AKRON, OHIO.-The Akron Art Museum is pleased to announce it has been awarded three prestigious grants from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). These grants, which together total $260,000, will be used for the first permanent installation of works from the museum’s own collection.

The funds from all three grants will be used to support the museum’s re-installation efforts, which include finalizing the installation design; writing and producing interpretive materials; preparing artwork, signage and the galleries for hanging; installing the artworks; training docents to tour the collection; and promoting the re-installation and tour program.

The new galleries for the collection will occupy approximately 13,000 square feet in the expanded museum. The installation will be divided into two main components. Art From 1850 to 1950 will be shown in the C. Blake McDowell, Jr. Galleries; and Art Since 1950 will be presented in galleries donated by the Sandra L. and Dennis B. Haslinger Family Foundation. Additionally, photography from both the museum’s collection and outside lenders will be shown in the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Gallery. An additional 7,000 square feet of galleries for changing exhibitions will supplement the collection galleries. The expanded gallery space increases the number of works that could be displayed in the old facility by more than four times.

Some of the artworks to be installed will be on view for the first time ever when the museum reopens. Previously, a selection of works from the museum’s collection were rotated bi-annually in the C. Blake McDowell and Beatrice Knapp McDowell Gallery, a 2,500 square foot space.

“We are thrilled to have the space to keep so many masterworks from the collection on permanent view,” said the museum’s Chief Curator Barbara Tannenbaum. “People will finally be able to visit, revisit and share with others their favorite paintings and sculptures. Plus, there will be some surprises – recent major acquisitions that will be making their Akron debut when the museum re-opens.”

The Akron Art Museum was one of 169 projects selected from a pool of 500 applicants to receive funding from IMLS, a federal agency. The $150,000 grant was awarded from a new IMLS program called Museums for America, created to help museums better serve their communities through increased education programs, community outreach programs and behind the scenes projects. As IMLS' largest grant program, Museums for America provides more than $16 million in grants to support the role of museums in American society.

This is the first grant the Akron Art Museum has received from the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. The foundation is dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration of higher education; increased understanding between Asia and the United States; the study of religion and theology; scholarship in American art; opportunities for women in science and engineering; and environmental and public policy programs. Luce awarded the museum a $75,000 grant.

Dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education, NEA has given the Akron Art Museum $35,000 grant to support re-installation efforts. Established by congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the National Endowment for the Arts is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities and military bases. The Akron Art Museum is expected to re-open in late 2006 – early 2007.