VERO BEACH — The clear plastic wrap enshrouding the sculptures in front of the Vero Beach Museum of Art is meant to do what any plastic wrap would: keep the sculptures fresh, while they are temporarily stored over the summer while a vestibule is added to the museum’s entrance.
That vestibule is meant to keep the paintings fresh – adding a climate-controlled buffer to protect the main hall from exposure to the moist Florida air. That moisture can damage the paintings.
Throughout the summer, guests will be redirected to the entrance just to the east of the front steps, where the museum’s art students normally enter.
Along with the vestibule, new steps are being constructed, and the sculpture garden will be enlarged and re-landscaped.
As for the fresh-air terrace in the center of the museum, it too is being wrapped – it is being transformed into an atrium, enclosed with a glass roof and a wall of windows overlooking the park and the Indian River Lagoon beyond.
Museum administrators expect that enclosing the space will make it much more widely used, both for museum events and private affairs like weddings and small parties.
The effort, funded by the board of directors and a few key donors, is a part of master plan for the museum designed by an architectural firm in Alabama.
