Back in January, the long-in-the-planning Calder Gardens, a Philadelphia museum dedicated to the artist Alexander Calder, announced that it would open in September, without naming an exact date. Today, the institution revealed that it will open on September 21.
The new institution, which recently appointed curator Juana Berrió (formerly of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program) as its senior director of programs, has been in the works for four years. It is sited on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, home to iconic museums like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation.
There are two parts to the Calder Gardens: a building designed by Herzog & de Meuron and a sculpture garden by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. Both will be home to a rotating selection of Calder pieces curated by the Calder Foundation in New York, which is headed up by Calder’s grandson, Alexander “Sandy” Rower.
In an unusual arrangement, the Calder Gardens will be administrated in partnership with the Barnes Foundation. Alongside the opening date, the Gardens today revealed its new website (designed by Karlssonwilker), along with details on how membership will be structured. Memberships, which start at $98 annually, will offer unlimited free admission to both the Calder Gardens and the Barnes. Memberships and select advance tickets go on sale this week.