The Philadelphia Museum of Art has received $20 million from Comcast cofounder Julian A. Brodsky and his wife Lois G. Brodsky, one of the largest gifts in the museum's history. Announced Friday, the donation will fund a new education center named for the donors, more than tripling the institution's dedicated learning space from its current footprint of under 6,000 square feet.

The gift lands at a moment of strain. The museum ran a $10 million deficit in the 2025–26 fiscal year on a $76.5 million budget, and its education operation is lean: just 16 full- and part-time staffers serve about 36,000 students a year. Director and CEO Daniel Weiss, who joined last December after the board dismissed his predecessor, told ARTnews that the museum's education work has been "slightly improvisational" for lack of space, and that the donation would let it expand its reach and invent programs it cannot currently house.

The project will transform the north wing, the first major capital effort since Frank Gehry's four-year Core Project opened in 2021. Plans call for a family learning center, art studios, a visitor orientation area and a multipurpose community hub. The Philadelphia firm MGA Partners will design it, with a design expected by summer 2027 and construction to follow within a few years.

The Brodskys are deeply embedded in the institution. Julian Brodsky joined the board in 1995 and became an emeritus trustee in 2024; Lois Brodsky has volunteered since 1982 and sits on the conservation, European art, and prints, drawings and photographs committees. A gallery was named for the couple in 2005, and they endowed a photography curator post in 2009. Julian Brodsky said the couple were incredibly happy to support the new Learning and Engagement Center, adding that they have long backed educational initiatives with a focus on children and families from underserved communities. Audrey Hudson, the museum's deputy director for learning and engagement, said the new center would be a purpose-built space for school groups and hands-on studio learning, inspiring "limitless educational experiences" grounded in the museum's collection.