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Sure, Belgium and Florida would be nice. But—we hear you asking—what can we drive to? We've got you covered, with tips for four fall trips within 400 miles
KC’s New Nelson-Atkins
By Stephen SchenkenbergThough it should be enough that Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (nelson-atkins.org) has one of the finest comprehensive collections in the country, there’s now another reason to go: Its new addition, known as the Bloch Building, is a stunner. And considering our Saint Louis Art Museum will break ground next year on its own major expansion, it’s a stunner we’d do well to keep in mind. The overly competitive (or nostalgic) might want to turn this into an I-70 Museum Showdown, but we prefer to see it as a win-win for the region.
The reviews for the $200 million Nelson-Atkins project have been wonderful. The New York Times called it “breathtaking”; The New Yorker deemed the transformed building “one of the best museums of the last generation”; Time, with a light pat to our Midwestern heads, offered the following: “This may not sound like an idea that would go over in Kansas City, but the local opposition, what there was of it, folded long ago. Beauty is an argument that doesn’t take no for an answer.”
What was the idea? American architect Steven Holl conceived of a series of five translucent glass boxes—he calls them “lenses”—which he’s planted down one side of the museum’s campus; the lenses are linked underground by galleries, and they’ve been applauded not just for how well they integrate with the surrounding landscape, but also for how beautifully they house works of art inside (something the recently expanded Denver Art Museum has been criticized for forgetting).
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Because the Bloch Building’s lenses look different depending on the natural light, we recommend a two-day visit—a late-afternoon arrival, say, followed by a second look early the next morning. Just don’t go falling in love with it. Art Hill will start to miss you.
