ExhibitsUSA Receives $1 Million for "NEH on the Road"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2004

ExhibitsUSA Receives $1 Million for “NEH on the Road”

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has selected ExhibitsUSA (EUSA), the national museum service division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, for a three-year $1,000,000 cooperative agreement to develop “NEH on the Road,” the traveling versions of NEH-supported exhibitions.

“It’s a privilege for ExhibitsUSA to be entrusted with the ‘NEH on the Road’ initiative,” said Mary Kennedy McCabe, Executive Director of M-AAA. “This generous grant will allow us to bring humanities exhibitions to smaller museums, communities, and institutions. This partnership provides us with the resources to do what we do best: bring cultural opportunities to all Americans.”

Through research conducted for the NEH in 2001, ExhibitsUSA found that small and midsize museums expressed a desire for high-quality humanities exhibitions tailored to their size, preferences, and capabilities.

“Museum exhibitions supported by the NEH enliven the cultural life of our nation’s cities and communities,” said Bruce Cole, Chairman of the NEH. “’NEH on the Road’ will assist us in extending the reach and the life of these exhibits, bringing the best of the humanities to more Americans.”

EUSA staff will partner with nationally recognized museums to adapt NEH- supported exhibitions, making them appropriate for smaller institutions. The traveling exhibitions will contain artifacts and images from the original shows and retain their intellectual context. The first “NEH on the Road” exhibit rolls out in 2005 with announcements of the selected exhibits expected this spring.

Host institutions will be selected in American communities with populations of 300,000 or fewer. To maximize accessibility, host institutions will be required to provide several hours of free admission each week.

EUSA will manage publicity, booking, storage, shipping, insurance, and maintenance of the exhibitions. In addition, EUSA will develop a full range of public programming, including educational materials, ideas for lectures, film screenings, and other ways to engage the communities with the exhibitions.

In its 15-year history, EUSA has developed and toured 155 exhibitions to over 1,000 institutions in 689 communities in 49 states and Canada, reaching more than 14 million people. Annually, EUSA organizes and manages an average of 30 exhibitions.

M-AAA, EUSA’s parent organization, was founded in 1972 as a nonprofit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. It is governed by a board of directors drawn from its partner states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, contact Sarah McGreer at (816) 421-1388.