DUPAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM FOUNDATION RECEIVES GRANTS FROM DUPAGE FOUNDATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: January 14, 2016

DuPage County, Ill.—The DuPage County Historical Museum Foundation received a $2,500 grant from the DuPage Foundation’s 2015 Fall Community Needs Grant Cycle.

The grant awarded from the Cleve E. Carney Fund of the DuPage Foundation will support Fun Unplugged, a series of three exhibits—Childhood Memories, Little Adults, and Outdoor Adventures—running February 2016 through February 2018.

The series focuses on children’s pastimes throughout DuPage County history.

Artifacts and interactive stations will help guests understand how childhood and its activities have changed over time. Three children’s programs by local performers and three craft workshops, respectively, will be offered throughout the span of the series.

Thanks to this $2,500 grant, the Museum can “showcase three free exhibits in the Fun Unplugged exhibit series while providing lectures and workshops at minimal or no cost to individuals,” said Museum Curator Ashley Downing. “Without the grant, we wouldn’t be able to target the large segment of the community we are hoping this exhibit and [these] activities will be able to attract.”

The Museum Foundation is not alone in benefiting from DuPage Foundation’s generosity; 26 other not-for-profit organizations across the county received funds this cycle, including the Addison Center for the Arts, the Morton Arboretum, and SCARCE.

During this cycle, the DuPage Foundation awarded $190,354 in Arts & Culture, Education, and Environmental grants. In response to this year’s Community Needs grant applications, donor-advisors recommended disbursing an additional $36,000 in grant funding.

“The great work of our local not-for-profit organizations has an ongoing and significant impact in our community, and we are proud to support the many wonderful arts, educational, and environmental programs that enrich the lives of so many here in DuPage County,” said Barb Szczepaniak, DuPage Foundation’s Vice President for Programs.

Along with the grant received through the Community Needs grant cycle, the Museum received two donor-advised grants to support museum operations: a $5,500 grant from the Conrad and Doris Brassine Charitable Fund of the DuPage Foundation and a $1,000 grant from the History DuPage Fund of the DuPage Foundation.

These grants allow “our small staff to provide more and better quality programs, events, and exhibits for the public at little-to-no cost to them,” said Michelle Podkowa, Museum Manager and Educator.

Some of these events include “Wedding Gift Traditions: Symbolic Conversations through Wedding Gifts,” a presentation by professor Michelle Weinberger of Northwestern University, Saturday, January 23, 1 p.m. $5/person, free for members and those who bring an item off the Museum’s Amazon wedding registry (https://amzn.to/1n29uLg).

Then join the Museum in celebrating African American History Month with David Malone, professor and archivist, on Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m. He will discuss Wheaton College’s history as a center for abolitionist thought and as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and how the college graduated the first African American in Illinois. $5/person, free for members.

To register, call 630.510.4941 or visit wheatonparkdistrict.com/tickets. Members must call.

DuPage Foundation was established as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1986 to benefit the people of DuPage County. It receives contributions and bequests into a permanent endowment from individuals, corporations, organizations, and foundations wishing to make lasting contributions to the residents of DuPage.

For more information about DuPage Foundation, please contact Michael Sitrick, Foundation Vice President for Advancement, at 630.598.5285 or [email protected].

The DuPage County Historical Museum Association was organized in 2004 and reorganized in 2008 as the DuPage County Historical Museum Foundation. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to raising funds to support the Museum’s mission of educating the general public about the history of DuPage County and its relationship to Illinois and the nation.

To learn more, please visit dupagemuseum.org or stop in at 102 E. Wesley St., Wheaton. Admission to the DuPage County Historical Museum is always free.