The Frances M. Maguire Hall Project

The Maguire Foundation has generously given $10 million to Woodmere Art Museum for St. Michael’s Hall - funding a major improvement to the institution and prompting it to rename the historic building the Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art and Education.

Woodmere first learned that the Sisters of Saint Joseph intended to sell the former Saint Michael’s Hall in March 2021, and by October 2021 had raised the money to both buy and maintain this historic structure and its beautiful grounds.

This gift from the Maguire Foundation, coupled with other generous gifts from the community, will fund renovation plans that include turning the spacious parlors and bedrooms of the 19^th-century mansion into galleries for the museum’s permanent collection of works by Philadelphia’s artists, as well as a hands-on children’s art & education center, a museum café, and public programming spaces. 

Woodmere’s Director and CEO Bill Valerio states that “This gift is transformative. Woodmere’s holdings of over 9,000 works stand as one of the important collections of American art, and this will become evident as never before.”

“Most of the 17,000 square feet of the new building will be galleries and public spaces, and the new Love Kids Art Center will also be a game-changer, expanding our capacity to serve Philadelphia’s schoolchildren and families.”

Dedicated galleries in Frances M. Maguire Hall will present the collection’s strengths in 20^th-century art, including American Impressionism and Modernism as they evolved in Philadelphia, as well as the ongoing reinterpretations of figurative realism. The expansion enables Woodmere to exhibit great masterpieces that generally remain inaccessible and in storage, including many important works by Violet Oakley and the Red Rose Girls. Woodmere’s important collections of Hudson River paintings and 19^th-century art, as well as special exhibitions, will remain in Woodmere’s main building.

Woodmere received the City of Philadelphia building permit and construction has begun in earnest. With this exciting next step, the project remains on schedule. Our distinguished project team includes Matthew Baird Architects in partnership with Krieger + Associates Architects, landscape architects Andropogon Associates, Sullivan Construction, and Aegis Property Group. We look forward to watching the transformation of our wonderful historic building and its beautiful four acres into a state-of-the-art museum experience and cutting the ribbon and celebrating its opening in the spring of 2025.