Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Opening

Here are some pictures from the opening of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art on Friday.

Marty Sievertson and Craden Henderson from PHC Construction

A new, light-filled art museum for Bainbridge and West Sound - SEATTLE TIMES

SEATTLE TIMES
Originally published June 11, 2013 at 8:07 PM | Page modified June 11, 2013 at 8:41 PM

Five years in the making, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art — with a focus on regional art, especially work from the western side of Puget Sound — opens June 14, 2013.

By Michael Upchurch
Seattle Times arts writer

How do you build an art museum from scratch?

Over the past five years, folks on Bainbridge Island have been figuring that out. And the fruit of their efforts, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA), opens on Friday.

The museum, just a short stroll from the ferry terminal, is almost the first thing you see as you make your way into Winslow. Resembling the prow of a glass ship, the 20,000-square-foot building dominates the corner where Highway 305 and Winslow Way East intersect.

BIMA is the brainchild of arts patron Cynthia Sears. After she and her husband moved to Bainbridge in 1989, she began collecting local artists’ work. But it bothered her that there was no public venue providing a full overview of what was happening in the local art scene.

Sears’ children were grown and she wasn’t working — so she realized, as she explained in a recent phone interview, that she had “the perfect opportunity to do something.”

By 2008 the museum site had been secured, and in 2009 the museum’s founding board was established. Matthew Coates soon came on board as architect, and the first thing he did was ask Sears about her vision for the museum.

Her reply made a big impression on him.

“I envision a library for art,” she said.

She went on to explain that she saw art as such an important part of the community that she felt people should have free access to it, all the time. Asked what she thought the building should look like, she said she didn’t know, but that she knew what she hoped reviews of the building would be like: “I want people to say: ‘It’s a little gem.’ ”

It is that. Two floors, each with its own spacious gallery, are open to the public. A curving staircase, open to the light, connects the gallery, creating a grand effect on a compact scale. Inside the “ship’s prow,” an aquatic-themed installation, made from recycled materials by Port Townsend artist Margie McDonald, looms in a trapezoid of glass looking down in the direction of the ferry terminal.

Greg Robinson has charge of the museum, and his duties as executive director are both curatorial and administrative. He brings a varied background to the job. Local arts-scene followers will know him as the former executive director of the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Skagit County. But he got his master’s degree in public administration and spent his early career in hospital planning in New York. He came on board at BIMA in late 2010.

“The footprint of the building was designed,” he recalls. “The interiors weren’t completely planned, so I worked to help to find some of the programmatic needs inside.”

It took a $15.6 million capital campaign to get the project off the ground, of which $1 million remains to be raised. Getting people to fund an institution that doesn’t exist yet was, Robinson admits, a little trickier than soliciting funds for something already up and running.

Robinson is forthright about the museum’s mission: “We will be a collecting museum. ... We have the beginnings of a permanent art collection.” The focus, he adds, will be on artists who are lesser known or who haven’t had a “museum opportunity” yet.

“What we really want to do is curate here, from the region,” Robinson says, “with an emphasis, early on, on the West Sound.”

One of the museum’s two large galleries will display works from the permanent collection. The other is reserved for rotating shows that will be locally curated.

For the museum’s opening, seven exhibits will be on display. They include a selection from the permanent collection, a retrospective of work by Bainbridge artist/children’s book author Barbara Helen Berger, and “First Light: Regional Group Exhibition,” co-curated by Robinson and six guest curators.

One of Coates’ biggest design challenges was how to allow incoming light without damaging the artwork. Adjustable sun louvers, windows with built-in UV protection, internal mechanical blinds and movable walls will keep out damaging sun rays.

“At night,” Coates says, “the building’s going to glow like a jewel box, a beacon.”

Coates and the board went to great lengths to make the museum energy-efficient. Geothermal wells below the building and solar panels on its rooftop are connected to its heating system, reducing electric consumption. The building was designed to meet the standards for LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. If it gets the certification, it will be the first museum in the state to do so.

In addition to gallery spaces, the building includes an auditorium that seats 99, a classroom, archive/storage space and a small museum store. There’s parking for 180 cars on the site, but much of the foot traffic is expected to come from tourists and Seattleites making a day trip across the Sound.
Sears’ most earnest hope for the museum is that it will serve as a window into the vibrant local art scene and allow young artists in the region to get a foot in the door: “I would just love people to be able to appreciate the artists and the craft persons who are working around us now and give them attention and support while they’re still alive. And I think this is one way to do it.”

