The museum is also launching a $425 million campaign to support this phase of the museum's renovation. A released statement indicates that $180 million will be designated to establish a building fund that includes construction costs as well as expenses for art relocation and reinstallation, consulting and management fees, improved landscaping and inflation; $180 million will be designated to endow programs, staff positions and new initiatives in perpetuity; and $65 million will be designated to support the museum's ongoing annual operations and project contingencies. A spokesperson for the museum tells GlobeSt.com that estimates for the cost of the entire project were not yet determined. According to the statement, this campaign represents the most ambitious fundraising effort in the museum's history. Its previous campaign completed in 1998 raised $137 million.

The project was designed by Foster & Partners of London and its major components include reinstating the building's central axis to enhance accessibility to the collections; creating a "jewel box" to link and enclose the Richard and Helen Fraser Garden Court to the new East wing; an East wing that will consist of an expansive central building within the "jewel box" flanked by two smaller pavilions; expanded educational facilities; a new restaurant; refurbished galleries; and, enlarged conservation and research studios.

The master site plan is a long-range plan that includes creating a glazed "crystal spine" running the full length of the site, another wing on the west side of the museum as well as a study center. An additional glass "jewel box," mirroring the "jewel box" on the east side of the building, will be created within the Norma-Jean Calderwood Courtyard and encasing the West expansion. Additional galleries will also be refurbished and renovated as will the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Above-ground parking lots will be replaced with underground parking, leaving the museum's campus open for additional landscaping.