PNC Bank N.A. has closed on a $10 million loan to the Milwaukee Art Museum Inc. for its major restoration and renovation project.
MAM is currently restoring the War Memorial and Kahler buildings in a $25 million project. The museum has committed $15 million, while Milwaukee County is contributing $10 million. The loan from Pittsburgh-based PNC will provide bridge financing for the Plan for the Future project, which began in the fall.
The museum campus currently includes the War Memorial Center (1957) designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen; the Kahler Building (1975) by Milwaukee-based architect David Kahler; and the Quadracci Pavilion (2001) by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. With the renovation, the museum’s gallery space will increase by 10,000 square feet.
MAM houses a collection of more than 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, and American decorative arts. It is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators and has one of the largest collections of works by Georgia O’Keeffe.
The Collection Galleries in the Museum’s Saarinen and Kahler buildings have been taken off view for the next year for extensive restoration work. The museum, however, remains open and active. The collections will be re-installed in the fall of 2015, and the Museum will unveil easier wayfinding, a new lakeside entrance, redesigned galleries, and restrooms on every floor.
