Announcing the Reimagining The Columbus Museum Campaign!

The first major renovation of the Museum since 1989, Reimagining The Columbus Museum is a renewed dedication to ensuring that our collections, exhibitions, and gardens are engaging and relevant to people of all ages. The reimagined Museum will be the bridge between the people who call the Chattahoochee Valley home and their cultural heritage, regional creativity, and the rich world of American art.

Museum Director Marianne Richter said, “We are excited to share the wonderful news of our renovation plans with our members. These plans will transform both the building and the grounds, including restoration of original features of the historic Bradley Olmsted Garden. The ‘reimagined’ Columbus Museum will be more welcoming and interactive, a true cultural gathering place. We are very grateful to the incredible campaign committee for creating a remarkably successful capital campaign to achieve this renovation. We are also grateful to the Muscogee County School District for including the Museum in its ESPLOST.”

The reimagined Columbus Museum will feature:

1. A new and expansive Children’s Gallery with an adjoining Children’s Garden, adjacent to the Museum’s main entrance, to encourage creative play and discovery.

2. A welcoming public courtyard and interactive orientation spaces to engage visitors immediately as they enter the Museum.

3. Redesigned History Galleries that tell the stories of all the people of the Chattahoochee Valley.

4. Improved connectivity - unifying the experience between our Art, History, and Children’s Galleries.

5. Expanded ways to integrate the historic Bradley Olmsted Garden and the Museum building with the surrounding community greenways and bike trails, such as the Dragonfly Trail Network.

“The Columbus Museum has been a refuge of solace and respite for me for over a quarter of a century,” said Museum Board President Steve Sharp. “My hope is that the reimagination of the Museum will transform how our communities utilize this space. My vision is that the Museum will be a source of energy and a spark for young people as well as being a source of calm, inspiration, and introspection for all who cross our threshold.”

Renovations to the Museum will make the building more open, inside and out, with abundant natural light, open sightlines, and clear connections between interior spaces and exterior gardens. The Museum will become more visible from Wynnton Road, inviting visitors into the courtyard. A newly designed entrance will lead into the spacious lobby, which will feature a café, shop, new orientation space, and entry into the Children’s Gallery. In the Atrium, a new overlook and terrace to the historic Garden will provide a fresh perspective on the Museum’s beautiful natural setting.

The Museum selected three nationally acclaimed firms for the renovation. Perkins & Will is an architecture firm with experience in designing museums with an emphasis on visitor experience in all aspects of design. The exhibition design firm Local Projects has created plans for new orientation spaces in the Museum’s lobby and the new Children’s Gallery, located just off the lobby. We selected The Design Minds, an exhibition design firm specializing in history museums, for the redesign of the History Galleries.

Campaign Committee Co-Chair and Board Trustee Kathelen Amos said, “Hope and beauty and creativity are not just luxuries, but necessities for a well-lived life, and our museum offers that to our community and our region. This project creates a visual welcome mat that will broaden our reach to all audiences and continue the Museum’s role as the cornerstone of cultural arts in Columbus. The renovation will result in a building and physical campus that will allow The Columbus Museum to better fulfill its mission and meet the goals of our strategic plan. By welcoming and engaging younger visitors in a prominent Children’s Gallery and Garden, as well as enhanced History Galleries, the entire Museum becomes more accessible to all. Visually, opening up the Galleria and lightening up this space removes the physical barriers between art, history, and children’s galleries, as well as the garden, and expands the visitor experience to include the totality of the Museum, not just a single area.”

In Reimagining The Columbus Museum, we have listened to community groups, educators, members, and Museum friends. Community members, including K-12 educators, have provided input on how to tell inclusive and inspiring stories in the new History Galleries. Our goal is to share the story of the people who have contributed to the rich history of the Chattahoochee Valley.

“Over the years, the Museum has brought me a great deal of personal pleasure,” said Honorary Co-Chair Thornton Jordan. “Because the Museum has given so much to me, I was thrilled to participate in the capital campaign to give back and to make it even better for the next generations. For our visitors, both the inside and outside will be more welcoming and adaptable. I have loved the History Gallery over the years, but this new design will allow new galleries to be much more flexible with interpretation, especially of contemporary history and culture. Throughout the building we will have increased space for our rotating collections and special exhibitions. We will bring the Children’s Gallery into a lighter, brighter space and in a more prominent place in the building.”

