Back to Press Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2006

PRESS CONTACT:   
Andrea Potochniak
607 254-4563
arp37@cornell.edu

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Receives
National Endowment for the Humanities Grant

Ithaca, NY—Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities* challenge grant of $500,000 in support of a new study center, a planned underground extension of the Museum’s I. M. Pei–designed building, which was part of the original design.

As the only NEH challenge grant awarded to an art museum in the most recent application cycle, the Johnson Museum’s grant was one of eleven awarded this December.

As NEH Chair Bruce Cole noted in his award letter, “NEH challenge grants are awarded only after a demanding peer review process. Evaluators were especially impressed with the Museum’s thoughtful use of its Asian collections; they also praised the Museum’s programming overall…. The new wing was deemed a much-needed and imaginative response to the academic demands on the Museum, and is appropriately adapted to the Museum’s landmark building.”

The Johnson Museum opened in 1973 as a permanent home for Cornell’s collection of 9,000 artworks. Today, the 62,000-square-foot building holds more than 30,000 works and welcomes over 80,000 visitors each year.

Pei’s original design for the building included an underground wing extending to the north. Going back to this idea, the $12 million, 13,000-square-foot study center will include a lecture and performance space, seminar and workshop rooms, additional exhibition space, library, office space and storage, and an area of open storage available for study by the public. Simultaneously, the main building’s fifth floor Asian art galleries will be renovated to create additional public space.

Tentatively scheduled for completion in 2008, the project will be designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with John Sullivan, Cornell Class of 1962, acting as architect in charge.

“The National Endowment for the Humanities is one of the most respected public institutions in this country; to receive this grant is an honor for us,” said Frank Robinson, Richard J. Schwartz Director of the Museum. “We have previously received significant support from the Endowment for several projects, including enhanced digital cataloguing of the Asian collection, the complete renovation of our Asian storage, and our landmark Byrdcliffe exhibition. Just this simple recital of how the Endowment has helped one university museum in recent years gives a sense of the range of what they do, and its extraordinary impact on American cultural life.”

The Museum must match the grant on a four-to-one basis. The challenge grant will be provided in stages as additional funds are raised. The $2.5 million will go toward construction costs and to an endowment which will fund a new, part-time humanities program coordinator and annual funds to create and offer a range of programs for Cornell students, area schoolchildren, and the community.

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

The Johnson Museum has a permanent collection of over 30,000 works of art from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The museum building was designed by I. M. Pei. Funds for the building were donated by Cornell alumnus Herbert F. Johnson, late president and chairman of S C Johnson. The building opened in 1973.

###

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, located on the campus of Cornell University, is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Museum is completely accessible for mobility-impaired visitors, and a wheelchair is available in the lobby. Metered parking is available in the lot next to the Museum. For more information, please call 607 255-6464. Visit the Museum’s website at  www.museum.cornell.edu. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is a proud member of Ithaca’s Discovery Trail: www.DiscoveryTrail.com.

-30-