This May marked the beginning of Dia:Beacon’s yearlong 10th anniversary celebration. Originally home to a 1929 Nabisco box printing factory, the brick, steel, concrete, and glass building was donated to the Dia Art Foundation in 1999. With the help of American artist Robert Irwin and architecture firm OpenOffice, the space was transformed into a contemporary art museum, uniquely designed with high ceilings and massive skylights to house large-scale works and take advantage of natural lighting. Following the ambitious renovation, the building was listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. In addition to gaining national recognition, the two-level riverfront facility, which boasts art exhibitions, performances, and educational programs, has become the heart of Beacon culture since it opened in 2003. In commemoration of its first successful decade, the museum offers a number of community free days, gallery talks, and other special events through spring 2014.
Here’s a look at Dia:Beacon by the numbers:
292,000 Size of the museum, in square feet
5 Walking travel time from Beacon train station, in minutes
65,000 People who visit each year
20 Weight, in tons, of each rolled steel plate in Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses sculpture series
22 Exhibition galleries
5,040 Envelopes artist Alighiero e Boetti sent to himself from various cities in Italy, currently on display as part of his installation
60 Number of sawtooth skylights in the facility, each measuring 60-70 feet long, providing a grand total of…
34,000 Square feet of skylight space
