Officials at the University of Iowa have asked for approval to build a new $50 million art museum.
Due to a flood in 2008, the former University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) building was deemed unsuitable for the return of artwork. Since that time, works from the UIMA collections (undamaged by the flood) have been on show at temporary facilities and via creative outreach projects throughout the state of Iowa. Nevertheless, UIMA set a new attendance record during the academic year 2015-16 when 627,672 visitors participated in various events.
The University of Iowa entered into a public-private partnership several ago to include a museum space in an new development near the corner of Burlington and Clinton streets. Higher than expected development costs led officials to back out of that plan last year. The new museum would be located on a parking lot close to the university’s Iowa Main Library in Iowa City.
The Iowa Board of Regents’ Property and Facilities Committee will review schematic designs and project descriptions for the new museum at a meeting on June 7. If they like what they see, full board approval will then be sought in August. It is hoped the new facility could be open in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2019 of the museum’s most famous work “Mural” by Jackson Pollock.
Image courtesy University of Iowa Museum of Art
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