Boise Art Museum Awarded Grant from E.A. Michelson Philanthropy

Boise Art Museum Awarded Grant from E.A. Michelson Philanthropy
to Support Creative Aging Programming

February 8, 2023

Boise Art Museum (BAM) is thrilled to announce that it has been selected as a recipient of a prestigious grant from E.A. Michelson Philanthropy to support creative aging programming at the Museum.

BAM is among only 16 nationally accredited art museums across the United States that were awarded grants as part of the second phase of E.A. Michelson’s Vitality Arts Project for Art Museums. These grant awards, totaling more than $3 million, are a continuation of E.A. Michelson Philanthropy’s investment in creative aging programs that are an essential part of reaching the growing demographic wave of older Americans. Through the development of art-making programs for older adults, each of the selected museums is addressing a growing awareness of ageism in our society and recognizing the role that art museums can play in providing creative aging opportunities to our communities.

This award will make it possible for the Boise Art Museum to develop a new series of hands-on art-making programs for adults who are 55 years-of-age or older. Through these creative aging workshops, the Museum recognizes the many benefits—social, emotional, and physical—of engaging older adults in the process of artistic creation.

“We are honored to participate in this project with E.A. Michelson Philanthropy and look forward to initiating our plans in the months ahead for the benefit of older adults and our entire community.  I am proud to be a part of this distinguished art museum cohort and the movement to foster respect and well-being for older people across the generations and in all walks of life, through the power of art,” said Melanie Fales, Executive Director/CEO, Boise Art Museum.

The awardee museums are:  Akron Art Museum; ASU Art Museum; Boise Art Museum; Bronx Museum of the Arts; Frist Art Museum; Heard Museum; Honolulu Museum of Art; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, House; Neuberger Museum of Art; Philbrook Museum of Art; Queens Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Tampa Museum of Art; Toledo Museum of Art.

“Our collective belief system has evolved to prioritize the interests of youth and younger adults and to under-value and overlook older adults,” said Ellen Michelson, founder and president of E.A. Michelson Philanthropy. “The creative aging programs we help to develop and implement are rooted in a recognition that older adults across all races, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic groups deserve to be acknowledged as vibrant and contributing members of the American population, who both need and deserve creative, educational outlets and the opportunity to build and maintain their social networks.”

For more information about E.A. Michelson Philanthropy and the Vitality Arts Project for Art Museums, visit: https://eamichelsonphilanthropy.org/.