Arts & Entertainment

Report: Glenstone to Build New Museum on Site

The new building for the Potomac museum will be five times as big as the original.

Glenstone, a private art museum in Potomac featuring post-World War II and contemporary art, is set to get a new museum building on its 200-acre Potomac site, The New York Times reported.

The new building will be designed by architect Tom Phifer and is planned to open in 2016. It will be about five times as big as the property's existing museum building, designed by architect Charles Gwathmey and opened seven years ago.

The museum is open four days a week, free-of-charge and by appointment only, according to its website. After expansion, museum owners Mitchell P. and Emily Rales hope to open the museum five days a week, still free-of-charge and by appointment only, to ensure that the galleries are not too crowded. They're working with Montgomery County Public Schools to fund field trips for students to visit the museum and learn about art, as well as about the environment, The Times reported. (The property has many walking paths and a man-made pond.)

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"Plans are in the works for a major expansion that is said to be costing the [Rales] couple upward of $125 million. Once it is completed in 2016, this enclave will become a more public place in which to see art and learn about architecture as well as the environment," The Times reported.

Five years ago, a Washington City Paper report suggested that appointments to view the museum's collections were difficult to obtain.

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The new building—which will be five times as large as the original building—"will feature a series of interconnecting pavilions for permanent installations, each devoted to a single artist, as well as a large gallery for special exhibitions," The Times reported.

Read more about the museum and its planned expansion on The New York Times' website, and see photos of the museum in a Times' photo gallery.


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