New Glenstone Museum Taking Reservations For Grand Opening

POTOMAC, MD — Since opening 12 years ago, the Glenstone Museum has made a used its 100-acre landscape to showcase art and sculpture. But on Oct. 4, the museum will unveil a lengthy expansion project inaugurating a 204,000 square-foot museum building known as the Pavilions, a group of new visitor amenities and an additional 130 acres of landscape.

Guests hoping to see the museum's newest facilities are encouraged to schedule reservations in advance. Reservations are now available for visits through the end of November. Additional tickets will be released on the first of every month beginning October 1 for the upcoming 3 months.

“After years of planning and building, we’re excited to reach this moment when we’re ready to share so much more of the Glenstone collection with the public,” said Emily Wei Rales, director and co-founder of Glenstone. “We look forward to welcoming visitors soon to our fully realized vision of art, architecture, and landscape combined in a single experience.”

The expansion provides 50,000 square-feet of new indoor exhibition space in the Pavilions, added to the 9,000 square-feet of exhibition space in the existing museum building known as the Gallery. It also more than doubles the natural landscape, which features the museum’s outdoor sculptures, and offers two new cafés for lunch and light refreshments, a new public entrance, and an Arrival Hall with a bookstore.

“We’ve worked carefully to create a visitor experience unlike any other, providing each visitor with an unhurried, contemplative engagement with the artworks,” said Emily Wei Rales, co-founder and director of Glenstone Museum. “As we look forward to the opening, we’re deeply grateful to our architect Tom Phifer, Adam Greenspan at PWP Landscape Architecture, and the entire team that has worked with us to realize this project. Above all, we’re grateful to the artists who have collaborated with us to present their groundbreaking works in this setting.”

The Pavilions comprises 13 distinct spaces installed with artworks drawn exclusively from Glenstone’s collection. Some of the spaces will be dedicated to single-artist installations, while others will feature regularly changing exhibitions of works by multiple artists.

Glenstone is open Thursdays through Sundays, 10 am to 5 pm. Visitors are invited to explore the grounds on their own or join one of several outdoor sculpture tours offered throughout the day. Admission to Glenstone is free and visits can be scheduled online at: www.glenstone.org. Same-day visits can be scheduled using the website or a smartphone.

Image via Iwan Baan, Glenstone — used with permission