WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.- Delaware Art Museum trustees; U.S. Congressman Michael N. Castle; Wilmington mayoral assistant William Montgomery; and community and business leaders gathered at the construction site of the "new" Delaware Art Museum today to announce and celebrate the extreme generosity and leadership of two Delaware families. With a gift of $3 million from Tatiana and Gerret Copeland and a $1.5 million gift from the Anthony Fusco Family, the Delaware Art Museum adds $4.5 million to its campaign goal of $25 million.

Edgar S. Woolard Jr. and Victor Battaglia, co-chairs of the Delaware Art Museum Capital Campaign Steering Committee, expressed gratitude for these significant commitments from the two families. "The unsurpassed generosity of the Copelands and the Fusco Family is testament to their commitment, our community and cultural legacy," says Woolard. "Their gifts will ensure that this important institution will garner national recognition and, most importantly, that its great collections will be shared with generations to come."

Tatiana and Gerret Copeland’s gift of $3 million continues a well-established family tradition of philanthropic leadership and strong ties to the Delaware Art Museum. In 1912 Louisa du Pont Copeland, grandmother to Gerret, began the enduring partnership between the du Pont/Copeland family and the Museum, becoming the Museum’s founder and first president. An expansive and spacious two-story wing of galleries, where major traveling exhibitions such as "Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico" will be presented, will bear the Copeland name.

The $1.5 million gift given by the Anthony Fusco Family will honor Catherine Fusco, the late wife of Anthony Fusco. The new Grand Entrance Hall in the restored and renovated original Museum, the 1938 Georgian-style building, will serve as a memorial to Catherine Fusco.

Executive Director Steve Bruni praised the individual gifts from the Copelands and the Anthony Fusco Family and noted that many similar projects around the country have been stalled or even abandoned due to the inability to raise the needed funds. He said: "As the Museum prepares to take a quantum leap forward, it is important that community support match this dramatic growth. These two gifts are an excellent catalyst to generate this support as well as being extremely generous and significant in and of themselves."

The expansion, designed by architect Ann Beha, began in the summer of 2002 and is scheduled for completion by autumn 2004. Recently called a "Master Rebuilder" by the Boston Globe for being both a preservationist and a visionary with regard to her work restoring historic buildings, Beha is quickly gaining a national reputation for her work with a portfolio that includes the expansion of the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon; Boston Symphony Hall; and Mary Baker Eddy Library (Christian Science Church) in Boston.

With a substantial addition of space that will take the Museum from about 64,000 square feet to approximately 104,000, it will now be possible for the Museum to host traveling blockbuster exhibits as well as properly display its own permanent collection. The state’s premier fine arts institution has distinguished collections of American art and illustration from the 18 century to the present and the preeminent collection of English Pre-Raphaelite art outside the United Kingdom. The added gallery space in the renovated original 1938 building will feature the Pre-Raphelite art and the unsurpassed collection of Howard Pyle and his students, among them N.C. Wyeth.. Another of the Museum’s major and unrivaled collections-John Sloan-will be housed in the Gerret and Tatiana Copeland Wing, which will also accommodate changing exhibitions. A new, 12-acre sculpture park will showcase works by world-class sculptors with a café overlooking the park.