$150 million expansion illuminates VMFA collections

The venerable Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has added 165,000-square-feet in order to properly display its immense holdings. 

Emerging from the vaults to new galleries will be the museum's Pre-Colombian and Native American collections. Permanent collection galleries will increase 50% in size while exhibition space is doubled.

Director Alex Nyerges says the cohesive new space, desgined by London-based American architect Rick Mather and his associate Peter Culley, will help re-position VMFA as "the kind of museum we want to be." Namely, VMFA aims to be one of the top 10 museums in the U.S.

"We have one of the country's best collections of American art. Our Indian and Himalayan collection is one of the three best in the world. We have the best collection of Art Nouveau and Art Deco outside Paris — and I haven't even started talking about our English silver and our Fabergé," Nyerges told the Daily Press.