VMFA library to close for 90 days

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts library will be closed from Dec. 1 to March 1 as capital improvements to the museum continue during the expansion project. Librarians will be available by telephone (804-340-1495) or by e-mail (library@vmfa.museum) while the library is closed. The library staff will continue to provide reference assistance to the public and […]

November 24, 2008; 2:45 PM • by FTRea

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts library will be closed from Dec. 1 to March 1 as capital improvements to the museum continue during the expansion project.

Librarians will be available by telephone (804-340-1495) or by e-mail (library@vmfa.museum) while the library is closed. The library staff will continue to provide reference assistance to the public and student-information packets.

The 90-day closing is necessary as the museum upgrades its fire suppression system, one of nine capital improvement projects the museum is undertaking in conjunction with its expansion.

In addition to the fire-suppression system upgrade, other capital improvements to the existing museum include a boiler replacement, plywood replacement in the Sydney and Frances Lewis Galleries, a cooling-tower replacement, replacement of chillers, an upgrade to the museum’s security system, a fire-escape replacement, renovations to the carpentry shop, and construction of the  E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden.

The expanded VMFA is expected to open to the public in early 2010. The cost of the project is estimated to be $150 million.

When the full museum reopens, gallery space will be 50 percent larger, and special-exhibition space will double to a size large enough to accommodate major loan exhibitions. The James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing will include 12,000 square feet of special-exhibition space. And, with the museum’s permanent gallery space dramatically expanded as well, about 5,000 works of art will be displayed, significantly more than were on view before the project began. Some 110,000 square feet will be added to VMFA’s existing 380,000 square feet.

Additional information on the expansion project is on-line, click here.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is on the Boulevard at Grove Avenue. The galleries are open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. VMFA is an educational institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia and in 2008 celebrates 70 years as a leader in statewide arts education. Admission to the museum is free.

– The information above was provided by Suzanne Hall at VMFA

November 24, 2008 2:45 PM 0