For the first time ever, the Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art not one but two grants totaling more than $250,000.
The Institute is the primary source of federal funding for approximately 35,000 museums and 120,000 libraries nationwide.
“I am so proud of this recognition of SLOMA’s good work,” said SLOMA executive director Leann Standish. “Our amazing partner organizations from throughout SLO County continue to help us grow so that we can work together in making arts programming available to everyone.”
One of only 78 small museums in the country to be selected for the Institute’s Inspire! Grants for Small Museums program, SLOMA will use the grant award of $22,200 to support an upcoming exhibition by emerging California artist Deanna Barahona, as well as free community programming created in collaboration with community partners including Cal Poly and the Latino Outreach Council.
SLOMA also was selected as one of 115 institutions nationwide to receive a grant from the Institute’s Museums for America program that supports strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public. The $230,250 grant funding will support the museum’s community engagement and youth arts education initiatives over the next three years, including its Second Saturdays family art events, and arts curriculum support for Lucia Mar Unified School District teachers serving southern SLO County.
“Federal investment in small museums is an investment in access to art, science, history, and the preservation of local culture and stories,” according to the Institute’s acting director Cyndee Landrum.