M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Grant Awarded to MoNA
Cumming Mural photo by Tim Mickleburgh
Executive Director and Chief Curator, Stefano Catalani, talks about our exciting grant from the Murdock Charitable Trust.
MoNA is excited to announce the award of a major capacity building grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington. The grant will fund the new position of Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art at MoNA.
In their role, the Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art will provide strategic vision and managerial oversight for the museum’s exhibition program and collection, a position essential to advancing and fulfilling the museum’s mission. This transformational investment in MoNA’s growth from the Murdock Charitable Trust lays the foundations for the museum to develop a comprehensive, sustainable and well-articulated vision for the future.
As Curator of Northwest Art, the position will develop and oversee exhibitions dedicated to advancing the scholarship vis-à-vis modern and contemporary art in the Northwest, as well as steward MoNA’s permanent collection of Northwest art in the galleries and in publications through original research. Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Northwest Art will ensure that the cultural and social aspects embodied by the exhibitions are reflected in how the Museum’s collection is developed over time by diversifying acquisitions, research, scholarship, representation and interpretation. By joining these two mission-critical positions, the Museum of Northwest Art will be able to strengthen its agency and impact through exhibitions, accompanying educational and cultural programs and the renewed role of the permanent collection in preserving for future generations significant artworks and art objects.
About Murdock Charitable Trust
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, who was a co-founder of Tektronix, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon, and a resident of Vancouver, Washington. Since its establishment on June 30, 1975, with a bequest of about $91 million, the Trust has focused its grantmaking efforts primarily in five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Over the life of the Trust over $1.4 billion has been distributed through about 8,800 grants.
The Trust’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants to organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, social, cultural, and spiritual base in creative and sustainable ways. Grants are awarded to a wide variety of organizations, including those that serve the arts, public affairs, education, scientific research, health and medicine, human services, and people with disabilities. The Trust’s staff brings a wide range of experiences in the subject areas and activities necessary for thoughtful grantmaking and the investment of Trust assets. In addition to grantmaking activities, it is common Trust practice to convene groups of people to discuss issues of mutual interest. This practice is of great assistance to the Trust in exploring ways of responding to new grantmaking opportunities consistent with its mission, promoting a sharing of ideas and networking among participants, and understanding new developments and best practices in the various sectors in which the Trust works.
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