About The Fralin
Director's Welcome
As we greet the new year at The Fralin Museum of Art, I am pleased to report that 2013 brings excellent news of ongoing progress and exciting prospects.
As many of you know, The Fralin is in the quiet phase of a capital campaign in response to the longstanding goal of building a significant addition to the Museum. Our successes and growth have made it evermore important for us to acquire increased space for exhibitions, programming, storage, and everyday Museum functions. During the course of much of 2012, a small committee reviewed design proposals from leading architectural firms and, after much consideration, in November 2012 selected an architect.
The Los Angeles-based firm of Frederick Fisher and Partners has begun the process of designing a new wing for The Fralin, and we anticipate being able to share plans in the coming months. The firm is internationally recognized for its innovative work on more than 100 projects in the United States, France, Germany, China, Japan, and Turkey with major commissions including mixed-use developments, commercial spaces, and domestic environments.
Most important for our purposes, though, is Fisher's outstanding portfolio of museums and galleries. These encompass a number of remarkable spaces: the Lunder Wing at the Colby College Museum of Art in Maine, the Lois and Robert F. Erburu Gallery at The Huntington Library in Pasadena, MoMA PS1 in New York, and the Flint Institute of Art in Michigan. They impressed our search committee through their high quality of architectural design, coupling an appreciation of the best in traditional galleries with a command of the modern science of lighting and climate control.
The selection of a leading architectural firm for this project and the prospect of building a new wing are testament to The Fralin's standing as a leader of research and education in the arts at a top-tier institution. These many successes and those we anticipate in the coming year are only possible because of the support we receive from our communities, and for this we are very grateful. I look forward to seeing you all in the galleries this spring.
— Bruce Boucher, Director
Cynthia and W. Heywood Fralin, shown here in their Roanoke home with their collection, are longtime supporters of the arts in the Commonwealth of Virginia and of the University.
This was an opportunity to do something for the University that would be meaningful. The direction of the Museum is going to depend on
future donations and philanthropic interests. I'm hoping that this gift can be a catalyst to encourage others to give to the Museum,
and to the University.
— W. Heywood Fralin
