Mover over, MoMA. While Manhattan's new-and-improved modern art museum is packing in guests for events, more new museums across the nation and overseas are also hot venues for corporate events, many with specially designed event spaces and catering by celebrity chefs.
The Walker Art Center (612.375.7600) in Minneapolis opened its new building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, in April. The museum's facilities available for rental include a lounge facing a sculpture garden (the garden's expansion will be complete next year); a café with outdoor terraces; a room that overlooks downtown Minneapolis and holds 450 people; a theater; an auditorium; and lecture and conference rooms. The museum also has a restaurant run by Wolfgang Puck, who caters in the other spaces.
The Modern Art Museum (817.738.9215) in Fort Worth, whose architecture by Tadao Ando has received global acclaim, is also available for rental; spaces here include the lobby, auditorium, boardroom, and Café Modern, a highly praised restaurant. Bon Appetit does the catering at the café and for corporate functions.
Having such a mix of spaces in one location—as many museums do—was a clear benefit for Ethan Benso, the trade commissioner for the Canadian Consulate General in Dallas, who recently used the Modern for a documentary screening for some 100 guests. "We needed a theater with state-of the-art equipment," he said, as well as a space for a reception. "It was all self-contained, we didn't have to move people."
A small jewel of a museum in Dallas, the Nasher Sculpture Center (214.242.5100) houses the world-class sculpture collection of developer Raymond Nasher, and can be rented in full or in part; its outdoor sculpture garden is an especially enticing setting. One highlight of entertaining at the Nasher: The in-house caterer is the restaurant headed by chef Dean Fearing of the world-renowned Dallas hotel the Mansion on Turtle Creek.
The de Young Museum (415.750.3683) in San Francisco, now under renovation, will be available for corporate entertaining next January; the observations floor in the Hamon Tower will offer panoramic views of the city, and there will also be a café, a 288-seat auditorium, and a number of outdoor spaces suitable for parties.
One of the most-lauded new buildings in the country is the Contemporary Arts Center (513.345.8415) in Cincinnati, which was designed by Zaha Hadid, another Pritzker winner. (It's been open for two years, but it's Hadid's only building in this country, and New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp called it "the most important American building to be completed since the end of the cold war.") Its boardroom, lobby, and performance space can be used for events.
Also in Cincinnati, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (513.333.7500) opened last August with an interactive environmental theater, hall of "everyday freedom heroes," and other exhibits; the museum uses its in-house caterer, Bensons/BB Riverboats Catering, for corporate events.
Another option for history-minded guests is the Churchill Museum (011.44.207.930.6961) in London, which opened in February and explores the public and private lives of Sir Winston Churchill. Occupying space used by Churchill during World War II, the museum is connected to a 140-seat auditorium that has the latest audiovisual equipment. A special package available for corporate events includes use of the auditorium and a room used during the war, canapés and champagne, priced at £40 per person, plus VAT, for 250 to 350 guests.
—Jane L. Levere
Photos: Courtesy of the Walker Art Center, David Woo (Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth)
This story originally appeared in the August/September 2005 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.
The Walker Art Center (612.375.7600) in Minneapolis opened its new building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, in April. The museum's facilities available for rental include a lounge facing a sculpture garden (the garden's expansion will be complete next year); a café with outdoor terraces; a room that overlooks downtown Minneapolis and holds 450 people; a theater; an auditorium; and lecture and conference rooms. The museum also has a restaurant run by Wolfgang Puck, who caters in the other spaces.
The Modern Art Museum (817.738.9215) in Fort Worth, whose architecture by Tadao Ando has received global acclaim, is also available for rental; spaces here include the lobby, auditorium, boardroom, and Café Modern, a highly praised restaurant. Bon Appetit does the catering at the café and for corporate functions.
Having such a mix of spaces in one location—as many museums do—was a clear benefit for Ethan Benso, the trade commissioner for the Canadian Consulate General in Dallas, who recently used the Modern for a documentary screening for some 100 guests. "We needed a theater with state-of the-art equipment," he said, as well as a space for a reception. "It was all self-contained, we didn't have to move people."
A small jewel of a museum in Dallas, the Nasher Sculpture Center (214.242.5100) houses the world-class sculpture collection of developer Raymond Nasher, and can be rented in full or in part; its outdoor sculpture garden is an especially enticing setting. One highlight of entertaining at the Nasher: The in-house caterer is the restaurant headed by chef Dean Fearing of the world-renowned Dallas hotel the Mansion on Turtle Creek.
The de Young Museum (415.750.3683) in San Francisco, now under renovation, will be available for corporate entertaining next January; the observations floor in the Hamon Tower will offer panoramic views of the city, and there will also be a café, a 288-seat auditorium, and a number of outdoor spaces suitable for parties.
One of the most-lauded new buildings in the country is the Contemporary Arts Center (513.345.8415) in Cincinnati, which was designed by Zaha Hadid, another Pritzker winner. (It's been open for two years, but it's Hadid's only building in this country, and New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp called it "the most important American building to be completed since the end of the cold war.") Its boardroom, lobby, and performance space can be used for events.
Also in Cincinnati, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (513.333.7500) opened last August with an interactive environmental theater, hall of "everyday freedom heroes," and other exhibits; the museum uses its in-house caterer, Bensons/BB Riverboats Catering, for corporate events.
Another option for history-minded guests is the Churchill Museum (011.44.207.930.6961) in London, which opened in February and explores the public and private lives of Sir Winston Churchill. Occupying space used by Churchill during World War II, the museum is connected to a 140-seat auditorium that has the latest audiovisual equipment. A special package available for corporate events includes use of the auditorium and a room used during the war, canapés and champagne, priced at £40 per person, plus VAT, for 250 to 350 guests.
—Jane L. Levere
Photos: Courtesy of the Walker Art Center, David Woo (Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth)
This story originally appeared in the August/September 2005 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.
Walker Art Museum
Café Modern
