Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond VA, VMFA building USA, American gallery architecture photos

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA

January 30, 2026

Architecture: SmithGroup

Location: Richmond, Virginia, USA

Images courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has released a series of architectural design renderings showing what the museum will look like after it undergoes the largest expansion and renovation project in its history. The illustrations include exterior and interior views of the planned transformation.

The expansion and renovation will support VMFA’s commitment to enhancing the visitor experience. Expanded galleries for African, American, Indigenous American, and 20th- and 21st-century art in the McGlothlin Wing II, as well as renovated gallery spaces for European art and photography in the existing building, will allow the museum to show far more of its permanent collection. Additional spaces in the new wing for special exhibitions, events, and a cafe-bar will also enable VMFA to welcome more visitors and provide more enjoyment through blockbuster special exhibitions, public programs, performances, and increased dining options.

“The new look of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will reflect our commitment to openness and community engagement,” said Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “The expansion’s architecture and design are expressions of our ongoing intention to be a welcoming space for all. We want all visitors to see themselves here.”

The new 173,000-square-foot McGlothlin Wing II, added to the south and west sides of the existing building, will have a unique exterior surface that plays with natural light to cast dynamic shadows and invite curiosity and exploration.

The scale of the expanded galleries will elevate the museum in national rankings. VMFA’s space for African art will be the second largest among all comprehensive art museums in the United States. The galleries dedicated to American art and photography will be the fourth largest, respectively, in the nation.

The museum will also expand upward to add a fifth floor. Renderings show how the five floors will appear to visitors relative to familiar surroundings on VMFA’s campus, including the E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Garden’s reflection pond and Dale Chihuly’s glass installation Red Reeds.VMFA’s campus is being prepared for construction, with groundbreaking for the expansion anticipated in summer 2026.

The museum will remain open to visitors throughout construction. The McGlothlin Wing II is scheduled to open to the public in 2029. As with any expansion and renovation project, designs and dates are subject to change.

The design, developed by international integrated design firm SmithGroup, is informed by Virginians. Since gaining the support of the Governor and the General Assembly in 2021, VMFA and SmithGroup have actively worked together to engage internal stakeholders and the community, seeking a better understanding of the visitor experience and of the public’s vision for the museum.

The design blurs the boundary between the museum’s interior and exterior. Renderings also show how visitors will move between floors
on suspended staircases. Expansive windows will allow visitors to simultaneously view both the museum’s natural surroundings and works of art.

The generosity of individuals, organizations and the Commonwealth of Virginia is making this historic transformation possible. The
community is invited to learn more about the expansion at a special event on April 12, 2026, which will kick off the See Yourself Here: The Campaign for VMFA.

Expansion and renovation project updates can be found on the museum’s website at www.VMFA.museum.

Atrium. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.
African art gallery. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.
Event space. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.

About VMFA’s Expansion and Renovation
This landmark building project marks the fifth expansion project that VMFA has undertaken since its opening in 1936. One of the top ten comprehensive art museums in the U.S., VMFA currently comprises 718,831 square feet. The newly planned McGlothlin Wing II will comprise approximately 173,000 square feet of new gallery spaces for American art (approximately 30,000 square feet), African art (approximately 8,600 square feet), contemporary art (approximately 12,400 square feet), a special events space that seats 500 people, meeting rooms, a cafe and bar, and a second special exhibition gallery suite (approximately 12,000 square
feet).

The project will also renovate approximately 45,000 square feet of existing gallery space in the 1936, 1970 and 2010 wings highlighted by approximately 5,500 square feet of new gallery space for photography and approximately 7,000 square feet for the Raysor Center for Works on Paper. The Raysor Center will also include a study room and expanded spaces for conservation, matting and framing and storage for works on paper and photography. There will also be expanded galleries for European art from Medieval to Impressionism.

The total cost for the expansion and renovation is $261 million, which will be funded through a combination of public and
private funds.

Next Steps
VMFA’s campus is being prepared for construction, with groundbreaking for the expansion anticipated in summer 2026. The museum will remain
open to visitors throughout construction. The McGlothlin Wing II is scheduled to open to the public in 2029. As with any expansion and renovation project, designs and dates are subject to change.

Community-Influenced Design
Directly informed through community engagement, the look of the expansion signals VMFA’s commitment to openness and accessibility.
During the discovery phase of the project, the museum held multiple twoway listening sessions to engage a diverse range of individuals, groups and communities from the Commonwealth. The museum also heard from more than 3,500 survey participants.

This invaluable community input is evident in the final design. The community expressed an interest in improving accessibility and wayfinding, connectivity between indoor and outdoor spaces, additional spaces for pause and reflection, the activation and preservation of the sculpture garden and beautiful, yet functional, architecture that blends in with the rest of the museum building.

Cafe and bar. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.
Suspended staircases. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.
American art gallery. Image courtesy of SmithGroup and Beauty & The Bit.

About SmithGroup
SmithGroup is one of the world’s preeminent integrated design firms. Working across a network of 20 locations in the U.S. and China, a
team of 1,400 experts is committed to excellence in strategy, design and delivery. The scale of the firm’s thinking and organization
produces partnerships with forward-looking clients that maximize opportunities, minimize risk and solve their most complex problems.
SmithGroup creates exceptional design solutions for healthcare, science and technology organizations, higher education and cultural
institutions, urban environments, diverse workplaces, mixed-use and waterfront developments and parks and open spaces. The awardwinning firm’s extensive portfolio features several impressive national museum projects including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collections and Conservation Center in Maryland, the Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan, as well as the National Museum
of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums in the United States. VMFA, which opened in 1936, is a state agency and privately endowed educational institution. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art, and to encourage the study of the arts. Through the Office of Statewide Partnerships Program, the museum offers curated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences, and workshops by visual and performing artists.

In addition to presenting a wide array of special exhibitions, the museum provides visitors with the opportunity to experience a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA’s permanent holdings encompass more than 50,000 artworks, including the largest
public collection of Fabergé outside of Russia, the finest collection of Art Nouveau outside of Paris and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is also home to important collections of Chinese art, English silver, French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British sporting and modern and contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing I after a transformative expansion, previously the largest in its history. A new expansion, the McGlothlin Wing II, is planned to open in 2029. Comprising more than 170,000 square feet, it will be the largest expansion in the museum’s history and will make VMFA the fourth largest comprehensive art museum in the United States.