UC Irvine officials still need to pick a site for a new museum to house the university’s California art collection, but they’re closer to covering the cost of the facility with a donation announced Monday.

The Institute and Museum of California Art, which manages two collections totaling more than 4,500 works with Golden State themes or by artists from the state, is currently in a temporary space.

The eventual new permanent facility will be named for Jack and Shanaz Langson, who are trustees on the UCI Foundation board and have given to the university before (a campus library bears Jack Langson’s name).

At the couple’s request, the amount of their financial support for the project was not disclosed, UCI spokesman Tom Vasich said. The Langsons could not be reached for comment Monday, but in a UCI news release Shanaz Langson said the new institute and museum “will also apply the latest scientific developments to understanding and preserving art objects and archival material for the benefit of future generations.”

Anne Bergeron, the museum’s interim deputy director, said two large art collections were donated to UCI in 2014 and 2016, so after the second major gift, university officials established the institute and museum with plans to build a facility to house them.

But the concept of a UC Irvine art museum long predates the donation of the art, Bergeron said – it was part of the original master plan for the campus in 1962.

The arts are one focus of UCI’s $2 billion fundraising campaign intended to carry the university into the future, and Chancellor Howard Gilman is particulary interested in the interplay between creative arts and other disciplines taught at UCI, Bergeron said.

“The museum is really envisioned to be an experiential learning laboratory designed both for the campus and for the regional community,” she said.

Bergeron said it’s still to early to talk about what the future museum may look like or what it may cost, but Vasich noted officials hope to announce a location in the spring.

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