Shaker Museum, which stewards the most comprehensive collection of Shaker material culture and archives, announced today a grant award totaling $2,456,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts’ (NYSCA) Capital Projects Fund. Shaker Museum will use the generous state funding to build its new museum home designed by Selldorf Architects in Chatham, NY.
The new facility is essential to the museum’s ability to deliver humanities programming to local, national, and international audiences, allowing it to share and preserve its unparalleled collection. The building will offer more than 27,000 square feet of space over four floors for exhibitions, events, workshops, convenings, and public use. The design of the physical space embodies and perpetuates the core ideals at the foundation of Shaker culture but will apply them in a modern and relevant context and form. The design and the programming envisioned for this new facility re-examine the experience and interaction of a visitor with a museum while keeping practicality and inclusivity at the forefront, ranging from the arrival experience to common space usage to exhibition accessibility.
“Shaker Museum is tremendously grateful to the State of New York for this generous grant and its continued support over the years. Moreover, we are thrilled to be among the group of culturally significant projects in New York State that are being supported by the New York State Council on the Arts’ Capital Projects Fund this grant cycle. It is an honor,” commented Shaker Museum Executive Director Lacy Schutz. “Building a new facility for Shaker Museum will help us share the story of Shakers with a wider audience while creating a deeper cultural anchor within our local community here in the Hudson Valley.”
Read the full press release here.
