WOODSTOCK, N.Y. – Woodstock Artists Association & Museum has been awarded a $102,289 grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to support projects that help the museum better serve the community.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) initiated the process that resulted in the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum submitting an application to IMLS and encouraged the agency to provide funding.
“These federal funds will be used to educate students and their families about local art history and provide them an engaging artistic experience,” Hinchey said. “Students in Ulster County will benefit greatly from the opportunity to create their own artwork, work with professional artists and display their own artwork to the public.”
The Woodstock Artists Association & Museum will use these funds, to be allocated over a three-year period, to implement the Maverick Youth Project, a museum education program designed to give students hands-on art experiences and educate them about local art history through the museum’s permanent collection. The funds will help to enrich local students’ experience of the visual arts by working with art professionals in which they will observe, interpret and reflect on the artwork from the museum’s permanent collection. Students will have the opportunity to create and showcase their own art in the museum’s youth exhibition space.
“We are very grateful to Congressman Hinchey for his assistance in securing this grant from IMLS, which recognizes the quality of our education program and the relevancy of our museum collection to the community at large,” said Josephine Bloodgood, executive director. “We’re very excited to expand our program under the direction of education curator Beth Humphrey, and to further strengthen the impact it has made in the lives of kids and families in the region.”
The grant comes from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums for America Program, which is designed to strengthen a museum’s ability to serve the public more effectively by supporting high-priority activities that advance the institution’s mission and strategic goals.
