KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. -- For art lovers visiting Manhattan, it's time to get on the No. 7 train.
The Museum of Modern Art -- that mecca of sleek design, idea-challenging installations and works by such 20th-century masters as Picasso and Matisse -- has taken up digs in Queens, in a developing Art Loop that includes contemporary institutions, a sculpture garden, artists' studios and galleries.
No, the new neighbors don't have quite the same cachet as Henri Bendel, Harry Winston and the other chic boutiques within walking distance of MoMA's permanent midtown gallery off Fifth Avenue.
But while MoMA's regular quarters are undergoing a three-year, $650 million renovation/expansion designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, the museum is hanging its hat -- and artworks -- in an electric-blue box that once was a Swingline staple factory.
A 10-minute metro ride whisks museum goers from Grand Central Station to this industrial district.
While the location might seem declass & eacute;, once you get there the art seems right at home in this spare space of gray concrete floors, exposed ceilings and movable interior walls.
Room for showcases
Because of its open, warehouse style and 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, MoMA Queens is able to showcase large-scale installations and displays that simply wouldn't fit in its old midtown building (though they will in Taniguchi's new one).
Video installations play against 21-foot-high white walls near the industrial-chic cafe.
Through September, the museum used the airy spaces for such large-scale works as "Autobodies," an exhibition of six cars epitomizing design through the 20th century, and "Tempo," a provocative exploration of the meaning of time.
Those displays are being replaced by exhibitions on contemporary drawing and architecture.
Also slated for the coming months are shows devoted to Matisse and Picasso and Ansel Adams.
Throughout its run, MoMA Queens will host ongoing displays of some of its most famous works, including Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Rousseau's "The Dream" and Matisse's "Dance."
Originally, the 160,000-square-foot building that is serving as MoMA's temporary home was purchased for storage, says Jennifer Russell, deputy director of exhibitions. Before this summer, the museum had artworks stored at various facilities throughout New York.
Then director Glenn Lowry struck on the idea of using the facility as a temporary exhibition space while the Manhattan quarters were closed.
"At one point, we thought we would phase the construction [of the renovated Manhattan quarters]," Russell says. "Then we realized we would have to shut it."
Doing so without an ongoing presence didn't seem wise.
"An institution doesn't want to disappear for two years," she says.
Big task
Moving some 100,000 artworks has been no small feat -- a registrar spent six months simply planning the schedule. Moving docks were installed in both facilities.
Specialists were engaged to pack and move -- a process that took from late March through August.
The estimated tab: $5 million to move the works to Queens and back again once the new building is ready.
The pivotal moment came in late June, when the museum officially opened its doors in Queens with fanfare that included fireworks and a procession across the Queensboro Bridge.
It helps that MoMA Queens isn't the only game in this burgeoning arts neighborhood.
The LaGuardia Performing Arts Center sits nearby.
Recently, the Museum for African Art moved from SoHo to a site near MoMA Queens, where it will stay while it awaits construction of permanent galleries in Manhattan, due to open in 2006.
Two train stops take visitors to MoMA's sister institution, P.S. 1, a former public school transformed into an edgy center for contemporary art.
From there, it's an easy walk to the Holocenter -- the Center for the Holographic Arts -- and the Sculpture Center, devoted to contemporary works.
On weekends, the Artslink Shuttle runs from midtown Manhattan to the Queens loop, offering easy access to the Isamu Noguchi Garden Center, the American Museum of the Moving Image, the Thalia Spanish Theatre, the Socrates Sculpture Park as well as area restaurants, galleries and studios.
Though Manhattanites may be reluctant to trek to Queens, the relocation is helping develop a local audience that might not have regularly gone into Manhattan, Russell said. Tourists have been willing to follow, too, and the number of visitors is meeting expectations.