During the 36 years that the Polk Museum of Art building has become a fixture in Lakeland, its collections have outgrown its galleries—what began as a grouping of 500 treasured objects in 1988 has multiplied to more than 3,400 masterpieces in those three-plus decades. The need for space inspired those who were determined to erect a museum in the first place to keep a dream alive with an expansion (to be revealed in late fall) that will showcase more of the institution’s prized collections, serve as an educational hub for the community, and further solidify the venue’s affiliation with Florida Southern College.
Alex Rich, the executive director and chief curator of the museum (renamed The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art as this issue was going to press), becomes animated when describing what’s driven these dynamic developments: “Our mission and our needs have evolved over the past 36 years because we’ve enhanced the experience we provide for everyone who walks through our doors,” he says. “We want an expansion that will echo the twenty-first century nature of the museum and help us leap into the future.”
A major partner in this undertaking is the firm noted for the design of the original museum, Straughn Trout Architects. “As a legacy project for our firm, we were compelled to tether the expanded design to the original structure,” says Tim Hoeft, STA’s current managing principal, pointing out that his team’s main goal with the new addition is creating cohesion. “By articulating a few deliberate echoes of materiality and form, we have crafted a contemporary addition while maintaining the integrity of the original modernist building.”
In the late 1980s, it was one of the founding partners of the firm, Jerry Trout, who drove the design program and spent many hours drawing the plans for the Taxdal Gallery, where the museum’s collection of pre-Columbian era artifacts are on view. Rich says that space has greatly informed the expansion: “I don’t think we would have envisioned the spaces we’re planning now if we hadn’t had the Taxdal Gallery to use as a springboard.”
Hoeft points out that client forethought has made the project a seamless experience: “It is inspiring to work with someone who has such a clear vision for the future.” This is evident in Rich’s understanding of the effort they are tackling: “A museum is a different beast of a building and there is nothing quite like it,” he explains. “Besides temperature control, there is the placement of windows and the flow of bodies through space to consider.” Additionally, there are technological advances the designers need to take into account and materials that simply didn’t exist when Straughn Trout designed the museum in 1988 that must be considered. Among these is the high-performance glass with UV glazing that will be used throughout the museum, allowing natural light to flow into spaces without fear it will damage the art. This modern flexibility makes everyone involved thrilled to be watching an evolutionary project unfold.
“The continuous façade that Tim and his team have come up with is a wonderful through-line of fluidity that will create continuity between the two buildings,” says Rich. “The fact that visitors will still walk through the original building before they move into the expansion means they will go on a journey from the past to the future.”
Rich credits the Straughn Trout team for helping them identify the elements that will work best with the museum’s collections and support an expanded educational mission. The desire for teaching spaces has intensified since the original structure was built because the museum now has a stronger affiliation with Florida Southern College, one that allows the school’s undergraduates to experience educational programming.
“We are proud that our work at the museum will provide FSC students with a more dynamic exploration of art,” says Hoeft. His firm’s involvement brings an extra layer of satisfaction because the connection between the museum and the college has a legacy hook that a famous architect brought to town many decades ago—a collection of 18 buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the college campus between 1938 and 1958.
“This museum expansion is the latest iteration of an architectural vision that has become synonymous with Lakeland,” adds Hoeft. “Everyone involved in this project is very proud of that.”
Story Credits:
Story by Saxon Henry
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