Participant in The Carle’s creative aging program series “Create with The Carle!”
The Carle Receives Support from E.A. Michelson Philanthropy and the Late Barbara Elleman
This summer, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art received generous funding.
To help support Museum operations, important to the day-to-day work of the organization, E.A. Michelson Philanthropy gifted a general operating grant of $200,000, and the late Barbara Elleman left an estate gift of $360,000 to support the Museum’s Barbara Elleman Research Library and general operating needs.
“We are so grateful to Ellen Michelson, E.A. Michelson Philanthropy and Barbara Elleman for their generous support of The Carle,” said executive director Jennifer Schantz. “Their belief in the Museum will enable us to continue to bring visionary exhibitions and engaging art programming to our visitors.”
E.A. Michelson Philanthropy’s general operating grant continues a relationship with The Carle that began in 2016 with the creative aging program series “Create with The Carle!,” developed with a grant from the Foundation. E.A. Michelson Philanthropy has been engaged in creative aging leadership work since 2012, and the Foundation is committed to learning about, advocating for, and financially supporting the field. More than a hundred organizations across the United States have been awarded the foundation’s Vitality Arts grants to help advance creative aging practices in their communities.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, and this general operating grant is a powerful endorsement of The Carle and a testament to the Foundation’s belief in the Museum’s mission and impact,” said Schantz. “Their gift will support The Carle’s leadership, strategic vision, and daily work—from mounting exhibitions and delivering innovative educational programs to caring for our growing collection and fostering a love of art in audiences of all ages.”
Barbara Elleman was a Carle trustee emerita, guest curator, and together with her husband, Don Elleman, a founder of the Barbara Elleman Research Library (affectionately called “the BERL”), a center for picture book investigation and research for students, scholars, and educators at the Museum. The non-circulating collection of more than 5,000 books is available by appointment to visiting scholars and researchers. It includes subjects ranging from the history of children’s books to explorations of the art of the picture book, and includes biographies such as A.A. Milne, Laurent de Brunhoff, William Steig, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Ezra Jack Keats, Wanda Gág, Leonard Everett Fisher, and Virginia Lee Burton. Since 2010, the annual BERL Lecture Series brings highly regarded editors, librarians, scholars, and illustrators to The Carle each spring.
“Barbara and her husband Don were friends and supporters of the Museum back when it was still an architectural rendering, and Barbara continued to volunteer at The Carle every week until her passing last fall,” said The Carle’s director of development Rebecca Miller Goggins. “Her commitment and lasting dedication—from her tenure as a trustee, her work as a guest curator, her donations of art, and her generous financial support each years and now with this legacy gift—has been critical to the Museum’s early success and will be significant into our future.”
About The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Founded by Eric and Barbara Carle in 2002, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is the international champion of picture book art. Situated on 7.5 acres in Amherst, Massachusetts, The Carle houses a rich and deep collection of art of more than 300 picture book artists, including Eric Carle (author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar), and illuminates its collection through exhibitions, education, programming, and art-making—making it a critical resource for picture book artists and authors, and art-loving communities locally, nationally, and abroad. The Carle’s mission is to elevate picture book art and inspire a love of art and art creation. Since opening its doors more than 20 years ago, The Carle has welcomed more than one million visitors—plus more than four million additional museumgoers who have enjoyed its touring exhibitions around the world.
For further information, please contact: Amanda Domizio, Amanda Domizio Communications, 347-229-2877 / amanda@domiziopr.com.