Expansive gallery spaces, sweeping architectural lines, a plethora of classroom and learning spaces, and a vibrant atmosphere of students and community members alike finding their passion through art — all were made possible thanks to an individual with an eye for both the arts and the future.
A 74-year journey, from the moment Martha Wren Briggs ’55 set foot on campus as a student in 1951 to the realization of her visionary testamentary gift in 2025, culminated in the dedication of the new home for the Muscarelle Museum of Art during Charter Day this year.
The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts is the latest addition to the reimagined home for the performing and visual arts on William & Mary’s campus, completing the trio of buildings facing Jamestown Road in the W&M Arts Quarter. Next to the Music Arts Center and Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, the Briggs Center has tripled the Muscarelle’s size with an additional 42,000 square feet.
The expanded museum is a state-of-the-art venue for the university community and the surrounding region to come together to experience robust academic programs and world-class exhibitions, such as the inaugural exhibition, “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine,” which brought 25 rarely displayed drawings by the artist to William & Mary. Through Aug. 18, in addition to the ongoing exhibitions, visitors can view “Founding the Alma Mater of the Nation,” a show highlighting William & Mary’s Royal Charter and the individuals who were essential in the university’s founding, with selections from the permanent collection and loans from Swem Library’s Special Collections Research Center.
The addition to the original museum, which first opened in 1983, was designed by renowned architectural firm Pelli Clarke & Partners. As evidenced in the masterful completed project, Briggs’ vision for this space was clear from the beginning.