Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

2023 was a historic year for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, which reopened on April 22 after nearly four years of extensive construction, renovation and fundraising. Founded in 1937, the former Arkansas Arts Center has been transformed from the inside out with additional galleries, a vibrant new restaurant, the Windgate Art School, a state-of-the-art theater, thoughtful landscaping and more.

Victoria Ramirez, the center’s executive director, said museum leaders also reassessed all internal positions, policies and programming.

“As a result, the new AMFA’s programming and museum experience builds on past successes, while offering a 21st century model of engagement,” she said.

The fundraising campaign, led by Warren and Harriet Stephens, has raised $170.8 million so far, including more than 30 donations of $1 million. Fundraising continues.

“Few cultural organizations anywhere in the world can lay claim to such breadth of support,” Warren Stephens said in April. “Our initial goal for the capital campaign now seems modest in retrospect.”