ROCKLAND — The Farnsworth Art Museum is one of 64 museums nationwide to be awarded an Access for All grant from the Art Bridges Foundation. The grant will be used to expand free admission First Fridays at the museum. Starting in January, the museum will offer free admission and special programming in winter months in addition to its popular summer schedule. The $600,000 grant funds special programming designed to reach new audiences for the next three years.

“This grant allows us to welcome visitors free of charge every month of the year and to design special programs that reach people who might not normally come to the museum,” said Museum Director Christopher J. Brownawell, in a news release. “First Friday is a popular program that brings thousands of people to Rockland each year. We hope that other Rockland galleries, businesses and restaurants will join us and remain open during the winter months to create a year-round cultural experience for our community.”

To learn more about Art Bridges Foundation, visit artbridgesfoundation.org. Learn more about the Access for All grants.

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 220 museums of all sizes and locations on nearly 700 projects across the nation, impacting over 4.1 million people, to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.

Named by the Boston Globe as one of the finest small museums in the country, the Farnsworth Art Museum offers a nationally recognized collection of works from many of America’s greatest artists. It is open year-round as the only museum dedicated solely to American and Maine-inspired art. Through its collection of more than 15,000 works, inventive exhibitions, wide-ranging intellectual resources, and educational programming, visitors from around the world gain a deep appreciation of the ongoing story of Maine’s role in American art. More information about the museum may be found at www.farnsworthmuseum.org.