The Campaign for the New Bruce
The Campaign for the New Bruce includes $45 million in construction costs, as well as $15 million of added support to the Museum's Endowment to ensure sustainability. When complete, this unprecedented initiative will more than double the size of the Museum, from 30,000 square feet to 70,000 square feet, adding state-of-the-art exhibition, education, and community spaces and significantly expanding its space for permanent and changing installations of art, science, and natural history exhibitions.
The centerpiece of the New Bruce is the new three-story William L. Richter Art Wing, beautifully integrated with the current structure. Designed by the New Orleans firm of Eskew + Dumez + Ripple, the building will open onto Bruce Park and feature a delicate façade of cast stone and glass inspired by the striated surfaces of Connecticut’s rock quarries.
The New Bruce project—the first since a $4.3 million expansion in 1993—began with the expansion and improvement to the Museum’s parking lot in the fall of 2018. The second phase of construction started in September 9, 2019 with the complete renovation of the current changing gallery spaces. These enhancements are followed by the renovation of the Permanent Science Galleries that is currently underway. The Museum is expected to remain open during the renovation phases, with limited gallery space. A construction timetable for the addition will be finalized as the Campaign continues to reach its fundraising goals.
Greater space will mean greater impact in the community!
A peerless cultural asset for Greenwich and the region.
“The New Bruce will transform the Museum for our visitors and community – truly a peerless cultural asset for Greenwich and the region.”
—PETER C. SUTTON, Director Emeritus
We look forward to visiting our favorite permanent exhibit.
“My passion for the New Bruce is to see the Museum’s permanent art collection on exhibit, which we can't do now, as we just don't have the space. With other museums, Bob and I will go see the temporary show, then visit our favorite permanent exhibit, like the American Wing when we go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
—GALE LAWRENCE, Bruce Museum Member
Greenwich as a world-class community, a global destination.
“The expansion of the Bruce with its exquisite collection is further reinforcing Greenwich as a world-class community, a global destination. Being in close proximity to our Harbor and Downtown, and located within Bruce Park and near to Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, which has become the event venue for our town, the New Bruce is an attraction that will spur cultural enrichment and economic activity.”
—PETER J. TESEI, Former First Selectman
A New Art History Experience
The Museum’s new permanent Art galleries will encourage visitors to explore the history of art and return to view their favorite works acquired during the Museum’s first century, or recently added by private collectors whose generous donations are an investment in the future of the Bruce. With artworks ranging in date from the fourth century B.C. to the early twenty-first century, the New Bruce will have space to celebrate the achievements of artists from diverse cultures around the world.
The New Bruce will highlight an expansive changing Art Gallery, ensuring that something new and exciting is on view with each visit and enabling the Museum to broaden its offerings to the many audiences it serves, as well as to engage with the international circuit of exhibitions.
Explore the Best of Science
Science and Natural History will have a much larger space for both permanent and temporary installations in the New Bruce. Encompassing all of the Museum’s existing galleries, the dramatically renovated Science Wing of the Bruce will have the space to explore discoveries of the past, present breakthroughs, and the possibilities for the future.
The Permanent Science galleries will be redesigned and reinstalled, adding more exceptional minerals, fossils, and unique specimens of the natural world to the Bruce Museum’s collection. With new lighting and sound effects in the diorama, interactives throughout, and exhibits that include dinosaurs and live animal displays, the permanent science galleries will present a multi-sensory expedition through the region’s rich natural history.
Family Time and Community Engagement
The Bruce Museum’s popular in-house programs for families will expand exponentially. The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Education Wing of the New Bruce will inspire wonder, spark creativity, and promote understanding of art and science for all ages.
Spaces dedicated to hands-on learning will triple in size. Two new education workshops will showcase interactive activities in art and science, offering families and student groups memorable ways to explore the themes presented in the New Bruce.
Leisure and Learning
The flexible design of design of the community areas such as the Lecture Hall will enable visitors to engage with visual culture and the natural world during such events as film series, “lunch and learn” sessions, or drinks and conversation with thought-leaders in art and science.
Guests can shop at the greatly expanded Museum Store and savor in the new Restaurant, enjoying chef-inspired creations. Share a sandwich with a friend on the Restaurant terrace overlooking outdoor sculpture, or relax and reflect with a refreshing drink inside.
Equipped with state-of-the-art audio and visual systems, the New Bruce Museum’s unique new community spaces will be the perfect setting for meetings, presentations, wedding and special events.
Rediscover Bruce Park
Whether taking a stroll on the open-air promenades, chatting with a friend on a park bench, or learning about tree and animal species on a nature walk, guests will enjoy the captivating atmosphere surrounding the New Bruce. New pathways meandering among specimen trees and convenient parking will invite visitors into Bruce Park and the Bruce Museum.
![CAMPAIGN BANNER[1].png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/599354f6e3df285bc51e9c9b/1567331282827-JLS2ZVJ52WJ556W0K1X0/CAMPAIGN+BANNER%5B1%5D.png)