The Tampa Museum of Art Foundation has announced that it is embarking on an ambitious renovation of the museum this spring, increasing exhibition space and education facilities to accommodate growing community partnerships and allow more hands-on, up-close experiences for students and adults. The design team is led by the internationally renowned architecture firm WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, with construction and infrastructure oversight by Skanska USA’s Tampa office.
The renovations will be funded privately by the museum’s board members, foundation, and other donors and investors, and the museum is still seeking funds from the public sector.
All renovations will occur within the museum’s existing building without growing the museum’s overall footprint by reallocating existing space back of the house. Construction will begin in early May and is expected to last until June 2022.
The small existing education department will be expanded to a 10,000-sq-ft Education Centre, with its own entrances and exits so programs can take place even outside regular exhibition gallery hours. The Education Centre will also feature new, expanded student exhibition spaces. Renovations will also free up space for enhanced exhibition gallery spaces, state-of-the-art storage and maintenance methods, and an expanded gallery for multimedia projections and more kinetic exhibitions.
“It is fitting that we follow the museum’s centennial celebrations with efforts to ensure the museum can meet the needs of our community in the next 100 years,” said Jerry Divers, Tampa Museum of Art Foundation president, campaign committee chair, and chairman emeritus of the Bank of Tampa.
“With these improvements to our facility, the Tampa Museum of Art is poised to make a stronger impact than ever in the community and among fine arts institutions across the country. We are blessed with tremendous board and community support and we must seize the moment to execute this bold project,” said Dianne Jacob, board chair of the Tampa Museum of Art, and Senior Vice President and Director of Client and Community Relations with PNC Bank.