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Opening Day
July 1, 2006
The crowds await the opening of SAAM and NPG. Photo by Jeff Gates.
A crowd of hundreds waited outside, everyone hoping to be the first to enter. Waving fans and folded papers, people were surely eager to escape the heat from today's bright sunshine. There was goofy entertainment aplenty; actors dressed as George and Martha Washington and Uncle Sam chatted up the crowd, and two people dressed as the iconic father and daughter from Grant Wood's American Gothic waved down from a portico. More than a few people fanned themselves with today's copy of the Washington Post: a retired couple from Minnesota, a forestry conservation specialist named Paige, and an attorney from Pennsylvania each told me that they were alerted to the museum's opening by Jacqueline Trescott's front-page article.
Having walked through this museum so many times during its restoration, it's now entirely strange to see "real" people browsing the galleries. There is a crowd clustered in the Luce Center's cafe, eating tasty-looking salads near the room where I'm typing. Through the wall I can hear a very loud bluegrass hootenanny shaping up, and I'm going to investigate a basket-weaving demonstration. Actual basket weaving! It's quite a party.
Posted by Kriston on July 1, 2006 in Museum Opening
Comments
I was really surprised to learn that the original encaustic tiles in the Great Hall were replaced during the renovation. Were they so worn as to be dangerous to foot traffic? To completely remove a portion of this glorious space's original patina seems in opposition to the tenets of historic preservation.
I just hope the original tiles were not hauled off to a landfill as I'm sure that there are artists who coulld have recycled them!
Posted by: Jerry A. McCoy | Jul 8, 2006
Interesting observation about how it was weird to see real people in the galleries after spending so much time in restoration. It's like the real people are the activators of the space.
Posted by: spudart | Jul 24, 2006
Jerry, thanks for your inquiry about the tile floor in the Great Hall.
Many of the original floor tiles were cracked, chipped or damaged. As part of the renovation process, the original flooring throughout the building was removed by hand and catalogued with the intent to reinstall as much as possible. Unfortunately, the small tiles in the Great Hall would not separate from the substrate without chipping into fragments so all new tiles had to be installed.
Each 19th-century tile or fragment is now in storage while the Smithsonian explores alternate reuse possibilities. There are four original tiles the museums were able to reinstall at the east and west ends of the Great Hall. The Smithsonian's Office of Historic Preservation was involved every step of the way with all aspects of the building's renovation.
Posted by: Jeff | Jul 26, 2006
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