Philadelphia museum opens $20m expansion after winning back cancelled funding from Trump administration

"Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, an institution celebrating the artists of the region, unveils a transformative $20m expansion on 1 November. The 17,000-sq.-ft Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art and Education, a converted 19th-century mansion adjacent to the museum, now spans 14 galleries and an education studio. The project has also added expansive green space to the Woodmere campus. Woodmere's new addition complements the original building, known as Charles Knox Smith Hall and named after the museum's founder-a local mining magnate and art collector."

"Smith lived downtown but bought the estate because he wanted a place to experience art and nature together," William Valerio, the director and chief executive of the museum, tells The Art Newspaper. "He believed that art and nature were a path to God. We might not use those words today, but art and nature are indeed spiritual and lift the soul." In the decades since Smith's death, the museum has made numerous acquisitions and received significant donations aligned with Smith's vision to champion Philadelphia artists."

Woodmere Art Museum opened a 17,000-sq.-ft Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art and Education on 1 November as part of a $20m expansion, adding 14 galleries, an education studio, and expanded green space. The new hall adjoins Charles Knox Smith Hall, the original museum building founded on Smith's 1898 estate purchase and his 1916 bequest that designated the home and grounds as a public museum. Legal hurdles delayed the transition from private home to museum, which officially opened in 1940 with six acres of grounds and works from Smith's collection. The collection has grown to more than 8,000 regional works.

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