IMLS Grant Awarded for $250,000
In August, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded over $23 million in grant funding through its Museums for America Program
The National Willa Cather Center is delighted to announce the award of a full ask grant for $250,000 through IMLS Museums for America (MFA) program. We are grateful to the IMLS for this incredible gift and the opportunity for us to expand our interpretation at two Cather-related historic sites for our visitors.
The Willa Cather Foundation is the only Nebraska-based organization to receive an award this year from MFA program. Some of the other awardees include the Denver Art Museum, the New York Botanical Garden, the Heinz History Center, and the National World War I Museum & Memorial. All awarded MFA projects can be found on the IMLS website.
Through the funding, two new permanent exhibits will be developed for the Burlington Depot and the Pavelka Farmstead, both of which seek to increase understanding of life in rural Nebraska during the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The grant covers design refinements, curation, and installation of the exhibits, and content will be made accessible online and through a mobile app.
Our team will also incorporate interpretive strategies such as:
- Textual support for spoken tour narratives
- Low-vision friendly text and graphics
- Right-height interpretive rails, panels, and object mounts
IMLS's largest museum grant program supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public. One hundred and fifteen museums of diverse sizes, disciplines, and geographies received support for exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. In total, the program’s FY24 awardees will receive $23,361,915 in federal funding.
"IMLS remains committed to serving the museum field and furthering the goals of the American public. The Museums for America program encourages applicants to be creative in their response to challenges, and to envision a bold future for their institution." —Cyndee Landrum, Acting IMLS Director
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