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com

Pace of construction and renovation projects picks up - KITSAP BUSINESS JOURNAL

KITSAP BUSINESS JOURNAL

Real Estate — Peninsula Roundup

June 4, 2013 @ 12:49pm

 

 An artist's rendering of what the completed Bainbridge Island Museum of Art will look like. The museum is scheduled to open in June.Although the recovery in the commercial real estate sector is slow, the past year has seen increased activity in new construction. There are various projects in the works or on the drawing board around the Greater Kitsap Peninsula, as well as numerous tenant improvement projects, which continue to see strong interest.

Below is a roundup of some of the commercial construction activity happening around the West Sound:

Bainbridge Island has been busy with several projects. The Bainbridge Island Museum of the Arts is nearly completed, with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for June 14. The building is slated to become LEED Gold-certified, the first museum in the state to do so. The three-story, 20,000-square foot building includes three galleries and a large archival space and is part of the Island Gateway complex that includes the KidiMu.

Also part of the complex is a retail/commercial building under construction in the spot where Eagle Harbor Market once stood. The building will have retail on the ground level and commercial/office space on top, with a parking garage underground. The steel structure is complete and the metal studding nearly done, with roofing and mechanical systems going in next. Both this building and the museum are designed by Coates Design architects and built by PHC Construction.

In the Lynwood neighborhood of the island, the first phase of the Pleasant Beach Village mixed-use project, designed by Wenzlau Architects, has been completed by Fairbank Construction (see related story). The second phase will begin with site grading this summer. The second phase includes 22 courtyard-style apartments and a community pool. A third phase will eventually add as many as 45 single-family homes.

On the drawing board for the island is a shopping center off High School Road that will be designed in the style of Seattle’s University Village. The eight-acre site will include seven buildings for a total of more than 60,000 square feet and a drug store as the anchor. The project is in the planning stages by Wenzlau, with construction expected next spring.

Harrison Medical Center is also planning a new project on Bainbridge, a medical building at the corner of Madison and State Route 305 that will include 24-hour urgent care and a primary care clinic, as well as itinerant space for lease by physicians. Harrison was in the process of finalizing the land purchase agreement at the end of May and CEO Scott Bosch said they were confident the agreement would go through. The center, designed by Coates, will include 17,000 square feet on two levels. Tim Ryan Construction is expected to start building in the fall.

Another project on the drawing board is the renovation of Town & Country Market sometime early next year, but the store will stay open during construction.

In Kingston, the BJC Group is working on a new home for Puerta Vallarta restaurant at “George’s Corner.” The 6,000-square-foot building is about a month away from completion and will feature unique interior finishes such as metal, concrete countertops and brickwork. The restaurant will be moving into the building from its previous location, which was leased.

Rice Fergus Miller is working on a new home for the Kingston branch of Kitsap Regional Library. The planning is in the early stages. The library is part of the Village Green project, which is also slated to include a community center and a senior housing complex. The Village Green Foundation is still raising capital funds for the center.

RFM is also working on the design of the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort’s expansion, part of a four-phase master plan. The first phase will include the addition of 10,000 square feet of meeting space and another 4,500 square feet of “pre-function” space. Also part of this phase is a new 700-car parking garage, new fine-dining restaurant, remodeling of the Longhouse Buffet, more office space and new walkway/elevator entrance.

Construction is expected to last 18 months and be completed in December 2014. Future phases will add a 100-room, five-story hotel; remodel and expand the casino; and add more meeting space. The entire master plan is scheduled for completion by December 2017.

In Poulsbo, the BJC Group is working on another restaurant, King’s Wok. This will be the second location for the restaurant that is currently in Silverdale. The 6,800-square-foot building is going up in the Oldhava area, near WalMart, with construction anticipated to start in July and be completed in seven months.

Poulsbo’s former DME Auto building, located on Seventh Avenue, will be getting a façade facelift. The vacant building is being redesigned by ADM Architecture to create a multi-tenant layout and help attract new tenants.

Also in the works is a new Safeway on Lincoln Road off SR?305. Previous buildings on the site, including the former headquarters of Olympic Property Group, have been demolished. The 59,000-square-foot store, which will have a gas station, is expected to open by December.

