Jock Reynolds (A former WPA Director) was a real visionary when he was in the DC area so an idea like this is surprising – but not completely. I think its a very interesting idea.
(From the New York Times)
The Yale University Art Gallery, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Williams College Museum of Art have teamed up to present “Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective,” a 25-year-long show to be installed in a newly renovated building at Mass MoCA in North Adams. In 2004, three years before LeWitt died, he and Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale gallery, began talking about the care and disposition of LeWitt’s wall drawings. This led him to give Yale about 40 of these drawings, along with the wall-drawings archives.
Mr. Reynolds, realizing that Yale would never be able to show a large number of them at one time, initiated a discussion with Joseph C. Thompson, director of the 13-acre Mass MoCA campus. Mr. Thompson took LeWitt on a tour of Mass MoCA, and the artist set his sights on Building 7, an abandoned 30,000-square-foot three-floor industrial building.
“He placed every drawing and drew every wall,” Mr. Thompson said.
When the project opens in November, nearly 100 wall drawings will be on view, dating from 1968 until LeWitt’s death at 78 in April. About half are from Yale; the rest from public and private collections. The three institutions have raised more than $9 million, Mr. Thompson said. About $3.5 million will renovate Building 7 and $2.5 million will provide an endowment related to the exhibition. A catalogue raisonne will also be produced. Williams College is providing the educational programs tied to the show. Students from Williams, Yale and other institutions will work for six months as intern apprentices, installing the works with professionals from LeWitt’s studio.