Cleveland Museum of Art launches record $600M campaign

State of play: This campaign, announced Friday, marks the public phase of CMA's broader fundraising effort, which has already brought in $480 million in private gifts and pledges, according to the museum.

• The funds will go towards art acquisitions, presenting exhibitions, expanding education and scholarship programs, digital innovation and keeping CMA free to the public.
• The money will also fund the restoration of the museum's historic Fine Arts Campus.

What they're saying: Broad support for the campaign is crucial to the museum's future, Virginia N. Barbato, CMA Board of Trustees chair, said in a statement.

• "By simultaneously raising current-use dollars while also establishing new endowments for key strategic priorities, the campaign is protecting access to one of the world's finest comprehensive collections."

Context: The latest campaign is nearly double that of CMA's $320 million capital campaign completed in 2016 for the museum's expansion.

• It's also well above major campaigns of the past decade or so at the Cincinnati Art Museum ($65 million) and Columbus Museum of Art ($93 million).

The big picture: CMA's lofty goal puts it in the rarefied air of major art museums in cities like New York, Pittsburgh and Boston that have broken the $500 million fundraising milestone.