Gilcrease Museum

The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is named after Thomas Gilcrease who built the fine art and American history museum in 1940. First opened to the public nine years later, the museum’s collection includes over 350,000 objects including a major collection of American West art and objects. Despite the quality of its collections, the institution currently attracts just 80,000 visitors a year. In July 2019, the City of Tulsa announced Flintco was selected to lead the ‘Vision Tulsa’ construction project. They will work with city officials, as well as the Gilcrease Museum, Gallagher & Associates, and SmithGroup and 1 Architecture on the renovation project. The $75 million project aims to improve the museum’s design to to create a visitor-friendly museum that’s easy to navigate, engaging and shows more of the Gilcrease collection. In addition to a major overhaul of the museum’s interiors, the project also includes a new museum store, a Discovery Center for children and underground car parking. In February 2020 it was announced after surveying the current structure, which consists of a 1913 building and four layers of renovations and extensions, that a brand new facility would be the most prudent option. SmithGroup recommended constructing an entirely new facility that provides increased gallery space to show more of the Gilcrease collection, as well as accommodating exciting travelling exhibitions and ensure the preservation of the museum’s invaluable art, artifacts and documents. Currently a new timeline for this work has yet to be announced. Prior to this, construction was anticipated to begin in early 2021, with the museum complete by 2022. (Updated 12 February 2020)