Reimagining the Cultural Campus / Future—Forward / Artis

Reimagining the Cultural Campus

Dynamic spaces
The Baker Museum
Repair and Expansion

The First Project of our Master Plan for the Kimberly K. Querrey and Louis A. Simpson Cultural Campus encompassed two primary elements. First, the repair of The Baker Museum, and second, the expansion of the building to the south to create 18,000 square feet of new spaces for education, chamber music, social engagement and permanent collection installations.

Each new element of the repair and expansion was designed with the interdisciplinary mission of Artis—Naples in mind — providing maximum flexibility for artistic exploration for years to come. This project replaced and significantly upgraded the facade of The Baker Museum, damaged during Hurricane Irma, with architecturally distinctive curved exterior stone and metal cladding systems to ensure robust resistance against future storms. The monumental exterior David and Cecile Wang Grand Staircase leads to the new second-floor flexible event space. In addition to The Blair Foundation Gallery and new expansion space lobbies, two repurposed galleries of The Baker Museum have increased exhibition space for the permanent collection and traveling exhibitions. Another exciting addition is the Nancy and Lanny Baird Sunset Terrace on the third floor, which provides views to the west of the Gulf of Mexico coastline.

The Baker Museum reopened in December 2019, and the expansion project to the south opened in fall 2020. On November 1, 2020, the museum reopened to the public for its 20th anniversary season, which was anchored by the landmark exhibition Chihuly: Then and Now. The exhibition closed in February 2021, when the exciting announcement was made that a new campaign commitment by Patty and Jay Baker and Jeanette Montgomery Evert and Herbert P. Evert would help acquire Chihuly’s stunning Red Reeds for the museum’s permanent collection.

Future—Forward Campaign Supporters

Gifts received toward pillar: $20.9 million of the $95+ million committed to the Future—Forward Campaign

In early 2017, Artis—Naples retained internationally renowned architecture/landscape/urbanism firm Weiss/Manfredi to create a new campus Master Plan, envisioning the future of our 8.5-acre Kimberly K. Querrey and Louis A. Simpson Cultural Campus. As part of our Future—Forward campaign, the aim was to think beyond how we use our space today for visual and performing arts and evolve to reflect the community’s expectations and aspirations for the future of Artis—Naples.

To ensure that the reimagined cultural campus reflects the vision of the community, we asked our patrons, board members, partners and staff what an ideal version of our cultural campus would include. More than 1,000 people provided comments. Those ideas were brilliantly realized by Weiss/Manfredi in the Master Plan.

Weiss/Manfredi

Weiss/Manfredi are internationally renowned architects, landscape designers and urban development visionaries led by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi. Noted for clarity of vision, bold and iconic forms and material innovation, Weiss/Manfredi is at the forefront of architectural design practices that are redefining the relationships between landscape, architecture, infrastructure and art. The firm won international acclaim for its design of the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, which has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art, the Biennial of Landscape Architecture Barcelona and the National Building Museum.

Other notable projects include: a competition-winning design for Sylvan Theater on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Nelson-Atkins Museum Cultural Arts District Master Plan, the Kent State Center for Architecture and Environmental Design and the recently completed Marshall Family Performing Arts Center in Addison, Texas.

Meet Weiss/Manfredi