The Boston Globe reported this morning that the Peabody Essex Museum (AASLH member since 2002) has received a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in order to expand their Native American Fellowship program.
The three-year grant…will enable the museum to increase the number of fellows it admits annually, extend the program to 12 weeks, and introduce more formal mentoring programs…
First created by the museum six years ago, the Native American Fellowship program is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country. Reserved for students of Native American or native Hawaiian descent, the program provides specific fellowships in curatorial, educational, media, and manuscript processing…
Mariët Westermann, vice president of the Mellon Foundation, said the grant to the PEM was in keeping with the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to increase staff, audience, and programming diversity within art museums, making them “more representative of the great and rapidly changing diversity of the American people.”
“Since we possess one of the most important collections of Native American art we have responsibilities that exceed simply assuring that it’s properly cared for and that we’re doing innovative exhibitions and publications,” [Dan Monroe] said. “We feel a responsibility for actually helping steward and support the continuation and advancement of Native American and native Hawaiian cultures.”
Read the entire article at The Boston Globe.
Image from Native Fashion Now, an upcoming exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum
