The Lilley Museum of Art was recently awarded a $500,000 grant to support the development of the John & Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art Storage and Reading Room.

The award from the National Endowment for the Humanities Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge grant, kickstarts a fundraising campaign to construct much-needed storage and public space, enabling the museum to share, store and conserve a meaningful public art collection for generations. The $500,000 grant is the largest in the museum’s history.

The Lilley Museum of Art, sitting at the center of the university campus, is a teaching museum and the only free museum in Nevada that collects and exhibits art from all time periods and cultures. With a collection of more than 5,000 objects, as well as a rotating temporary exhibition program, the museum serves as a learning resource for faculty, students, the local community and scholars across the region. The museum supports the educational mission of the university to enhance the cultural life of our Nevada community by providing inclusive programming, stimulating and diverse exhibitions, and research and teaching opportunities in a transcultural collection.

“The Lilley Museum of Art is a treasured space on campus,” said Stephanie Gibson, director of the Lilley Museum of Art. “Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to house and protect this art is a very welcome investment in this public collection. Our community needs and deserves access to the arts and to their own stories. The Lilley Museum of Art is a public space for all Nevadans and my hope for this museum is that our community – on campus and throughout the region—falls in love with the space and its collection and programming.”

The museum is committed to building, preserving and sharing its remarkable art collection with the community by engaging visitors through a compelling and innovative museum experience.  The NEH Challenge Grant program award will kickstart a fundraising program as the College of Liberal Arts works to build a stronger, more sustainable Lilley Museum of Art.

“This tremendous gift will help to grow our collection and bolster our museum, College of Liberal Arts and the university as a space of humanities learning and scholarship,” said College of Liberal Arts Interim Dean Casilde Isabelli. “This investment from the NEH is a fantastic show of confidence for this growing museum as we aim for accreditation in the coming years.”

Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums would create national recognition of the museum’s commitment to excellence and the highest professional standards of museum operation and public service. Accreditation will help the museum foster relationships with peer museums, resulting in more loans, traveling exhibitions and cross-institutional scholarship.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.