UC Berkeley's new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive — with its fresh design, expanded programs and prime town-and-gown location — celebrated its grand opening with a free public open house on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. UC Berkeley’s new $112 million visual arts center is an 83,000-square-foot architectural wonder at the intersection of Oxford and Center streets, in the heart of the growing downtown Berkeley Arts District. It was designed by New York-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an international design firm known for creatively connecting institutions to a wider urban and public context. Under one roof, BAMPFA now houses versatile exhibition galleries, two film theaters, a performance forum, a café, four study centers for art and film, a reading room and an art-making lab. The building also features a large, outdoor LED screen and viewing area for public screenings. BAMPFA’s new location places it close to BART, the campus and in the heart of downtown Berkeley. “BAMPFA’s versatile new home, situated at the intersection of campus and community, will provide unparalleled opportunities for our diverse audiences to engage with art and film more deeply than ever before,” says Larry Rinder, BAMPFA’s director. “We are thrilled to be part of the dramatic revitalization of downtown Berkeley.” New offerings for the public at BAMPFA include Family Fare, a program that connects art-making with viewing art in the galleries; free admission to the galleries for kids 18 and under plus one adult; an expanded number of film screenings – 450 annually — at the 232-seat Barbro Osher Theater; a performance series, Full, which takes place on the night of each new full moon; evening gallery hours and lunchtime gallery talks with UC Berkeley professors. Video by Stephen McNally ...

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