Increasing Access & Engagement: Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation Grant
We are thrilled to announce that the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has been awarded a $3 million grant from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. This landmark gift will provide both programming and capital support, which will advance our ongoing efforts to ensure equal access to the Museum for everyone in our community.
August 9, 2022
On Sunday, January 23, 2022, the Museum began hosting the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Community Days. Funded by a portion of the grant, this program will offer free Museum admission to City of Cleveland and East Cleveland residents every Sunday for three years.
This monumental shift to weekly community days was in direct response to feedback from community members. Addressing a key objective in our strategic plan to further engage diverse audiences, the Mandel Community Days have already substantially increased attendance among visitors from the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the Museum.
As a component of the Museum’s transformation, the grant will also fund the creation of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Community Space. Located in the Education Wing on the lower level of the new Museum, this space will provide a center for curriculum-aligned programming that empowers young learners to see themselves as part of the world around them. It will also complement the visitor-centered experiences in our new galleries, which will immerse people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds in the dynamic story of natural history.
“The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s aspiration to be a free and welcoming place for lifelong learning in this region appealed to the Foundation,” says Jehuda Reinharz, President and CEO of the Mandel Foundation. “Our co-founder Mort Mandel would often tell us about the impact on his life of having had free access to a local museum as a child. Our hope is that the Mandel Community Days and Mandel Community Space will help individuals throughout Greater Cleveland foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of science and nature and its relevance to civic engagement.”
The Museum is committed to becoming an accessible space that welcomes and engages all members of our community—including our closest neighbors. Thanks to the generosity of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, we are taking important steps toward making this inclusive Museum a reality.
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