Summer Improvements with Preston

Preston McLane is the Director of MoFA. In this post, Preston shares a few of the improvements we’ve made at the Museum this summer. 

It has been a busy summer at MoFA.  In addition to our many digital programs and virtual exhibition projects, Museum staff have been working alongside specialists from FSU’s Master Craftsmen Studio, landscapers, and glass and concrete contractors to make improvements in several areas.

We are most excited about our enhancements to accessibility. A new door and freshly poured ramp now connect the Lower Gallery to the courtyard. MoFA’s courtyard serves both as a quiet space for contemplation and a dynamic venue for art-making activities, installations, and performances, and it is now accessible to more of our guests. Last week, Max Lee, a founding member of the Wheelchair Highwaymen, delivered a suite of photographs for the upcoming in-gallery iteration of New Landscapes and generously gave the ramp its first test run.

With the help of Mark Dickson from FSU’s Master Craftsman Studio, Wayne and Kelly refurbished the facade to the elevator in the Upstairs Gallery. After dismantling a plywood wall that had framed the doors, weeks of methodical paint removal, wire brushing, and metal polishing brought it back to the clean brick and concrete presentation original to the building.

MoFA’s front entrance is also looking better.  Earlier this year, we reinstalled Ed Love’s Bird XI outside the Museum’s main doors. FSU’s landscape gardeners have now redesigned the setting with an array of colorful ground-covering flowers to provide a fitting frame for Love’s stately sculpture.

We look forward to the time when we can welcome you back into the museum to see these and other improvements that we are making to your MoFA!