LEAN IN WITH THE KMA

Writers from Sing Sing Correctional Facility share poems they wrote as part of the KMA’s program, Building Bridges: Prison Arts Initiative. PHOTO: RTA files. To experience these poems read by their authors, please visit.

As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, Americans are looking for places that offer reflection, connection, and common ground. The Katonah Museum of Art has been that place for our community since its founding in 1954—and we need your help to keep the Museum relevant as a meaningful resource for all.

At a moment when so much feels uncertain, the case for the arts has never been clearer. Museums are trusted sources of wellbeing, civic health, and community vitality—providing a haven for connection and engagement—more important now than ever as we face the growing, national crises of loneliness and social isolation. Research confirms it: communities with greater access to well-resourced cultural institutions are more connected, more civically engaged, and more economically resilient. The arts are not a luxury—they are infrastructure.

That infrastructure continues to be under serious threat. As the American Alliance of Museums has reported, one in three American museums has lost government grants or contracts this year, including the KMA, forcing organizations to defer facility repairs, cut educational programming, and reduce public access. The government’s proposed budget for 2027 calls for the wind down of the NEA, NEH, and IMLS, further curtailing public support for the Arts. The KMA, a beneficiary of all these agencies, is not immune.

This year alone, our beloved 36-year-old building—designed by renowned architect Edward Larrabee Barnes—has required several unbudgeted capital improvements to meet current safety standards. Government grants that have historically supported projects like these can no longer be counted on. And with the rising cost of operations, the gap between what we raise privately and what it takes to keep our doors open—and our programs thriving—has grown significantly.

In the face of these headwinds, the KMA is leaning in. This season, we’re proud to celebrate the latest edition of Building Bridges: Prison Art Initiative and two exciting exhibitions: Art in Bloom, a juried exhibition celebrating local artists and floral designers who explore the symbiotic relationship between visual art and living ephemeral forms; and Diplomacy at Home: The Domestic Lives of the Founding Families, a collaboration with the Friends of John Jay Homestead and the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation that reveals how private domestic spaces shaped the public political life of America’s founders—a timely meditation on history, home, and democratic ideals that will resonate with households across our community as we commemorate the semiquincentennial. 

Your gift today is an act of solidarity—with the artists we champion, the students and families we serve, and the community we share. Every dollar given privately matters more this year than it ever has before. When federal, state, and local government support disappears, donors like you are what stand between a thriving cultural institution and a diminished one. Please don't wait
 

To make a donation offline, please email development@katonahmuseum.org or call 914-767-2979.

Many companies offer a matching gift program to their employees. Please check with your employer to see whether they have matching gifts and volunteering benefits.

Thank you for believing in the power of art—and in the KMA—especially now.