MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Brooks Museum of Art broke ground Thursday on a new site in downtown Memphis.
After more than a century in Overton Park, the new 122,00 square foot museum will be located on a full city block at the corner of Front St. between Monroe and Union Ave.
The new location will have 50% more gallery space, according to museum leaders, and will house Memphis’ permanent art collection, as well as provide spaces for education and art-making for young and old alike. They said there will also be a restaurant and gift shop, and include 600% more art-filled public spaces that the current facility.
A 10,000 square foot community courtyard will be at the heart of the space, and a rooftop will feature an ‘art park in the sky’ with another green space. The museum said both these paces will be open to the public without museum admission.
“This marks a transformative moment, not only for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, but for all of Memphis,” Memphis Brooks Museum of Art executive director Zoe Kahr said in a news release. “This is a project that will redefine the visual arts in the Mid-South for generations.”
Leaders said the museum campus will also include a pedestrian plaza shared by the museum and Cossitt Library, as well as connecting the Bluff Walk, which currently ends behind Cossitt Library, and the River Walk on Union Avenue.
Museum leaders said more than 75% of the $180 million goal for the project has been raised.
Kahr said “Memphians invested $100 million in their new art museum before seeing a single rendering. Tennesseans committed another $35 million to their oldest and largest art museum before construction began. Today, together, as we break ground on Memphis’ art museum, I know the excitement has only just begun.”
“Today’s groundbreaking is one more sign of the strong growth and private investments in our city,” Mayor Jim Strickland said. “Memphis’ new art museum is a civic asset that will become the front porch for our city and a magnet for tourism.”
Officials said the museum will be designed by Herzog & de Meuron, with archimania as architect and Grinder Taber Grinder as general contractor.
Museum leaders said construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, with the building to open in early 2026.
The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park will stay open until the new building officially opens.
“The exhibition Black American Portraits is opening on August 17 with some truly remarkable programs for the whole family.” Kahr said. “Memphis’ art museum is very much open in Overton Park and we’re thrilled to continue bringing incredible programing, exhibitions, and special events to our current home in Midtown.”