The rector of the University of Navarra presented the latest advances of the University of Navarra Museum and emphasized that the objective of the project is "to promote interdisciplinary research, foster the training of students and contribute to the promotion of culture in the region. Sánchez-Tabernero assured that the Museum will have a positive impact on all the faculties, professionals and students of the University of Navarra, due to its international projection, the category of the collection it will house, and the universal and transversal nature of the art.

He also stressed that the project "has been possible thanks to the generosity of many: the donation of the legacy of José Ortiz-Echagüe in 1992 and the donation of María Josefa Huarte in 2008, especially".

During his speech, he also reported on the financial situation of the project: "We have already committed grants amounting to 35% of the total investment for the construction and equipping of the building". Later, the Museum's director, Miguel López-Remiro, specified: "We hope to open in the fall of 2014 with 75% of the cost and shortly thereafter to get more donations than necessary to create an endowment (fund) that will help us to meet part of the annual activity of the museum, once it opens.

Regarding the source of the aid, the Rector specified that it does not come from the center's usual donors, but from people and institutions from all over the world to whom the University of Navarra has been able to present itself for the first time, thanks to the creation of this Museum. And it has done so thanks to the alumni around the world and the contacts provided by friends of the University. The international founding partners who have joined the project so far are from Poland, Switzerland, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States. Approaches to this end have been initiated in Portugal, Germany, Ecuador, Guatemala, some Asian countries and one African country.

"In times of crisis," he added, "we want to make austerity in the ordinary compatible with magnanimity in projects." "Seeking economic aid in these times requires a great effort, but it seems to us that the University of Navarra has the responsibility to maintain these projects, which generate employment immediately and create new opportunities for the future" he added.

First artists on campus

The intervention of the Museum's director, Miguel López-Remiro, was preceded by a video showing the work of the first artists invited to investigate and create their work on the campus and in the city: Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Javier Vallhonrat, June Crespo, Lorea Alfaro and Pedro Neves, among others.

The director emphasized the differential of the location: "A museum on a campus can put art in dialogue with different fields of knowledge, and this climate of study and experimentation attracts the artist, enriches his career and enhances his creation.

He also reported on the construction work and the challenges in terms of artistic programming, research and teaching that the Museum team is currently designing, with just over a year to go before the opening. Miguel Lopez-Remiro stressed "the anchoring of the Museum in the Community of Navarra, something that is in the DNA of the project, from the beginning and from the very act of donation of Maria Josefa Huarte". He also stressed that "the collection -with works by Oteiza, Rothko, Ortiz-Echagüe or Fontcuberta-, already has national and international recognition".

Finally, he announced that the next major milestone of the construction will take place in September of this year when "the roofs of the Museum will be closed, leaving the building completely constructed on the outside, after which date work will begin on equipping and fitting out the building so that it can be inaugurated in the fall of 2014, as planned," said the Museum's director.

The future University of Navarra Museum, designed by Rafael Moneo (the only Spanish architect to win the 1996 Pritzker Prize), will have 11,000 m2 of usable space, distributed over three floors. The main spaces will be its 10 exhibition halls (3,000 m2) and a large auditorium, with more than 750 seats, for the performing arts.

Funding from the University of Navarra

As is well known, the University is financed by tuition fees, which are used for teaching expenses, especially in the Personnel chapter. Research and the training of new doctors is financed by public (national, European, international) and private (foundations, associations, etc.) calls for proposals. And extraordinary projects, such as new buildings, are financed by donations, managed mainly by the Association of Friends of the University of Navarra.