In 1999 a new wing opened for the exhibition of Colby’s renowned collection of American art. The Lunder Wing, a 9,000-square-foot addition, increased the Museum’s exhibition space by 44 percent and enhanced its stature as one of the top art museums in Maine.

The Lunder Wing was designed by architect Frederick Fisher of Los Angeles, one of the world’s leading museum designers. The wing is used for the exhibition of some 200 American works from the permanent collection, including examples from the Lunder Collection. Works in the Lunder Wing, which encompasses the expanded John Marin Collection, trace the development of art in this country from the middle of the 18th century through the early 20th century. The addition was made possible by a challenge grant from Peter and Paula Lunder. Mrs. Lunder is a lifetime trustee of the College and Mr. Lunder (a 1956 Colby graduate) is a lifetime overseer. Both received honorary degrees from Colby in 1998. The Lunders serve on the Museum’s board of governors and have taken an active role in the museum’s development. They were instrumental in bringing to Colby the White House Crafts exhibition in 1997 and in arranging an exhibition of American modern and abstract art from the National Museum of American Art in 2000. They also endowed the Museum’s first curatorial position, the Lunder Curator of American Art.

The building that houses the Lunder Wing has a slate roof and is architecturally consistent with other campus buildings, which are predominately in the Neo-Georgian style. “We imagined it as a house,” said architect Fisher, “because most of this art was created for domestic environments.” The domestic scale of the galleries, with their richly colored walls, allude to the private homes where the art originally was shown.