The new Children’s Gallery and Garden is the result of Museum family visitors, members, and elementary school and special education teachers helping the Museum better understand the needs of our youngest visitors. Through a series of visioning workshops, the Children’s Gallery has been intentionally designed to encourage creative thinking and problem solving, to utilize open-ended activities that appeal to families, and to connect directly to the Museum’s collection. An example of this is the Sensory Pool activity stations that encourage visitors to engage their senses—sight, hearing, smell and touch—in exploring collection objects. The adjacent enclosed Children’s Garden will give families a protected space to rest and enjoy the outdoors as part of their Museum visit.

“I am so thrilled to be a part of this ‘reimagining’ of The Columbus Museum,” Campaign Committee Co-Chair and Board Trustee Elizabeth Ogie said. “For years, I have wanted to get the Children’s area front and center where it belongs. This, like all of the changes, will create a warm, inviting, and welcoming space for every visitor. Our beautiful Bradley Olmsted Garden, designed by the Olmsted firm, will also get some long-needed attention, bringing it back to its former glory. Our members’ and donors’ responses to all of these plans have been overwhelming and humbling! They love what this ‘reimagining’ will mean for everyone. The Museum is the heart of our arts community, and this transformation will make everyone proud to claim this place as their favorite gathering and learning spot. I am honored to be a part of these wonderful plans for the Museum’s future.

“My earliest memories of the Museum are going there with my mom, Betty Corn. She loved taking me there as a child, and telling stories about her childhood playing in the garden. She also took me to take art lessons from her dear friend, Barbara Pound, who taught art classes in the basement of the Museum. My Mom’s love and enthusiasm for the Museum has certainly been contagious, and she has stayed involved most of her adult life, serving on the Board for decades. I have loved serving on the Board and feel like I am following in her mighty footsteps in some small way.”

The upcoming Museum renovation will begin in November 2022. While renovations are taking place, The Columbus Museum’s collection will be on tour throughout the Chattahoochee Valley. An exciting line-up of art and history exhibitions, educational programming, and member events will continue at partnering locations around Columbus such as The Bo Bartlett Center, Illges Gallery, The Do Good Fund, and others. The Museum Shop and additional scheduled programming will relocate next door at 1327 Wynnton Road (the Scarbrough House) during the renovation. More information regarding The Columbus Museum On Tour and upcoming operations is soon to come. Please join us for the critically acclaimed exhibition Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful, open July 1–September 25, prior to the kickoff of our renovation. We offer our dearest and sincerest thanks and gratitude for all of those who have contributed thus far to this capital campaign and for investing in the cultural vitality of our region.

The Reimagining of The Columbus Museum is made possible through the leadership of the Campaign Committee and the generosity of our visionary donors. Gifts to the Campaign have topped $20 million as of May 2022, more than 90 percent of the Campaign’s leadership phase goal. Through our partnership with the Muscogee County School District, the Museum also has received $3 million in ESPLOST funds for improved and expanded collections storage and collections care and needed infrastructure upgrades.

“We are deeply appreciative of the hard work of Campaign Co-Chairs Kathelen Amos and Elizabeth Ogie, Honorary Co-Chairs Thornton Jordan and Elizabeth T. Corn, and our dedicated Campaign Committee for leading a remarkably successful capital campaign to make this long-awaited transformation possible,”said Marianne Richter.

The Campaign Committee for Reimagining The Columbus Museum: Kathelen Amos, Co-ChairElizabeth Ogie, Co-ChairSteve Butler Mint Flowers Chris Henson Mary Lu Lampton Mason Lampton Sallie Martin Steve Sharp Chip Tillman Thornton Jordan, Honorary Co-Chair Elizabeth Corn, Honorary Co-Chair

“We are profoundly grateful to the Museum’s longstanding friends and supporters who share this vision for the future, and who have been enthusiastic investors in this project,”said Kathelen Amos. “We are equally thrilled and excited about the support we have received from newer friends and supporters, who value our mission and want to be a part of this tremendous cultural asset as it is positioned to serve future generations.”

With the help of you, our members, and the Columbus community, we seek to raise an additional $2 million to fully fund the vision for the reimagined Museum. To make your gift to the Reimagining The Columbus Museum campaign, please contact the Campaign office at 706.748.2562 ext. 5440 or visit columbusmuseum.com/join-give.