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Visits to Met's New American Galleries Hit 1 Million

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 Fifth Ave.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at 1000 Fifth Ave.
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DNAinfo/Eliza Fawcett

UPPER EAST SIDE — The Met's new American galleries have hit a major milestone.

One million people have visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art's New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts since they opened last year, the museum announced.

The section launched on Jan. 16, 2012 following an extensive revamp — including expanded and renovated galleries, Director and CEO Thomas P. Campbell said in a statement. 

The expansion added 3,300 square feet of gallery space to the museum's American Wing, where nearly all of the wing's 17,000 works are now displayed, the statement said.

"The suite of new galleries represents the third and final phase of a comprehensive, decade-long project to redesign the museum’s entire American Wing," Campbell said.

These galleries "provide visitors with a broad swath of American history [with works] from the 18th through the early 20th century," Campbell said.

The galleries draw some 2,000 visitors daily — making up approximately 11 percent of the Met's total attendance, the statement said.

“The American Wing’s glorious new galleries provide an elegant 21st-century home for the museum’s unparalleled collection of American paintings, sculpture and decorative arts,” Campbell said.

"Whether they are members of the public with a general interest in art,  international visitors, or schoolchildren, all of those who come to see our stellar collection of American art have responded enthusiastically to the new spaces, which have been redesigned and reconceived for the first time in 40 years.”