The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, has broken visitor records and earned national acclaim in its first full year after reopening with a 42,000-square-foot addition. The new Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion, designed by Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, opened in September 2024 and added 16,700 square feet of gallery space, 15,400 square feet of public gathering space, and new gardens. Through September 2025, the museum welcomed 159,420 visitors, on track to surpass 200,000—a milestone only reached a few times before, typically due to blockbuster traveling exhibitions like the Tutankhamun Treasures or Dead Sea Scrolls shows.
This success matters because it demonstrates how a strategic architectural expansion, combined with a major gift of postwar and contemporary art (the Schrager Collection), can transform a regional museum into a national destination. The museum's ability to attract visitors from all 50 states and nearly 60 countries, along with features in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and other outlets, signals a broader trend of mid-sized American museums leveraging bold architecture and collections to drive cultural tourism and community engagement.