New Spaces

22 February 2012

Perlman Teaching Museum

Braucher Gallery

At 7,800 square feet, the Perlman Teaching Museum more than doubles Carleton’s former art gallery space. Named in recognition of a gift from trustee Lawrence Perlman ’60 and Linda Peterson Perlman, the museum includes two galleries. The vaulted two-story Braucher Gallery (pictured above and named for Nancy Fitch Braucher ’63 and Joseph Braucher ’63) accommodates the display of large-scale works.

The Kaemmer Family Gallery (named for Art Kaemmer ’65, P ’95 and Martha Hulings Kaemmer ’66, P ’95) is designed for more intimate encounters, and a nearby museum classroom provides faculty members and students with access to Carleton’s permanent art collection, which is stored beneath the museum.

The Braucher Gallery’s inaugural exhibit was Seeing Is Knowing: The Universe, a collection of art inspired by astronomy. “This exhibit required an expansive gallery by which to explore the vast reaches of space,” says Laurel Bradley, director of exhibitions and curator of the college art collection. “We designed it to exercise the new space. A Russell Crotty globe and a flashing Tristin Lowe comet hung from the ceiling, stacked paintings and drawings extended upward on tall walls, and there was plenty of room to navigate around myriad objects such as a felt meteorite, historical astronomy texts in cases, and more.”


Kaemmer Family Gallery

Kaemmer Family Gallery

Schott’s Shots

Inside Carleton commissioned John Schott, Carleton’s James Woodward Strong Professor of Liberal Arts, to photograph the new spaces in the Weitz Center to showcase the building’s architectural design. His beautifully crafted images (he spent hours staging each shot) appear throughout this issue, as well as on the front cover.

Last fall, Schott published a book titled Middle School, a collection of his photographs of the former Northfield Middle School as it awaited transformation into the Weitz Center for Creativity. His images beautifully captured the historic site, providing a visual connection with the past, and were on display in the Kaemmer Family Gallery (shown above) as part of the inaugural exhibition in the Perlman Teaching Museum. Copies of Middle School are available at the Carleton Bookstore at 800-799-4148.


Cinema

Weitz Center Cinema

The 250-seat cinema, originally the middle school’s auditorium, features the largest screen on campus and a THX-quality sound system. The cinema hosted the Tournées Festival, a collection of new French films, during fall term, attracting students, staff and faculty members, and Northfield residents.

“As someone who firmly believes that film is best appreciated on the big screen and in the presence of others with whom you can share this magical experience, I was thrilled to be able to ‘go to the movies’ in a real theater on the Carleton campus,” says Dana Strand, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of French and the Humanities, who brought the festival to Carleton. Students have already made good use of the cinema, as it’s now home to the Student Union Movie Organization (SUMO) and screenings by the student film society.


The Gage/Bauer IdeaLab

Idea Lab

The Gage/Bauer IdeaLab (supported by a gift from Bill Gage ’64 and his wife, Nancy Bauer) was created specifically for collaborative and active learning, particularly in the areas of visual, audio, and interactive media. It boasts a wide array of multimedia equipment, including a computer lab with linked workstations loaded with specialized software, Wacom tablet interfaces, MIDI-keyboard stations, audio and visual editing stations, digital cameras and video production equipment, state-of-the-art scanners, and large-format printers capable of fine-art printing.

Staffed by Carleton’s presentation, events, and production support team, academic technologists, reference and instruction librarians, exhibition experts, and a media and design specialist, the Gage/Bauer IdeaLab is a one-stop destination for students and faculty and staff members who need to use sophisticated audio/visual technology.


The Craine Drawing Studio

Craine Drawing Studio

The Craine Drawing Studio (named in recognition of a gift from Jackie and Bill Craine ’70, P ’00) brings studio art students to the Weitz Center while freeing up much-needed space in Boliou Hall, which remains the home of the art and art history department.

“Taking observational drawing in the Weitz Center has been a great opportunity for me to experience art at its best,” says Michelle Abecasis ’13 (La Paz, Bolivia). “The studio has a lot of natural light, and there are several interesting ways to manipulate the lighting through the light switches,” she says. Clay Dewey-Valentine ’12 (Seattle) has also found inspiration at the Weitz Center. “The entire building has countless interesting angles that inspire creativity wherever you are,” he says.