For the third annual New Acquisitions exhibition the selection of works on view continues to be both regional and international with new works by Tracey Snelling and John Taylor, both from the West coast, as well as Xue Song (China) and Taimuras Kozirev (Russia).. The ongoing interest in making acquisitions from a diverse range of communities meshes with the Art Collection's relatively new focus on campuses and facilities throughout North America. A key feature on Artweb showcases different campuses and facilities and allows employees to tour the artwork on these campuses, such as Silicon Valley in Mountain View, CA. Another significant feature of Artweb is the searchable database which allows employees to study all the works in the collection from their PCs.
The collection was born in Redmond in 1987 but it has now grown and expanded to now include Silicon Valley, Las Colinas, Charlotte, Waltham, MA and sales offices in Reston, VA.; Chicago, Ill. and St. Louis, MO. In the next year new works will be added to the collection and be on view in D.C.; New York; and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Among the artists on view nationwide are James Nares, Sarah McEaneany and Martin Silverman.
The mission and direction of the collection has not changed with a continued emphasis on emerging and mid career artists from around the world. What is changing is the physical size of the campus and the new locations to be added. Therefore new installations of the collection are being developed and organized, as you will find in the installation of works for Bldg 109 ( Daytona ), and the plans now being made for three future buildings: 36, 121 and 122 all of which call for new art.
As the company grows, expands and moves into the future so too does the collection, and as they say the best is yet to come!
- Michael Klein, Curator | Microsoft Art Collection
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