CRMA Receives Major Grant from the Henry Luce Foundation
Cedar Rapids, Iowa-The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art has received an $80,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation’s American Art Renewal Fund to help the Museum’s American art collection research and exhibition program over the next three years.
The Henry Luce Foundation developed the American Art Renewal Fund to respond to the economic downturn and the need to strengthen American art activities at the nation’s museums. This short term initiative, offered through the American Art Program, provides support for operating expenses related to American art.
The grant will assist the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art to develop a major new thematic exhibition of American art for 2013 that will incorporate new scholarship and research into American art, and it will provide a cash reserve that will support American art programs over the coming years.
“Our surveys of American art are extremely important to our mission and our visitors,” explained the Museum’s Curator, Sean Ulmer. “For many of our visitors and for thousands of school children every year, these exhibitions are their primary introduction to the rich traditions of American art. This Museum is fortunate to have a very special collection of American art and so we can create exhibitions in a way that no other art museum can.”
The cash reserve portion of the grant will be used to prepare works from the collection for display and to supplement fundraising shortfalls for the smaller temporary exhibits of American art that the Museum organizes every year, making certain that there is adequate educational programming and marketing.
“These are challenging times,” said the Museum’s Executive Director, Terry Pitts, “and we are extremely grateful that the Henry Luce Foundation has responded to economic realities that art museums everywhere are facing. While Cedar Rapids as a whole is beginning to show signs of rebounding from the global economic crisis and the flood of 2008, there are still several difficult years ahead of us. We feel strongly that now, more than ever, is the time to concentrate on our great collection strengths in American art and provide the community with great exhibitions and programs.”
In 2005, the Henry Luce Foundation’s American Art Program provided a major grant to help support the Museum’s exhibition Grant Wood at 5 Turner Alley and the accompanying book Grant Wood’s Studio: Birthplace of American Gothic.
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The mission of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art is to excite, engage and educate our community and visitors through our collection, exhibitions and programs. The Museum’s collection contains more than 5,600 works of art by hundreds of artists, including the world's largest collection of works by Grant Wood. For more information on exhibitions or related programs call the Museum at 319.366.7503 or visit the Museum's web site at www.crma.org. The CRMA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with extended hours and free general admission from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday. The CRMA is also open noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, but closed Monday and major holidays.