Displaying items by tag: meatpacking district

When the Whitney Museum of American Art opens its new building in Manhattan’s meatpacking district on May 1, it’s the big things everyone will notice first: the sweeping views west to the Hudson River; the romantic silhouettes of Manhattan’s wooden water towers; the four outdoor terraces for presenting sculptures, performances and movie screenings; and the tiered profile of its steel-paneled facade, intentionally reminiscent of the Whitney’s Modernist, granite-clad Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue, which had been the museum’s home since 1966.

Its new digs, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, also offer commodious interior spaces: 50,000 square feet of galleries, unencumbered by structural columns, and huge elevators that are themselves immersive environments, the work of the artist Richard Artschwager.

On November 19, during the Whitney Museum of American Art’s annual fall gala, director Adam D. Weinberg announced that the institution’s long-awaited downtown location will open on May 1, 2015. The Whitney closed the doors of its Brutalist Marcel Breuer building last month, following a wildly successful Jeff Koons retrospective. The building, which was the Whitney’s home for nearly fifty years, will be leased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the next eight years, with the possibility of extending the agreement for a longer term. The Met plans to present exhibitions and educational programming in the iconic building.

The Whitney’s new home will be located at 99 Gansevoort Street in New York City’s vibrant meatpacking district, between the High Line, an elevated linear park, and the Hudson River. Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the new building will roughly double the Whitney’s exhibition and programming space, allowing the first comprehensive presentation of its collection of modern and contemporary American art.

Christie’s announced this week that it has named Doug Woodham the president of Christie’s Americas. Woodham has spent the last 20 years working in finance, technology, and business, holding jobs at UBS Wealth Management and Moody’s KMV, an analytics company that helps capital markets and credit risk management professionals worldwide.

Christie’s former president, Marc Porter, is now the international head of private sales and will continue to serve as the chairman of Christie’s Americas. Woodham, who will report directly to Christie’s CEO Steven Murphy, will be responsible for the overall management of the company in the Americas.

Woodham’s art world experience includes a two-year stint as the co-chair of the American Fellows patron program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He played a pivotal role in developing a financial plan for funding the Whitney’s new building; a Renzo Piano designed the $750 million structure that will open in New York’s meatpacking district in 2015.