CLEVELAND.- The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) announced today that it has reached a significant milestone in its current capital campaign by raising $204.5 million, surpassing the halfway mark of a $350 million goal. The Campaign for the Cleveland Museum of Art has achieved an unprecedented level of support from both private and public sources for the comprehensive renovation and expansion of the museum’s facilities, a project that will transform the institution and leave no part of the museum untouched by the time it is completed in 2012.

The building project includes the renovation of two historically important structures—the CMA’s landmark Beaux-Arts building which opened to the public in 1916, and the addition designed by Marcel Breuer in the late 1960s—as well as the construction of several new wings designed by project architect Rafael Viñoly. At the heart of the expanded facility will be a 39,000 square-foot, glass-enclosed atrium uniting the entire complex and serving as the visual and spatial heart of the museum.

“The founders of this institution set and achieved the ambitious goal of building a great art museum for the benefit of the citizens of Cleveland. Nearly one hundred years later, today’s leaders are setting and achieving ambitious goals of their own by re-imagining the museum in a variety of ways to ensure that it remains one of this country’s finest art museums and one of this community’s most treasured cultural resources,” said Alfred M. Rankin, Jr., president of the Board of Trustees.

The project—the largest of its type ever undertaken by a cultural institution in the State of Ohio
has enjoyed a broad spectrum of support within the Cleveland community, including donations from nearly 280 individuals, families, corporations, government entities and foundations.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of our work on this project has been the response we have received from so many donors. They understand the importance of the museum and want to ensure that it will continue to make a difference in the lives of Clevelanders for generations to come,” said Ellen Stirn Mavec, co-chairperson of The Campaign for the Cleveland Museum of Art. “Among the most important contributors have been our own trustees, all of whom are participating in the campaign. Nearly half of the funds contributed to date have come from them, and for that we are deeply grateful.”

The CMA’s renovation and expansion project has been underway for nearly three years. The first phase of this project is nearly completed, and, on June 29, nineteen newly renovated galleries in the museum’s historic 1916 building will officially open to the public. These galleries will feature more than 900 works from the museum’s holdings of European art from the 17th through the 19th centuries and 18th and 19th century American art. Among the many masterpieces on view once again will be Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of St. Andrew (1609 - 10), Turner’s The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1835), Church’s Twilight in the Wilderness (1860), and Bellows’ Stag at Sharkey’s (1909).

“This project will enable us to achieve many important goals,” noted CMA Director Timothy Rub. “First, and perhaps most significantly, it will create additional gallery space and provide, through Rafael Viñoly’s handsome design, a superb setting for the display of our world-renowned collection.”

This fall, the CMA will inaugurate its new special exhibition galleries with a survey of the work and influence of three great modern masters of the decorative arts entitled Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique. Next June, the museum’s galleries of modern and contemporary art will open in the first of the three new wings designed by Rafael Viñoly. The museum’s renovation and expansion will continue over the next four years with the construction of new wings on the north and west sides of the complex and the new atrium. The total cost of the project has been estimated at $350 million.

“While we still have a long way to go to achieve this ambitious goal, the fact that we have raised such a significant amount to date gives us the confidence that this community will continue to invest in the future of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The museum has served this community well. It is among our city’s finest cultural assets. And it is an institution with a commitment to excellence that is known and admired throughout the world,” said Michael J. Horvitz, co-chairman of the Board of Trustees.