Carolina students and community members will have access to more space for teaching, exhibition, research and public programs thanks to a transformative expansion and renovation of Ackland Art Museum.

Thousands of students visit the free museum each year, making the galleries and collections a valuable extension of Carolina’s classrooms. The Ackland also provides visitors from Chapel Hill and beyond opportunities to engage with art from around the globe through special exhibitions and public programs.

This new project plans to add approximately 40,000 square feet of new space, doubling the museum’s footprint, creating room for more exhibitions and public programs while thoughtfully renovating existing space and improving accessibility and care for its collection of over 21,000 artworks.

The UNC Board of Trustees authorized the architect selection process at its July 29 meeting, an early step in the project’s planning.

“We’re grateful to the Board of Trustees for approving this next step,” said Shalini Le Gall, director of the Ackland Art Museum. “What drew me to the Ackland was its commitment to public service — it has always been a place where students, faculty and visitors come together around art. This approval lets us plan thoughtfully for a museum that can continue that work and offer more to the communities we serve in the years to come.”

The planned $70 million expansion, funded through philanthropic gifts, will enhance accessibility, strengthen collections care, modernize museum operations and create an even more welcoming experience for every visitor. It builds on decades of support from donors, volunteers, museum leadership and the broader community that have made the Ackland a cultural destination.

The project will also create more opportunities for the Ackland to teach with a growing collection, enhancing spaces that support disciplines ranging from the arts and humanities to medicine, business and the sciences. The museum actively commissions and teaches with new works, many of them from artists rooted in the South.

Ackland recently debuted two new exhibitions: “Care and Concern: Recent Acquisitions of Modern and Contemporary Art” and “Continental Shift: Recent Acquisitions of African Art.” They are open through Nov. 15.