Following federal cuts to national humanities programs, Illinois Humanities, the statewide nonprofit, is now down $2 million annually for the next five years.
On Thursday, July 31st, the Association of Midwest Museums (AMM) held its largest museum event at downtown Davenport’s River Center to address funding concerns.
Executive Director of Illinois Humanities, Gabrielle Lyon, was one of the Cross Currents conference’s guest speakers. Her session, titled “Forecasting Our New Normal”, discussed how the sector has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic and what the future holds for museums across the country.
“For every dollar we get from the federal government, we raise two private dollars, so it’s the tip of the spear for us. And it’s been like that for fifty years. So, you know, what I most worry about is protecting those free programs.”
Lyon said the nonprofit had planned to give away $250,000 in honor of the country’s upcoming 250th birthday; however, she says that is no longer possible.
“We’d hoped to send an open invitation to community-based history, heritage, arts, and cultural nonprofit organizations throughout the state for local programs, exhibitions, and events supporting the IL America 250 themes of We the People, Doing History, and Power of Place," Lyon said.
CEO and President of the Putnam Museum, Cindy Diehl Yang was in attendance. She says that although the museum is currently in a good position, the future brings uncertainty and instability.
"You know, we could look at pulling out anywhere between four or six of our camps. Which, if you think about it, that’s almost a quarter of our programming.”
The CEO said the museum is also uncertain if it will still receive AmeriCorps volunteers in the future.