WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation plans a major expansion of its award-winning art museums to enrich Americans’ appreciation of their nation’s history through the power of art and material culture.

The $40-million project represents the first large-scale expansion and upgrade of the building that houses both the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum since its opening in 1985. When complete, the project will add 8,000 square feet of new gallery space to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg—as the two museums are collectively known—and greatly improve public access to the building.

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg boast internationally renowned collections of American folk art through the present day and of British and American fine and decorative arts from 1670-1830. These diverse, extensive collections play critical roles in Colonial Williamsburg’s mission to inform and engage Americans in the dramatic story of their country’s founding. Expanding the Art Museums is the top capital priority of a comprehensive, $600-million campaign that Colonial Williamsburg launched publicly on November 22.

“Colonial Williamsburg’s art collections both preserve and convey powerful information and insight into America's origins and its evolution through the centuries," said Mitchell B. Reiss, president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “Seeing Britain’s captured flag in Charles Willson Peale’s portrait of George Washington at the Battle of Princeton – as British soldiers are marched off in the background – one begins to appreciate the messages and lessons revealed through these works of art and objects.  With the campaign investments of our supporters, we will ensure that these tangible pieces of our national story will be even more accessible and meaningful for all Americans.”

The Art Museums project is an essential component of the Campaign for History and Citizenship that Colonial Williamsburg will announce at a kickoff ceremony at the Capitol on November 22. The comprehensive campaign supports educational and preservation efforts across the Foundation, and has already raised more than $300 million since the start of its quiet phase in 2009 under the leadership of Colin G. Campbell, chairman emeritus of Colonial Williamsburg.

The plans for the Art Museums include a new entrance that will replace a circuitous, partly-underground route through the reconstructed Public Hospital of 1773, which was the first building in North America dedicated to treatment of the mentally ill. The new gallery space—an increase of 22 percent—will enable the Art Museums to showcase much more of their renowned collections of furniture, paintings, silver, numismatics, ceramics, tools, textiles, maps, weapons, and other media and early American folk art. Other improvements include:

• A new lobby overlooking the pastoral site of the John Custis House and Garden, and a grand concourse that will provide access to both museums

• Enhanced programming and activities to engage visitors

• An expanded museum cafe and store near the entrance

• New, expansive windows overlooking the picturesque Bicentennial Park, and providing natural light for the museum cafe and store

• Space and equipment for efficient museum operations and exhibition presentations

• New and upgraded mechanical and climate-control systems

“These additions and improvements to the Art Museums will allow Colonial Williamsburg to reach even more guests with the fascinating, story-driven exhibitions for which it is so well-known,” said Ronald L. Hurst, the Foundation’s Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator and Vice President for Collections, Conservation, and Museums.