KANSAS CITY, MO.- The Consul General of France, Graham Paul, as a guest of the Alliance Francaise Kansas City, visited The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to view Monet’s Water Lilies with Museum Director & CEO Julián Zugazagoitia and Sarah F. Rowland, Chair of the Board of Trustees. Paul’s visit coincided with the inclusion of the Museum in FRAME, The French Regional & American Museum Exchange, a formal collaboration of museums in 12 cities in France, 12 museums in the United States and one Associate Member in Canada.

“The Nelson-Atkins joins a distinguished group of museums on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Dr. Charlotte N. Eyerman, Director, FRAME, North America. “With its outstanding encyclopedic collections, its legacy of exceptional exhibitions and publications, and its dynamic new director, Julián Zugazagoitia, FRAME congratulates The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as its newest member. We look forward to working with the director and his staff on new initiatives.”

FRAME’s mission is to promote cultural diplomacy within the context of museum exchanges of collections, exhibitions, professional staff, education and the web. Its projects have tremendous variety in scope and in subject matter.

“I am delighted that the Nelson-Atkins is now part of the wide network of exchange with these notable museums in the United States and France,” said Zugazagoitia. “I have personal memories of many of these museums, as I worked and studied in France for many years.”

Paul paid a cultural visit to Kansas City as the guest of Cyprienne Simchowitz, president of Alliance Francaise Kansas City.

FRAME (French Regional and American Museum Exchange) is a consortium of 26 museums in France and North America which promotes cultural diplomacy in the context of museum exchanges. Founded in 1999 by Elizabeth Rohatyn, Co-President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FRAME, in addition to organizing exhibitions and collection exchanges, FRAME fosters partnerships among its member museums to develop innovative Educational and Public Programs and professional exchanges among museum staff, and maintains a bi-lingual website to reach global audiences.