Renwick Gallery in D.C. reopens after 2-year renovation with a ‘Wonder’ exhibition

The Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., reopened this month after an extensive two-year renovation with an exhibition titled “Wonder.� The museum is home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s craft and decorative arts program, and its inaugural show features immersive installations by nine contemporary artists selected for their focus on creative process and innovative use of materials.

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The installations by John Grade, Maya Lin, Gabriel Dawe, Janet Echelman and more feature labor-intensive, handcrafted work juxtaposed with cutting-edge technology. Each artist was asked to pick a gallery in the Renwick and design an installation for it while the museum was closed. The results are spaces transformed into alien landscapes through the use of strikingly visual materials such as reclaimed old-growth Western red cedar, willow saplings, styrene index cards and rubber tires.

The building housing the Renwick Gallery (named after architect James Renwick Jr.) opened as the Corcoran Gallery of Art in1874 and is a National Historic Landmark. This project marks the first time it has received a comprehensive makeover in 45 years.