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Dear members of SJMA’s community,
Community and advocacy are
at the heart of the Museum’s work. With that in mind, I wanted to write with
a few updates and to keep you apprised of the Museum’s accomplishments,
especially at this time of change in our nation.
Government support is so
important to the San Jose Museum of Art. The Museum has received critical
support from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Artworks program for
several of our recent major exhibitions—including Border Cantos: Richard Misrach|
Guillermo Galindo (2016) and Postdate:
Photography and Inherited History from India (2015).
These competitive NEA
grants support opportunities for the public to engage with “diverse and
excellent art” across the country. They play an instrumental role in enabling
mid-sized, community-based institutions like SJMA to develop and present
ambitious original projects.
It is similarly thanks to a
2015 generous grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services—the
primary source of federal support for the nation’s museums and libraries––that
SJMA has been able to take its STEAM-education program, Sowing Creativity program
to the next level.
We are thrilled to announce
that Sowing
Creativity just received a 2017
Superintendent's Award for Excellence in Museum Education. The program
currently serves one thousand students per year, the vast majority of whom
are based in low-income Title One schools. We anticipate enrollment to more
than triple in the next school year to some three thousand students). This
high-impact program includes in-school teaching, family passes, and on-site
visits.
To further amplify the
importance of government support, I am pleased to inform you that the Museum
is the grateful recipient of another incredibly generous grant from the IMLS
in 2016.
Your SJMA received IMLS
support to design, research, produce, and launch an online collections catalog
to be released in conjunction with the Museum’s fiftieth anniversary in 2019.
Interactive and multimedia content will highlight a core set of fifty
artists. This form of federal funding — along with your support and
participation —is so essential to the Museum’s success,.
What can you do to help?
You may have seen recent news
reports that suggest what we
anticipated following
the 2016 election: the National Endowment for
the Humanities (NEH) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) could face
potential elimination. IMLS is also up for renewal. The Trump administration
is reportedly working from a blueprint from a Heritage Foundation report that calls for drastic cuts and consolidations of
federal programs and agencies, including the elimination of NEA and NEH.
Laura L. Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), notes, “We are extremely concerned by these reports, and the museum field will stand strongly against any effort to gut the important work of NEA and NEH, or any other federal agency supporting the work of museums. These agencies play a uniquely valuable role in helping make the arts and humanities accessible to every American.”
Here’s how you can help
right away:
You are at the heart of
what we do. Thanks to the success of the exhibition Beauty—Cooper
Hewitt Design Triennial (on
view through February 19, 2017), the Museum has seen a 39% increase in
attendance over last year. Our Lunar New Year Community Day on January 28 set
a new attendance record with just over 3,500 visitors.
THANK YOU for
all you do to help SJMA connect, inspire, and delight!
Warm regards,
Susan Sayre Batton
Interim Director
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San
Jose Museum of Art, 110 S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113 www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org
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