What to expect from VMFA's historic $261 million expansion

VMFA is growing once again.

Why it matters: The museum is about to embark on the largest expansion in its nearly 100-year history.

• When it's completed, VMFA will be the fourth largest art museum in the U.S. behind the Met in NYC, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The big picture: The planned $261 million McGlothlin Wing II will rise on the museum's west and south facades, in front of the sculpture garden, adding around 173,000 square feet.

• It's the museum's first major expansion since 2010, when the VMFA's $150 million, 165,000-square-foot addition created the stunning glass exterior and three-story front-facing entrance we know today.
• Planning kicked off in 2021 to accommodate VMFA's growing collection, which has nearly doubled in size since 2010.
• This work is separate from repairs to part of the Sculpture Garden , which is scheduled to wrap up next month.

Zoom in: Among the galleries and spaces VMFA will add as part of the three-year project:

• 30,000 square feet for American art
• 12,400 square feet for Contemporary art
• 8,600 square feet for African art
• 12,000 square feet for a new cafe and bar, plus special event space, meeting rooms and a special exhibition gallery.

Of note: The new cafe and bar will bring VMFA's on-site restaurant count to four, complimenting the third-story Amuse, first-floor Best Cafe and Floris , the tea room that opened last year off the Sculpture Garden.

Meanwhile, existing galleries will shift too to carve out 5,500 square feet of new gallery space for photography and a larger gallery space for Medieval through Impressionist European art.

• The Leslie Cheek Theater is also being renovated and that should reopen this year in time for the Richmond Ballet to move its studio series there in March.

What's next: Final renderings will delivered early next year with groundbreaking beginning in late 2025.

• The new wing should open in 2028 and admission to all its permanent collections will continue to be free, and open 365 days a year.