The University of Wisconsin's Elvehjem Museum of Art in Madison recently announced a gift of $20 million from New York-based collectors and philathropists Simona and Jerome A. Chazen to help fund a $35-million museum expansion project

Art in America, Sept, 2005

The University of Wisconsin's Elvehjem Museum of Art in Madison recently announced a gift of $20 million from New York-based collectors and philanthropists Simona and Jerome A. Chazen to help fund a $35-million museum expansion project. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the plan calls for a new 60,000-square-foot structure located across the street from the existing building. The complex, renamed the Chazen Museum of Art last May, is set for completion in 2009.

Meanwhile, the Chazens have given 40 major works of decorative art to New York's Museum of Art and Design. Included in the gift are pieces by William Morris, Robert Arneson and Dale Chihuly, among others, which appear in "Dual Vision: the Simona and Jerome A. Chazen Collection," on view at the museum through Sept. 11, to be followed by a national tour. Jerome A. Chazen is the museum's chairman and also chairs the expansion committee spearheading the controversial plans for the museum's relocation to Two Columbus Circle [see "Front Page," Apr. '05].