For Immediate Release
November 29, 2006
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Grant Boosts Arts in Erie
Art Museum's capital campaign collects $500,000 from state

By Jim Carroll jim.carroll@timesnews.com

A bigger and better Erie Art Museum, with more room for more exhibits and more visitors, moved $500,000 closer to reality Tuesday.

Museum board members and staff, along with local political leaders, gathered at the museum's annex, 423 State St., on Tuesday to accept a state grant that pumped $500,000 to the "Picture a Place" capital campaign, which officials hope will eventually raise $9 million.

The state grant, presented by state Sen. Jane Earll of Fairview, R-49th Dist., brought total commitments in the campaign to $4.7 million.

Erie Art Museum Director John Vanco said that if the capital campaign goes as hoped, the museum could break ground in mid-2007 for the planned expansion and renovation, which would link the museum's Old Customs House and the annex.

"Senator Earll's support has taken us beyond our halfway mark. We have commitments for $4.7 million. We are right on track," Vanco said.

The $6 million expansion plans include four major galleries, some smaller galleries, a 250-person performance space, a public meeting room and a new unified entrance. The campaign would also provide a $3 million endowment for continued maintenance of the museum.

Construction would take about a year, so the public could see the completed expansion and renovation in the fall of 2008, Vanco said.

The check from the state's capital budget that Earll delivered on Tuesday followed a $1.5 million grant that Gov. Ed Rendell delivered in August.

The museum is seeking to raise $3 million from the state and $6 million in local funds.

Earll said she sees the Art Museum as a linchpin for the city's cultural district. She said she and Rendell discussed the project and agreed to find the capital budget Redevelopment Assistance funds that the governor delivered in August and Earll delivered Tuesday. "To me it was a no-brainer. ... We had to find the money to do it," she said.

Capital Campaign Chairman Kirk Steehler said, "This entire block is blossoming with extraordinary organizations," referring to the area occupied by the Art Museum and its neighbors, the Erie County Historical Society and the Experience Children's Museum.

"The block between State and French and Fourth to Fifth is something that other communities would love to have, and we have it," Steehler said.

Mayor Joe Sinnott, who attended the session, applauded the grant award. "I think it's great," he said.

Sinnott said the grant gives a boost to the city's entertainment and cultural district, which he said is a big part of downtown revitalization efforts.

Steehler said 45,000 people attend the museum's exhibits and performances, and 25 percent of those visitors are from out of town.

Museum officials have pursued plans for the expansion and renovation for more than two years.

They said that over the past two decades the museum has grown its budget by 9 percent a year, reaching $775,000 in 2005. The staff has expanded from three to 11 full-time equivalent positions. The museum has a collection of more than 5,500 objects, but currently does not have the space to place all of them on exhibit.

JIM CARROLL can be reached at (814) 724-1716, 870-1727 or by e-mail.