Tag Archives: Magnes Museum
Berkeley’s new Magnes building to be unveiled on Sunday
On Sunday, the doors will open to a new cultural institution in Berkeley. The many thousands of books, paintings, prints, textiles, and photographs that make up The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life – which was formerly located in an early 20th-century family home on Russell Street in the Elmwood neighborhood — will now be readily accessible to the public in a beautifully renovated, centrally located 25,000 sq ft space at 2121 Allston Way.
The building, which was designed in the 1920s as a printing plant for UC Berkeley, was most recently used by UC’s Bancroft Library, with whom the Magnes now partners. Before that, the Berkeley Public Library occupied the space. Marks left by book stacks on the stained, maple-colored concrete floors bear the stamp of the building’s history.
The building has been transformed by San Francisco architects Pfau Long in collaboration with local design and fabrication company Picassa Studios. The goal, said the museum’s Director Alla Efimova, was to create a warm, inviting place with an emphasis on transparency.
“We wanted an open space with a good flow where the community could spend time discovering the collection,” she said. … Continue reading »
The Berkeley Wire: 5.19.10
Youth artwork brings spirit to South Berkeley [KALW News/SFGate]
Berkeley ice rink given 6-month continuation: new plans on the table [Berkeley Iceland]
City of Berkeley approves boycott of Arizona [Mercury News]
Cal astronomy profs ID new calcium-rich supernova [LA Times]
Photo: Speed Up by Keoki Seu/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Listings and pickings: Berkeley real estate
Much as I tried, I couldn’t get galvanized about any newly listed homes in Berkeley this week. I did pause to look more closely at the details of a mid-century home up at the top of Dwight Way. It has some appealing features and great views, and it’s across the street from parkland — so perhaps worth a visit ($945,000).
And the interesting looking home at 711 San Luis Road (pictured above) may be worth checking … Continue reading »
Seymour Fromer, founder of Magnes Museum, dies
Seymour Fromer, who founded the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley in the early 1960s, died early Sunday after a short illness.
Fromer, 87, and his wife Rebecca started the museum in response to what they saw as California’s lack of knowledge of its Jewish heritage. Starting with a few objects and a display case in the Oakland Museum, the Magnes grew to become the country’s third largest Jewish museum. Its influence is international in scope, however, as … Continue reading »
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