FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Greg O’Brien, Stony Brook Group (508.360.5888)
Date: July 5, 2001
Celebrating the launch of its 20th year and newly expanded museum, the Cape Museum of Fine Arts is holding a gala reception and art exhibition on Friday, July 6, 2001 at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts, Route 6A in Dennis. Festivities take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and feature the Twelfth National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists as well as several surprise celebrity guests; a private reception for special patrons begins at 4:30 p.m. The new galleries will be open to the public on Saturday, July 7 and a ribbon cutting ceremony commemorating the newly expanded facilities will take place at noon.
Designed and constructed by the firm Polhemus & Savery, Architects-Builders, LLC of Chatham, the museum’s $1.5 million capital improvements program has included renovation and addition of gallery, retail, administrative, library and other public spaces totalling approximately 8,500 square feet. The project’s first phase, completed in 1998, involved the renovation of the Hope-McClennen Gallery and creation of two new galleries-the Hart-Signore Sculpture Gallery and Ocean Edge Gallery. Says Peter Polhemus, president of Polhemus & Savery, "this project has represented much more than reconfiguring and enlarging the museum’s physical space; it has involved redefining and expressing the maturing character and stature of the Cape Museum-consistent with its growing civic and artistic importance, and respectful of its historic architectural context."
Phase Two of the museum’s improvement program comprises the addition of approximately 4,000 square feet of new, and 2,500 square feet of renovated interior space-primarily new galleries. The new galleries spaces-named the Fleet and Robert Douglas Hunter Gallery for major donor FleetBoston and revered Cape artist Robert Douglas Hunter and Polhemus Savery DaSilva, Architects-Builders Gallery-will showcase the museum’s permanent collection and temporary exhibitions including work of Cape Cod and regional artists as well as related travelling exhibits. Project architect and firm principal John DaSilva, describes a design approach key to the success of these spaces for art display. "Fundamental to the design of the Fleet and Robert Douglas Hunter Gallery is a complex ceiling that incorporates natural and artificial lighting systems, as well as mechanical systems, leaving wall space clear for its intended purpose-the display of art," he says.
Polhemus & Savery, Architects-Builders was founded in 1996 by architect Peter Polhemus and builder Len Savery. John DaSilva, A.I.A., who joined the firm in 1998, was promoted to design partner in 2000. The firm, which employs more than twenty architects, designers, construction personnel, and administrative staff, has completed numerous residential, commercial and institutional projects throughout the Cape Cod region. Polhemus & Savery is noted for its thoughtful, creative design and well-crafted construction.
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