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With a permanent collection of over 3,500 pieces, including a collection of 175 original Andy Warhol paintings and the largest university Jim Dine collection in the country, the small, one-gallery WSU Museum of Art has needed renovations for years.

After being in the works for over 15 years, these renovations are happening on a much broader scale. Saturday will mark the unveiling ceremony of the new six-gallery WSU Museum of Art.

Chris Bruce, director of the Museum of Art, is excited for the different experiences that will be available with the new museum.

“With the new museum, we’ll have six different spaces of different sizes,” Bruce said, “so one could have an intimate experience or a broader experience with many works of art under a theme or individual artist.”

Architect Jim Olson is behind the design of the Museum of Art expansion. This building is not only designed to house art, but to be art itself and use its surroundings to complete the architect’s vision, said Debby Stinson, Museum of Art marketing and PR manager.

“Every view, every window, everything about it is a reflection of the students and life on campus,” Stinson said. “It’s meant to be sort of a glowing jewel box that reflects everything around it.”

The new Museum of Art will be a bigger and better resource for the entire WSU campus, Stinson said. The Museum of Art team loves the idea of building exhibitions that serve many different departments on WSU’s campus, she said.

“Whatever it is on campus, the Museum of Art is there as a resource for research, for teaching and for development,” Stinson said.

The museum is situated in the heart of campus, directly across from the Compton Union Building. The new museum is intended to create a central and integral space for WSU students, Bruce said.

“We’ve got all the parts for it to become a hub of creativity and ideas,” Bruce said, “a place to exchange points of view and share new forms of human expression.”

This new museum will not only serve as a resource center for the students of WSU, but it will add value to the university as a whole.

“To claim yourself as a great university, part of the ability to do that is by having an art museum that is prominent,” Bruce said. “It’s not only important to our audience, but also WSU itself as a point of aspiration.”

The WSU Museum of Art expansion launch party will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Fine Arts plaza, where the vision for the new museum will be fully unveiled to the public.