputation-as-center-of-art-in-maine#sthash.WjcGABvw.dpuf