Thursday’s (Sept. 14) groundbreaking of an expanded and restored Museum of Art (UMMA) offers another major sign of the dramatic physical transformation of the University campus made possible by The Michigan Difference campaign.
The 11 a.m. ceremony at Alumni Memorial Hall at the corner of State Street and South University will feature remarks by President Mary Sue Coleman, Museum Director James Steward and UMMA National Advisory Board member Maxine Frankel. The event begins with a campus and community coffee hour at 10 a.m.
The new 53,000-square-foot space will be named The Maxine and Stuart Frankel and The Frankel Family Wing. In May of 2004, the Frankel family of Bloomfield Hills donated $10 million for the new addition, the largest gift in the museum’s history.
The expansion more than doubles the current museum space, and will include classrooms, an auditorium, state-of-the-art storage facilities, and significantly more exhibition space along with areas dedicated to scholarship and art conservation.
The landmark project aims to further elevate UMMA among university art museums worldwide and attract audiences throughout the Midwest. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2008.
Designed by principal architect Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, the new vision for UMMA was recognized in 2004 by the American Institute of Architects with a coveted project design award, one of only four such awards made that year for significant designs around the world.
UMMA’s $35.4-million renovation and expansion is part of The Michigan Difference, a $2.5-billion fundraising campaign to sustain U-M’s reputation and mission as a global leader in scientific, social and medical research along with developing resources, programs and venues for the arts. To date, $2.18-billion of the target goal has been raised.
