ATLANTA, GEORGIA.- The High Museum of Art opened its expanded facilities to the public on November 12, 2005, welcoming nearly 30,000 visitors to its vibrant new campus at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta. Open with extended hours and free admission throughout the weekend, visitors came from throughout the region to explore the new High and participate in a range of family-oriented activities organized by the Museum and the other Woodruff Arts Center divisions.

Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the expanded High comprises three new buildings that more than double the Museum’s size and a public piazza that opens the Woodruff Arts Center to the community and surrounding neighborhood. Along with the reinstallation of the permanent collection, two special exhibitions are presented within the Museum’s new gallery spaces: “Andrew Wyeth: Memory & Magic,” a retrospective of the artist’s seven-decade long career and “Celebrate Architecture! Renzo Piano & Building Workshop,” an internationally touring survey of current and recently completed projects designed by Piano.

The new buildings have been lauded by art and architecture critics for their “impeccable proportions and details, innovative use of light and space, [and] sensitivity to the surroundings” (Cathleen McGuigan, Newsweek). The interior gallery spaces are deemed “sublimely elegant but also practical” (Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times) and have “a synergy of scale, proportion and natural light” (Cathy Fox, Atlanta Journal-Constitution). In the realization of his vision for the “village for the arts,” critics have praised Piano for successfully “orchestrating a dialogue in the same architectural language of scale, detailing, and white cladding” as the original Meier-designed building and for turning the “isolated architectural icon into a connected campus of buildings” (Christopher Hawthorne, The Los Angeles Times).

“This is an exciting moment both for the High and for Atlanta,” said Michael E. Shapiro, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. Director of the High Museum of Art. “Through his mastery of light and space, Renzo Piano has helped to transform the High and the Woodruff Arts Center into a true destination for the arts in Atlanta. The community’s enthusiastic response to our new facilities has been gratifying, and we are pleased to be presenting an increased schedule of dynamic exhibitions and educational programs to meet the needs and interests of our diverse audiences.”

The 177,000-square-foot expansion designed by Piano strengthens the High’s role as the premier art museum in the Southeast, allowing the Museum to display more of its permanent collection, increase its special exhibition programming, and offer new visitor amenities. Key design features of the new buildings include transparent glass walls on the piazza level, enclosed pedestrian bridges that link the new gallery buildings to each other and to the original Stent Family Wing, a special roof system of 1,000 light scoops that capture northern light and filter it into the skyway level galleries, and an array of indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces to showcase the core strengths of the Museum’s collection.

Over 5,400 individuals and families in Atlanta and beyond expressed their support for the expanded High and Woodruff Arts Center through contributions to the capital campaign with gifts ranging in size from $25 to $12 million. To date, the High and Woodruff Arts Center have raised $163.9 million towards a total goal of $178.4 million, which includes $109.3 million for the Museum’s expansion, $54.1 million for the upgrade of the Woodruff Arts Center, and $15 million for the High’s endowment. This resounding support has transformed the High and Woodruff Arts campus into a cultural hub and “village for the arts” where visitors can experience the finest art, music and theatre in the city.