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The Speed Art Museum Launches Public Phase of
Capital Campaign for Expansion
October 18, 2011
Louisville, Kentucky, The Speed Art Museum is pleased to report that its planned expansion is on schedule to break ground in late 2012 thanks to the generosity of leading philanthropists and dedicated members of its Board of Trustees. At its annual members’ meeting on Friday, October 14, Dr. Charles L. Venable, Speed Director and CEO, announced that $42.5 million had been raised during an initial quiet phase of the Changing Speed Capital Campaign, which has been led since 2007 by Campaign Chair, Joseph A. Paradis III and the late Owsley Brown II who served as Honorary Campaign Chair.
Mr. Paradis is pleased to announce that Richard H.C. Clay, a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, and Brooke Brown Barzun have agreed to act as Co-Chairs of Community Gifts for the expansion project going forward. Paradis commented, “Community support is crucial to the expansion of the Museum and I am confident that Dick’s and Brooke’s passion for the Speed will excite the Louisville community about the project as we move into the public phase of the Campaign. As an advocate of arts and culture on an international platform, Brooke will bring unparalleled expertise to the Campaign, while Dick has been very dedicated to the realization of the expansion over the past several years as a Trustee and former Board Chair. I know they will do an excellent job as Co-Chairs.”
The Changing Speed Capital Campaign is the largest fundraising effort in the Museum’s history. In April the Museum unveiled the overall master plan created by wHY Architecture of Los Angeles and Boston landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand. The Speed estimates it will take more than a decade to complete the total plan at a cost of approximately $79 million in 2010 dollars. The current Campaign is raising $50 million for the first phase of the plan which includes a new North Building and surrounding landscape.
Showing the depth and commitment of Speed supporters in the community, the Campaign has already benefited from 14 individual gifts of $1 million or more.
Board Chairman Todd P. Lowe remarked, “The Speed Art Museum plays a central role in the cultural life of this community, and I am very pleased that a significant number of Campaign donors have stepped up to provide support to ensure the Museum’s future. This project will improve the arts landscape in Louisville, enhancing its reputation both regionally and nationally.”
Donors at the leadership level include: Mary Louise Barr, Christy and the late Owsley Brown II, the late Sara Shallenberger Brown, Paul Chellgren, Elizabeth P. and the late Frederick K. Cressman, James Graham Brown Foundation, Inc., Betty and David Jones, Sr., Helen C. Powell, Thorntons Inc. in honor of Bonnie Dance Thornton, University of Louisville, as well as four anonymous donors.
Louisville businessman and philanthropist David Jones, Sr. remarked about the Campaign, “My wife Betty and I have donated to the Speed’s Capital Campaign because we believe in the overall vision of the project. In addition to the physical building, the master plan incorporates added greenspace around the Museum that will bring art experiences into nature and make the outdoors a part of the visitor’s gallery experience.”
About the Expansion and the Public Campaign
Over the next year the Speed hopes to raise $7.5 million through the public campaign. If successful, groundbreaking for the new North Building will take place in late 2012 with a completion date of late 2015. In preparation for building construction, advance work began early last summer to create a water infiltration system beneath the future Art Park and a new driveway connecting vehicular traffic from Third Street to the Museum’s parking garage. In addition to an Art Park and Piazza, the first phase of the master plan will include a new North building housing state-of-the-art temporary exhibition space and new galleries for Modern and Contemporary Art, as well as a new auditorium, café, museum store, and Family Education Atrium.
The Museum is working closely with neighboring institutions, peer non-profit organizations, and other civic groups, including the University of Louisville, Olmsted Parks Conservancy, and the Metropolitan Sewer District, conducting due diligence to ensure that enabling work on the Museum’s grounds is beneficial to the entire area and arranging donated materials for reuse around the city. With open lines of communication with the University, Mayor Greg Fischer, Governor Steve Beshear, and other public officials, it is the goal of the Museum’s leadership to pursue plans for expansion with a collaborative and community-minded approach.
About the Speed Art Museum
The Speed Art Museum is Kentucky’s largest art museum with a collection that spans 6,000 years of human creativity. An independent Museum located on the campus of the University of Louisville, the Speed plays an important role in the cultural and educational life of the region. The Museum is situated at a crossroads between the city and the University of Louisville, adjacent to the busiest pedestrian thoroughfare on the University’s campus. To view a virtual tour of the upcoming expansion master plan visit www.speedmuseum.org.
Museum hours are Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (open late); Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Galleries are closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Admission to the Museum is $10, free for members.
For more information, please contact Kirsten Popp, 502.634.2700/ kpopp@speedmuseum.org
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports The Speed Art Museum with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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