Description

The Seattle Art Museum is in dire need of ready funds at this moment of continued, severe earned-revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter attached here, SAM’s director, Amada Cruz, requests an emergency grant of $140,000 for short-term support of three curatorial positions. With this email, I wholeheartedly recommend approval of the proposed emergency grant. The funds would be drawn from the American Art Program’s 2020 allocation.
 
A vital cultural hub in the region, SAM is increasingly focused on issues of DEI, and last month named Priya Frank as its first Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The museum has not received a grant from the Luce Foundation since 2010, when it was the recipient of an AARF grant of $100,000.
 
The Foundation’s support of SAM’s talented and highly committed staff through this emergency grant is a rapid and effective way to help them keep their staff whole and active through these months of continued, unprecedented challenges to the museum sector and the critical reopening period in which the museum is now engaged.