For a new wing dedicated to Asian art, Dr. and Mrs. David A. Cofrin donated $10 million to the University of Florida. Construction to the Harn Museum will probably begin in the early fall. It’s being planned for the northwest side of the museum near the corner of Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. The addition will have two levels and 22,000 square feet and comprise Asian art galleries, a mezzanine suite on the upper level for curatorial and museum activities, and art storage and conservation space for the Asian collections on the lower level. In addition, a beautiful and serene Asian garden will be accessible from the west side of the new wing.

The Harn’s Asian art collection, featuring pieces from Japan, Korea, Tibet, and South and Southeast Asia, includes nearly 1,300 works of art and has expanded in number and quality during the last several years. The greatest strength of the collection is Chinese art, including ceramics, jades, bronzes, sculpture, lacquer, glass and literati paintings. “The collection has grown dramatically in recent years and we are thrilled that the museum will now have a beautiful new wing for display of the collection as well as much-needed storage space,” Harn Museum Director Rebecca Martin Nagy said.

Jason Steuber has been appointed Cofrin Curator of Asian Art. He will direct the activities of one of the Harn’s largest collecting areas. “The new wing will enable the Harn to continue to establish itself as a recognized leader for the collection, display and critical study of exceptional works of Asian art,” Steuber said. “The Harn’s commitment to further education and understanding of Asian art will continue to prosper thanks to the Cofrin family’s generosity and vision for the future.”

 “Mary Ann and I believe in the Harn’s mission and support its commitment to sustain and transform the museum facilities and grounds,” David Cofrin said. “Our gift for an Asian art wing will continue to make the Harn a place where art inspires and educates people of all ages and backgrounds.”

In addition, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art received an $8 million grant from Dr. Wall-Apelt to build, program and fund the Dr. Helga Wall Apelt Asian Art Galleries. The gift also establishes The Dr. Wall-Apelt Endowment for Asian Art, which  will support curatorial staff, lectures, seminars, scholarly research, visits by guest scholars, internships, publications, exhibitions, acquisitions, public programs and other activities related to Asian art and culture.

Dr. Wall-Apelt herself will be filling the galleries with her personal collection of Asian art that includes a large and exquisite collection of Chinese jades, bronze Southeast Asian sculptures of the 18th and 19th centuries and Cambodian stone figures dating to the 12th and 13th centuries.

A comprehensive renovation of the museum’s existing 10,000-square-foot West Galleries (constructed in 1966) will form the core of the new space. Preliminary plans also include an entry pavilion added to the westernmost end of the wing. The Galleries will feature elegantly refurbished spaces for the display of the Ira and Nancy Koger Collection of Chinese Ceramics (received in 2002) and Dr. Wall-Apelt’s extensive holdings, in addition to some of the Asian works already part of the museum’s permanent holdings.

An additional 37,000 square feet will be opened as a study center for works on paper, meeting areas, art support space, and a classroom for children on the basement level. Across the pond from the new entry pavilion (as yet to be designed), plans call for the creation of an Asian tea garden.

To complement the Wall-Apelt donation, which has been labeled the Asian Art initiative, the Ringling Museum also received a $1 million gift from the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation to create an endowment to support Asian art. In honor of this gift, galleries that were formerly in the Museum’s west wing will be renovated and named in honor of the Chao Foundation. The gift has been matched by the State matching program for endowments making its total $1.56 million.

The Chao gift focuses on the Ira and Nancy Koger Collection of Chinese Ceramics and is designed to ensure these pieces are available to visitors within the Asian Galleries. The Koger Collection was received in 2002 by the Jacksonville collectors and spans four millennia of Blanc de Chine, porcelain and earthenware.

The Koger Collection, as well as other Asian pieces from the Ringling permanent collection, was always to be made part of the Asian Galleries. The Chao Foundation’s gift further enhances those plans. “The future of the Ringling Museum will forever be changed as being recognized for its exquisite quality European works as well as for its Asian art,” said Ringling Museum Executive Director Dr. John Wetenhall. The target date to open the building to the public is 2011.