Saginaw Art Museum renovations bring life to collections

After 65 years, the Saginaw Art Museum has a grand new look that showcases some forgotten treasures.

It has been amazing to see it go up. It has been amazing to see the regions reaction to what we have here, said Stacey Gannon, executive director. Ive had six longtime patrons whove come in and been reduced to tears. They said, I never knew.

The first phase of a 20-month, $2.5 million renovation has brought 11 newly designed gallery spaces and specially designed display furniture. A solarium has been added, so the sculpture gallery looks out on Michigan Avenue and is lit at night for passersby, and in the spring there will be work outdoors.

Gannon joined the museum in February 2013.

One of the first steps for me was to really assess what we had here, she said. The collections director had announced plans to move out of the area so world-class consultant Jim Tottis was brought in and the pair spent the summer of 2013 going through the permanent collection piece by piece, looking for strengths, themes and work that needed to be conserved.

What Jim did was he specifically designed all these gallery spaces to the work that was going in them, she said. The placement is thoughtful, with touches such as acclaimed en plein air (in the open air) paintings by Camille Corot placed on a wall with windows that look out onto the formal gardens.

He also grouped work by region, so now visitors begin in a red gallery of British work, move into a blue gallery devoted to France and view American landscapes upstairs.

Graphic design is displayed on the second floor. Even rotating, We have enough in our permanent collection to keep that going for three to five years, Gannon said. A grouping on the main floor is devoted to nature.

In a light-filled breezeway between the main building and the huge gallery devoted to visiting exhibitions there are Civil War-era sculptures by John Rogers. We have 18 of these sculptures; the Detroit Institute of Arts has one.

In the basement hang plans for the Ring Home, along with photos of how the Georgian Revival mansion and formal gardens looked in 1912. The architects grandson designed the modern wings that now flank the original 1904 structure.

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Saginaw Art Museum renovations bring life to collections