Lily Endowment Inc. $2.5M Grant to Create Dedicated Endowment for Heard Museum

The Heard Museum has received a $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.

The grant will establish the Lilly Endowment Indigenous Religions Interpretation Fund (LEIRIF), which will empower the Heard Museum in perpetuity to educate visitors about a multitude of American Indian religions.

The fund will enable the museum to create a safe and welcoming environment where visitors can contemplate the different religious views and practices of millions of Native Americans as expressed by religious leaders, scholars and culture bearers from hundreds of North American tribes. The LEIRIF will support a broad range of activities including exhibitions, public programs, and collections research.

“We are deeply grateful for this Lilly Endowment grant that will enable us to deepen our engagement with Native American communities by investing in work that explores the role that spiritual knowledge plays in their creative practices,” said David M. Roche, the Heard Museum Dickey Family Director and CEO. “Our deep conviction is that sharing this knowledge fosters tolerance and understanding, while shedding light on our shared humanity.”

In 2019, Lilly Endowment launched the Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. Its aim is to support museums and other cultural organizations as they strengthen their capacity to provide fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the role religion has played and continues to play in the United States and around the world. The Heard Museum received a $2.5 million grant through the initiative’s first round of funding in 2020. It supported the creation of the exhibition Substance of Stars, which presents works of art inspired by the origin stories of four tribes including the Haudenosaunee, the Yup’ik, the Navajo, and the Akimel O’odham. Currently on view, it is also the Heard’s first fully immersive exhibition.

“The United States is widely considered to be one of the most religiously diverse nations today,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Many individuals and families trust museums and other cultural institutions and visit them to learn about their communities and the world. We are excited to support these organizations as they continue to develop their capacities to help visitors understand and appreciate the diverse religious beliefs, practices and perspectives of their neighbors and others in communities around the globe.”

For more behind this Frontdoors, visit heard.org.