Ongoing
26,000 square feet
New Construction

The Tang Teaching Museum’s collection is central to the museum’s mission of object-based learning and teaching. Comprising over 18,000 objects, the collection began with an initial transfer of college property and now spans 25 years of acquisition across all media, including a wide variety of ephemera and material culture. The collection is maintained to the highest museum standards and is accessible to Skidmore faculty, staff, and students, as well as to the local community, and scholars and curators from across the country. The museum is deeply embedded in the college curriculum, providing opportunities for collaboration across departments, and encouraging students from diverse disciplines to engage directly with collections in ways that complement their coursework. This interdisciplinary approach broadens students’ perspectives and equips them with skills that are transferable to many fields.

Oudens Ello Architecture (OEA) was commissioned by the Tang Teaching Museum to envision a new facility dedicated to the study, research, and long-term preservation of the museum’s collection, at the same time re-examining how collections are stored and accessed. The proposed Center for Art + Ideas places the collection at its heart, inviting visitors to experience the collections more directly. It will serve as a nexus of cultural and educational collegiate activity, situated in the park-like area between the main campus and the athletic/wellness campus. An upper-level bridge connection facilitates collection movement between the two buildings. The new facility expands the college’s teaching space with three new appropriately sized classrooms, and offers flexible use and conference center capabilities with ground level program spaces, including multi-purpose event/gallery space and 150-seat screening room, engaging a wider audience and fostering a deeper relationship between the college and the local community. The new building is not simply an extension of the Tang Teaching Museum, but rather an independent, dynamic structure with its own identity and vitality. Designed to complement and enhance the museum’s mission, it also serves as a vital asset to the broader college community, contributing to Skidmore’s academic infrastructure with flexible environments for teaching, learning, and collaboration.