Weisman Art Museum expansion begins

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Image courtesy Weisman Art Museum

Construction crews began work this week on the Weisman Art Museum's $14 million expansion. That's two years behind schedule, and for $2.5 million more than originally budgeted. The final design also leaves out a long-sought-after and initially-hyped museum café.

However the main goal of the expansion - to add more gallery space - is intact. The project will create more than 8,000 feet divided into five new rooms. Four will display objects from the Weisman's permanent collection, doubling the number of collection objects the Weisman can display at any given time.

A fifth gallery, funded by a $2 million gift from Target, will be dedicated to cross-disciplinary collaborations between University of Minnesota faculty, other scholars, and artists.

The expansion of the Weisman will require it to close for approximately a year, beginning in October 2010. It's slated to reopen to the public in it's expanded form in fall 2011.

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