FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: Erin Lauderman, 612.625.9685, elauderm@umn.edu

WEISMAN ART MUSEUM WELCOMES FRANK GEHRYS
STANDING GLASS FISH AS THE MINNEAPOLIS SCULPTURE GARDEN LAUNCHES RECONSTRUCTION IN SUMMER 2015

MINNEAPOLIS The Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota is pleased to welcome Standing Glass Fish (1986) into the Karen Bachman & Robert Fisch Gallery during the summer of 2015. The sculpture will remain on public view throughout the long-term loan from the Walker Art Center, where the sculpture has been housed in the Cowles Conservatory since the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opened in 1998.

Conservation will begin at the Sculpture Garden where the sculpture will be de-installed and foam forms will be made to support the glass structure during the move. Trucks, cranes, and hands will guide the sculpture upstream to its new temporary home. Once onsite at the Weisman, the glass scales will be cleaned and general conservation will take place during the re-installation. Weisman staff have been working with an advisor close to Frank Gehry who has built and installed the architects glass fish sculptures for thirty-three years. The re-installation will take place over several weeks and will be completed for students returning to campus in the fall.

As a teaching museum, the Weisman will conduct part of the re-installation in the gallery, creating an opportunity for visitors and students to witness museum work that rarely takes place in public. The project will be conducted in phases with a base being put in place first, then the wooden armature that supports the sculpture will be installed, followed by the glass scales.

Welcoming the sculpture into the museum continues the great relationship Lyndel King and the Weisman have with Frank Gehry. When Frank returned to design the expansion of the museum that reopened in 2011, I knew he would create fabulous new spaces that would stimulate the creativity, intellect, and imagination of students and visitors, said Lyndel King, the museums director. The fish being at the museum is a fitting next chapter in our story and having the fish stay in the public eye will continue to inspire generations to come.

The Standing Glass Fish (1986) is one of a number of sculptures from the Walker Art Centers collection that will temporarily relocate during the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Reconstruction Project. Other sites for loans include Gold Medal Park and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

ABOUT FRANK GEHRY

Frank Gehry is a Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles. His groundbreaking style has earned him international acclaim, and many of his buildings have become tourist attractions. His best-known works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; Experience Music Project in Seattle; Dancing House in Prague; and his private residence in Santa Monica, California. The Weisman Art Museum, the first art museum in the U.S. designed in its entirety by Gehry, exemplifies his signature deconstructivist style with wild, undulating forms forged from stainless steel. The Weisman's existing building was completed in 1993 and an expansion was completed in 2011 that included five new gallery spaces.

ABOUT WAM

Since its origin in 1934, the Weisman Art Museum has been a teaching museum for the University of Minnesota. Today, education remains central to the museums mission to create art experiences that spark discovery, critical thinking, and transformation, linking the University and the community. The Weisman Art Museum is located at 333 East River Road, Minneapolis, on the University of Minnesota campus. Admission to exhibition galleries is always free.