Buffalo Rising Online

so, has anybody been? what do you think?

Pat:

It really is a nice job. First rate job with the light and focus on art, can't wait until a few less people are in there so I can yell a little to test the acoustics which seem great.

I'm sure Eric Oak will chime in with some bs comment even though the guy and his partner have never stepped foot in there. What did Mao use to say, something like conclusions invariably come after investigation, and not before. As a communist, he should appreciate that.

Wonderful space . The trees on the outside help to soften the space. Love the sky lights above the grand staircase. Cafe could be a bit bigger. Gift shop is nice. The galleries are awesome. Look forward to some incredible exhibitions in the future.

I'd heard that the new museum would include space for the Metcalfe rooms, which are Stanford White-designed interiors that were rescued from the Metcalfe House at Delaware and North before it was demolished. I visited them a couple of years ago at B-P at Rockwell Hall, where display space had been built for them. None of the publicity I've heard so far has mentioned the Metcalfe rooms - are they somewhere in the new museum--?

Went early this morning and they had people throughout the galleries simultaniously chanting what i'm assuming were buddhist things. The echos filled the entire building and it was an extremely trippy experience looking at the art with that going on in the background. It was about 6am and alot of rooms were closed so it seemed a bit small to me... i'm hoping thats only because parts were closed off. The building is gorgeous especially those skylights over the stairs. I particularly liked the grid paper thing in the experimental room and the glass bottle installation in the main gallery.

On my drive home I thought to myself there needs to be 1 more museum for it to truly be a museum district. How about an architectural museum built over the scajacquada connecting bechs with the other 2. That would be extremely expensive but a building built over a highway would truly warrant the distinction of being an architectural museum.

James, the current planning for the Richardson/Olmsted complex includes an architecture museum/center. There's a bit more here: http://www.buffalorising.com/story/_in_a_recent_comment

It won't be over the Scajacquada, but will be in the vicinity.

I think it's a great idea to futher integrate BECHS into the rest of the museum district. I was talking about BECHS with someone here recently, and even though they are familiar with the museum district in Buffalo, they had the hardest time understanding where BECHS is - since it doesn't front on Elmwood, and is across the creek.

What I'd love to see is BECHS move its collections to the Richardson Complex at some point, and have the BECHS building converted to a gallery for historic art. In My Fair City, I live around the corner from the Memorial Art Gallery, and I can always pop over there to look at art from most any time period when I need a reference. Unfortunately, the "deaccessioning" at A-K lost Buffalo a potential nucleus for such a collection.

Hey Carlmalone,

I was having sort of a somber day and then I read your comment, which brightened my mood with a fast laugh. Thanks! But I do have to confess: I am not a communist, and I am so remote from being a communist that I am somewhat embarrassed by it. More often than not, I'm depressed by the sensibility that comes out of BRO. I'm old guard.

And I'm very happy for the Burchfield-Penney; I think it's exciting to see people talking about art and especially regional art in Buffalo. I wish them well and plan to visit often.

But until the current overseers are out, the BP (along with the hopelessly forsaken Albright-Knox) will never see one coin from me. I'm happy the inside of this building is dramatic--but I expected no less. Given the amount of public tax money that went into their chests, they owed the community a smashing interior. I'm just really sorry that the Burchfield cheated the community out of a better public face to this building. That's the only disappointment here, and I am not afraid to say what BRO will not say: we could have had a much better exterior building. We settled for UB North Campus with this design and I think it's sad...we shouldn't have to settle. What's so negative about that?

The way the BP handled the design process runs so counter to the ethos I see on BRO, was done in such a sequestered and uncooperative way, that I'm baffled that BR continues to post such gushy pieces about it. It's fine to celebrate the arrival of a new museum, but the thick, overwritten, worshipful prose that's oozing out about a project that was, civically speaking, very poorly handled, is disappointing. There's a kind of mental indigestion I get from reading BRO posts on this museum. Let me put it another way: The BRO coverage and the Buffalo News coverage are indistinguishable. That should make you shudder.

But enjoy the museum--we all should. In the future, just ensure that your stewards of art and architecture give you the best product they possibly can. For example, there are two leaders in Buffalo that run circles around the BP and the Albright: Thomas Herrera-Mischler of The Buffalo Olmsted Conservancy and Donna Fernandes at the Zoo. Those people know what they are doing. I look forward to giving them extra money this Christmas.

Sony--thanks for your comments.

But I respectfully and totally disagree. Gwathmey Siegel seems to me an astonishingly overrated firm--and they are not the customer; the BP and its community are the customers. The customer, not the service provider, should steer the process. If Gwathmey Siegel's sensibilities were too delicate to have some public transparency about their design, then the BP should have shown them the door. Golly, look at the wreckage that Gwathmey Siegel has done at UB North campus. And we're supposed to respect this firm?

The design is functional--absolutely. Then let us have an appropriately functional response and evaluation of it: that was my point. But the News and BRO have gushed in reverential terms about this building (though the News was more critical and balanced than BRO). That's not helpful to the community; it helps perpetuate Buffalo's acceptance of mediocrity.

I am not sorry the new museum was built--I am glad we have it. But I am sorry it is not better, when it could have been better, when it could have shown a public entrance to the street it hugs, when it could have stoked the imagination at least a degree or two. I'm afraid people are generally not facing the truth about the exterior of this building and the way the BP handled a project using substantial public monies. When we sober up, we'll see it for what it is: a functional reminder of a squandered opportunity for a public space that could have been, if not iconic, at least deeply impressive. This is not deeply impressive, and I think we're disingenuous if we insist that it is.

come on, is the exterior really that bad? (i like it, but dont love it) I say give it a chance to grow on you. Maybe it'll be a bit more aesthetically pleasing next summer when the grounds are landscaped and the sculptures go in. Can we atleast all agree that the bp sign is awesome. Were expectations too high despite a paltry 33 mil budget?

this place was stunning. it was great to see so many people out enjoying this new space. I'm going to head back on black friday when all museums/art centers are free all day!

Dwilliams: i don't think anyone said the building looks like your mom.