Art Bridges Foundation Launches $40 Million Nationwide ‘Access for All’ Initiative to Reduce Barriers to Museum Visits

(NORFOLK, Va. December 12, 2023) – The Chrysler Museum of Art is the beneficiary of a three-year, $840,000 grant from the Art Bridges Foundation, the national arts nonprofit founded by philanthropist Alice Walton. The foundation announced the launch of “Access for All,” providing $40 million in funding to 64 museums nationwide. The initiative aims to increase access to museums across the country and foster engagement with local communities by covering the costs of free admission days and expanded free hours, as well as programming, outreach, and community partnerships that will eliminate many common barriers to access.

“Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves access to art. That’s why we started Art Bridges: to support museums in deepening their connections with local communities and to pave the way for new audiences to experience the creativity and joy that comes with seeing art,” said Alice Walton, founder and board chair of Art Bridges Foundation. “Access for All is our biggest and most ambitious effort to date, dedicating $40 million toward bridging gaps between museums of all sizes and their communities to foster meaningful connections and expand arts access in every region, from Peoria to Puerto Rico.”

Access for All represents a sweeping effort to get people back to museums after COVID-19 brought declines in revenue, staffing and attendance. With many museums seeing just 71 percent of their pre-pandemic attendance, the new initiative will aim to restore pre-pandemic levels – and open opportunities for all people to enjoy American art by reducing barriers to access and strengthening community relationships.

“We are incredibly pleased to be a recipient of the Access for All initiative,” said Erik H. Neil, Macon and Joan Brock Director. “It is a testament to the great events and programs the Chrysler Museum brings to the community, and the innovative and compelling ways in which we continue to further our mission of bringing art and people together,” Neil added.

Of the participating 64 museums, all current partners of Art Bridges, 80 percent have annual operating expenses under $10 million. The majority charge admission fees and will be able to provide new free admission opportunities through Access for All. Others will use the Access for All funds to sustain or extend current free admission policies.

Since the Chrysler Museum of Art already offers free admission and many free onsite programs, the Museum will use the funds to increase access on and off campus to new audiences. These initiatives have been focused into four areas:

• Extending operating hours once a month during First Thursdays to explore music, performance, dance, theater, science, literature and the humanities in ways that incorporate art on view and highlight relevant social topics
• Increasing the number of free family programs and installing robust gallery interactives that allow visitors to actively participate, engage, laugh, play, and be surprised by art during regular visits.
• Imagining and experimenting with new internal and external collaborations and expanding outreach to meet audiences in their communities to demonstrate that we value their cultures and contributions.
• Building audiences by offering complimentary admission for fee-based programs, such as glass and studio classes for youth, popular adult programs, and new programs in development to ensure they are not cost-prohibitive and exclusionary.

“We are thrilled to launch Access for All, a historic partnership with cultural institutions across the country to make it easier for people in every U.S. region to see and experience art. At Art Bridges, we can’t wait to see our trusted partners get creative and deliver impact to their communities,” Alice Walton said.

Museums participating in the Access for All initiative span 36 states and Puerto Rico. Among the 64 partners representing a broad range of locations are the Howard University Gallery of Arts (Washington, D.C.); Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR); Plains Art Museum (Fargo, ND); Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME); San Diego Museum of Art (San Diego, CA); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); Wichita Art Museum (Wichita, KS); and Yellowstone Art Museum (Billings, MT). The full list of participating museums can be found on the Art Bridges Foundation website.

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ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART

The Chrysler Museum of Art is one of America’s most distinguished mid-sized art museums, with a nationally recognized collection of more than 30,000 objects, including one of the great glass collections in America. The core of the Chrysler’s collection comes from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., an avid art collector who donated thousands of objects from his private collection to the Museum. The Museum has growing collections in many areas and mounts an ambitious schedule of visiting exhibitions and educational programs each season. The Chrysler Museum has also been recognized nationally for its unique commitment to inclusion with its innovative gallery host program.

The Perry Glass Studio is a state-of-the-art facility on the Museum’s campus. The studio offers programming for aspiring and master artists alike in a variety of processes, including glassblowing, fusing, flameworking, coldworking and neon.

In addition, the Chrysler Museum of Art administers the Moses Myers House, a historic house in downtown Norfolk, as well as the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. For more information on the Chrysler Museum of Art, visit chrysler.org.

The Museum admission is free, but fees may apply to some programming. Visit chrysler.org/events to see the upcoming calendar in detail.

About Art Bridges Foundation

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 220 museums of all sizes and locations on nearly 700 projects across the nation, impacting over 4.1 million people, to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.