A raft of architectural and landscaping improvements, new amenities for community engagement initiatives, enhanced programming of events and exhibitions, and growth of its endowment fund, is behind a US$85m (€77.8m, £69.1m) fund-raising campaign underway at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) ‒ US$71m (€65m, £57.8m) of which has so far been successfully raised.
The museum, which had a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off the public phase of its 'All In!' campaign, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its foundation in 1969, through a public vote to create an institution dedicated to the art, history and natural sciences of California.
Of the campaign target, US$30m (€27.5m, £24.4m) will be put towards OMCA's curatorial, educational and public programming initiatives over a five year period, including the museum's ongoing social impact research.
Another US$15m (€13.8m, £12.2m) has been earmarked for renovations, which it expects to be completed by the latter part of 2020. It's hired Oakland-based landscape architect Hood Design Studio and San Francisco-based architecture firm Mark Cavagnero Associates to work on the enhancements to its seven-acre campus.
Among the improvements planned are refreshments to the OMCA's terraced gardens with new, environmentally sensitive plantings that are native to California and public sculptures by renowned Californian artists, removing a border hedge to create a new entrance on a major pedestrian corner, and improved access, including the addition of new ADA-accessible ramps.
The work will also create a new, permanent stage that will support the OMCA's expanded outdoor performance, music and film programmes. The museum said it will remain open during these renovations.
The remaining balance of the fundraising ‒ US$40m (€36.6m, £32.5m) ‒ is to go towards growing the OMCA's endowment and securing its financial stability into the future.
In 2011, it changed from being a city entity to an independent non-profit and it has been undergoing a strategic planning and financial modelling process in recognition of this shift, as well as broader changes in the community it serves. It said the new plans embrace an opportunity for the OMCA to serve as a civic centre in a greater capacity, with artistic, educational and social components geared towards engaging its diverse audience.
Lori Fogarty, director and CEO at the OMCA, commented: "I believe that museums have a distinct opportunity to serve as sites for critical engagement ‒ engagement with our varied histories, with perspectives different from our own, and most importantly with each other.
"With our current campaign, we look forward to expanding this focus on engagement, by physically opening up our campus to the surrounding neighbourhoods, creating new spaces for people to convene and connect, and by further developing our curatorial and public programmes to embrace evermore diverse experiences, narratives and voices."
