The Lilly Endowment has announced 16 grants totaling more than $39 million in support of exhibitions and education programs focused on the role of religion in the United States and around the world.

Awarded through the endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, grants ranging from $1.9 million to $3 million include support for the King Center (Atlanta), the National Constitution Center (Philadelphia), the National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), the Indiana State Museum (Indianapolis), and the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.). In 2020, an initial round of grants totaling $45 million was distributed to 18 organizations.

This year’s grant recipients also include Children’s Museum Houston, which will develop a religious tolerance program for children and families; Mount Vernon Ladies Association (Mount Vernon, Virginia), which will incorporate religion into its interpretation of the estate of George Washington; the National Museum of African American Music (Nashville) in support of an exhibition about performers from Fisk University who broke racial barriers in the late 1800s; and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C.) in support of expanded programming and establishing an endowment for a position focused on ethics, religion, and the Holocaust.

“Museums and other cultural institutions are some of the most trusted organizations in American life today, and they play a vital role in teaching visitors about the world,” said Lilly Endowment vice president for religion Christopher L. Coble. “These organizations will undertake efforts to help visitors understand and appreciate the religious beliefs and practices of diverse religious communities and the impact that religion has had and continues to have on society.”

For a complete list of grant recipients, see the Lilly Endowment website.

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