Thanks to a $149,100 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University will expand its Outreach Visual Art Education Project to children attending area schools. 

This project will provide comprehensive arts education for 2,500 preschool through eighth-grade students per year through three programs: Art Beginning in Childhood for preschool children, Art After School for school-aged children, and Art in School, for elementary-aged children.  The programs bridge the curriculum in core content areas, investigate multicultural art forms and integrate examples from art history.  Project activities will allow students to experience art through hands-on participation in a variety of media and techniques including drawing, painting, print making, collage, working in clay and creating sculpture.  Children will have opportunities to engage in creative exploration with the museum’s artist-educators.

Vital statistics:

Number of applications received: 481

Number of awards made: 160

Total amount requested:$53,655,280

Total amount awarded: $18,777,552

Total recipient match: $32,007,711

Museums for America is the Institute’s largest grant program for museums, supporting projects and ongoing activities that build museums’ capacity to serve their communities.

Museums for America grants strengthen a museum’s ability to serve the public more effectively by supporting high-priority activities that advance the institution’s mission and strategic goals. Museums for America grants are designed to be flexible: funds can be used for a wide variety of new or ongoing museum activities and programs, such as improvement of institutional infrastructure, planning, management of collections, public access, professional development, purchase of equipment or services, research and scholarship, public programming and exhibitions, development and/or implementation of education programs or efforts by museums to upgrade and integrate new technologies into their overall institutional effectiveness.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.