The Yale Center for British Art is preparing to reopen to the public on March 29 after being closed for two years for a building conservation project.
During the closure, the museum replaced more than 224 skylights, all while preserving the building designed by late American architect Louis Kahn. One unique element of Kahn’s design was implementing domed plexiglass skylights.
Although the skylights had never been replaced since the museum opened in 1977, they were replaced during the closure to ensure the roof was properly sealed, said Martina Droth, director of the Yale Center for British Art.
“We have 224 skylights on our fourth floor, so the galleries are actually in daylight, which is kind of an unusual way to experience art,” Droth said.
“It's a very specific way where you have the play of light, and as the clouds pass and as the sun moves, you constantly feel the change of the light and the atmosphere and the galleries.”
Additionally, the lighting system was updated from halogen lights to LED. Droth said the renovations increased the building’s energy efficiency by 60%.
The Yale Center for British Art is the only museum outside of Britain that presents five centuries of British art and culture, Droth said.
The reopening event will feature artists like Joseph Mallord William Turner and Tracey Emin . This will be Emin’s first major exhibit presentation in a North American museum.
“Almost half of all the artists that you'll see weren't actually born in Britain. They came from other countries,” Droth said. “They migrated to Britain and built their careers there, and then there are other artists who were born in Britain who left and made their careers in other parts of the world.”
“Wherever we find ourselves in the world, there's constant movement of people. There's a constant exchange of culture. So, I hope people will find that British art is really an international story that resonates with the way in which culture evolves today,” Droth said.
