Harvard Art Museum, Latest Drawings

By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff | May 13, 2008

Back in 1999, when Harvard proposed building a pair of new art museums on the Charles River, the Cambridge neighbors were less than enthusiastic. One resident reacted by putting a sign on his home reading "Stop Harvard Museums."

Then in 2006, the university announced plans to build an art museum in Allston. But neighbors complained about its size and the amount of space accessible to the public.

This time around, Harvard is being careful. No glitzy press conferences or snazzy videos showing virtual tours - typical when museums announce building plans. Instead, Harvard Art Museum leaders have quietly held open houses and attended community meetings to make sure Cambridge residents approve of their latest multiyear project: reshaping the Quincy Street quarters that currently house the Fogg Art Museum and Busch-Reisinger Museum.

The plan is the focus of an exhibition that opens at the Fogg on Sunday, "Renzo Piano's Art Museum for Harvard." The show will offer a peek at the architect's sketches for the new museum complex, which call for knocking down the existing Busch-Reisinger and renovating the Fogg. All three of Harvard's museums - the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum - will ultimately be housed within one complex. (The Sackler is now across the street on Broadway in a building that will be repurposed.)

When the exhibit closes on June 30, so will the Fogg - until about 2013. The Harvard Art Museum's sole public presence will be a revolving display of works at the Sackler.

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