The Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) is in the process of a $15.1M expansion which will nearly double the art museum’s footprint from 31,800 SF to 57,570 SF. The expansion project will add 4 new exhibition galleries (including a large 5,000 SF gallery for major touring exhibitions), 2 new classrooms, a new museum store, new critical collections storage, workshop, support spaces (loading dock, event staging, custodial), and connecting spaces for public events, community space, and a public sculpture garden/green space bridging the new museum to a revitalized downtown. When completed the MMA will have 18,675 sf of exhibition space (by comparison, the Grand Rapids Art Museum has 20,000 sf of exhibition space), which will substantially advance and sustain our mission for decades to come and transform the MMA into a regional, Midwest, and national destination.

Construction began in May of 2023 and is expected for be complete in late 2024 with a public opening planned for early 2025. $14M has been raised to date with a funding gap of $1.1M. The MMA’s vision for this expansion is to support the MMA’s viability and sustainability decades by transforming the museum from a stop-over to a destination that will have a wide-ranging economic and cultural impact on the West Michigan area.

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• Lead Design Firm: Annum Architects, Boston, MA

• Collaborating Design Firm: Mathison | Mathison Architects, Grand Rapids, MI

• Owner’s Representative: Construction Simplified, Grand Rapids, MI

• Construction: Erhardt Construction, Muskegon & Grand Rapids, MI

 

A capital campaign for the expansion began in 2020. Major contributions have made the reality of a museum expansion possible for the Muskegon Museum of Art.

Here is a list of our generous major donors (as of June 2023):

FOUNDER – $1,700,000+

Steven Alan Bennett & Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt

In addition to the Bennett’s generous gift toward the expansion, they also gifted the MMA 150 works of art by 115 different artists, including Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Agnes Martin, Elaine de Kooning, Harmonia Rosales, Julie Bell, Andrea Kowch, Katie O’Hagan, and dozens of others representing contemporary and historical women figurative realist painters. The artwork donation gives the MMA the ability to have a space to focus on art by women artists, positioning Muskegon among fewer than five museums in the world with a focus for art by women.

Click here to learn more about the Bennett’s gift to the MMA.

 

LEADERSHIP – $1,500,000+

Van Kampen Boyer Molinari Foundation

 

NEXT CENTURY SUSTAINER – $1,000,000+

City of Muskegon

Mrs. Shaw Walker

 

PLATINUM – $500,000+

Folkert Family in Memory of Carol R. Folkert

The Hilt Foundation

Patrick O’Leary & Karen Yamasaki

Brad & Kathleen Playford

Shape Corp in Memory of Gary & Victoria Verplank

 

GOLD – $250,000+

Community Foundation for Muskegon County (CFfMC)

The Frey Foundation

Hines Corporation

Howmet Aerospace Found.

Jeffrey L. Johnson Trust

Muskegon Public Schools

 

SILVER – $100,000+

The Susan & Frank Bednarek Fund of the CFfMC

Andy & Nancy Busard in Memory of Drs. J. Max & Mary Ellen Busard

Thomas F. DeVoursney

Mark & Christine Fazakerley

Grand Haven Area Community Foundation (GHACF)

Paul C. Johnson Foundation

Buzz & Wendy Kersman

The Meijer Foundation

Mike & Kay Olthoff

Paul & Sally A. Peterson

Robert D. & C. Corcoran Tuttle Fund & Tuttle Family

Warner Norcross + Judd 

• Robert & Cathleen Dubault
• Paul & Karen Jackson
• Brian & Jamie Lang
• John & Jessie Martin
• Michael & Debra Schubert
• James J. & Sheila G. Steffel

Shaw & Betty Walker Foundation

Richard & Marilyn Witham

 

BRONZE – $50,000+

Bernard & Catherine Bernston

Dr. Fredrick & Deborah Brown Estate

Consumers Energy Foundation

Steve & Deb Jackson Family Fund of the CFfMC

Michigan Council of Arts & Cultural Affairs

Steve & Deb Olsen

Webb Chemical Service Corp.

Jerry & Roxie Westgate

 

LEGACY – $25,000+

William Baldridge in Memory of LuAnn Baldrige

Allen & Sandy Beck

Kate Brickley In Memory of Robert Packer

Jon & Jane Blyth

Cannon Family Foundation

Dr. Don & Nancy Crandall

Gust & Mary Theodore Danigelis

Caron & Floyd Farmer

Judith Hayner & Charlene Romanosky in Honor of the MMA Foundation Trustees, 1984-Present

Dave & Julie Hazekamp

F. Martin & Dorothy A. Johnson Family Fund of the GHACF in Honor of Sarah B. Johnson

Trip & Nina Johnson

Dan & Sheryl Kuznar

A. Scott & Donna Lachniet

Jack H. Miller & Susan Horsfall

Linda Noble

Delmar & Audria M. Olson Family Foundation

Margaret E. Potter

Mary Price & Tom Schaub

Barbara L. Rafaill

Susan Rehrer

Paul & Evelyn Reid

Jack & Becky Slimko

John & Mary Swanson

Jane & Don Tjarksen

The John D. & Karen L. Wells Charitable Gift Fund

The Chris Witham Family Fund at The Chicago Community Foundation