Museum Matchup
The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) just pumped $72 million into renovations, and the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) just opened its doors. Here’s how the spaces — old favorite and new underdog — stack up:
The North Carolina Museum of Art
THE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART
2110 Blue Ridge Rd; 919-939-6262; ncartmuseum.org
RESIDES IN
Original buildings designed by Edward Durrell Stone, a prominent architect in the early 1900s, and Thomas Phifer, an award-winning contemporary architect
YEAR OPENED
1956 (original site); 1983 (current site)
SIZE
164 acres, including the museum park
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Yes
OLDEST HOLDING
5,000 years old
FUNDING
30% public, 70% private
ENDOWMENT
Yes, to the tune of $25.1 million
FLOORS
4 (East Building); 1 (West Building)
NUMBER OF WORKS IN COLLECTION
3,866
ADMISSION TO MAIN COLLECTIONS
Free
BEST ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE
Automated shutters admit natural light into the new West building, which is 50% glass
TYPICAL ARTISTS (A.K.A. NAMES YOU KNOW, NAMES YOU DON’T)
Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, Gerhard Richter, Winslow Homer, Frank Stella, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Cornell
CURATORIAL STRENGTHS
European painting from the Renaissance to the 19th century; Egyptian funerary art; ancient Grecian and Roman pottery; American art from the 18th through 20th centurie
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM
409 W Martin St; 919-513-0946; camraleigh.org
RESIDES IN
A former produce warehouse
YEAR OPENED
2011
SIZE
20,000 square feet
PERMANENT COLLECTION
No
OLDEST HOLDING
Modern only; This month, the oldest piece will be 15 years old.
FUNDING
100% private
ENDOWMENT
No
FLOORS
3
NUMBER OF WORKS IN COLLECTION
30-120, depending on exhibition
ADMISSION TO MAIN COLLECTIONS
$5
BEST ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE
A dramatic, fin-shaped canopy roof
TYPICAL ARTISTS (A.K.A. NAMES YOU KNOW, NAMES YOU DON’T)
Dan Steinhilber, Rebecca Ward, Naoko Ito, Marcel Wanders, Paul Noble, Vik Muniz
CURATORIAL STRENGTHS
Contemporary art and design; emerging and mid-career artists; new media
FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Allen Clapp — an instructor at the newly opened Carter Building Art Center, an artistrun cooperative that houses dozens of studios — offers his take on the museums:
How does CAM compare to NCMA?
“The two museums are really quite different. [The NCMA] is much larger, much older, and has endowments to help it acquire large works. CAM, meanwhile, is helping revitalize the downtown art district. There are several new galleries there now, and more are coming. As a result of CAM, some of the other buildings in that area are being considered for working artist spaces. So CAM has really been a spark to revitalize part of downtown Raleigh.”
What might visitors find at each?
“NCMA has all ranges of art: contemporary, old masters, sculpture, everything. So you don’t necessarily go there for one type of art, although you can. CAM is going to be a little bit more on the forefront in many cases. The emphasis for NCMA is quite broad. It’s many times the size of CAM, and they’ve got things that are thousands of years old, as opposed to being only contemporary.”
How about the architecture?
“They have different feels, but both are very professionally done spaces. The new building at NCMA has been winning awards all over the world as a new way to treat the museum atmosphere — it's very open, so viewers can make visual connections across many parts of the collection. CAM was designed for a slightly different thing, because it has space for performance art. Not just paintings on a wall, not just sculpture — it’s a very adaptable space.”
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