San Antonio Museum of Art to Receive $150,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan

San Antonio, TX—January 27, 2022—The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is pleased to announce they have been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. SAMA is recommended to receive $150,000 to go towards the salaries of their education department. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.

“Our nation’s arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts’ American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as the San Antonio Museum of Art, rebuild and reopen,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. “The arts are crucial in helping America’s communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nation’s economic recovery.”  

"SAMA is thrilled to share that the National Endowment for the Arts supports the significant work being done by our education department,” said Emily Ballew Neff, The Kelso Director. “The Museum is a resource for the community and works to provide programs and educational opportunities for all. SAMA is grateful for the financial support of the National Endowment for the Arts which will help continue this important work during an international pandemic when all museums are suffering from losses in attendance and income." 

The funds will provide salary support for key education department staff, whose work is critical to fulfilling the Museum’s mission of enriching lives through exceptional experiences with art. During the pandemic, the education department provided a wide variety of online programs and interactive media for learners of all ages and created a ‘Learn’ tab on the museum’s website for newly developed digital lesson plans and art activities. Parents, educators, and the general public rely on the Museum as a source of high-quality educational resources they can use remotely, or in-person in the galleries.

The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The funding for organizations is the third installment providing more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. In April 2021, the NEA announced $52 million (40 percent) in ARP funding would be allocated to 62 state, jurisdictional, and regional arts organizations for regranting through their respective programs. The second installment in November 2021 allocated $20.2 million to 66 local arts agencies for subgranting to local artists and art organizations.

For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.

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About the San Antonio Museum of Art

The San Antonio Museum of Art serves as a forum to explore and connect with art that spans the world’s geographies, artistic periods, genres, and cultures. Its collection contains nearly 30,000 works representing 5,000 years of history, and is particularly strong in Greek and Roman antiquities, Asian art, and art of the Americas. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Latin American Art wing spans the ages from the ancient Americas to the present and includes an outstanding collection of pre-Colombian and folk art. In recent years, the Museum has placed particular emphasis on diversifying its contemporary collections, to reflect the true diversity of voices shaping the trajectory of art. This has included an emphasis on works by women artists, artists of color, and artists from San Antonio and across the state of Texas.

San Antonio is the nation’s seventh-largest city and consistently listed as one of its fastest-growing ones. The Museum is housed in the historic Lone Star Brewery on the Museum Reach of San Antonio’s River Walk, and is committed to promoting the rich cultural heritage and life of the city. It hosts hundreds of events and public programs each year, including concerts, performances, tours, lectures, symposia, and interactive experiences. As an active civic leader, the Museum is dedicated to enriching the cultural life of the city and the region, and to supporting its creative community.