Posted on January 14, 2011

Metropolitan Museum of Art Receives $10 Million Gift for Costume Institute Renovation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced a $10 million gift from Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch to support the complete renovation of exhibition galleries within its Costume Institute.

A new 4,200-square-foot gallery will enable the Met to fundamentally change its approach to its costume collection by allowing visitors, through rotating installations, to view some aspect of its holdings at least ten months of the year. In addition, the renovation will include a new costume conservation center and an expanded and updated study and storage facility that will house the combined holdings of the Met and Brooklyn Museum costume collection. The latter was transferred to the Met in 2009.

The Costume Institute houses more than 35,000 costumes and accessories spanning five continents and as many centuries. Typically, the institute organizes one large exhibition a year that runs for about three months, Met spokesperson Elyse Topalian told Bloomberg.com.

"This project makes possible the museum's dramatic re-thinking of the display of historic costume and contemporary fashion," said Harold Koda, curator in charge of the Costume Institute. "The current galleries with their fixed vitrines and established flow will be transformed into a space that maximizes the ability of the museum to present its costume holdings in new and varied ways. A range of visual effects will also be employed to underscore the conceptual and narrative intentions of the changing exhibitions installed in this space."