The Tampa Museum of Art has received a landmark $25 million donation from Dick Corbett. The donation will help fund the Museum’s Centennial Capital Campaign for Renovation and Expansion, which began during its 100th anniversary celebration in 2020. The renovations to the Museum will increase exhibition space and education facilities while the expansion will include a crystalline pier that extends the Museum to the edge of the river.
Tampa Museum of Art Expansion
The gift from Corbett will allow a lot of growth for the Tampa museum. The overall area of the museum is expected to double from 69,000 to 120,000 square feet. This will triple the area available for event space, add a public restaurant and a retail store. The museum will also add a 10,000-square-foot Education Center, allowing them to serve 24,000 Hillsborough County school students who visit the museum annually.
“This gift from Dick Corbett makes history in Florida’s art community because it constitutes the single largest private donation ever made to a public art museum and art education center in this state,” says Michael Tomor, Ph.D., the Penny and Jeff Vinik Executive Director of the Tampa Museum of Art. Tomor also noted that while there have been other large donations made to museums in Florida, those have been in the form of part cash-part collections of art. This donation is unique as it is a large stand-alone cash contribution.
“Dick and Cornie Corbett have been extraordinary patrons and supporters of the Tampa Museum of Art for decades,” according to Jerry Divers, chair of the Tampa Museum of Art Foundation and head of the Museum’s Centennial Capital Campaign. Divers added: His contributions have been bold catalysts for effective, broad-based public and private projects with lasting benefits for commercial development in Florida.”
The donors
Dick Corbett has developed, financed, and constructed more than $1 billion in real estate ventures as CEO and president of Concorde Companies, a Tampa-based real estate investment firm. His biggest achievement was conceiving, developing, and attracting funding for Tampa International Plaza and Bay Street. This 3-million-square-foot mixed-use retail, office, and hotel development attracts over 20 million visitors annually. Since its opening in 2001, it has generated thousands of permanent jobs, hundreds of new commercial businesses, including hotels and restaurants, as well as commercial offices that have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the Tampa Bay regional economy.
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Together with his wife, Cornelia, the Corbetts have financially supported the Independent Day School for over 40 years and served as Board of Trustee volunteer leaders. In 2012, the school was named the Corbett Preparatory School in appreciation of the work the Corbetts have done for the school.
In 2013, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay dedicated the Corbett Trauma Center in honor of Cornelia. The facility expanded mental health counseling in eastern Hillsborough County by providing counseling services, group therapy, and other mental health support for children and families.
Their donation to the Museum’s Centennial Capital Campaign will allow the campaign to move swiftly to complete the significant renovations already underway and break ground on the actual expansion in the next eight to 10 months.
“The Tampa Museum of Art strengthens arts and culture in our vibrant city, and opens the eyes of schoolchildren to the power of beauty and imagination. I am proud to make this historic gift to TMA in celebration of their centennial anniversary. My hope is that it will encourage others who have the means to give back to also join in and support the growth of the Museum’s world-class exhibits and programs,” said Dick Corbett.
