This Old House: Cooper Hewitt Museum Reopens — artnews.com

On December 12, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on New York’s Museum Mile will reopen after a three-year renovation of its home in Andrew Carnegie’s former mansion, restoring the jewel-box grandeur of the building while making it far more adaptable to the display of all kinds of design. The museum now has 60 percent more gallery space, a result of a massive reorganizing. “How can we be good stewards of the Andrew Carnegie mansion, make the most of the footprint we have, but still expand the campus?” Caroline Baumann, the Cooper Hewitt’s director, said of the challenges involved in this $91 million balancing act. Baumann was named director of the museum last year after having worked there since 2001. She helped conceive of the renovation plan under former director Paul Thompson. Baumann hopes to draw half a million visitors in the first year—about double the Cooper Hewitt’s previous annual attendance.

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