Delaware Art Museum (DelArt) is lauded for its Pre-Raphaelite collection, and quite rightly so. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, an English painter and poet, is the star of The Rossettis, an exhibition running through January 28. However, the museum also boasts an extensive collection of American art and illustration. Now, thanks to a recent grant from Art Bridges Foundation, more people can experience it.
Art Bridges is giving $40 million to 64 art institutions to improve access to art in their communities.
“The support is really significant and will lead to robust programming and a series of free nights,” says Amelia Wiggins, DelArt’s director of advancement and external affairs.
The museum has benefited from Art Bridges’ help in the past. The foundation funded local choreographer Dana Meredith’s work inspired by the painting Southern Souvenir No. II by African American artist Eldzier Cortor, which Art Bridges loaned to the museum.
The museum is a stop on Art Bridges’ traveling Estampas de la Raza exhibit, which chronicles the experience of Mexican Americans and Latinos between 1980 and 2010.
The donation allows DelArt to offer free admission for certain events, such as the well-attended Thursday happy hours in the Copeland Sculpture Garden, complete with music, cocktails and a food truck. (Admission is typically $14 for nonmembers.) “Our largest audience growth is during the free Thursdays in summer,” Wiggins notes.
On January 18, February 15 and March 21, the museum will hold indoor Thursday events—including a happy hour with a cash bar and live music. The free events will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Visit delart.org for more information.
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