In Silverdale, the largest new construction project is nearly completed by Andersen Construction. Harrison Medical Center’s new orthopaedic hospital, adjacent to the Silverdale hospital campus, is scheduled to open in mid-September. Installation of medical equipment will begin in late August. The hospital, designed by Rice Fergus Miller, will have 54,000 square feet of space, four large orthopaedic operating rooms and 16 pre/post-surgery bays on the first floor; 24 single-patient rooms on the second floor; a rooftop rehab trail and various amenities geared specifically for orhtopaedic patients and procedures. The third floor is being built out for a future expansion, which will include 26 patient rooms.

Another medical project in Silverdale is the expansion of Retina Center NW, designed by Indigo and being built by Tim Ryan Construction. The 3,200-square-foot expansion will be done in June.
Other tenant improvement projects in Silverdale include an All Star Lanes major facelift (the bowling alley will remain open through construction), which BJC Construction expects to finish in August; and the upcoming renovation of a 4,000-square-foot building that will house a new Cobalt Mortgage branch, an ADM Architecture project currently in permitting stage.

In Bremerton, the 10,000-square-foot Salvation Army headquarters on Sixth Avenue will be gutted and completely redone, with another 13,000 square feet on two floors added to the ’70s building. Hecker Architects and Fairbank Construction are working to add a hygiene center and other service areas and to upgrade the exterior. Construction is likely to start in the fall and last about a year, with the Salvation Army HQ to be moved temporarily.

The former Dodge dealership on Auto Center Way has become the headquarters for Skookum Contract Services. Rice Fergus Miller and Tim Ryan Construction are working on a 16,000-square-foot expansion of the office space (into what used to be the old shop). The project is in permitting.

Downtown Bremerton is adding more apartments. Lorax Partners of Seattle, which developed Bremerton Harborside, is adding four floors on top of the city’s Burwell/Fourth Street parking garage (one side of which has the new SEEfilm Cinema on top). Described as the only vertical urban apartment living and unique for Kitsap County, the building will include 71 units ranging from studios to two bedrooms, expected to be available in 2015.

Another downtown apartment project, Spyglass Hill, is just beginning the design review and permitting process. It’s planned for the 600 block of Washington Avenue, just south of the Manette Bridge. Sound West Group is the developer and its in-house partner, FPH?Construction, will build the five-story structure that will have 80 apartments with views over the water.

The Sydney complex of eight apartment buildings is nearing completion in Port Orchard. The 106-unit development built by Rush Cos. of Gig Harbor is behind a small commercial center at the northwest corner of Sidney and Sedgwick roads.Port Orchard has new apartments under construction. Rush Cos. is nearing the completion on The Sydney, 106 units in eight three-story buildings off Sedgwick Road. The initial phase will be done in June and the rest in August. The garden-style, higher-end apartments will include one — to three-bedroom units.

Across the street, Rush will be breaking ground in June on The Sinclair, another 126 units that will be similar in style but also include studio apartments.

The second phase of Kitsap Community Resources’ Port Orchard project is also nearly complete. The first phase was the construction of a new center that opened in September, and the second is the addition of Jackson Village, 10 affordable homes now under construction. Both are Wenzlau/Fairbank projects. The homes are cottage style and will have a common playground area shared with the KCR admin building.

A couple of upcoming Port Orchard projects include the expansion/tenant improvement of a vacant space in the High Point Shopping Center by the Bethel roundabout, and a major renovation of the Kitsap Regional Library’s Port Orchard branch.

In Gig Harbor, Ship to Shore will soon have a new downtown storefront, doubling its current space. Miles Yanick & Co. is designing a new 7,000-square-foot building next to Arabella’s Landing. The project has a site plan and is in early permitting stages, with construction expected to start by the end of the year and be finished in time for a summer 2014 opening.

http://kpbj.com/feature_articles/2013-06-0/pace_of_construction_and_renovation_projects_picks_up

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Opening June 14th!

We are busy getting things wrapped up at the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art which will officially open its doors on Friday, June 14th, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:15 AM.

 

 

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art - Grand Opening from Vision to Reality

Learn more about the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art,  the work that went into its creation, and the parties involved, in this magazine published by the Bainbridge Island Review.

click here to view an electronic version of the magazine

Bainbridge Island Gets an Art Museum - SEATTLE MAGAZINE

SEATTLE MAGAZINE 

By: Brangien Davis

Bainbridge Island showcases local bounty with a new, eco-friendly museum dedicated to area artists   

 

Executive director Greg Robinson prepares for the June 14 grand opening of BIMA

PHOTO CREDIT: Hayley Young

Creatively focused, eco-obsessed, possessing an urban sensibility and locavore leanings, beautiful without being braggy—the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) might well be considered the embodiment of the island community itself. And just as the residents prefer the island’s laidback vibe to Seattle’s comparative bustle, BIMA supporters and staff have no intention of trying to compete with mainland art institutions, such as Seattle Art Museum. Instead, the focus is on contemporary work by artists from the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and the western Puget Sound region. 

