The Museo de Arte de Ponce Receives $500.000 Grant from the Mellon Foundation

The funds will be allocated to the conservation and research of the artistic heritage that houses the institution.

 

(Ponce, Puerto Rico, August 17, 2022) – The renowned Mellon Foundation, which through its grants seeks to build sensible communities empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive, awarded the Museo de Arte de Ponce a $500,000 grant to strengthen the conservation capacity of works of art of the museum’s collection and support the curatorial research of the Puerto Rican art collection that houses the institution.

“We are very grateful to the Mellon Foundation for the significant grant awarded to the Museo de Arte de Ponce and that, to a large extent, will make it possible to strengthen the resources of our Anton J. Konrad Conservation Center with funds for the hiring of a Paper Conservator and a Curator of Sculptures and 3D Objects that will ensure the continuity of the services that the Center provides not only to the Museum’s collection but also to the Puerto Rican community,” said Cheryl Hartup, Director of the Museo de Arte de Ponce. “The donation will also provide the institution with funding for the creation of a scholarship position that will support research for the creation of an academic publication on the museum’s Puerto Rican art collection. This significant grant will enable us to meet key objectives of our projected eight-year Strategic Plan ,” added the Director.

The publication on the collection of Puerto Rican art of the Museo de Arte de Ponce will allow to continue with the institution’s initiative of documentation and study of its collections. These efforts have also resulted in the production of the catalog of the British Collection of the museum, product of funds granted by the National Endowement from the Arts and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation of New York, and the publication of the results of an in-depth study carried out on the Spanish collection of the institution, also subsidized by the Mellon Foundation. The grant for the research and creation of this third publication will be carried out during the second year of the project and will have a duration of 18 months.

Over the years, the Museo de Arte de Ponce has been the recipient of major grants from the Mellon Foundation. In 2011, the institution received a $500,000 grant to support the conservation of works of art on paper, conduct research and publication on works from the museum’s Spanish collection, as well as the acquisition of sophisticated equipment and tools that led to the conversion of the Anton J. Konrad Center into an advanced art laboratory in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region. In 2016 the institution received another important contribution from the Foundation to give continuity to the work and management of the paper collection, which resulted in an increase in resources trained to carry out a condition analysis of 1,823 works of art in this support. Similarly, in 2018 the museum received a new grant of $500,000 in a reserve fund that can be used in emergency situations.

“At the Museo de Arte de Ponce we have the commitment to continue establishing alliances with cultural institutions, private sector entities and foundations dedicated to Puerto Rican art and culture. This will allow us to continue generating the necessary resources to create art-based experiences to promote discovery, stimulate curiosity and foster dialogue and thus improve the life of the community. Our partnership with the Mellon Foundation is a great example of this,” concluded the Director of the Museo de Arte de Ponce.