On May 6, UW-Madison and the Elvehjem Art Museum accepted $20 million from UW-Madison alumni Jerome and Simona Chazen to fund an expansion of the museum, according to a museum statement.
Effective immediately, the university announced the art museum within Elvehjem was to be called the Chazen Museum of Art to commemorate the gift. The building remains the Elvehjem Building, however.
The Chazens are New York City natives and UW-Madison alumni who carry a legacy of art appreciation in both New York and Madison. Furthermore, the Chazens' daughter is a graduate of UW-Madison and they currently have a grandson attending the university.
The donation is being given as part of the UW-Madison Foundation's \Create the Future: the Wisconsin Campaign"" and is expected to begin in 2007 and finish in 2009.
The expansion to the museum incorporates a 60,000 sq. ft. building across Murray Street with the existing Elvehjem building. A bridge will connect the two buildings.
The expansion to the museum is just part of the $35 million project to construct multiple new buildings in the area. Plazas with seating, plants and sculptures will connect the proposed buildings.
According to the Director of the Chazen Museum Addition Patricia Powell, ""[The expansion] is a direct benefit to students if we can display more art.""
The expansion will provide 20,000 square feet of gallery space, according to the museum's statement. This extra space will allow the museum to display more of its extensive collection, such as an African art collection, which does not currently have a display space, but will have its own gallery area in the Chazen Museum.
According to UW-Madison Art History professor and department chair Gene Phillips, the expansion will enhance art education on campus tremendously as the expansion will allow for students to view art that is currently kept in storage. The expansion will also incorporate ""study storage"" facilities, which are rooms where students and faculty can work together with art objects.
These changes are especially crucial to art education, Phillips said. ""The expansion will allow for better interaction between the Art History department and the Chazen Museum.""
But most importantly, he added, ""The expansion will allow easier access to the art the museum already owns ... and it will allow for a greater range of things to be shown.""
