The town has been abuzz with the recent news that SFMOMA could be closed for close to three years to perform public-friendly renovations and a major expansion that will double the amount of gallery space.

Snøhetta, SFMOMA Expansion Aerial View Southeast; image courtesy Snøhetta

During the closure, artwork will be moved off-site but the museum will be collaborating with other local institutions–the Asian Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Contemporary Jewish Museum will variably partner with SFMOMA to exhibit the museum’s various collections, build site-specific installations and continue arts-related programming.

One such off-site project will be a series of video installations showcasing Doug Aitken’s Empire, an allegorical trilogy about displacement in the modern world.

Scandinavian architecture firm Snøhetta will be designing the expansion, which is currently estimated to cost $325 million in total with another $230 million to be solicited from billionaires by a campaign committee headed by chairman Charles R. Schwab and Vice Chairman Diana Nelson.

Plans for the expansion were initiated in 2009 to accommodate the billion dollar Doris and Donald Fisher Collection of contemporary art that will be on display at SFMOMA after the renovations are completed in 2016.

• Tag: Asian Art Museum, contemporary jewish museum, sf museums, SFMOMA, yerba buena center for the arts