Tang Museum at Skidmore College Receives Grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund to Build Endowment and Expand Education Programs
SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has received a $1.5 million grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. The grant will build the Tang’s endowment and expand its education programs.
Skidmore President Marc Conner announced the grant on Tuesday.
“The mission of the Tang Teaching Museum embodies the liberal arts educational ideal, especially in its outreach to multiple communities and its educational thrust," Conner said in a statement. "This support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund will substantially support and grow that mission.”
The Tang’s educational program usually reaches more than 8,000 people of all ages each year through programs like the Family Saturdays, as well as workshops at schools, libraries, and community centers. These programs often feature interpretive exercises and art-making projects. Since the pandemic, the program has moved online. Museum educators also conduct teacher training for K-12 educators from around the region.
The grant will endow a key Tang position, which will now be called The Laurie M. Tisch Educator for K-12 and Community Programs. The grant will also fund expanding the museum’s outreach to new audiences, especially school students and adults in underserved areas. The grant will also give the museum greater ability to develop programs tailored to a diverse audiences—in the museum, in the community and online.
“We have been extremely impressed with the Tang Teaching Museum’s commitment to scholarship, inclusivity and transformation, and the enthusiasm it continues to generate in finding new ways of using art to enrich our understanding of the world,” said Laurie M. Tisch, president of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. “We very much look forward to seeing how the Tang progresses to serve even more interested and very lucky audiences.”
The new grant marks the third major gift from the Illumination Fund to the Tang Teaching Museum. In 2015, the fund launched a $1 million challenge grant that led to a $2 million endowment for the position of the assistant director for engagement. In 2008, the fund provided a $1.2 million gift as part of a matching challenge that enabled Skidmore faculty to expand the use of museum resources in their coursework, and support programs with visiting artists and scholars.