IND. MUSEUM PLANS $5.5M EXPANSION

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FORT WAYNE, IND. (AP) — The Fort Wayne Museum of Art will undergo a $5.5 million expansion and modernization to help turn it into one of the nation’s top exhibit spaces for American art.

Museum executive director Charles A. Shepard III said he hopes workers can break ground later this year on a 10,000-square-foot addition on the existing building’s northwestern corner.

In March, the museum will close for a year for a total interior renovation.

Shepard said the museum is in the midst of a $7.5 million capital campaign that has so far raised $5.1 million largely through foundation grants. The next phase will solicit donations from corporations and individuals.

While $5.5 million will go toward the expansion and interior improvements, he said the remaining $2 million will be used to acquire artwork to give the museum one of the nation’s premier collections of American art.

“It was my dream to tell the continuing story of American art, not just painting and sculpture, but glass, silver, furniture, clocks. Not just art you look at, but art you use like silverware or serve coffee on,” like furniture, he said.

The new addition will feature three galleries designed to showcase the museum’s permanent collection and tell the story of “the evolution of American art from the Colonial period to the start of the Twentieth Century,” Shepard said.

A fourth new gallery will be built within the existing building to showcase the museum’s print collection. Among other changes, the museum’s existing main gallery space will be divided into smaller galleries, allowing for the accommodation of more touring shows.