Gundlach offers $2.5 million matching grant for Albright-Knox expansion; would bring personal gift to $65 million

The billionaire bond trader and investor who grew up in Snyder announced a community challenge grant on Twitter that, if matched, would raise his total contribution for the new Buffalo AKG Art Museum to $65 million.

"All steel required to complete the Buffalo AKG North Building is scheduled for the first week of July," Gundlach tweeted. "Buffalo Fine Arts Academy is planning a ceremony to celebrate this milestone. I now pledge an additional $2.5 million to the capital campaign if it is matched by the community."

Gundlach's tweet on Tuesday caught Albright-Knox Art Gallery officials by surprise, and it prompted them to launch a public campaign later in the day. 

"This is a very welcome surprise," said Jillian Jones, the museum's director of advancement. "Jeffrey likes to get things done and so do we, so we're happy for the opportunity."

The capital campaign so far has raised $152.5 million toward the $168 million construction cost. If Gundlach's matching grant is met – museum officials have full confidence it will – that would leave $10.5 million still needed to reach the museum's fundraising goal.   

"What Jeffrey is doing is unprecedented," Jones said. "We could never have imagined when we started this project that a single person would have moved the ball so far down the field, and really expand the scope of our imagination in what we could provide for Buffalo in the future.

"Jeffrey has done that," Jones said. "He's allowed us to dream big."

Gundlach pledged a $42.5 million challenge grant in September 2016 for the museum expansion, setting a record in Western New York for the largest private contribution to a cultural institution.

With each additional grant, Gundlach adds to that record.

He pledged $10 million more in November 2017, another $10 million in November 2019, and now $2.5 million, assuming the challenge grant is met.

The expanded museum is expected to reopen in fall 2022, nearly three years since the museum closed in November 2019 for the project. When it reopens, the museum will become known as the Buffalo Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum, or Buffalo AKG Art Museum for short.

AKG stands for the museum's major contributors: John J. Albright, Seymour H. Knox Jr. and Jeffrey E. Gundlach.

A new three-story semi-transparent building is being erected on the northern end of the campus, along Elmwood Avenue, which will allow the museum to more than double its exhibition space and serve as the new entrance. The new building also calls for an indoor sculpture terrace that will encircle the main galleries and provide a 360-degree wraparound view of the surrounding landscape.

A bridge will connect the new North Building and E.B. Green's historic 1905 building, and improve the museum's ability to handle and transport valuable artwork. The building is undergoing roof, masonry and drainage repairs and re-creation of the grand staircase.

The 1962 Gordon Bunshaft addition will be used for educational purposes and exhibition space, and a 6,000-square-foot community space marked by a "Common Sky" sculptural canopy and of east-west access.

Parking for the new building will be underground, with the former surface parking lot turned into a green plaza for public events.

Jones said the matching grant provides an opportunity for people to participate in the funding of the museum and feel a sense of ownership.

"It really doesn't matter whether a person's contribution is $10 or on the incredible scale of Jeffrey's, It all takes us to the same place," Jones said.

There are potential funders museum officials are in discussions with that they hope will contribute to the expansion. 

"Our hope is that by the time these doors are open we will have all of the gifts to the campaign pledged," Jones said.

For more information, go to albrightknox.org/matchingchallenge.