(Cambridge, MA) March 21, 2000 - The Museum Loan Network (MLN) - the first
comprehensive national collection-sharing program - inaugurated its fifth
year of operations today with the announcement that it has awarded grants
totaling $288,358 to 19 institutions around the country.  These awards
support each stage in the collaborative effort to bring objects out of
storage and into another museum's permanent display space.
With the ninth and latest cycle of grant awards, the Museum Loan Network
puts into effect its newly expanded guidelines enabling the sharing of
objects of cultural heritage in addition to works of art.  These awards
facilitate the sharing of diverse types of objects such as textiles,
decorative art, furniture, machinery, glassworks, folk art, sculpture and
paintings among institutions of differing disciplines ranging from
historical societies to natural history museums to culturally-specific
institutions to art museums.
The latest grant cycle brings the total amount awarded to over $2 million,
funding the long-term loan of 2,900 objects among nearly 200 museums across
the country.
A full listing of the February 2000 travel, survey and implementation grant
awards is also available on the MLN website at http://loanet.mit.edu.

Launched in 1995, the Museum Loan Network is funded by the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, which conceived and
initiated the program, and is administered through the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Office of the Arts.

Museums interested in receiving information on the MLN should contact Lori
Gross at [log in to unmask] or 617-252-1888.

Lori Gross, Director
Museum Loan Network
MIT
265 Massachusetts Ave., N52-439
Cambridge, MA 02139-4370
tel: 617-252-1888
fax: 617-252-1899
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

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