Displaying items by tag: private donors

The Smithsonian Institution said on Monday that it planned to raise $1.5 billion by 2017 in its first institution-wide fundraising campaign and had already raised more than $1 billion of that sum from private individuals, foundations, corporations and other donors.

In an era of tighter federal funding the Smithsonian is increasing its private fundraising efforts to pay for its stepped-up ambitions at its sprawling network of museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and research centers, one of the largest collections of museum and research centers in the world.

The Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian museum dedicated to American craft and decorative arts, has embarked on a $30-million, two-year renovation project. The museum shuttered its 154-year-old building last month for its first renovation in 40 years. The Renwick will restore parts of its building, refurbish historic features and make technological updates to its Grand Salon.

The project is being helmed by the Cleveland-based architecture firm Westlake Reed Leskosky. Applied Minds, an interdisciplinary company based in Los Angeles, will be responsible for transforming the Renwick’s Grand Salon into a high-tech, interactive art space.

The project is a 50-50 public-private partnership. So far the Renwick has raised $10 million from private donors.

The 200,000-square-foot, Herzog & de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum at Miami Museum Park has officially opened to the public. Located on Miami’s Biscayne Bay, the museum features expansive galleries and an education center.

Fundraising efforts for the museum began in 2004 when Miami-Dade county voters approved a general obligation bond for $100 million in public money. Private donors contributed another $60 million for the building’s construction and institutional endowment. After developer Jorge Pérez pledged $35 million and a number of important artworks to the project in 2011, officials decided to name the institution The Pérez Art Museum.

A retrospective highlighting controversial Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei is currently on view at the Pérez Art Museum. The exhibition opened at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., last year and traveled to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario earlier this year.