Cleveland Museum of Art Meets National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant

CLEVELAND (March 3, 2014) — In late 2012, the Cleveland Museum of Art was awarded a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to endow the museum’s interpretation program. The grant terms stipulated the NEH funds must be matched 3:1, with the additional $1.5 million raised from other sources. Recently, a significant private donation facilitated the completion of the match challenge nearly 2.5 years ahead of the scheduled deadline. The Cleveland Museum of Art’s interpretation program is now endowed at $2 million.

“We are grateful for the continued support of our generous donors in helping achieve this match for the prestigious NEH Challenge Grant,” said August Napoli, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s deputy director. “While our staff has already made significant progress in re-imagining the interpretation of the museum’s world-renowned collection, the endowment secures our ability to expand our commitment to scholarship and to make the collection accessible and relevant to current visitors, as well as for generations to come.”

The museum’s interpretation program plays a critical role in animating the newly renovated and expanded building, completed in December 2013. The endowment directly supports the museum’s interpretation staff and the development of humanities-based interpretive materials that makes possible refreshed gallery interpretation, program modification and technology updates that enhance the visitor experience. Through interpretive tools – text labels, audio and video segments, interactive technology and live gallery interpreters – visitors can connect with the varying perspectives on works of art and their cultural histories.

Most recently, the museum’s interpretation staff has been engaged in the unprecedented reinterpretation of all artworks in the reinstalled permanent collection galleries, the development of interpretive content for the new interactive learning space, Gallery One and ArtLens, the museum’s iPad and iPhone apps, in addition to the creation of in-gallery interpretation and programming for an expanded slate of special exhibitions.