Press Release

Tucson, AZ – Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (TMA) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Art Museum Futures Fund of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. TMA is one of 14 small-sized arts museums to be selected for funding because of strong and long-standing commitments to the local community and social justice. The grant will be used to support general operations.

The Mellon Foundation launched the Art Museum Futures Fund in September 2020 with the distribution of nearly $24 million to 12 midsized arts museums and cultural organizations across the country facing unprecedented financial obstacles as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This second round of grants to smaller museums, totaling $3 million, furthers the Foundation’s commitment to funding the recovery of art institutions as they adapt to the ongoing financial obstacles posed by the pandemic.

“America’s small-sized arts and culture institutions sustain their communities by providing access to transformative and wide-ranging artistic contributions while also preserving many different histories and cultural legacies,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “As the pandemic continues to threaten the future viability of museums that have long been under resourced, we must do our part to strengthen support for these organizations and the trenchant work they tirelessly undertake to enrich and expand our American story.”

Funding from the Mellon Foundation will support TMA as a vital community anchor that advocates for and reflects its communities. More specifically, these funds will retain staff and re-engage an essential position lost at the end of March 2020, support long-term partnerships and community collaboration, and increase access to the museum’s exhibits and programs. They will also allow TMA to proceed with the implementation of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) Plan launched in July 2020 to address both internal and external racial equity and social justice issues. Focusing on these areas will enable the museum to build internal capacities, create financial sustainability and set the foundation for a reimagined institution that is better positioned to meet the needs of the museum’s next 100 years.

“The Art Museum Futures Fund award combined with the recent opening of the new Kasser Family Wing of Latin American Art and direction provided by the IDEA Plan and a comprehensive strategic plan position TMA into one of its most impactful trajectories in its 97-year history,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, Jon and Linda Ender Director and CEO. “Funds from AMFF will directly support the museum in rebuilding holistically and responsibly while enacting an equitable, diverse and respectful post-pandemic institution.”

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.

The 2020-2021 Exhibition Season at TMA is presented by James and Louise Glasser.

With support from the following season sponsors: Fran and Jim Allen, Alice and Paul Baker, Mary Jo Brown, Connie Hillman Family Foundation, I. Michael and Beth Kasser, Anne and Ed Lyman, Jeanne Pickering and Mike Andrew, TMA League, Contemporary Art Society, Latin American Art Patrons and Western Art Patrons.