Butler museum gets $10K grant from NEA

Staff report

WASHINGTON

The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngs-town has received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan. The money will be used to support an art exhibition by Alice Aycock and associated outreach activities. The exhibition will include gallery lectures, workshops, family programming and docent-led tours.

“The NEA empowers local arts centers to work on bringing arts and culture to all citizens, not just the ones who live in big cities,” said Ryan. “That is why I am pleased that the fiscal year 2018 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill rejected President Trump’s proposal to eliminate the NEA, and instead funds this important agency at $145 million.”

The NEA grant is part of its Arts Engagement in American Communities program.

Aycock, 70, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and gained a reputation in the 1960s for her large wooden abstract sculptures.

“She’s a major star,” said Louis A. Zona, director of the Butler.

The Butler exhibition will include drawings, smaller sculptures and one fairly large work. It will open late this year or in early 2018.