Museum of Art and History Gets its Biggest Grant

Information supplied by the MAH:

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) is locally recognized for bold and innovative approaches to engaging people with art and history. Now, that innovation is the basis for a new $345,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation--the largest foundation grant received since the museum first opened. 

Josephine Ramirez, Arts Program Director for the Irvine Foundation, shared enthusiasm around the selection of MAH: “We are excited to support the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and look forward to seeing how they expand on their rich history of arts engagement” The Irvine Foundation supports creative adaptation in the face of changing technology and demographics; Innovative engagement strategies are key to creating a sustainable, accessible place for the arts in today’s social environment. 

Ten other California arts organizations are part of this $8.9M awarded from the James Irvine Foundation's New California Arts Fund. This new fund focuses on organizations who are transforming the way they engage people in the arts. The Irvine Foundation supports expanding arts engagement through active participation with diverse communities. The New California Arts Fund is the largest grant pool for the arts at the James Irvine Foundation, which is the largest foundation funder of the arts in California. 

Other organizations receiving grants in the New California Arts Fund include the California Shakespeare Theatre, the Oakland Museum of California, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, MACLA, and the Ford Theater in Los Angeles. Ramirez went on to describe these grantees this way: “These leading arts nonprofits were selected for their enterprising approach to expanding engagement, not only in their programming, but as a driver for rethinking their operations from the inside out. We look forward to learning with and from these organizations, and hope this initiative will act as an incubator for new ideas and models that will accelerate change across the arts field.” 

The MAH will be using this grant to build on our community-centered, participatory approach which focuses on expanding engagement throughout Santa Cruz County. Specifically, the grant will be used to:

--tie exhibitions and community events more closely together, so that MAH programming provides complementary learning experiences through many formats

--increase participation with Latino families, both at the MAH and in partnership with Latino family-focused organizations throughout Santa Cruz County

--enhance the MAH's ability to measure, evaluate, and improve programs based on research