THE EXTERIOR IS SPARE--a nearly sheer brick face, windowless, slightly daunting. Birds and squirrels could get the best view, through skylights to the galleries below. But even that perspective is thwarted by frosted glass. From any angle, what's inside remains a mystery. The exterior says what Alex Katz hoped it would: come in and discover the treasures.
The Paul J. Schupf Wing of the Colby Museum of Art opened in July and was dedicated, along with Colby's collection of the art of Alex Katz, on October 11. The new wing was built
VISIT THE SCHUPF WING
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a work by Katz
By Sally Baker

A Place in the Sun
exclusively for Katz's art and opened with 66 works on display, including the massive, five-paneled Pas de Deux (11' x 30'), which is on loan from principal building donor and Colby trustee Paul J. Schupf.
In 1992 Katz, who received an honorary Colby degree in 1984, announced that he would donate more than 400 works of art to the College. His gift was conditional--Colby had to build a new wing to house the art, since many of Katz's works were too large for display in the museum's existing spaces. Schupf came forward with a $650,000 donation for the wing, and the College attracted the remainder of the $1.5 million needed to erect the building from donors including College trustee Joseph F. Boulos '68, The Parker Poe Charitable Trust and The Marlborough Gallery.
The result, designed by Scott Teas of TFH Architects in Portland, Maine, is "one of the most stunning museum spaces I have ever visited," said President Bill Cotter. The addition contains 10,000 square feet (about a quarter acre, or two and a half times the size of a basketball court) and consists of two 70' x 36' galleries, two 36' x 36' galleries, a vestibule connecting the wing to the existing Jetté Galleries and a storage area for works not on view. [CONTINUE]
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