September 16, 2011
The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Bidwell Foundation join forces to create the Transformer Station gallery in Ohio City
Fred and Laura Bidwell of Akron, shown inside their Transformer Station building, are changing the terms of cultural philanthropy in Cleveland through an innovative gallery project in the building in partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Art. Photo: Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the first time in its 95-year history, the Cleveland Museum of Art is creating a permanent artistic presence on the city’s West Side.
In collaboration with the nationally recognized Akron art collectors Fred and Laura Bidwell, the museum will announce today at a news conference that it plans to open a 3,500-square-foot gallery in the former Cleveland Railway Co. transformer station at 1460 West 29th St. in Ohio City, a block south of Detroit Avenue.
September 16, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Alison Bibb-Carson, 216-707-6898, abibbcarson@clevelandart.org
Caroline Guscott, 216-707-2261,cguscott@clevelandart.org
Cleveland Museum of Art Collaborates with Regional Foundation
to Expand Reach into Cleveland’s West Side
The Transformer Station will provide additional venue for contemporary art in Northeast Ohio
CLEVELAND (September 16, 2011) — The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation today announced a collaboration that will bring additional exposure for contemporary art to Northeast Ohio and for the first time in its history expand aspects of the museum’s programming and exhibitions to dedicated space outside of its University Circle campus. Titled the Transformer Station, this new arts venue takes root in a former transformer station built in 1924 at 1460 West 29th Street in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Construction will begin immediately to restore the original building and build an expansion, designed by Process Creative Studios in Ohio City, with a total footprint of nearly 8,000 square feet when completed. The facility may open to the public as early as fourth quarter 2012 with its first programs and exhibitions.
