July 24, 2006
NMWA Receives
NEH Challenge Grant to Support
Library
and
WASHINGTON—The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) has
been awarded a $635,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH) to fund a transformative institutional initiative, From Rediscovery to Relevance. In support
of this initiative, which places women artists in context through
ground-breaking scholarship and new interpretations of art history, the grant
will provide an endowment for NMWA’s director of library and research
center position, an innovative interpretation and education outreach fund, a
distinguished lecture series, and a National Council of Scholars.
Director of NMWA, Dr. Judy L. Larson commented, “As the 21st
century unfolds, there has never been a better time to pursue a mission rooted
in humanities-based, interdisciplinary programming about women’s cultural
contributions. This grant allows us to continue providing increased depth and
content to women’s stories through outstanding humanities projects and
our renowned library and research center. From Rediscovery to Relevance intends to transform the
public perception beyond thinking of women as ‘exceptions,’ and
initiating a greater appreciation of women as equals.”
From Rediscovery to Relevance is an in-depth strategy interwoven
throughout the museum’s departments. In NWMA’s Library and Research
Center (LRC), the Challenge Grant will endow the LRC director position, thereby
retaining professional excellence at the leading center for research on
women’s contributions to the arts.
In order to offer visitors the full benefit of NMWA’s
scholarship, NEH will fund the creation of innovative and interpretive
materials including pocket exhibitions, printed materials, educational videos
and cutting-edge technology.
The Challenge Grant will also fund the collaboration of NMWA and top
scholars nationwide through a Distinguished Lecture Series and a National
Council of Scholars. Funding for a Distinguished Lecture Series will allow NMWA
to identify a distinguished humanities scholar who will present a lecture based
on her or his research on women and their roles in culture. This lecture series
will appear in a deluxe fall edition of NMWA’s Women in the Arts quarterly magazine with an accompanying
Dr. Larson explained, “We want our visitors to come away with a
full, seamless story, told with multiple references and viewpoints. We want
them to make connections to women and their artistic productions that are
provocative and take our guests through a ‘full circle’ of
thinking.”
To receive the full Challenge Grant award, NMWA must raise $1,905,000
in non-federal contributions by January 2011. NMWA is one of eleven
institutions to receive this prestigious grant during the most recent
application cycle.
About The Women’s Museum
About
NEH
Created in 1965 and based in
# # #
Sharon M. Wasserman
Director of the Library and
tel: 202.266.2806
fax: 202.393.3234
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