Top of The Taubman Opens The Third Floor Balcony

Jenna Nelson, Support Services and Grants Coordinator, stands in the "Smile Frame.'
Jenna Nelson, Support Services and Grants Coordinator, stands in the “Smile Frame.’

Come check out the view or take a picture inside the new “Smile Frame” on the open air, third floor balcony at the Taubman Museum of Art, says executive director Della Watkins.

For the first time since it opened to the public in late 2008, the previously closed balcony – dubbed the “Top of the Taubman,” is now open to the public during regular business hours.

It’s part of a goal Watkins has had since she came to the Taubman from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond two years ago – to make the iconic and sometimes-controversial museum more accessible and welcoming to the general public, the same way the Thursday Night Live program with extended late hours (until 9pm) has for the past year.

The Smile Frame, sponsored by a local bank (Union), can be wheeled around the balcony so those in the frame can line up the Mill Mountain Star or views of downtown Roanoke in the background …perfect perhaps for a group photo or even a selfie. “You’re in the picture frame,” said Watkins.

“Make it more accessible, use it, love it,” is her mantra about the museum, which also instituted free admission, except for certain special exhibits, several years ago. “It’s always been my ambition to open this third floor.”

The Smile Frame is linked to a similar campaign Union Bank is also marketing. Watkins hopes the opened balcony will bring in museum first-timers, figuring many will stay and walk through the galleries. “Trick them into learning something new,” says Watkins.

Noting that the rooftop overlook at the renovated Center in the Square “is a beautiful and lovely attraction,” she hopes to capture some of that same vibe with the Top of the Taubman. “When you come up to our balcony you can see the architecture in the roof and what’s around it. We’re not the Empire State Building but it is the top.”

Watkins says she fields calls all the time from people wanting to see the view from up there, even to paint from the balcony. Patrons will be able to bring beer and wine to the third floor- but not to the gallery level she adds. There are also meeting spaces on the third floor that can be rented, as well – all told about 3500 square feet overall will be offered. “It’s now flex space that is available.”

Watkins says she is in a positive image campaign mode, wanting to put “the sour grapes” of the past behind the Taubman – about its design, where it is located, etc. Time to move forward as she begins her third year as executive director. “I want this community to celebrate the great things that are here.” That also includes 3700 square feet of new gallery space – once reserved for an IMAX Theater that never came to pass – that will open after construction next spring with a Norman Rockwell exhibit.

“It’s about using the building – it’s a fabulous space,” says Watkins, admitting she is “sad” at times that there are still not enough people walking through the door. She is hoping the Top of the Taubman will encourage more people “to give us a look. The barometer is tipping forward. I can feel it.” Three major gifts of art to the museum last year has also led her to feel that the Taubman is turning the corner. “I’m starting to feel it.”

By Gene Marrano

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