MUSKEGON, MI.- The Muskegon Museum of Art has selected Boston-based Ann Beha Architects (ABA) to lead its first expansion project in 30 years.

Founded in 1912, the Muskegon Museum of Art holds a significant collection of American and European artworks, sculpture, and studio glass. The expansion project is driven by a renewed vision for exhibitions programming, collections growth, and community outreach. As museum Executive Director Kirk Hallman notes, “with current exhibition space and rotating the permanent collection twice annually, it would take over 40 years to show the entire collection.” Selected from a field of 33 candidates, ABA will design new classrooms, visitor service areas, and collections spaces to meet the museum’s ambition for growth and stewardship.

A leader in museum design, ABA has completed award-winning buildings for the Shelburne Museum, the Currier Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Portland Art Museum. ABA is currently designing the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and an orientation and exhibition center for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Other recent work includes master plans for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the renovation and expansion Mattatuck Museum, and renovation of Chicago’s landmark Newberry Library.

The ABA team includes Mathison | Mathison Architects, who recently transformed the former Muskegon Masonic Temple into Muskegon Community College’s Downtown Center. Mueller Associates will provide mechanical, plumbing, electrical and fire protection engineering services as well as lighting design, and Silman will provide structural engineering services. Prein&Newhof will provide civil engineering and landscape design, bringing a long history of collaborative work with City of Muskegon to the project. Cost consulting is provided by Boston-based Fennessy Consulting Services.

ABA’s projects explore the discourse between heritage and the future, establishing new identities and settings for arts, education, and the civic realm. ABA designs have been honored with awards from the Boston Society of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Society for College and University Planning, and the American Institute of Architects. Based in Boston and practicing worldwide, ABA is a minority-owned firm with a diverse and inclusive studio culture.