Kentucky Museum News

Visitors to the Kentucky Museum this fall may notice quite a few new things – and it’s not just the exhibits on view! Thanks to recent grants and private gifts, the Museum is investing in restoring and upgrading the Kentucky Building – furthering a preservation environment that protects collections while creating greater opportunities for exhibitions and visitor experiences.

Beginning in late August, the Museum will close portions of the 1939 historic building to make renovations to the stairwells and adjacent first floor hallway. Funded by the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, these projects will make install new glass doors that provide seamless gallery transitions while creating HVAC zones that promote energy efficiency by reducing heating and cooling loss. Additionally, the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative funding is empowering the Museum to reseal and/or replace exterior doorways, which will further energy efficiency and preservation efforts throughout the Museum.

“Following a set of recommendations developed in consultation with conservator Steven Weintraub of Art Preservation Services, these projects are helping combat building envelope concerns that cause fluctuations in temperature and humidity,” stated Tiffany Isselhardt, Exhibits Curator and Development Coordinator for the Museum. “These fluctuations can greatly impact our collections – causing damage over the long term – so addressing them has been at the forefront of our Preservation Environment Improvement Plan. Low-cost, high-impact solutions like resealing doors and separating different HVAC zones are strategies that help us mitigate these fluctuations – while furthering WKU’s mission to promote energy efficiency and conservation across campus.”

Additionally, the Museum is excited to announce the renovation of a newly acquired space on the second floor into a dedicated Sculpture Gallery. Funded by a gift from Winnie Forrester, daughter of the late sculptor and WKU professor Charles H. Forrester, the Sculpture Gallery will showcase the Museum’s growing sculpture collection. The inaugural exhibition, slated for the 2026-27 year, will showcase the recently acquired Charles H. Forrester Collection of over 100 sculptures plus associated artist drawings, notebooks, correspondence, blueprints, and tools created by Forrester throughout his career. Portions of the second floor will be closed during renovation of the gallery space.

The Kentucky Museum remains open throughout construction, with several exhibitions on view, including the recently opened Tangents to Heaven: The Al & Mary Shands Collection, First Farmers of the Barren River Valley, and Stitches in Time: 200 Years of Kentucky Quilts. Several special events are also scheduled, including America250 programs scheduled through teh 2024-25 year and the annual Hammer-In festival on October 12, 2024.

The Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative is the first nation-wide program to support energy efficiency and clean energy use for the visual arts and the largest private national grant-making program to address climate action through cultural institutions. The $15 million ongoing initiative provides critical support to visual arts institutions in the United States seeking to assess their impact on the environment and to lower ongoing energy costs. To date, the Foundation has conferred more than $10.8 million supporting 175 energy efficiency and clean energy projects at 147 institutions across 34 states in the U.S.

The Kentucky Museum has received three grants from the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, in 2021, 2022, and 2023. These grants assisted in studying the Kentucky Building and determining plans for improving the building envelope, planning for large-scale improvements to the HVAC systems, and implementing portions of the building envelope recommendations. The results have significantly furthered the Museum’s ongoing Preservation Environment Improvement Plan and contributed to securing additional funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and National Endowment for the Humanities while determining suitable projects for WKU’s Asset Preservation funding.