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the chrysler campus

The Chrysler is a big building (over 200,000 square feet, housing 62
galleries), and it is full. We are quite simply out of space.

As last year’s exhibition, Behind the Seen, so eloquently demonstrated, there are hundreds of works tucked away in the Museum’ s storage rooms that deserve to be seen but can’t be shown for lack of gallery space. Lack
of wall space also makes it difficult for the Chrysler to compete credibly for gifts of art from private collectors, many of whom own works that would be important additions to the Museum’s holdings. (No one donates a work of art so that it can sit in a store room!)

Fortunately, help is on the way. Following the long-range facilities plan adopted by the Trustees last year and thanks to the generosity of Wachovia Bank and the support of the City of Norfolk, the Museum has been able to purchase the former Wachovia branch office at the corner of Duke and Grace Streets immediately adjacent to the Chrysler’s visitor parking lot. The acquisition of the Wachovia building adds nearly an acre of land, expanded parking, and 9,300 square feet of prime real estate to the Chrysler’s “campus.” In the months ahead a staff/trustee committee will be studying the most effective long-term use of this great asset, exploring which functions currently housed in the main building can be transferred there to create new galleries and study spaces for our growing collection.