Benton Museum of Art Public Opening

Feature
News

Published
November, 2021

Tags
Benton Museum of Art, Event

Pomona College’s new Benton Museum of Art publicly celebrated its opening on Saturday, November 13th. The family-friendly event included hands-on art activities, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, live music, and, of course, the opportunity to tour the new museum.

Opening Event

Courtesy of Pomona College.

Formal and material details of the Benton Museum

The program for the Benton Museum is a direct result of the educational mission of the institution. The Architecture creates the experience of a major, world-class, 21st century museum albeit in a relatively small footprint. The Architecture also provides unique and innovative methods of interacting with art through the arrangement of its galleries, art storage, art handling routes, educational spaces, and archival vaults.

Benton gallery. Courtesy of the Benton Museum of Art

The Benton Museum of Art has been praised in local and national publications. Below is a selection of notable coverage:

“I’ve rarely seen a more thoughtful, comprehensive, economically efficient building project. The new building, [is] a perfect gem.”

– Brian T. Allen, “The Beautiful Benton Museum,” The National Review

“At their best, college art museums serve multiple functions. First and foremost, they are teaching facilities where students learn art history and museum curating skills. But often they are also local and regional cultural resources. The new Benton Art Museum... is such a place.”

– James McCown, “The Benton Art Museum brings Mediterranean flair to Pomona College,” The Architect's Newspaper

Designed in collaboration with Gensler LA, the Benton Museum of Art offers a vibrant, contemporary, and highly relevant art program at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Underscoring openness and accessibility the Museum has multiple entrances, outdoor sculpture gardens, community courtyards, and large expansive glazing. The architecture provides unparalleled access to its extensive collections of Western and Native American Art through a unique approach to art study rooms and archival spaces. The Benton is LEED Gold Certified with one of the lowest EUI’s (Energy Use Intensity) of any museum in California. And the design references the Beaux-Arts tradition of the Pomona College campus with its courtyards, porticos, organizing arcades and expressive, cast-in-place, concrete construction.

Related Content

  • The Benton Museum creates the conditions of a museum much larger than itself as a means of revealing the reality of museum curation and experience to students. Learn more about the project here.

  • On the student-produced, Inside the Benton podcast, Jeffry talks about the design of the new Benton Museum of Art; the design inspiration, important connections to the campus and surrounding community and his hopes for the future of the museum. Listen to the podcast in full here.

  • Pomona College’s newly completed Benton Museum of Art is the American Concrete Institute, Southern California Chapter, 2019 recipient of the Innovative Uses of Concrete in Construction Award. A teaching museum, the Benton presents the conditions of a museum much larger than itself as a means of revealing the realities of museum curation and exhibition to students. Read more about the award here.

  • Project updates, upcoming events, construction features, & site visits — Continue exploring news articles and stories here.