University of Miami Receives Mellon Grant for the Lowe, Libraries

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a grant in the amount of $500,000 to the University of Miami, to support collaboration between the Lowe Art Museum and University of Miami Libraries through their shared effort to further faculty engagement with historical and artistic collections.

"This significant investment by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is vitally important and recognizes the immense potential of a strong library-museum collection to enhance learning and stimulate innovative and collaborative scholarship," said Julio Frenk, President of the University of Miami.

The grant will enable the Lowe and the Libraries to establish two new faculty fellowships - one devoted to campus engagement and the other to the conservation of art and archival works on paper. In addition, it establishes a new programming fund to incentivize faculty to engage with University collections and enable the development of joint public programs that highlight these collections.

"We could not be more thrilled to have received this remarkable gift, and we are deeply grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generosity," commented Jill Deupi, Beaux Arts Director and Chief Curator of the Lowe. "This transformative grant speaks to the value of higher education, the arts, and the humanities, generally. It equally affirms the power of collaboration and impact of leveraging resources for the benefit of a broad range of audiences."

Charles Eckman, Dean of the University of Miami Libraries, says the partnership was envisioned through the inaugural Academic Art Museum and Library Summit, held in January 2016, which brought together fourteen pairs of library and museum directors from North American academic institutions to address opportunities for deep intra-institutional collaboration. "Through the support of the Mellon Foundation the Lowe and Libraries will be able to work with faculty to carry out our vision for new curricular, interdisciplinary, and collaborative engagement and shared collection stewardship opportunities while providing invaluable experience to emerging professionals in the field," Eckman said.

A White Paper co-authored by Deupi and Eckman that reports on the findings of the 2016 AAML Summit is available in UM Libraries Scholarly Repository (scholarlyrepository.miami.edu).

The Lowe Art Museum (www.miami.edu/lowe) is located on the campus of the University of Miami at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables, Florida. With a Permanent Collection of 19,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world culture, the Lowe is committed to serving as a vital resource for education and enrichment through art. Its dynamic permanent and temporary exhibitions establish the Lowe as a keeper of memories, a showcase for masterworks, an igniter of awe and wonder, and a bridge between yesterday and today.

Museum gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The Museum is closed on Mondays and University holidays. General Admission (not including programs) is $12.50, $8 for senior citizens and non-UM students, and free for Lowe members, UM students, faculty and staff, and children under 12. Admission is free on Donation Day, the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, call 305-284-3535, follow us on Twitter at @loweartmuseum, follow us on Facebook.com/loweartmuseum, or visit lowemuseum.org.

The University of Miami Libraries (library.miami.edu) provide faculty, students, researchers, and staff with the highest quality access to collections and information resources in support of the University's mission to transform lives through research, teaching, and service. The Libraries rank among the top research libraries in North America with a collection of over 3.75 million volumes and 104,330 current serials titles, including 102,726 electronic journals. The Otto G. Richter Library lies in the center of the Coral Gables campus and serves as the central library for the University. Other University of Miami libraries include the Paul Buisson Architecture Library, the Judi Prokop Newman Business Information Resource Center, the Marta & Austin Weeks Music Library, and Rosenstiel Marine and Atmospheric Science Library. The University also has independent medical and law libraries. The Libraries provide support and services for approximately 10,849 undergraduates, 5,952 graduate students, and 15,091 full and part time faculty and staff.