PRESS RELEASE

August 20, 2002

Contact:
Katie Sproles, (541) 346-0942, ksproles@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Ceremonial Groundbreaking Set Sept. 10
EUGENE FIRM IS APPARENT LOW BIDDER FOR UO ART MUSEUM PROJECT

EUGENE, OR, August 20, 2002 -- The Wildish Building Co. of Eugene is the apparent low bidder for a $12.72 million renovation and expansion of the University of Oregon Museum of Art (UOMA).

University officials are in the process of awarding the contract for this long-anticipated project that will modernize the art museum's outdated and undersized facilities.

A ceremonial groundbreaking, free and open to the public, is scheduled at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the museum, 1430 Johnson Lane on the UO campus. UOMA Director Del Hawkins will serve as master of ceremonies for the ceremony that will feature UO President Dave Frohnmayer and some of the lead donors in the art museum's capital campaign.

"This will mark the beginning of the Museum of Art's future as a major cultural visual arts resource for the entire region and beyond for generations to come," says Hawkins.

The expansion will add gallery space and other facilities that will enable the art museum to host major traveling exhibitions, to better display the art museum's collection and to offer more educational opportunities for UO students, Oregon schoolchildren and the public.

The 38,000 square feet of additional space will allow for creation of a new American and regional art gallery and will house the Gordon Gilkey Research Center for prints, drawings and photographs. The completed project will include an educational suite containing a discovery gallery, studio and auditorium and will serve patrons with a new a new café within the building. A special events hall will be available for public rental.

The construction phase and reinstallation of the museum's collections are expected to take approximately 18 months. The UOMA staff is preparing for a winter 2004 reopening.

The State of Oregon awarded the $12.72 million renovation and expansion project $6.36 million in state-serviced bonds. These funds were matched, as required, through a combination of grants from federal and private foundations, several estate gifts and more than 750 individual donations.

For University of Oregon Museum of Art information, contact Katie Sproles, UOMA public relations and marketing coordinator, at 346-0942.

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