North Carolina Museum of Art Reveals New Wing

After an $86 million expansion, the North Carolina Museum of Art reopened in Raleigh on April 24 as hundreds of art-hungry patrons basked in the new surroundings showcasing works from Georgia O’Keeffe, Auguste Rodin and others. “This will become nationally known,” one patron told the News & Observer. “This is not a small museum anymore.” As the state’s first art museum created in 1947, the North Carolina Museum of Art struggled when the state was ranked among the poorest states. But this 127,000-square-foot expansion shows that’s no longer the case. “We are no longer rural. We are no longer poor,” Governor Bev Perdue told the News & Observer of the renovation. “We are a sophisticated state made up of almost 10 million people who appreciate both sides of the brain.”