Joslyn Art Museum Reveals Snøhetta's Bold Expansion Ahead of September Launch

Snøhetta’s Joslyn Art Museum expansion set to open in September

The Joslyn Art Museum, located in Omaha, Nebraska, has announced the near completion of a two-year, $100 million expansion project. The project was designed by Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture and includes the construction of the Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion on the museum’s grounds. The expansion will increase the gallery capacity by 40% to accommodate the museum’s growing art collection. The CEO of Joslyn, Jack Becker, praised the firm’s approach in designing the 42,000-square-foot extension, calling it “sensitive and imaginative.” The expansion is part of a more significant effort by the state and private entities to revitalize downtown Omaha in the coming decades.

The pavilion’s exterior at the Joslyn Art Museum now boasts pre-cast panels incorporating pink aggregate. The design was inspired by the marble materials used in the facades of other museum structures, dating back to 1931 and 1994. The pavilion is seamlessly connected to two different buildings via a newly constructed entrance on Davenport Street. A sweeping glass atrium is a synapse to unite the structures, and the outdoor “rooms” and raised sculpture garden create a cohesive whole.

Snøhetta designed the Joslyn Art Museum pavilion with a central volume on top of two granite walls. This creates a “weightless effect” that symbolizes the Great Plains landscape’s vastness and Prairie School architecture’s horizontal design language.

A curved staircase within the atrium guides visitors into the re-installed collection at the Joslyn Art Museum, which spans nearly 5,000 years and features a recent significant acquisition of contemporary art and selections from a special endowment by Omaha-born artist Ed Ruscha. Additionally, the project brief included renovating the café and office spaces within the Art Deco Joslyn Memorial building. This project aims to unify and enable a significant new presentation of Joslyn’s collections to reach more diverse audiences for future generations.

In a press release about the expansion of the Joslyn Art Museum, Dykers stated that their goal is to create a peaceful atmosphere that brings together visitors, art, and events to inspire and encourage creativity. Moreover, Pentagram is set to reveal the museum’s new visual identity in April. The Joslyn Art Museum will reopen to the public on September 10.