by Redazione 26/10/2026
Categories: Museums / Disclaimer
A $20 million donation from two longtime supporters of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky, will fund a new learning center featuring studios, family spaces, and areas for school activities. The project aims to expand access to the museum’s collections and educational programs.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, United States, , will investin education andaccess to its collections thanks to a $20 million donation, which will fund the creation of a new center for learning and public engagement. The funding comes from Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky, longtime supporters of the museum, after whom the new Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Learning and Engagement Center will be named. The project will transform the north wing of the building into a space dedicated to educational activities, featuring family-friendly areas, art workshops, and community-focused initiatives. The project represents one of the largest donations in the institution’s history and the first major architectural transformation since the Core Project—the interior renovation and expansion program designed by Frank Gehry, which reopened to the public in May 2021 after four years of construction.
The new center will be designed to accommodate visitors of all ages, with a particular focus on students, children, and families. Preliminary plans include a space dedicated to family learning, studios for artistic activities, a visitor orientation area, and a multipurpose space for the community. A central component of the project will be public engagement through educational experiences integrated throughout the galleries, directly connected to the works in the collection.
The museum thus aims to expand its capacity and strengthen the role of the collections as a tool for learning. The architectural design is currently being developed in collaboration with MGA Partners, a Philadelphia-based firm. The project is scheduled to be unveiled by the summer of 2027, while construction is expected to be completed over the next few years.
“I want to express my deep gratitude for this extraordinary gift and for the remarkable generosity of Lois and Julian Brodsky,” said Daniel Weiss, director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “It represents the culmination of their longstanding commitment to the museum and will strengthen the vital work, energy, and impact of our mission.”
The donation is part of a long history of support for the institution. Julian Brodsky, one of the three founders of Comcast, joined the museum’s board of directors in 1995. During his tenure, he served on several committees, holding the position of vice chair of the board from 2003 to 2018 and chair of the audit committee from 2018 to 2023. After 29 years of service, he became Trustee Emeritus in 2024; he currently serves as vice chair of the Library and Archives Committee. Lois Brodsky has also dedicated a significant part of her career to the museum. She began volunteering in 1982 as a member docent, and from 1986 to 2019, she guided visitors through the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions as a docent on weekdays. Today, she serves on the committees for conservation, European art, and prints, drawings, and photography.
The new center is not the first educational and cultural project supported by the couple: in 2005, in recognition of their contribution to the museum’s 125th-anniversary campaign, the gallery dedicated to Constantin Brancusi was named the Lois Green Brodsky Gallery. In 2009, the Brodskys also funded a curatorial position dedicated to photography—the Brodsky Curator of Photographs—through the Lenfest Challenge, a matching-gift fundraising campaign designed to financially support key roles within the institution.
“The new Brodsky Center will be a space specifically designed to inspire unlimited educational possibilities, grounded in the PMA’s collection,” said Audrey Hudson, head of the Learning and Engagement department. “It will address the museum’s need to expand its capacity to accommodate school groups, while also offering dedicated spaces for activities and hands-on learning workshops.”
Expanding the capacity to accommodate school groups is one of the project’s main objectives. Currently, the Philadelphia Museum of Art welcomes approximately 36,000 students each year. Guided tours and bus transportation are free for students in the Philadelphia School District, for children in the district’s preschools and Head Start programs, for participants in Philadelphia Parks & Recreation summer camps, and for Title I schools in the Tri-State Area and the Delaware Valley.
The museum also offers free admission to visitors 18 years of age and younger and states its intention to further expand educational opportunities for young people. The new center was therefore established with the goal of increasing the number of students reached and providing more suitable spaces for activities that complement visits to the artworks with hands-on experiences and in-depth learning opportunities. The Brodskys’ donation thus links the architectural project to a specific institutional priority: making the collections accessible through diverse learning methods, thereby strengthening the relationship between the museum, schools, and the local community.
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