Debbie Kane

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The winter garden, shown here in an architect’s rendering, is an open gathering space surrounded by new galleries.

The Currier’s historic south façade connects the original building to the winter garden.

Visitors are greeted by Origins, a 35-foot-tall steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero, which was displayed in London and New York before being purchased by the Currier.

Getting There The Currier Museum of Art, located at 150 Ash Street in Manchester, N.H., reopens on March 30. Hours Sunday, Monday, Wednesday  through Friday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. First Thursday of each month 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Closed Tuesday Admission Rates Adult $10 | Senior $9 | Student $8 Children under 18 free For more information: 603 669-6144 | www.currier.org

The long wait is finally over for New Hampshire art lovers.

Closed for almost two years, the Currier Museum of Art is back, and with the completion of a 30,000-square-foot expansion—increasing space by 60 percent—its remarkable transformation marks a new chapter in Moody Currier’s legacy to create a museum “for the benefit and advancement of humanity.”

Visitors know something is different as soon as they pull into the new parking lot adjacent to the main entrance. Rising in front of the building is a distinctive 35-foot-high steel sculpture by artist Mark di Suvero, titled “Origins.” An orange tripod topped by a black knot, the top of the towering form floats in the wind.

“It says you’ve arrived at the Currier,” says Susan Strickler, the museum’s executive director.

The museum has come a long way. Tucked amongst Victorian homes in a residential neighborhood of Manchester, N.H., the Currier has long been called a “hidden jewel.” Small but stately, the museum has a national reputation for its collection of American and European art, including works representing New Hampshire’s cultural heritage and craftsmanship. However, although the museum’s original 1929 structure, with its grand south façade and gardens, was a popular backdrop for photographs, it was not accommodating for large groups of visitors or major art exhibitions. Prior renovations in 1982 and 1995 increased museum storage and gallery capacity, but extra space was still necessary to attract more visitors and accommodate large groups of school children.

After completing a master plan with Ann Beha Architects of Boston, the museum closed for construction in the  summer of 2006 and moved all 11,000 objects in its collections off-site. The greatest challenge for lead architect Pamela Hawkes was maintaining the Currier’s intimacy, one of its distinctive qualities, and its historic integrity (it is on the National Register of Historic Places), while expanding the building to better meet 21st century needs, such as handicapped accessibility, expanded retail space, a café, and extra restrooms.

“To accomplish the museum’s vision, we had to make substantial additions,” says Hawkes. “We kept the intimacy and tried to create a new expression on the outside of the building that respects its history.”

The result is a more visitor-friendly museum. The north lobby is a welcoming front entrance, housing a  shop, reception area, coatroom, and restrooms. Gallery space immediately beyond the front entrance features exhibits of glass and ceramics as well as a brief history of the Currier. The museum’s central court and upstairs galleries housing American and European decorative arts are largely undisturbed except for new paint colors on the walls and new installations of artwork. The pavilions on the east and west sides of the museum are unchanged except for passages into the building’s new south addition, which includes two new special exhibition galleries and a smaller gallery for sculpture and contemporary ceramics.

Downstairs in the south addition, new spaces include two education classrooms, restrooms, a 180-seat auditorium for lectures, concerts and films, and office space for museum staff.  Street-level windows let in ample outside light.

The focal point of the south addition  is a “winter garden,” created by the enclosure of the Currier’s south façade. This dramatic space, which includes a café and room for special events, links the Currier’s original building to its new galleries and preserves the museum’s original front entrance with its large, colorful tile mosaics. Created in 1930, these mosaics of Christian and pagan figures are “beloved by many visitors,” says Strickler. Directly opposite the mosaics hang two wall paintings created by abstract painter Sol LeWitt.

The mosaics were an inspiration for the brown-and-green-tinted floor of the winter garden. Tom Schulz, an artist from Charlotte, N.C., first mapped the tiles onto the floor  then created large pink, brown, yellow, green and blue “spots” on the floor, which are actually enlarged images of the original mosaic tiles. Schulz created the colors by using a stains-and-resist process, applying the colors in a polymer stain in layers. Schulz used a similar resist process on the north entrance’s concrete walkway, and outdoor walls.

The Currier opens its doors again on March 30 and will celebrate with a reinstallation of its permanent collections and a new exhibit featuring New England artists. Its first major exhibition,  Andy Warhol: Pop Politics, will be held in the fall.

The Currier’s renovations create new possibilities for the museum, says Hawkes. “One building committee member commented that ‘this (expansion) feels right for New Hampshire,’” she says. “People can appreciate the building in a whole new way.”