RICHMOND, VA.-The Grand Opening of the expanded and transformed Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be May 1, 2010, VMFA Director Alex Nyerges has announced. The new James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing “is now sealed and protected from the elements, allowing interior work to proceed full speed ahead,” he says.

“In less than a year our superb collections will be on view once again for all to enjoy in a spectacular setting that is itself a work of art,” he says.

In addition to the work on the new wing, the museum is upgrading fire-suppression and other mechanical facilities that serve its present galleries.

Because of safety and accessibility issues and because, in the fall, workers will begin reinstalling thousands of works of art, Nyerges says, “our galleries will be off view after June 28 as we prepare for an even more exciting future that will allow us to serve all Virginians in a transformed facility and in new, improved and livelier ways.”

Nyerges notes that the museum will not close its doors. “We will continue to offer a variety of VMFA events and programs that are important to our local and statewide communities.”

Exhibitions, programs and classes will continue in the Pauley Center and the VMFA Studio School. The museum’s extensive statewide programs and exhibitions will not be interrupted. With more than 200 partners statewide, including museums, art centers, primary and secondary schools, college and university galleries, libraries, hospitals, and retirement communities, VMFA serves more than 270,000 Virginians each year in their own communities.