Architecture & History
When the massive Beaux Art Nelson-Atkins’ Building opened in 1933, newspapers nationwide reported visitors “amazed,” “gasping at its innovations and marveling at its luxury.” Still, times being the Great Depression, operations were modest: only three telephones serviced the entire building; lights in the galleries were turned off when people left a room; at opening and closing times, a huge bell was rung manually.
Though the Museum has grown its collection, its audience—its telephones––just as in 1933, bringing people together with art is central to all current Museum endeavors. And that goes for the major campus transformation project, the new Bloch Building as its jewel. It is merely a tool—a glorious one, true—but still, a tool for human experience with great art.
Founders
When William Rockhill Nelson arrived in Kansas City in the early 1880s, he found a raw frontier town. He pronounced it “incredibly ugly and commonplace” and determined that “if I were to live here the town must be made over.”
As founder of The Kansas City Star, Nelson soon became a crusader for civic improvements, setting out to make the city more beautiful with parks, boulevards and plantings. Perhaps his major contribution to the city’s advancement, however, was his advocacy for the creation of an art gallery.
Unknown to Nelson and the vast majority of local citizens, another area resident had dedicated herself to the acquisition and exhibition of fine art. Mary McAfee Atkins had moved to Kansas City in 1878. When her husband, James Atkins, died in 1886, he left his widow a considerable estate.
In 1927, by consensus among their respective trustees, the Nelson and Atkins funds were combined, resulting in a total of more than $3 million to build an art museum that would rival the best in the country.
Two Buildings, One Vision
Original Nelson-Atkins Building – 1933
Groundbreaking for The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, a neoclassic structure designed by Kansas City architects Wight and Wight, took place on July 16, 1930.
The structure was made of warm buff limestone with a rosy cast, quarried in William Rockhill Nelson’s home state of Indiana. Only two years were needed to erect the building, but an additional year was required for completion of the interior. Bronze and marble finishes were of the highest quality, and the greatest care was taken in their installation. The 22 acres of grounds were also thoughtfully developed into a park with plantings and paths designed to draw visitors in from the area streets, neighborhoods and shops.
A great central hall over 40 feet tall with ceiling skylights formed the heart of the interior and was flanked on either side by two-story gallery wings. The east wing bore the name of the Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and the remainder of the building was officially titled the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art. In 1983, on the occasion of the Museum’s 50th anniversary, the institution became known as The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Bloch Building – 2007
The same aspirations that created the original Nelson-Atkins building characterize the new Bloch Building. As the Nelson-Atkins entered the 21st century, Museum leaders embarked on an ambitious capital campaign to expand the Nelson-Atkins’ capacity to engage, educate and serve the community.
The result of that vision was unveiled on June 9, 2007 with the opening of the Bloch Building, named in honor of Henry W. Bloch and his wife Marion. Mr. Bloch is the Chairman of the Nelson-Atkins’ Board of Trustees. The slender, elongated extension connects to the eastern end of the 1933 building and runs 840 feet along the eastern edge of the Museum’s Sculpture Park.
The new building provides a delicate counterpoint to the Beaux-Arts Nelson-Atkins Building, respecting the earlier architecture and the community’s wishes to retain the integrity of the iconic silhouette. The Bloch Building’s subdued architectural statement is innovative and adds a strikingly contemporary note to the Museum campus.
