The Chazen Museum of Art is on the brink of a massive $35 million expansion, which the University of Wisconsin hopes will attract more students to the visual arts by adding space to the interior while lifting the face of the exterior.

Donors Simona and Jerome Chazen, in a May 2005 release, said they view the anticipated expansion as necessary to "help the University of Wisconsin take its rightful place as a great institution for the arts." But it is curious, however, that the current museum does not already elevate UW to the level they described.

One might think five floors of fine art in the middle of the UW campus would stand out more than the building currently residing at 800 University Avenue.

Except for its new sign and the somewhat eye-catching lights beneath the bridge connecting Vilas Hall to the Humanities Building, the Chazen Museum of Art hides, looking the same as most other buildings on campus.

Since its founding in 1970, the museum, formerly the Elvehjem Museum of Art, has undergone some significant changes, but they have all been on the inside. The permanent collection has expanded from 1,580 pieces of art to nearly 18,000 pieces. Temporary collections that have graced the museum's halls have caused quiet rumblings outside the building, as have performance arts events, but one might think the "noise" emitted from a museum would be more noticeable.

So, the pending expansion could raise three questions to inquiring minds. The first, where is the money coming from? The second, what will the expansion look like? And the third, how much should UW students care?

Funding

$35 million is a lot of money. Fortunately for the museum, $20 million came a little more than a year ago from two people, the Chazens. The donation spurred the museum's name change from Elvehjem to Chazen and provided more than half of the required bankroll to fund the museum's expansion.

According to Russell Panczenko, director of the Chazen Museum of Art, private funds will cover the cost of the entire expansion, which means the museum is responsible for raising $15 million more. Panczenko said the Chazen has raised $5 million thus far.

In addition to the expansion costs, the museum also must meet an annual budget of about $2.8 million to keep its doors open, its staff assembled and its walls covered with artwork. Panczenko explained the sources of these funds.

"We feel like our role on campus should be that of a library, so we don't charge admission or anything like that," Panczenko said. "And because of our teaching role, we receive money from the university. We also receive money from other private support and endowments."

The Chazen Museum could keep its doors open and keep its permanent collection on the walls and be taken care of with just the money from UW, but Panczenko said the museum doesn't want to be limited to just that.

"Private funding and the endowment covers things like temporary art exhibitions. We have about 10 to 15 of those every year," he said. "There are plenty of people across the country who contribute to the Chazen because of their fond memories of the museum or because of their interest in seeing a certain type of artwork in an exhibit."

According to Panczenko, finding the money doesn't tend to be a problem. So then, what to do with it?

The future

The Chazen Museum enlargement, when finished, will result in twice the space for display, as well as another building.

Gary Brown, UW's director of planning and landscape architecture, said the Chazen process is still taking baby steps even though the East Campus Mall is still progressing as planned. The university has yet to hire an architect to design the new Chazen Museum. However, Brown added a few basic ideas are in the works.

"We're planning on having an overhead bridge connecting the original Elvehjem Building to the Peterson Building across the street," Brown said. "We hope to make the bridge walls with glass so while crossing, people can look out to Lake Mendota if they want."

Panczenko said connecting the buildings will give Chazen staff more options for the layout of the permanent collection. It will also provide more space to bring in larger, more elaborate temporary art exhibits or just more of them at one time.

The Chazen buildings will also be connected by an underground tunnel to ease the burden of moving artwork back and forth between buildings, according to Brown.

In terms of how the public views the museum from the outside, Brown said the new architecture should make the museum stand out.

"The fact that it's an art museum allows us to use a little more architectural excitement and work with some more colors and things that will catch the eye," he said.

According to Brown, passers-by will be able to see some of what's going on inside the museum because there will be more windows. The museum will also feature some outdoor sculptures to catch wandering or curious eyes.

But even with all of the improvements planned for upcoming years, the university may never be able to attract the student interest it would like to see.

Student interest

Even though it's a visual arts museum, the Chazen's mission statement emphasizes the artwork within is related to educational programs that support the academic goals of UW. Because of this, most students who go to the museum do so to complete an assignment or for a class requirement.

Panczenko admitted the primary users of the Chazen tend to be art history and other art students, but added the museum staff reaches out to professors in other departments. According to Panczenko, faculty members from unexpected departments utilize the museum, as well.

"We keep a list of the different departments we keep contact with," he said. "What often happens is the faculty calls us, tells us about their class and asks us what we have that applies."

However, the majority of students will likely never take a class that requires them to step inside the museum, although some find their own way to the Chazen.

According to Panczenko, the maturation process as a UW student means more upperclassmen visit the museum without an educational prompt.

"We find that we're visited less by freshmen," he said. "Students who visit usually come when they're juniors or seniors. I think it has something to do with the psychology of the students. Once they become more comfortable with themselves, they begin to explore."

Nearly half of the Chazen's 75,000 annual visitors are students, but determining what percentage of UW students frequent the museum is not a cut-and-dry matter, according to Susan Cook, executive director of the UW Arts Institute.

"It's a difficult thing to quantify, how popular the museum is for students," she said. "They count, but they don't have the most sophisticated system in place. I don't think it's really a concern for the Chazen."

Concerned or not, it's clear a portion of the students on campus, usually through no fault of their own, know almost nothing about the Chazen Museum of Art. UW sophomore Erin Rademacher, for one, admitted to having little knowledge of the museum and it what it offers.

"I'd probably go to the museum, but it depends on what's there," Rademacher said. "If I knew what was there I would have more of an interest in going."

According to Cook, most campus entities could do more to get students involved, but the Chazen, with its educational outreach, is not lacking in its effort.

Panczenko said it might be the case that in general, people don't appreciate the arts like they did in the past.

"We're a wonderful asset. There's great art here," he said, when asked what message he would offer to the student body. "We're forgetting to look at the visual arts. Just come in here, wander around and see what you like."

And with adequate funding and a successful expansion, the Chazen Museum of Art might end up seeing more students in its halls, after all.