The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg was planned and opened as a lively and dynamic center for the public presentation of modern and contemporary art. As a cultural and social institution with a mission of information and visual education, the Kunstmuseum is supported by a private foundation.
Its conception, based on a developing permanent collection and an ongoing program of special exhibitions, makes the Kunstmuseum into an open forum rich in contrasts, echoes, and cadences. This is no hermetically enclosed temple of the Muses. The major strands of its work connect with aspects of life in the modern industrial city of Wolfsburg, home to a world-class corporation: themes of modern ity, urban living, internationalism, quality, and variety of form.
The wide scope of the exhibition program covers presentations of the classics of Modernism together with internationally established contemporaries and younger, innovative artists. Equal emphasis is assigned to traditional and new media in visual art. The permanent collection specializes in a select range of positions within contemporary art.
The architect's office Schweger and Partner, Hamburg, has designed the Kunstmuseum building as an open, transparent urban loggia, with a wide-span glass roof. The great central hall, with its floor area of 40 by 40 m (130 by 130 ft.), and height of 16 m (52 ft.), is flanked on three sides by exhibition galleries. A separate, two-story gallery offers further exhibition space.
The Museum sees as vital the task of bringing modern and contemporary art to a wider public. It offers its visitors gallery tours, seminars, lectures, and workshops for all ages. Publications on the collection and on special exhibitions include catalogues, folders, and - for pieces in the collection - gallery notes.
