LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, home to works by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, received a $45 million donation to fund a wave of renovations, including a massive new gallery for special exhibits.
The gift from beverage magnates Stewart and Lynda Resnick, scheduled to be announced Monday, will boost the effort to improve the sprawling museum campus, which also features renowned collections of Asian and Islamic art and a vast costume and textiles collection.
"It's sort of a required expansion," said museum chief executive Michael Govan. "It's really needed to meet the public demand."
The Resnicks, whose Roll International Corp. owns the POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and Fiji Water brands, also will give the museum $10 million in art from their personal collection.
Much of the cash donation, among the largest grants the museum has received, is earmarked for the construction of a 45,000-square foot gallery for traveling exhibitions and highlight shows.
The single-story, travertine-enclosed Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion is being designed by Renzo Piano. The architect was behind the Broad Contemporary Art Museum that opened at the LACMA campus in February to showcase works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and others.
"We can think of no better way to buttress this rapidly evolving museum than to create additional space for the exhibition of art," Lynda Resnick said in a statement.
The museum has raised more than $300 million since the 2003 start of its campaign to expand and renovate its campus.
