Nevada Museum of Art

With the expansion of the Nevada Museum of Art, LJC continues its collaborative relationship with architect Will Bruder FAIA as the Executive Architect for the addition to and reprogramming of the institution’s flagship building.

Strategically divided into two phases, the project design has been developed to allow the museum to provide continuous, uninterrupted programming to serve its community.

The project’s first phase, completed in the spring of 2023, included modernization of the existing mechanical systems, expansion of the curatorial and administrative areas, and a reworking of the exterior sculpture courtyard to increase public accessibility.

In dialogue with the foundation building, phase two of the project expands the museum to the south to occupy the remainder of the city block and provide enhanced access by providing a new public entry from California Street. Crafted in response to the local ecology of the high desert, the building is clad in a palette of terra cotta tile, box rib metal panel, weathered steel, and glazed apertures extending the architectural vocabulary of the museum’s flagship building completed in 2003.

Since its completion, the expansion has enabled the museum to extend its mission and outreach by increasing the gallery space on levels two and three, providing an elevated outdoor sculpture and landscaped garden, a library, an expanded Art+Environment archive and research center, additional education facilities, a bookstore, and art support spaces.

Phasing

Strategically divided into two phases, the project design was developed to allow the museum to remain open and provide continuous, uninterrupted programming to serve the Reno community. The project’s first phase, completed in the spring of 2023, included modernization of the existing mechanical systems, expansion of the curatorial and administrative areas, and a reworking of the exterior sculpture courtyard to increase public accessibility and accommodate current and future public installations.

In dialogue with the existing foundation building, the second phase of the project expands the museum to the south with an addition that provides new research and education space in the Center for Art + Environment; a new library, increasing access to 25,000 volumes of special collections, unique objects, and publications; additional galleries, increasing permanent collection display space from 5% to 50% of the total exhibition area; a new art collections storage and conservation area, including a dedicated fine art delivery bay; a new bookshop; energy-efficient building upgrades; additional parking; and a third-floor sculpture garden.

The expansion project also plays a major role in the museum’s ambitious 2030 sustainability action plan aimed at reducing its carbon emissions as well as building emissions and energy consumption. The action plan places a heavy focus on improving energy load and consumption through its mechanical and lighting system upgrades to higher-efficiency infrastructures.