FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2005

Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Eileen Maxwell, emaxwell@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov

Nation's Largest Federal Grant Program for Museums Awards $16.8 Million Coast to Coast

Museums for America Grants fund Seminal Exhibits, Digital Projects, Lifelong Learning, Outreach to Youth and Seniors, Museum Publications, Research, and Much More

Washington, DC—The federal Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded $16,859,240 to 169 museums across the country today under its highly competitive Museums for America grant program. The largest federal grant program for museums in the country, the Institute received 543 applications requesting over $50 million. Museums for America grants are designed to help museums sustain the world’s cultural heritage, support lifelong learning, and serve as centers of community engagement. Please see our list of awarded museums, with descriptions of their winning grant projects.

“Museums for America grants help museums position themselves to play a vital role in the development of strong learning communities,” said the Institute’s Acting Director Mary Chute. “The museums will match the federal dollars with an additional $32,891,246 to fund educational and cultural exhibits, digitize and integrate collections for greater access, work with schools to develop curricula and programs, and conduct research that will encourage civic participation, build 21st century skills, invest in our youth, and reach out to seniors. The grants are investments in museums and in America.”

Examples of how America’s museums will use the grants include:

Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center’s Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World exhibit scheduled to open December 2005. Celebrating the first founding father to turn 300, the exhibit will showcase the largest collection of historic items related to Franklin ever amassed. In addition to premiering the six-city exhibit, the National Constitution Center will also convene a regional volunteer fair, present a symposium on the latest forms of citizen self-expression, and host a nationwide contest to identify a current-day Benjamin Franklin.

The Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, Indiana, will transform Art Smart: Indiana, an outreach program originally developed to teach Indiana history through artwork created by Native American artists, into a major public educational program. The new project will include contemporary art, cross-reference to Indiana Academic Standards for teacher curriculum planning, upgraded equipment (laptops and LCD projectors), docent training for statewide presentations, and outreach to a statewide audience, including day care and senior centers, libraries, teacher organizations, and others.

The publication of the second edition of the Jepson Herbarium (located on the campus of UC Berkley) Manual of Higher Plants of California (1993), the primary source of information for California plants. Smaller institutions, public agencies, professional biologists, and private citizens all rely on it for authoritative data to guide responsible land use and conservation decisions. Last published in 1993, 72 percent of the content in the second edition will change to reflect new scientific understandings.