WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that four Maine museums will receive a total of $382,151 in grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museums for America program.

“These museums will help ensure that all those who live in and visit Maine can continue to appreciate our state’s great history,” Senators Collins and King said in a joint statement. “These projects will also help facilitate discovery and education for the next generation of Mainers.”

IMLS is the federal government’s primary source of support for American libraries and museums. This year, the Museums for America program received 548 applications for grants and awarded over $29.3 million to 206 projects. The awardees from Maine are as follows:

• Maine Historical Society in Portland will receive $149,275 to catalogue, re-house, and digitize approximately 1,000 of the earliest photographic images from Maine’s history, as well as develop a digital research tool for these photos that can be accessed free of charge.

• Maine State Museum in Augusta will receive $85,397 to fund the first long-range plan for the museum’s collections, institutional records, and archival resources. This project will be completed in collaboration with the Maine State Library, Maine State Archives, and the Maine Historical Preservation Commission.

• Portland Museum of Art in Portland will receive $18,356 to install new window treatments in its exhibition spaces, which will both provide necessary protection for the artworks currently on display, and increase gallery space for further light-sensitive acquisitions.

• Victoria Mansion in Portland will receive $129,123 to conserve the original 1859-1860 painted finishes of the walls and ceilings of its Reception Suite, the only still-in-existence architectural commission by artist Giuseppe Guidicini. The funds will also be used to install UV protective film on windows, taking into account conservation, curatorial, and educational concerns.

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