The Palm Springs Art Museum announced today that it will receive a major collection of Modern and Contemporary art from Donna and Cargill MacMillan, local art collectors who have amassed an amazingly rich and varied art collection over the past twenty years.The gifts will be featured in a new exhibition entitled The Passionate Pursuit: Gifts and Promised Works from Donna and Cargill MacMillan. This infusion of art has catapulted the museum’s permanent collection into new realms of importance and quality and continues its evolution into a leading, nationally recognized art museum.
A majority of the collection will be on display starting September 5, 2009 in the museum’s Steve Chase Wing on the upper level, which has been recently refurbished as part of a three-year renovation program. Additional elements of the collection, primarily works on paper, will be on display in the Jorgensen Gallery and the MarksGraphicsCenter on the museum’s lower level from November 14 through February 7.Additionally, several large-scale sculptures are installed in the two sculpture gardens of the museum.
“This incredible gift has transformed the museum overnight,” said Steve Nash, Executive Director of the Palm SpringsArt Museum. “The addition of these significant works represents a very fitting celebration of our latest physical renovations and indicates the increasing confidence of major collectors in the Palm SpringsArt Museum.”
“In the 1990’s, a gift from the Steve Chase estate greatly enhanced the collection of this museum by enriching our holdings with significant Californian and Western artists,” continued Nash. “The MacMillan gift redirects the course of the museum toward a collection that is more national and international in scope.Donna and Cargill MacMillan’s goal is to continue to deepen our collection by encouraging other collectors to donate works to the museum and match the ambition of this collection.”
For more information on the museum and exhibits, visit Palm Spring Art Museum at psmuseum.org or call 760-322-4800.