After a year-long fundraising campaign, Chancellor Randy Woodson and supporters of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design ceremoniously broke ground on the museum’s new 15,000 square-foot facility Tuesday afternoon.
The groundbreaking ceremony, which welcomed nearly 320 students and guests, took place in front of the Historic Chancellor’s Residence, the Gregg Museum’s new home and site of expansion.
“I cannot imagine a better use of my former home, and the former home of so many chancellors, than to inspire students at NC State and in our community through art,” Woodson said.
In 2011, in anticipation of the renovations of the Talley Student Union, the Gregg Museum relocated its 30,000 piece collection to 516 Brickhaven Drive, about two miles from main campus.
While the museum has a long way to go before making the complete transition into the chancellor’s former residence, as construction is expected to last 18 months, supporters of the Gregg Museum are excited for the renovation to begin.
“All of ARTS NC State is looking forward to celebrating this new phase of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design while honoring the legacy of its predecessor in Talley,” said Christina Menges, the director of development for ARTS NC State.
The new facility will provide classroom space, storage for the Gregg’s ever-growing collection and spacious galleries so that students and members of the greater community will be able to enjoy the collection, according to Woodson.
“The new Gregg marries the past and the future of our university,” Woodson said. “We are reimagining the former chancellor’s residence. It’s a great day.”
Using brightly painted shovels decorated by students living in the Arts Village on campus, Woodson, along with students and community supporters, overturned soil to mark the end of an arduous fundraising campaign and the start of construction.
NC State pledged not to begin work on the Gregg Museum renovation until the $9.8 million project received full funding. In February, the campaign got its last major boost after the Wake County Board of Commissioners awarded $650,000 from hotel and restaurant tax revenue.
“Partnerships matter,” Woodson said. “We are blessed to have a county and a city that thinks very aggressively about how to grow the region, and this [museum] is one big part of that.”
Woodson continued to say that this process has been a true labor of love and one that would have been impossible without the support of NC State staff and alumni.
Philipp Lindemann, a senior studying political science and avid supporter of ARTS NC State, said that he believes the Gregg Museum of Art & Design campaign and the new facility represent the progression of becoming a more prestigious university and community.
“‘Think and do’ is our motto here at NC State,” Lindemann said. “It is a concept that applies to every discipline of our university. The new Gregg Museum will be a symbol of our motto and will be a force of inspiration and culture.”
When completed, the museum will be free and open to the public.
