LOS ANGELES, CA.- Kerry Brougher, Director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, today announced the George Lucas Family Foundation has provided a transformative grant in support of the Academy Museum’s educational mission. The Academy Museum will use the funds to create an endowment underwriting free admission to the Museum in perpetuity for visitors ages 17 and younger. The George Lucas Family Foundation established the generous grant in honor of Sid Ganis, former President and current Vice President of the Academy’s Board of Governors and Chair of its Museum Committee. Brougher also announced the appointment of the Museum’s inaugural Director of Education and Public Engagement, Amy Homma, who was most recently at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

Kerry Brougher said, “At the Academy Museum, we are committed to helping educate our youngest visitors: the children and teens who will be the next generation of filmmakers, writers, and visual artists. To succeed though we must break down the financial barriers that make it difficult for families, students, and teens to visit cultural institutions. We are deeply grateful to the George Lucas Family Foundation for understanding our mission so well and making it possible for us to waive admission for our youngest audiences, so they can engage with exhibitions and programs that will nurture their creativity and encourage them to tell their own stories.”

Sid Ganis said, “I could not be more honored and humbled by George’s gift to young movie lovers around the world. Education has always been a primary goal of George’s storytelling. Now through his incredible generosity young people from everywhere can experience and learn about the art and the techniques of filmmaking. With the impending openings of the Academy Museum and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles will soon have two major new resources for culture and education with a shared focus on the art of storytelling and a dedication to the next generation. We are proud and grateful that the George Lucas Family Foundation is making this tremendous commitment to serving the young people of L.A.”

“Although not every child who visits the Academy Museum will embark on a career in filmmaking, each young person deserves to be inspired by the new perspectives and ideas that come through their exposure to the arts,” said Brougher. “As we prepare for these early initiatives, it is a perfect time to bring Amy Homma, our new Director of Education and Public Engagement, into the fold. She brings with her a wealth of experience engaging visitors of all ages.”

Homma will oversee the Museum’s K-12 programming, including the Shirley Temple Education Studio initiatives, as well as public programs ranging from lectures, symposia, and panels to in-gallery talks and online programming. She previously served as the Acting Deputy Director of the Arts & Industries Building at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, where she created innovative pan-institutional and multi-disciplinary public programs, including a 12-hour conversation series that brought together noted writers, musicians, scientists, technologists, and other experts in numerous arenas. She also piloted new technologies and online experiences for visitors across multiple Smithsonian museums. As Director of Digital Learning at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, she created a diverse range of education programs for all ages focused on learning, collaboration, and experimentation and established an internationally recognized education studio with distinctive arts programming, including the museum's signature teen program. She also initiated a partnership with the National Museum of Natural History to demonstrate the power of teaching art and science together and oversaw the development of education efforts for teachers, families, schools, youth, and adults.

Under Homma's leadership, the Academy Museum will build meaningful, long-term connections with local schools and will present public programs that welcome the broadest audiences in Los Angeles and beyond. The Museum’s core education initiative will be its teen program, based in the Shirley Temple Education Studio, serving young people of all backgrounds across the Greater Los Angeles area. The program will encourage teens to think critically about the media that surrounds them and help them to develop the necessary skills to make their own films and digital productions.

"Movies, and the magic that surrounds them, offer limitless opportunities to delight, challenge, and educate both children and adults," said Homma. "The Academy Museum’s programming will offer something for everyone. I am delighted to be joining the team and especially grateful to the George Lucas Family Foundation for ensuring a barrier-free experience for our next generation of movie makers and movie lovers."