The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) has selected Michael Maltzan Architecture, Once-Future Office and Studio Zewde as the design partners for a comprehensive reinstallation of the museum’s galleries. This ambitious project, the first holistic reinterpretation of TMA’s presentation since the late Roger Mandle’s directorship in the 1980s, will reimagine both the curatorial narrative and the visitor experience.
The reinstallation will provide a chronological journey through art history, guiding visitors from antiquity to the present day, tracing the cultural connections between geographies that the current galleries understate. The new presentation will showcase a fuller breadth of human cultural creativity, telling both a more accurate and inclusive history. The redesigned galleries will feature fresh updates to showcase the variety and quality of TMA’s collection, including innovative uses of technology. These enhancements, along with essential facility upgrades such as restrooms and upgraded heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), will significantly elevate the visitor experience.
Since 2020, TMA has doubled its acquisition resources and quadrupled its curatorial team, positioning the museum to undertake this innovative project. The reinstallation will encompass every space on the museum’s campus, including the Edward B. Green Building, the SANAA Glass Pavilion and the Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden.
“The Toledo Museum of Art is well positioned to do something distinguished with our reinstallation,” said Adam Levine, Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey president, director and CEO at TMA. “We have a collection that spans 6,000 years and six continents, an expanded and unified curatorial department, and a strong foundation of community outreach and engagement. We are a big museum, embedded in our community, but not too big to be siloed, allowing us to tell a truly global art history that showcases the depth and breadth of connections across cultures. Our visitors will see their histories on display.”
Levine continued, “To bring this presentation to life, we need brilliant design partners who have demonstrated commitment to including community perspectives. We have found them in Michael Maltzan Architecture, Studio Zewde and Once-Future Office.”
“The Toledo Museum of Art’s reinstallation project offers a once-in-a-generation chance to reimagine the museum experience. We're excited to be working with the museum to design innovative, accessible spaces that showcase the museum’s world-class collection and tell an expanded story of creativity, one that resonates with local communities and speaks to global connectivity. By integrating diverse media and technology and prioritizing inclusivity, we aim to create a transformative visitor experience that can serve as a model for cultural institutions worldwide,” said Michael Maltzan, Michael Maltzan Architecture.
TMA is committed to ensuring that the new galleries reflect feedback from its local audience, the Toledo metropolitan area. During the past year, the museum and its design partners have engaged in extensive outreach activities, including surveys and neighborhood conversations with community members, to gather diverse perspectives and insights. This approach will help ensure the reinstallation resonates with visitors and deepens our connection with the community’s rich culture.
“Our gallery presentation is four decades old, which is to say that our visitor experience is built on a 40-year-old infrastructure,” Levine said. “If our mission is to integrate art into the lives of people, then rehanging our collection is only half of the equation. The reinstallation offers us a chance to go back to the conceptual as well as the physical studs, rethinking the museum experience for the 21st century. We are developing exciting plans on this front that we believe can create different paradigms for engagement.”
“We are extremely humbled and honored to be a part of the selected team working with the Toledo Museum of Art,” said Sara Zewde, Studio Zewde. “The museum’s ambitions to showcase a fuller breadth of human cultural production and embed art into the everyday lives of people have inspired the way we see the potential of the museum’s landscape. We look forward to continuing the process of listening to the local community, the land and the stories the collection has to tell, as we shape a landscape that is responsive to the need for new museum paradigms and, yet, resonant with this place.”
Dungjai Pungauthaikan from Once-Future Office added, “We’re thrilled to be part of a project with such a strong connection and dedication to its community. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to be part of this dream team in creating a groundbreaking chronological experience. Our team brings expertise in crafting autonomous visitor experiences with world-renowned art institutions, while authentically showcasing their distinct stories and qualities. We’re excited to amplify the stories of TMA’s expansive collection through engaging visual and interactive strategies in this reinstallation.”
The design phase is currently underway, and TMA plans to share designs with the public in 2025. While there will be gallery closures as the museum is updated and the collection is reinstalled, TMA will remain open over the length of the project. Construction is set to begin in 2025, with an anticipated completion in 2027.