A Museum Aims to Give Each Visitor 350 Square Feet, Instead of 20
The room to stand alone with a painting starts with trees in the parking lot and a long walk in.
Joys of Compounding · Mitch Rales - The Art of Compounding - [Art of Investing, EP.18]At Glenstone, the museum Mitch Rales founded with his wife, Emily, in 2006 on about 400 acres, the plan is to give each visitor about 350 square feet of room. That compares with about 20 square feet per visitor at a well-known New York museum on a crowded weekend.
Rales said he and Emily were aghast at standing 20 or 30 feet from a painting and taking a picture of a picture because 10 or 15 people stood in front of them. At Glenstone, the goal is what co-founder Mitch Rales calls "the seamless integration of art, architecture, and nature" at a slow and calm pace, where a visitor can stand before one work for 10 or 20 minutes if they want.
The calm starts before the art. Each parking space has a tree, and visitors then take a six- to eight-minute stroll across the grounds past monumental sculpture. The gallery building stays hidden until the last couple of minutes, so visitors decompress and leave the busy world behind before they engage.
Questions people ask
Where is Glenstone, and can anyone visit?
Glenstone is in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., on a campus Rales describes as about 400 acres. Admission is free, but visits require a timed ticket booked in advance, and attendance is capped to preserve the uncrowded experience.
Who is Mitch Rales?
Mitch Rales is a billionaire businessman best known as co-founder of Danaher, the industrial and life sciences company. With his wife, Emily Rales, an art historian and curator, he founded Glenstone in 2006 and has continued to expand its buildings, collection, and landscape.
Why does elbow room matter for looking at art?
With more room, you do not have to peer around other people or feel rushed to move along. You can step closer, stand still, and look longer, which makes it easier to notice details and remember the work.