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BAM/PFA is currently planning a new visual arts center that will be designed by the internationally acclaimed architect Toyo Ito. Our new home will be built on campus property at the intersection of Oxford and Center Streets in downtown Berkeley, right across from the main entrance to the UC Berkeley campus. This location is just one block from the Berkeley BART station and adjacent to the Addison Street Arts District. The new building presents an exciting opportunity for BAM/PFA to expand its programs with increased gallery space, an additional theater, sculpture gardens, and new spaces for teaching and study. BAM/PFA is one of only a handful of museums in the United States to present a full range of the visual arts, including film. In our new building we will be able to grow our collections and offer enhanced educational opportunities to the campus and the public while exploring new ways in which art, film, and digital media can intersect and be presented.
Letter from the Chancellor
I am honored to provide leadership on a project that so fully represents the values and aspirations of the University of California, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the Berkeley community.
It is my personal belief that the truly educated understand the value and importance of art in the human experience. The fact that Berkeley appreciates the critical link between art and science is among the reasons Cal is considered one of the very best universities in the world.
The creation of a new art and film museum for the campus in downtown Berkeley is an important step in our longstanding commitment to the visual arts. While serious seismic issues with the current museum have created the need for a new building, its purpose goes well beyond the practical need for exhibition, program, and storage space for art and film.
Given UC Berkeley’s leadership role in art education, architecture, design, engineering, and research, the new museum project must be seen as a historic responsibility for this university and its community.
We have met this responsibility in part with the selection of Toyo Ito of Japan as the design architect for the new building. Ito has delivered a concept that is architecturally significant, seismically sound, creatively engineered, and financially within our means. He has done so in a work of graceful simplicity and fluidity that nevertheless represents our highest aspirations as a center for visual learning.
I have no doubt that our alumni, our community, and foundations and corporations will meet this responsibility with the philanthropic support required to complete the project and provide for the museum’s future. I hope that you will consider joining me in helping with this timely opportunity. Your leadership and support are critical as we move forward with this brilliant and iconic new museum.
Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor
For information about supporting the BAM/PFA new building project, please contact Nancy Nelson in the Office of Institutional Advancement at (510) 642-6025 or
donate online now.
