Following the award of a four-year US$10m (£6.7m, €8.1m) funding package from the State of Maryland, US, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is to commence a US$24m (£16m, €19.4m) capital renovation project.
The project includes renovating galleries for three major art collections - contemporary, American, and African - in addition to improving visitor facilities and upgrading essential infrastructure. The work is expected to be completed in 2014 in time for the BMA's 100th anniversary.
Capital contributions to 'In A New Light: The Campaign for The Baltimore Museum of Art' will fund the renovations. The state has appropriated US$2.5m (£1.7m, €2m) in capital funding for 2011, with an additional U$7.5m (£5.1m, €6.1m) projected to follow over the next three years. The BMA must match each US$2.5m allocation from the state in order to receive the capital funds. So far, more than US$2m (£1.3m, €1.6m) toward the state match has been raised from public and private funds, including US$1.25m (£844,703, €1m) in bonds approved by the City of Baltimore. An additional US$1.2m £811,828, €971,411) in city bond funding will be on the ballot in November 2010.
The scheme builds on the successful renovations of the Cone Wing (a US$4m [£2.7m, €3.2m] project in 2001) and European Art galleries (a U$2m project in 2003). Plans will be more fully developed after an architect is selected, but proposed improvements include state-of-the-art lighting in the Contemporary Art galleries to permit changing displays of prints, drawings and photography; a gallery devoted to the great works created by Maryland artists; and the African Art collection being organised more logically and in ways that better convey their original scale and context.
