Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts recently announced that the integrated design firm SmithGroup has been selected to design the museum’s upcoming $190 million expansion and renovation project.
SmithGroup will be charged with designing a new wing at VMFA with state-of-the-art gallery spaces for African art, photography and 21st-century art, as well as a second major exhibition space and a special events space with dining facilities that can seat up to 500 guests on the garden-level ground floor. The new wing will also provide a welcoming entrance to and from the E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden. In addition to the new wing, large parts of the existing building will be renovated to include improved gallery spaces for the permanent collection, increased facilities for art storage, new education classrooms and upgrades to the Leslie Cheek Theater, Evans Court and the 1936 Entrance. The expansion and renovation project will also support the museum’s commitment to enhancing the visitor experience and the institution’s strategic plan which calls for offering a range of curator-led, visitor-centered art experiences that engage, captivate and delight a diverse audience.
This marks the fifth expansion project VMFA has undertaken since the museum’s opening in 1936. Currently the museum comprises 650,000 square feet. The latest expansion plans call for a new wing that will provide an additional 100,000 square feet of total space, as well as a new stand alone Collections Center building to be located on VMFA’s campus. Learn more about the museum's expansion in the press release below.
SmithGroup will be charged with designing a new wing at VMFA with state-of-the-art gallery spaces for African art, photography and 21st-century art, as well as a second major exhibition space and a special events space with dining facilities that can seat up to 500 guests on the garden-level ground floor. The new wing will also provide a welcoming entrance to and from the E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden. In addition to the new wing, large parts of the existing building will be renovated to include improved gallery spaces for the permanent collection, increased facilities for art storage, new education classrooms and upgrades to the Leslie Cheek Theater, Evans Court and the 1936 Entrance. The expansion and renovation project will also support the museum’s commitment to enhancing the visitor experience and the institution’s strategic plan which calls for offering a range of curator-led, visitor-centered art experiences that engage, captivate and delight a diverse audience.
This marks the fifth expansion project VMFA has undertaken since the museum’s opening in 1936. Currently the museum comprises 650,000 square feet. The latest expansion plans call for a new wing that will provide an additional 100,000 square feet of total space, as well as a new stand alone Collections Center building to be located on VMFA’s campus. Learn more about the museum's expansion in the press release below.
