Letter from Katherine French, Director, Danforth Museum:

FRAMINGHAM, MA - During 2009, an increasing number of visitors made their way to our Framingham location, and we experienced the highest attendance ever. Marketing and building feasibility studies funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council helped support a renewed commitment to the Danforth Building. Museum membership and Museum School enrollment continued to grow, and we have received two significant grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

These NEA grants recognize the excellent quality of our educational programming. In April we received $20,000, which will fund collaboration with the Framingham Public Schools to develop a curriculum based on our collection of work by the African American sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller. This past fall we received $10,000 to support the exhibit The World at my Fingertips by children’s book illustrator Giles Laroche, as well as related art workshops for low income children. The Danforth Museum of Art lies at the center of a richly diverse community,
and NEA funding will encourage an understanding of that diversity. Differences sometimes separate a community, but art brings us together by encouraging respect of those differences. We look forward to the coming year with considerable excitement.

However, we can only realize these projects with your help.
Both grants require a 1:1 match, and we must now raise an additional $30,000 in the next few months—your support is essential. Through the generosity of people like you, the Museum will continue to grow. Please consider a year end, tax deductible contribution to our Annual Fund. Your contribution plays a vital role in our ability to present outstanding exhibitions and educational programs that celebrate art and the creation of art.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your past support, and invite you to join with us to celebrating the year to come. We hope you are able to visit to the Museum often!