Founding board member Cynthia Sears, who moved to Bainbridge from Los Angeles in the late 1980s and first began talking up the idea of building an art museum there in the early ’90s, says BIMA is perfectly content with being (as an actor friend of hers put it) “off Broadway.” “Not just smaller, but more regional,” Sears explains. “Less about big productions and famous work than about excellence of craft and helping newcomers get a foot in the door.”

That door, by the way, is made from sustainable FSC-certified wood (and the foot is likely shod in a Keen athletic sandal). The new building, which came together thanks to a Bainbridge-based collaboration—The Island Gateway developers, Coates Design architects and PHC Construction—and a largely locally funded $15.6 million capital campaign, is anticipating LEED Gold certification. When that status becomes official, it will be the first art museum in the state (and one of only a few nationwide) to achieve such green street cred.

The building is first and foremost inviting, thanks to a striking curve of tall windows that sweeps visitors toward the entrance. This translucency is intentional—people inside the museum can see their community going about its business outside, and people outside can see visitors going about the gallery within (and thereby feel a vicarious connection with local art). Indeed, the emphasis of the structure is not so much on the photovoltaic array, the geothermal heating and cooling or the low-flow toilets (and waterless urinals!), but on showcasing the thriving—but largely unsung—regional artist community.

Part of Sears’ initial motivation was the question “If this is such an ‘artists’ haven’ (as the guide books told me), why wasn’t there a place where local art was on exhibit for the public?” While acknowledging the value of art shows at smaller, commercial galleries in the area, she contends, “A community that cares about art needs an art museum the same way a community that cares about literacy needs a public library—no matter how many bookstores might be nearby.”

One of the opening exhibits is of work by Bainbridge Island artist and children’s book illustrator Barbara Helen Berger, who agrees with Sears, “Art doesn’t have to be remote.” As for the tone her inaugural exhibit sets for the museum, she speculates, “My show may convey part of the museum’s aim: to be inviting and welcoming for everyone, including children and families.”

Greg Robinson, BIMA’s executive director and curator, points out that one of the significant local benefits of the museum is serving kids in the region—for whom taking a field trip to Seattle can be prohibitively complicated and expensive. “Having an art museum here increases the accessible and affordable options for schools in the Kitsap area,” he says. Sears adds that one of the boons of not charging an entrance fee is that it encourages people of all ages to stop by casually, making the viewing of art a regular part of everyday life. “I want kids and their families to feel comfortable just dropping in…to refresh their eyes and recharge their batteries,” she says.

Port Townsend–based sculptor Margie McDonald also has work in the first BIMA show, in the commanding Beacon Gallery, an aptly named space fronted by a two-story bank of windows that faces the ferry terminal and stands as a guidepost for disembarking passengers. Her “millipede-like” piece—a 30-foot long underwater scene made with recycled copper, yacht rigging wire and salmon trolling wire—will hang in the window. “Seattle is tough for someone like me who doesn’t want to go to the big city very much,” McDonald says. “I think there’s some excitement here in Port Townsend that this is ‘our museum.’ BIMA feels like it’s on ‘our side’ of the water.”

Sears believes the regional focus will foster what she calls the “OMG factor,” meaning the reaction, “OMG, that’s from here?” She hopes that, as a result, hometown visitors will support “their own” with even more vigor. “This is our art equivalent to the ‘eat locally’ movement,” she says.

Robinson is “slowly and deliberately” expanding BIMA’s permanent collection in line with the goal of being “an incubator and a launching pad for emerging local artists.” (Sears notes, “We are on record as having promised our donors that if most of the artists we exhibit have not achieved national—or world!—recognition in 50 years, we will be happy to give them their money back.”) But Robinson emphasizes that rather than dictating a perspective, he and his team are looking to the artists to reveal what it means to live in the region. “We’re not coming in as the experts,” he says, “we’re coming in as discoverers. We’re exploring stories that haven’t been told yet.”

Read article here:  http://www.seattlemag.com/article/bainbridge-island-gets-art-museum