This
small museum specializing in works on paper required extensive renovations to
its public, conservation and office areas as well as a complete upgrade to
museum-quality climate systems. After completing these improvements in 2000,
Weisz + Yoes was asked for a space-need feasibility study that led to a further
commission as the consulting architects for the Drawing Center’s long-term
expansion strategy. The firm led the unique institution’s consideration of
sites for a new home first at The World Trade Center site and then at the New
Market Site at the Old Fulton Fish Market, but eventually The Drawing Center
decided to stay at its iconic Wooster Street home.
ReDraw
was initiated as the capital project for 35 Wooster Street to expand and
renovate the galleries and create dedicated spaces for education programs and
artist services. The new Drawing Center is 9,000 square feet with 50% more gallery
and programming space. The main architectural plan for ReDraw connects a new
ground floor bookstore, visitor services desk, Main Gallery, and sky-lit
Drawing Room gallery to office spaces on the second floor and a renovated basement. The new lower level includes a room dedicated
to art education, a conference room for artists and curators, and The Lab,
which features a media system for exhibitions and public programs. This allows
the museum to provide artists, students, and visitors with the facilities to
further explore issues raised by the dynamic and evolving drawing medium well
into the 21st century.