The North Carolina Museum of Art received a $2.5 million implementation grant to expand staffing and programming within its Initiative for Jewish Art and Culture and accompanying Judaic Art Gallery. The grant is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.
The NCMA is one of only two general museums with a permanent gallery for Jewish ceremonial art. In addition to providing the chance to view stunning artifacts, the gallery seeks to educate and promote religious and cultural understanding.
Jamie Powell, the manager of institutional giving at the NCMA, said her role as a grant writer involves researching various foundations, both locally and nationally, which fit the museum’s mission and current activity areas.
“We’re in the middle of our largest comprehensive fundraising campaign ever,” Powell said. “It’s called the ‘Reimagining the Possible’ campaign for the North Carolina Museum of Art. We are trying to raise $75 million for not just capital projects, but also programming. And one of the priority areas is to expand programming around the Judaic Art Gallery.”
This grant initially developed from a planning grant in 2024, which was also awarded by Lilly Endowment Inc. This allowed for several exciting program developments such as the NCMA’s first-ever Jewish film series and a contemporary artist residency.
“There are multiple pillars of the program,” Powell said. “Public programming, performance arts and film, contemporary arts, scholarship and interfaith dialog. We laid out those broad buckets of activities in the planning grant and asked them for funding in those specific areas, and then we checked in with them periodically.”
The new implementation grant follows the success of this initial planning grant. The implementation grant will allow for continued expansion of the global and contemporary works within the Judaic Art Gallery.
The Initiative for Jewish Art and Culture seeks not only to highlight Jewish culture, but also to encourage interfaith dialogue and understanding.
“From the beginning, the Judaic Art Gallery has been incredibly popular with church groups because it ties directly to biblical subject and religious practice,” Powell said. “It is an opportunity for us to not only engage with Jewish communities but also interfaith communities and to bring people together around commonalities of spiritual practice.”
The NCMA is only a ten-minute drive from campus and offers a myriad of college programming, including juried exhibitions, social events and interactions with art and practicing artists.
Jordyn Kettisack Lee, a fourth-year studying social work, said the museum provides supplemental education opportunities for students looking to immerse themselves in world-class art, culture and conversation.
“There’s so many reasons to go,” Kettisack Lee said. “You can simply appreciate the interactive art and the environment, you can take aesthetic photos or you can learn the history of all the different exhibits.”
Students can also engage with local museums through their coursework.
“For one of my English literature classes, I had to go to a museum and find a piece to write about,” Kettisack Lee said. “It acts as a resource and often goes along with the curriculum.”
The exciting news of the new implementation grant means even more opportunities for students and the local community to engage with the NCMA.
The NCMA offers free admission to their East and West Building Galleries, as well as to their 164-acre Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. You can keep up with their exhibitions and programming via their website or Instagram page, @NCArtMuseum.
