Newark Museum Of Art Earns 2 ‘Critical’ Coronavirus Grants

NEWARK, NJ — One of the largest art institutions in New Jersey has earned two significant grants that will help it weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the Newark Museum of Art announced that it will receive funds from a new program that distributes money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The grant funding will allow the museum to “retain staff and enhance its digital public programming on humanities-related subjects,” administrators said.

The grants are being issued by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH).

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, the former mayor of Newark, helped the museum to nail down grant funding with a letter of support. In his letter, Booker highlighted the museum as an important economic engine for the greater Newark community that employs more than 200 people, provides job training for up to 60 student interns each year and attracts cultural consumers to Newark’s resurgent downtown.

“The Newark Museum of Art is the largest museum in New Jersey and has been an essential cultural anchor for the City of Newark and the entire region for more than a century,” Booker wrote. “This funding will increase the museum’s capacity to address the growing public demand for humanities-related virtual public programming, not only during the current pandemic, but also in the future.”

Linda Harrison, director and CEO of the Newark Museum of Art, said staff were “deeply appreciative” of the critical funding.

“These grants will allow us to sustain jobs among our museum family as we prepare for our reopening this fall,” Harrison said.

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