Displaying items by tag: grand salon

A $5.4 million donation from David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chief executive of D.C.-based private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, and a philanthropist known for contributions to landmarks of American history, has completed fundraising for the renovation of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.

The building, the Smithsonian’s third oldest, houses craft objects and decorative arts from the 19th century to the present, and the donation is the final part of a two year, $30 million public/private campaign to overhaul infrastructure and renovate the Grand Salon, which will be named in honor of Rubenstein.

The Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian museum dedicated to American craft and decorative arts, has embarked on a $30-million, two-year renovation project. The museum shuttered its 154-year-old building last month for its first renovation in 40 years. The Renwick will restore parts of its building, refurbish historic features and make technological updates to its Grand Salon.

The project is being helmed by the Cleveland-based architecture firm Westlake Reed Leskosky. Applied Minds, an interdisciplinary company based in Los Angeles, will be responsible for transforming the Renwick’s Grand Salon into a high-tech, interactive art space.

The project is a 50-50 public-private partnership. So far the Renwick has raised $10 million from private donors.