MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), one of the nation's leading encyclopedic art museums, opens its major expansion and renovation on June 11, 2006. The re-imagined MIA includes a new 113,000-square-foot wing designed by Michael Graves & Associates, and 49,000 square feet of building renovation, which together adds thirty-four new galleries and nearly forty percent new exhibition space to the MIA.

"The Grand Opening is an opportunity to show the world and to remind our community what an exceptional collection we have," said William M. Griswold, director and president of the MIA. "Our renovated galleries provide one of the most expansive displays of Chinese and Japanese art in this country. Our new wing allows us to showcase our collections of twentieth-century and even contemporary art, and to host exceptional traveling exhibitions."

The MIA's $100 million Bring Art to Life campaign has raised $84.7 million dollars for building expansion, renovation, and art purchase endowment. The lead gift to the Bring Art to Life campaign is a contribution in excess of $10 million dollars from Target, whose headquarters are in Minneapolis. In recognition of the lead contribution from Target, the MIA's new building for twentieth-century art has been named the Target Wing.

The MIA's public Grand Opening celebration takes place on Sunday, June 11, 2006. The public is invited to step into the world of art at this museum-wide festival for adults and children celebrating the completion of the new Target Wing. Guests will enjoy live entertainment, art workshops, special exhibitions, gallery and museum tours, and refreshments offered by the best Eat Street has to offer. Beginning at 9 a.m., early birds are welcome to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast prepared by local celebrity pancake flippers. The pancake breakfast is $5. All other opening events are free. No registration required. Call (612) 870-6323 for details. As always, general admission to the museum is free. Additionally, as a gift to the community, admission to the special exhibition The Surreal Calder is free during the public opening celebration. The Grand Opening weekend exclusive sponsor is Target.

Expansion Details Founded in 1883 by the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is situated just south of downtown Minneapolis, occupying a 1915 neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White. An expansion in 1974 added two modern wings designed by Kenzo Tange to the east and west sides of the original building. The Graves design respectfully combines the neoclassical elegance of the MIA's original McKim, Mead & White building with the stark minimalism of Tange's addition. Graves also designed the Children's Theatre Company (CTC) expansion, which is adjacent to the MIA; it opened in October 2005.

The Grand Opening celebration unveils the reinstallation of much of the MIA's renowned permanent collection of almost 100,000 works of art representing more than 5,000 years of world history, as well as four special exhibitions. With the expansion, the MIA can more fully and dramatically showcase its Asian art collection, one of the finest and most comprehensive in the United States. The Chinese collection now occupies 20,000 square feet of gallery space, making it one of the largest installations of Chinese art in the country. Additionally, six new galleries are devoted to a larger and more complete presentation of the museum's acclaimed Japanese art collection, giving the MIA the largest number of galleries dedicated to Japanese art of any museum in the country.