Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

The Snite Museum of Art, located on the campus of the University of Notre Dame (UND) in South Bend Indiana, is a valuable and longstanding institution that, for over forty years, has dedicated itself to the collection, display and interpretation of significant items of contemporary and historically significant works of art. Facing space, storage and infrastructure challenges, the Snite is embarking on an ambitious project to pair its existing museum with a new 130,000 sf art and research facility.  Branded the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, the new museum will be a key part of a larger campus Arts District redevelopment effort anchored by the Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park. The location of the new museum will also make it a welcoming and much-needed entrance to the campus at Eddy Street, bridging the gap between the community and the University.

Lord was retained by UND and the Snite to develop a comprehensive space program for both facilities and accommodation for a future second phase. The program needed to consider several factors including complimentary programming at the existing museum, a comprehensive works on paper research centre, and projections for collection storage growth.  The assignment also included full coordination of a multi-city site tour and long-term implementation strategies for the operation of a two-site institution on a single university campus.