Ziger/Snead to lead $24 million Baltimore Museum of Art renovation project


The Baltimore Museum of Art has chosen architectural firm of Ziger/Snead to lead a $24 million renovation of the neoclassical museum building.


The museum is located adjacent to the Johns Hopkins University campus between the Charles Village and Remington neighbourhoods. The renovation will include enhancements of galleries housing the contemporary, American and African collections, new lighting and new floor and wall finishes; new displays for collections; and a new, 5,000-square-foot space on an upper level of the building.

The east lobby of the museum will also be renovated with upgrades to visitor amenities, including the gift shop. Two new roofs and a state-of-the-art building automation system, will also be incorporated to improve care of the 90,000 works of art in the BMA’s collection

The museum is planning to complete the renovations by 2014, which will also be its 100th anniversary. The renovation is part of a masterplan of improvements and expansion announced in 2005. The museum raised $10 million from the state of Maryland for the latest renovation, with $2.45 million in bond support from the City of Baltimore. The rest of the money is expected to come from private fundraising, according to museum officials.

As part of a 20-year masterplan released in 2005, the museum plans to add more than 100,000 square feet of space in form of gallery and storage areas, and reopen the historic main entrance facing Art Museum Drive. The last major renovations at the BMA occurred in 2001 with the refurbishment of Cone Wing, and in 2003 with the renovation of the European art galleries. The renovation project of the West Wing for Contemporary Art has recently begun in 2011 and is being led by Baltimore-based Marshall Craft Associates. T

The museum was founded in Baltimore in 1914 and was designed by American architect John Russell Pope in 1929. The 10-building complex encompasses 210,000 square feet and is housed in a grand historic building featuring two landscaped gardens with an array of 20th-century sculpture.

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