DAVENPORT, IOWA.-The Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, has been awarded a $120,000 grant from the prestigious Henry Luce Foundation. The grant, which will be paid in installments of $40,000 over three years, supports the Grant Wood archives project.

The grant will enable the Figge to properly conserve archives that include personal possessions, handwritten letters and scrapbooks of letters, photos and gallery announcements from the 1920s to 1942; and material that Grant Wood’s sister, Nan Wood Graham, collected until 1975.

The archives have been used by numerous American art scholars and researchers who have studied and written about Wood’s studio, his art and his life.

“This is a significant achievement for the Figge Art Museum,” said Tom Gildehaus, interim executive director for the Figge. “We are grateful that the Luce Foundation has recognized the importance of our Grant Wood archives and the quality of our curatorial and archival capabilities.”

“It is essential for ongoing and future research of this iconic American’s art and life that these archives be preserved and remain accessible,” said Figge Curator Michelle Robinson, Ph.D. “Support from the Luce Foundation will not only assist us with the implementation of the project, but also it will have great significance when we seek funding from other sources.”

The late Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., established the Henry Luce Foundation in 1936. The foundation’s work includes the interdisciplinary exploration of higher education; increased understanding between Asia and the United States; the study of religion and theology; scholarship in American art; opportunities for women in science and engineering; and environmental and public policy programs.