The Biggs Museum of American Art has recently received a Challenge America award of $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant aims to support the museum’s Spanish language family programming development and facilitation. The NEA has announced 257 Challenge America awards in total, amounting to $2,570,000, as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.
“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to the Biggs Museum of American Art, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”
Biggs Deputy Director Sandra James, added, “We are so grateful to be able fill a gap in the needs of our local community with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. This will allow us to further develop our Spanish language family programming for the upcoming year. This initiative not only enhances accessibility to cultural resources but also dismantles barriers to participation. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive space where all can engage and thrive.”
The Biggs Museum of American Art offers a Spanish Language Program that provides bilingual art educational programming both on- and off-site. The main goal of the program is to engage broader and more diverse audiences by offering family-oriented, Spanish language art programming. This includes gallery tours, art making workshops, and cross-disciplinary art-centric activities to involve students. The museum has partnered with First State Community Action Agency and its family of companies to make this plan a reality.