Currier Museum of Art Receives a $150,000 Grant

Monday, 17 September 2007 21:44

MANCHESTER, NH –The Currier Museum of Art recently received a grant in the amount of $150,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation of New York City to reinterpret and reinstall its American art collection in preparation for reopening next spring. The Currier is the steward of northern New England’s most comprehensive collection of American art, with holdings ranging from painting, sculpture, prints and decorative arts dating from the 17^th-century to the present. The museum houses major works by such celebrated American artists as John Singleton Copley, Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Edmund Tarbell, Edward Hopper, and Alexander Calder. This award serves the museum’s primary goal of making its significant holdings more accessible to the public.

The Henry Luce Foundation was also a major supporter of making images of and information about the Currier’s American collection accessible on-line. More than 11,000 objects may be viewed on the museum’s website (www.currier.org), with extended text on more than 250 American works of art. This latest grant for collection reinstallation builds upon those previous efforts.

“On-line access to our American holdings has generated more public and scholarly awareness of the importance of the Currier’s collections. With the new galleries and the Luce Foundation’s support of our reinstallation we will now be able to exhibit a larger portion of those objects for visitors to see firsthand” said Susan Strickler, director of the Currier. “We are grateful for the continued generosity of the Luce Foundation.”

The late Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., established the Henry Luce Foundation in 1936. This prestigious foundation’s focused grant making reflects the interests of four generations of the Luce family. One of the foundation’s principal interests is scholarship in American art. The Luce Foundation also supports higher education, Asian affairs, theology, and women in science and engineering.

The Currier Museum of Art, opened in 1929, serves an average of 47,000 visitors annually and is an internationally renowned art museum featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection, with over 11,000 objects, includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, O'Keeffe, and Wyeth. A lively schedule of exhibitions complements the Currier’s commitment to regional art. The Currier also owns and offers tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1950 Zimmerman House, complete with the original furnishings and the owners' original fine art collection. The Currier Museum is temporarily closed for expansion. During construction, public programming is offered at Currier Downtown and across the state with Currier on the Move. Significant portions of the Currier’s collection are currently on view at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, ME and at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Visit : www.currier.org