KANSAS CITY, MO.- The remarkable new Bloch Building – the much-anticipated expansion of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – will open to the public on Saturday, June 9. The new building was designed by renowned architect Steven Holl, who offered the plan as a daring solution to the Nelson-Atkins’ need for more space. The slender, elongated building runs along the Eastern edge of the campus and provides a delicate counterpoint to the original 1933 Beaux-Arts building. Five lenses constructed of twin layers of glass walls emerge from the ground and create a luminous, undulating interplay between architecture and landscape.

Prior to the public opening, the Museum will open its doors to local, national and international media at a Press Preview on June 1. Events will include building previews, gallery and exhibition tours, and remarks by project leadership including Museum Director Marc F. Wilson, Architects Steven Holl and Chris McVoy, and other members of the curatorial and architectural teams.

The Bloch Building is the centerpiece of a dramatic transformation of the entire institution that includes major renovations to the original building, a restoration of the Kansas City Sculpture Park, and a complete reinstallation of the permanent galleries, drawing from the more than 34,500 works in its encyclopedic collection. The new 165,000-square-foot expansion increases Museum space by more than 70 percent and features five distinct levels of expansive, light-filled galleries. Visitors will find a new main lobby, Museum Store, Museum Café, and Spencer Art Reference Library. The project has received strong support from the community, with more than $200 million raised for the renovation and expansion and $170 million raised to grow the endowment fund.