Nearly a decade ago, the University of Iowa caused a storm of controversy when it considered selling Jackson Pollock’s Mural, to pay for flood damages to the campus. Now the University has asked its Board of Regents to begin the process toward building a new museum that might cost $60m.
The Pollock, which holds a substantial portion of the museum’s estimate $500m collection, is now on loan in Europe and will not return until a new facility is in place, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen:
UI’s request comes eight years after the Iowa River flooded UI’s half-century-old Museum of Art, located along the river’s west bank. The Federal Emergency Management Agency eventually determined that the museum building was not damaged enough to warrant federal funding for its relocation. UI officials, however, say that insurers no longer are willing to cover the display or storage of the university’s 14,500-piece collection of art at the old location. […]
The construction project would have a budget between $50 million and $60 million, which would be funded by a combination of university and gift funding, according to the proposal. UI officials anticipate spending about $40 million on the project during the 2017-18 academic year, according to regent documents.
University of Iowa moving forward with $60M art museum (Iowa City Press-Citizen)
