A campaign to build a new
Welcome and Exhibition Center

The Museum is building a premier Welcome & Exhibition Center that's slated to open in 2027. We've raised over 90% of the total project cost of $37M. We need you to help push us over the top! Thanks to a $500,000 challenge match put forward by the Jacobs Family, your gift today will have double the impact!

Gifts of $1,000 or more are eligible for our commemorative paver program.

Click here to give online, then click here to submit the text for your Paver.

Questions? Contact Emily Mead, Chief Philanthropy Officer: emead@whalingmuseum.org or 508-717-6850

A Transformational moment

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is poised to create a premier Welcome and Exhibition Center for future generations. By expanding galleries, community spaces, and program areas, we will spark curiosity and connect the community.

The new 20,000-square-foot Welcome and Exhibition Center includes a 6,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art gallery level that displays the Panorama and other important works from our collection and hosts exhibitions co-curated with major institutions.

For 120 years, millions have gathered on Johnny Cake Hill for education and inspiration. Now, the New Bedford Whaling Museum is poised to create a premier Welcome and Exhibition Center for future generations that extends our mission to ignite learning through explorations of art, history, science, and culture.

Interior rendering of a modern lobby with orange lounge seating, blue chairs, and a large colorful mural on the wall.

Welcome

Providing a warm and accessible entry point, the new Welcome and Exhibition Center will be a springboard for learning, discovery, and connection.

A dynamic new street-level floor – featuring an expansive welcome area, expanded retail, and ‘community living room’ with a café – will improve the admission experience, invite exploration, and encourage relaxation for visitors and community members.

People viewing artwork in a gallery, with one man seated on a bench and two others looking at wall displays.

Exhibitions

Stepping onto the show-stopping second floor, visitors will enter the most sizable and sophisticated special exhibition space south of Boston.

This custom-designed, flexible level of over 6,000 square feet will unleash the power of our curatorial team by tripling our current rotating exhibition space, including custom climate control, lighting and enhanced security.

Connection

A completely redesigned plaza and accessible pedestrian walkway will physically and visually connect our current campus with the shaded groves and terraces of the new Center, activating one of the most visible vacant properties in downtown New Bedford.

Inside and out, the new Center will invite visitors and community members to gather, learn, and reflect.

Summer 2026 Hard Hat Tours

Open Doors luncheon and hardhat tour – May 20, 2026

Time Capsule celebration – May 8, 2026

Modern museum lobby with curved staircase, reception desk, seating area, and large colorful artwork.

THE NBWM IS THE SOUTHCOAST’S HOME FOR ART, HISTORY, SCIENCE AND CULTURE

Total Project Cost: $37M

Completion: 2027

20,000 new square feet: Includes state-of-the-art gallery floor, as well as a welcome center, community living room/café, retail space, loading dock and collections handling area

One new urban plaza will unite new and existing campuses across William Street

$10M - $12M: economic activity generated annually through Museum activities and visitor spending

$34.3M raised for Capital Campaign (as of 8/15/26)

$5.5M raised for Endowment Campaign (as of 8/15/26)

$3M: investment by the City of New Bedford through ARPA grant programs

Capital Campaign Committee

Douglas Crocker II, Co-Chair
Hardwick Simmons, Co-Chair
Paulina Arruda
Christina Bascom
Jewelle & Nathaniel Bickford
Betsy Fallon
James S. Hughes
Betts Howes Murray & F. Wisner Murray
Anthony R. Sapienza
Tricia & Chris Schade
Bernadette Souza
Carol M. Taylor, Ph.D.
R. Davis Webb, Ph.D.
Wistar Wood