Clyfford Still Museum

Museum building and galleries: the Clyfford Still Museum raised funds from private philanthropic sources to finance the construction of the Clyfford Still Museum facility. The two-story, 28,500-square-foot building broke ground in december 2009, construction was completed in september 2011 and the Museum opened to the public in november 2011. The building, custom designed by brad cloepfil of allied works architecture for the storage and display of the Still collection, won the 2012 honor award from the new york chapter of the american institute of architects. A cantilevered canopy of concrete leads visitors into the first-floor lobby, and glass walls allow visitors to see into the conservation studio and collections storage. The Museum's open design embodies the founding principle of the institution, the revealing to the public of this once-private and very personal collection. The second floor consists of a series of nine distinct galleries, having varying ceiling heights and proportions designed for the optimal display of the different elements of the Still collections. One of the singular features of the Museum is its daylight system that includes diffusing skylights and motorized shades situated above a custom-formed, perforated concrete ceiling. The Museum's state-of-the-art mechanical systems maintain the optimal environmental conditions for the preservation of the artworks.

Education and programs: as part of the Museum's vision to offer quality programs and conduct scholarly research relating to the art and life of Clyfford Still, the Museum engages our audiences through programs and educational offerings that both enliven Museum spaces and provide opportunities for meditation - in single events and longer term collaborations. Programs are designed to foster a dialogue about Still's work and its current and future relevance. Using the work of Clyfford Still as a point of departure, the Museum's programs create a unique platform for exploring the concerns of modern and contemporary art through multiple voices and interdisciplinary programs. The Clyfford Still Museum offers lectures, films, productions, tours and interpretive materials and technologies to support and engage visitors' understanding about the work of Clyfford Still, his life, and significance to modern and contemporary art. Programs include a variety of local, national, and international speakers and partners. The Museum developed the instill gallery visit program for school groups in grades 4-12 through which trained gallery instructors provide thematically integrated, standards-aligned lessons relating to the Museum's collections. The Clyfford Still Museum has begun to digitize and catalog Clyfford Still's archives which, when available to students and scholars, will provide a rich body of materials that will enlarge the understanding of Still's works and his place in 20th century american art. The Clyfford Still Museum has other initiatives designed to make the Still collections more accessible to a variety of audiences. In 2013, the Museum formed a research center and held its first scholarly symposium in new york. The research center will continue to develop programs that foster research and writing about Clyfford Still, his time and his work. The Museum is also publishing books that contain reproductions of Still's works and scholarly and historic articles about the artist. The Museum is continually developing technology solutions to reach increasingly broad audiences.

Exhibitions and collections: the Clyfford Still Museum was established to serve as a permanent repository and exhibition place for the works of one of the most important painters of the 20th century, Clyfford Still (1904-1980). Clyfford and patricia Still's wills directed that the Still collection be given to an american city that would agree to build and support such a Museum. After the artist's death in 1980, the Clyfford Still estate was sealed off from public and scholarly view. In 2004-2005, the artist's widow patricia selected the city of denver to receive the substantial Still collection, including the artist's archives. The Clyfford Still Museum, as the steward of this legacy collection, is continuing the lengthy process of attending to the conservation of Still's paintings, many of which have been rolled and in storage for over 30 years, as well as the extensive works on paper collection. The Museum is also devoting significant resources to the inspection and cataloging of the collections, the preparation of works for exhibition, and to the proper storage of the collections in the Museum itself. The Museum's collection of approximately 3,200 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures, the majority of which have never been on public display before, provides an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on the full scope of Still's oeuvre and his profound influence on american art. The Museum anticipates rotating exhibitions at least twice each year, with single gallery exhibits rotating somewhat more frequently.