Fresno Art Museum image via Gemini2525 on Wikipedia

Fresno has a history of losing museums as well as empowering them.

One path enriches the community by bringing history and the world around us alive. The other path represents a profound loss.

One local institution that has been part of the community since 1949 is in danger. Michele Ellis Pracy, executive director of the Fresno Art Museum, has issued an urgent call to raise $100,000 in October to keep the museum operating against a “cash flow crisis.”

Pracy said the museum is not receiving its usual support from the community against a difficult post-pandemic climate for nonprofits.

“Please know that the Fresno Art Museum is this community’s only fine art museum,” Pracy wrote in her letter, the first of its kind she has had to write in her nine years with the Museum. “We will be 75 years old in 2024, and next year should be a time to celebrate. Our exhibitions, educational and enrichment programs, permanent collection, and facility rentals must be supported now with money to pay the monthly PG&E bill, support salaries for our small staff, pay our part-time teachers, and keep our Museum doors and Museum Store open. General operating funds are needed immediately for the Museum.”

There was a time in Fresno when museums failed despite tens of millions in investment and renovation, such was the case with the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art & Sciences in 2010.

Today, the community answers the call when museums need help. Just look at the $7 million secured by state lawmakers to support Arte Americas in Downtown Fresno.

The resources are there, including $38 million annually to be derived from Measure P. Despite some controversy in developing a plan for spending the tax measure proceeds, grants will soon be available, up to $15 million for the current fiscal year alone.

To support the Fresno Art Museum , visit this Paypal page.