The Contemporary Art Museum under construction. Does anyone think that when open in Spring 2011, the epicenter of First Friday will move from Hargett Street to Martin Street?
Similar Posts:
- CAM :: Programs // Events & Exhibits | February 10, 2013
- Contemporary Art Museum Now Open | April 30, 2011
- Pic of the Week | November 10, 2021
Comments
Comments are disabled here. That's because we're all hanging out on the DTRaleigh Community, an online forum for passionate fans of the Oak City.
Actually, I would argue that City Market is the epicenter of First Friday. Maybe not for the Bike First Friday crowd and the like, but for the average Raleigh citizen this is where they come. ArtSpace is always a zoo on First Friday plus they have bands in the street and other galleries are busy in the market. I am excited to see how the CAM might change the atmosphere in the warehouse district, oh I mean “Depot District”
[…] A pic of the progress at CAM […]
An art museum should be a celebration, this building should be buried before being built (this design and size is a joke!) This downtown art facility is pathetic.
Thomas, do you have any funds to donate, or just empty, negative thoughts. This place was an abandoned warehouse before they proposed this project. Some folks around raleigh blogs act as if we are NYC or Chicago, any small incremental change is good for the city. Its not like this is taking the place of a proposed skyscraper, it was a one story, brick dump. (that may or may not have been vacant) This will bring contemporary art, exhibits, and people to downtown, and more specifically the warehouse district so I see it as a tremendously positive step. The Pit, 5 star, and the depot aren’t enough to keep that part of town vibrant…it has a lot of filling in to do!
Stop Hackles, don’t cry economy or money/budget, they have had YEARS to raise money to do this RIGHT, noone has access to funding?, what does that say about the quality of this building and the exhibits?). This is not or ever will be NYC or Chicago (NOONE is comparing us to those cities or ever will or want’s to). This is Raleigh (my home), so Raleigh needs to start carving it’s own downtown structural identity and cutting edge skyline (instead of ALWAYS thinking small, cutting spending and creating ugly architecture). Example: Raleigh is amazingly diverse compared to Charlotte (a blue collar city, other than a few banks), but Charlotte at a minimum has the “do it right the first time” mentality (sorry, not talking about that sad and boring car museum – bad example).
Raleigh thinks they are always saving money by cutting design and size. In reality, they are just throwing “OUR” money away by not doing it right the first time (example: this museum – no bling what-so-ever)
The only cuts I was aware of for the CAM structure was the residential portion that would go on top of the structure. Doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that thats not prudent at this time. This was intended and created to be a non-collecting museum, so its essentially exhibit space. Its not huge, but functional, and has a unique asthetic that will benefit the warehouse district. I am not “crying” economy, but its a fact of life. Look at the cuts the UNC system is facing, do you think partnerships such as CAM are overwhelmed w/cash flow right now?
Agree with hackles. CAM has never been able to get the funding to be a huge big-city museum or whatever. We’ve already got the major state art museum (which, arguably should have been left downtown), and CAM shouldn’t be expected to compete with it, but rather bring some more art into downtown. That’s nothing to balk at.
Interesting debate of sorts. I agree that a larger facility would be more iconic and befitting of the city and CAM but I don’t think anyone can say that the residential market in downtown(and in general) is prepared for much more housing (especially condos). I do agree with hackles10 and RaleighRob that the CAM wasn’t meant to be a huge museum. All that being said, Raleigh is still developing its identity as it grows as a mid-size city. I think that the cultural aspect and the generated activity of the museum is much more important in this case. I would argue that Artspace, although not a museum, has a decent sphere of influence on the City, Downtown, and the Moore Square District.
Any new thing is welcomed! You never know until it opens if it will be a hit. It all depends on management and the events that are held there. For decades the only things that were in the area was the gay bars. So anything other than bars would be great.