Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission approved $1,500,000 at its quarterly meeting today for the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Cincinnati Museum Association has operated the Cincinnati Art Museum since the 1880s. Located in Eden Park, the museum consists of the Art Museum proper and the adjacent former Art Academy building, which has been under the control of the association since 2005. The $1,500,000 state appropriation will pay for a portion of the costs associated with the renovation of the three-story Romanesque Revival Style former Art Academy building and basement of the museum’s Emery Wing. The $11,100,000 project will centralize administrative offices and meeting rooms to the first and second floors of the former Art Academy building, and add a terrace and public access library to the third floor. Library archives will be stored in the renovated Emery Wing basement. The project will increase efficiency and public access for a museum that welcomed over 272,000 visitors in 2011.

The Commission approval, coupled with the signing of legal agreements, allows the Cincinnati Museum Association to be reimbursed on a pro rata basis as work is completed, using funds appropriated in Am. Sub. H.B. 562 of the 127th General Assembly. General Assembly members from Hamilton County who voted in favor of the bill include current Senators Bill Seitz and Eric Kearney; former Senator Robert Schuler; current Representatives Lou Blessing Jr. and Dale Mallory; and former Representatives Steve Driehaus, Robert Mecklenborg, Jim Raussen, Michelle Schneider and Tyrone Yates

The Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission is a state agency that supports economic development, expands educational opportunities, and enhances the quality of life for Ohioans by improving the state’s cultural facilities. Since 1988, the Commission has disbursed more than $490 million in capital funds appropriated by the Legislature and Governor for facility improvement projects at nonprofit theaters, museums, historical sites and publicly owned professional sports venues. The Commission partners with nonprofit groups and local governments on more than 300 projects in 72 of Ohio’s 88 counties.