Tang Teaching Museum Receives $1.5M Grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College received a $1.5 million grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the museum announced this week. The grant will build the Tang’s endowment and expand K-12 and community educational programming throughout the region and beyond.

The Tang’s educational program usually reaches more than 8,000 people of all ages each year through programs in the museum like the popular Family Saturdays, as well as workshops at schools, libraries, and community centers, especially in underserved urban, rural, and suburban areas across the region. 

These programs often feature interpretive exercises of artwork in exhibitions or from the Tang collection, and art-making projects. Since the pandemic, the program has moved online to offer a wealth of art-making activities at tang.skidmore.edu/tang-at-home. Museum educators also conduct teacher training for K-12 educators from around the region. 

The grant will endow a key Tang position, which will now be called The Laurie M. Tisch Educator for K-12 and Community Programs. The grant will also fund programming to expand the Museum’s reach to new audiences, especially school students and adults in traditionally underserved areas.

The Tang Teaching Museum was founded in 2000 and will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2020 with a series of exhibitions. Details and programs will be announced in the coming months. 

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund is a New York City-based foundation that strives to improve access and opportunity for all New Yorkers and foster healthy and vibrant communities.