WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 11, 2022 – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) from the Office of Museum Services has awarded nine grants totaling $2,100,065 to museums and historical centers across Ohio. The funds will be used to help improve the facilities, enhance learning experiences for attendees, and strengthen community relationships. These awards are a part of three IMLS programs: The Inspire! Grants for Small Museums Initiative, National Leadership Grants, and Museums for America program.
“Ohio’s great museums and historical centers play an important role in our understanding of the world and were hit particularly hard during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Brown. “These funds will allow Ohio’s cultural and educational institutions to continue supporting their workers while providing a vital service to local communities for generations to come.”
Museums receiving funding include:
· $50,000 to the Canton Museum of Art to enhance its Museum To Go program, which provides free, virtual exhibit tours and multidisciplinary hands-on art lessons to fourth through sixth grade students in Stark County.
· $250,000 to the Cincinnati Museum Center to fabricate and install the exhibit, “Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight.” Using an interdisciplinary approach and inclusive lens, the exhibit will blend science, history, and technology to enliven stories of the city’s prehistoric environment.
· $475,160 to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for its “Biological Processes: We Are All Connected” Exhibit and preserving and increasing access to the Hamann-Todd and Non-Human Primate Collection.
· $214,672 to the Franklin County Historical Society for COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, to lead a multi-site research project to explore museum visitors’ motivations, expectations, and satisfaction, which will provide insights to create support visitor-centered museum experiences.
· $299,150 to the Ohio Historical Society to launch its “Marking Queer Ohio” project to identify the stories, spaces, and places that reflect the impact of LGBTQ+ Ohioans in shaping the state’s larger history, and to test a community support program model to encourage museum visits through the Museums for All initiative, through which museums offer free or reduced admission to people receiving food assistance.
· $50,000 to Ohio Wesleyan University’s Ross Art Museum to professionally preserve 31 prints in its permanent teaching collection. This project will result in stabilized prints that can be used for exhibition and educational purposes.
· $114,445 to the Taft Museum of Art to improve the documentation of its permanent collections and make them fully available and accessible on its website for a broad audience. The project will provide the museum with greater intellectual control over the collection and improved searchability through the online collections portal for both internal and external users.
· $247,144 to the Trumbull County Historical Society to digitize 2,000 oversized archival items at the museum and work with the Trumbull County Collections Network to digitize other oversized archives throughout the county. Completion of this project will provide public access to maps and blueprints that showcase a part of Ohio that no longer exists and will also build a stronger historical community in the county through shared resources.
· $399,494 to the Zoological Society of Cincinnati for The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden to conduct research to improve the conservation of threatened species of oak trees. The project includes the training of a post-doctoral student, a graduate student, and interns, and new digital tools to assist future research on oaks and other threatened species.
The IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. IMLS advances, supports, and empowers America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. To learn more about IMLS, please click here.