Monterey Museum to Expand : Art: The proposed wing will house the late industrialist Justin Dart’s collection of historical California works.

The Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, bidding to become one of the state’s premier holders of California historical artworks, will announce today a major expansion including new gallery space to accommodate a collection owned by the late industrialist Justin Dart.

Announcement of the plan to construct a 10,000-square-foot gallery on the grounds of the former T.A. Work estate in Monterey is scheduled for a press conference this afternoon to be attended by Gov. Pete Wilson. Wilson scheduled the visit, museum officials said, to emphasize the importance of maintaining and displaying work reflecting the historical development of the state.

Noted architect Charles Moore will design the facility, which will be connected to the existing 12,000-square-foot former Work family residence on the estate, about a mile northeast of Fisherman’s Wharf.

Dart, who died in 1984, was a close friend and adviser to former President Ronald Reagan. He was active for many years on the boards of the L.A. County Museum of Art and the L.A. County Museum of Natural History.

The Monterey museum, which was given title to the Work property in 1983, will retain its building in downtown Monterey and operate the new Jane and Justin Dart Wing as a satellite facility--offering admission to both facilities for the same fee, said Jo Farb Hernandez, the museum director.

Hernandez said that the Dart collection consists of about 70 oils, watercolors, washes and etchings. It is dominated by work by Armin Hansen, who specialized in scenes of the central coast of California. Hernandez said the Dart works will augment existing holdings by other specialists in California landscapes, including E. Charlton Fortune, William Ritschel and Charles Rollo Peters.

“This will position the museum as one of the most significant resources of California historical material anywhere,” Hernandez said. “There are other good collections, but this will make ours extremely strong.”

Museum officials said ground will be broken in July, with the Dart wing scheduled to open in September, 1992. Total cost of the construction will be $4.25 million, with about $1.5 million of the total already committed.

Moore, principal architect for civic center complexes in Oceanside and Beverly Hills, will retain an early California theme on the wooded site of the new gallery space. The former Work residence, which is open to visitors, includes some structural elements that date to the late 1700s and early 1800s, Hernandez said.

The new wing will have an early California adobe appearance, with state-of-the art museum technology inside, Hernandez said.

She said that consolidation of much of its California holdings would permit greater access to the collection by scholars.

Hernandez said that the decision to construct the new wing to house Dart’s art came after his widow, Jane, expressed concern about donating the works if they were destined to spend most of their time in storage. The existing main museum building is hemmed in by nearby structures and expansion at the downtown Monterey site is not feasible, Hernandez said.