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Back to Press Room
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2008
PRESS CONTACT:
Andrea Potochniak
607 254-4563
arp37@cornell.edu
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Receives
$500,000 Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant
The Museum must raise an additional $1.5 million by July 1, 2009,
in order to receive the $500,000 challenge grant
in support of the new wing
Ithaca, NY—Cornell University's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art has been awarded a $500,000 Kresge Foundation challenge grant to support its new wing, an underground extension of the museum’s I. M. Pei–designed building, scheduled to break ground this spring, pending municipal approvals.
"We applaud your efforts to build paths of opportunity within your community," said Richard "Rip" Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation. "Ensuring the health and vitality of nonprofit organizations such as the Johnson Museum is central to building strong, vibrant communities. We are proud to help advance your very important work."
The Johnson Museum opened in 1973 as a permanent home for Cornell's collection of 9,000 artworks and serves as a cultural resource, both for the university and the region. Today, the 62,000 square-foot building holds more than 30,000 works and welcomes more than 80,000 visitors a year.
The $19.5 million, 16,000 square-foot wing will include a 150-seat lecture room, a workshop studio, new galleries, art storage and office space. The main building’s fifth-floor Asian art galleries will be renovated to create additional exhibition space, and one floor will be reconfigured to include a study center with open storage, a photographic study room and a seminar room.
The project has been designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with John Sullivan, Cornell Class of 1962, acting as architect in charge.
"The Kresge Foundation has a long and distinguished history of helping an extraordinary number of museums and other institutions, so this award is a great honor for us," said Frank Robinson, the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the Johnson Museum.
The museum must raise an additional $1.5 million by July 1, 2009, in order to receive the $500,000 challenge grant.
Based in Troy, Michigan, the Kresge Foundation is a private foundation that supports communities by building the capacity of nonprofit organizations in the fields of health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services and community development. Its Challenge Grant Program is designed to assist nonprofit organizations as they work to strengthen leadership and financial support through challenge grants for capital projects by supporting the construction and renovation of facilities, the acquisition of property and the purchase of equipment.
The Johnson Museum has a permanent collection of over 30,000 works of art from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The museum building was designed by I. M. Pei. Funds for the building were donated by Cornell alumnus Herbert F. Johnson, late president and chairman of S C Johnson. The building opened in 1973.
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The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, located on the campus of Cornell University, is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Museum is completely accessible for mobility-impaired visitors, and a wheelchair is available in the lobby. Metered parking is available in the lot next to the Museum. For more information, please call 607 255-6464. Visit the Museum’s website at www.museum.cornell.edu. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is a proud member of Ithaca’s Discovery Trail: www.DiscoveryTrail.com.
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