Phoenix Art Museum Receives a $5 Million Gift For Its Asian Art Wing - Artforum

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The Phoenix Art Museum has received a $5 million gift from the philanthropist Dr. Sukumar Nagendran. The money will support acquisitions, scholarly research, and public programming, focused primarily on South Asian and Sri Lankan art.

The expansion includes an increase of the museum’s Art of Asia galleries from 6,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet. The wing will now be known as the Dr. Sukumar Nagendran Wing for the Art of Asia, and a new gallery, also named for Nagendran, will highlight South Asian and Sri Lankan art. The institution currently has more than 4,000 historic and contemporary works from artists who live, work in or are from Asia. Related Philadelphia Museum of Art Receives Landmark $20 Million Gift for Education Center British Museum to Receive $40 Million Gift for Masterplan Project

Nagendran is a philanthropist, physician, and biotechnology executive based in Arizona. He is the president and head of research and development at Taysha Gene Therapies. In Sri Lanka, he has supported a number of civic projects, including new medical facilities and schools. He has had a relationship with the institution for a decade, after being introduced to it through Coleene and Barry Fernando, whose philanthropy is also focused on Sri Lankan art.

“As one of the fastest-growing and most internationally connected cities in the US, Phoenix and its cultural identity are being redefined by its expanding Asian and Asian American communities,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the director of the museum, in an interview with the Art Newspaper . “The Nagendran gift marks a critical benchmark for Phoenix’s ascendant cultural capital.”

In November, the Nagendran Gallery will have its inaugural show: an exhibition of work by Colombo-based artist Pala Pothupitiye. Curated by Tushara Bindu Gude the show will pair the artist’s work with historical Sri Lankan pieces from the museum’s collection.