Last Updated on 10/09/2024 by Arun jain
The Art Institute of Chicago announced a $75 million gift Tuesday that will support new galleries for its collection of late 19th-century, modern and contemporary art.
The new building will bear the names of Aaron I. Fleischman and Lynn Lougheed, the donation from a married couple is the largest individual naming gift in the museum’s history.
“This turns an aspiration into a reality,” said James Rondeau, president and director of the art institute.
“It’s just about access to the collection,” he continued. “Only 16 percent of our modern and contemporary collections are on view.”
The museum has yet to release the building project’s total cost, square footage or completion date, Rondeau said. While the addition will increase the art institute’s $115 million annual operating budget, Rondeau said the museum has grown its endowment by $200 million over the past five years.
The new galleries are part of a project that began in 2019 to enhance existing spaces and explore how to make the most of the museum’s campus. The Art Institute is working with architecture firm Barozzi Veiga.
Fleischman, formerly a prominent attorney in Washington, began collecting in the mid-1980s and has been a trustee of the Art Institute for nearly 15 years. Lougheed holds a doctorate from Columbia University’s Teachers College, specializing in international education.
“Looking at the collection and looking at the collection has convinced me that more of the museum’s extraordinary collection needs to be available to visitors and presented in world-class architecture,” Fleischmann said in a statement, adding that he “for the museum.” was excited. To tell a more complete story of modern and contemporary art.”
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