The Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) in Michigan is building new wing that will include a space dedicated to women artists, with the project expected to be completed in 2024.
The museum broke ground on the expansion, dubbed ‘Shaping the Future’, on 11 June. The new wing will more than double the size of the institution.
The Muskegon Museum of Art has been given a $12 million donation in artworks and cash by San Antonio-based art collectors Steven Alan Bennett and Elaine Melotti Schmidt.
The donation includes more than 150 paintings by women artists and a $1.5 million cash gift. Bennett and Schmidt have collected ‘figurative realist’ paintings by women artists since 2009.
According to a news release, fewer than five museums in the world feature a permanent space dedicated to art by women.
“This is a transformative and once-in-a-lifetime gift,” said Kirk Hallman, executive director of the Muskegon Museum of Art.
$12 million donation in artworks and cash
“In the context of an expansion project, it is all the more redefining. Steven and Elaine’s vision is one shared by the MMA.”
“The Bennett-Schmidt gift is a call to action institutionally, encouraging both the Muskegon Museum of Art and other museums to continually expand opportunities for women artists.”
Paintings donated include works by more than 115 artists, including Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Agnes Martin, Elaine de Kooning, Harmonia Rosales, Julie Bell, Andrea Kowch and Katie O’Hagan.
“The artwork being donated to the Muskegon Museum of Art catapults them into the forefront of progressive museums that recognize the primacy and power of the work of women painters,” said Bennett.
“What has been an exceptionally good collection will now be augmented with many powerful works by women that span the generations.”
Elsewhere, the Portland Museum of Art has launched an international design competition to select an architect for a $45m expansion project that will also double its size.
Images: Muskegon Museum of Art
