Gilcrease Museum Unveils Design For Future Of Museum

The Gilcrease Museum unveiled the future of the museum today. It’s a future Mayor G.T. Bynum said will help the city compete on a national level.

"This is the greatest collection of American art in history in the world that the federal government doesn't own,” Bynum said.

That is why Bynum said they wanted to build a museum that can support world class artifacts.

The new 83,500 square foot museum will present a much-improved visitor experience and state-of-the-art exhibition space that will meet today's standards. Mayor Bynum said the museum was just getting too old.

"For the 21st century, we can build a new facility at less cost that really brings in the surrounding landscape into the building and increases the exhibit space,” Bynum said.

"The museum was moved from a carriage house that was built in 1913, that's where Thomas Gilcrease stored a lot of his gallery art,” Susan Neal, Executive Director of the Gilcrease Museum, said.

Neal said the first version of the museum was built in 1949, and several more sections were added years later. The new museum will continue to house the collections of 12,000 years’ worth of history.

"The city of Tulsa owns it, and we are the stewards of this collection. But if we are going to take care of the collection, you have to have a building that can do it,” Neal said.

Bynum believes this will make Tulsa a nationally competitive city.

"I think this community owes a great debt to Thomas Gilcrease who had the vision to put this collection and dedicate so much of his life to assembling this collection,” Bynum said.

The current Gilcrease Museum will close to the public on July 5 for construction. The project is expected to be finished by 2024.