New Winter Park art museum, ‘Innovation Triangle’ get underway
Rollins College’s vision for an “Innovation Triangle” in downtown Winter Park took a big step forward Friday as ground was broken on the new Rollins Museum of Art and an adjacent leadership institute.
The new structures, at New England and Interlachen avenues, will form part of the “triangle,” with the third “point” being the college’s Alfond Inn, an art-driven boutique hotel.
“It’s quite forward thinking,” said Rollins Museum of Art director Leslie Anderson, “and plays to the strengths of our college.”
Anderson, named the museum’s director in July, envisions a strong connection between the leadership institute, part of the college’s Crummer School of Business, and the museum.
“There are lots of opportunities for collaboration around art and business,” she said. The project “creates this space where the museum can provide data-driven research for the business school.”
For the public, the new museum will offer multiple benefits. At 31,000 square feet, the new building will be three times the size of the current on-campus museum. Its enhanced gallery spaces will be able to accommodate major traveling exhibitions, as well as display more of Rollins’ extensive permanent collection of works. Anderson also envisions more community programming, especially as the complex attracts thought leaders and other speakers to Winter Park.