FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated October 5, 2005

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

IMLS to Expedite Grant Review Process and Release Awards Early to Museums for Projects that Meet Needs Caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Agency Also Extends Grant Application Deadlines for Museums in Declared Disaster Areas

Washington, DC—Mary Chute, Acting Director of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced today that the agency would expedite the grant review process and release awards early to successful museum applicants throughout the country whose project proposals meet the needs caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The two federal grant programs affected are Conservation Project Support and Museums for America. In addition, the grant deadlines for these two grant programs have been extended for museums in declared disaster areas.

“We at the Institute of Museum and Library Services recognize that museums all along the Gulf Coast, indeed, across the nation are putting forth heroic efforts to help alleviate the human suffering of hurricane victims as well as trying to save the region’s cultural heritage,” said Ms. Chute. “These institutions need funds faster. In response, IMLS is shortening the grant review process and releasing awards early.”

Museums for America grants, the nation’s largest federal grant program for museums, help these institutions serve as centers of community engagement, support lifelong learning, and sustain the world’s cultural heritage. Funds from this $16 million dollar plus grant program will be released four months in advance (mid-March) to museums across America with winning grant proposals that meet the needs caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Other awards will be announced in mid-July. In addition, the application deadline for museums in declared disaster areas has been extended for one month, to December 15. For all other applicants, the grant deadline remains November 15. For more information contact Program Officer Christine Henry, chenry@imls.gov.

Conservation Project Support grants help museums undertake critical conservation of the collections that constitute the nation’s artistic, cultural, and historic heritage. Grant funds will be released in mid-February, two months early, to successful museum applicants across the country whose applications address conservation needs created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. All other grant awards will be released as previously scheduled, in mid-April. The application deadline for museums in declared disaster areas has also been extended, for a month, to November 1. For other museum grant applicants, the deadline remains October 1. For more information, contact Program Officer Steve Shwartzman, sshwartzman@imls.gov.

The agency also announced today that it is extending the grant period of its current museum recipients in the declared disaster areas and is allowing them to change the scope of their grant activities to meet the unexpected needs caused by the hurricane.