KANSAS CITY, MO.- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has been awarded $100,000 from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation for the establishment of a permanent endowment, the income from which will be used to support project-based conservation services.

“This grant speaks to the excellent reputation of our conservation department because one does not apply for the award, but rather is recognized by the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation,” said Marc F. Wilson, the Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell Director/CEO of the Museum.

Kelly, an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, was a leader in the hard-edge, abstract painting style associated with 1960s Minimalism. He explored Color Field painting, hard-edge painting and post-painterly Abstraction. The Nelson-Atkins has two Kelly paintings in its collection, one of which–White Black–is on display in the Bloch Building. In that work Kelly translated the effects of pure light and shadow, form and reflection.

The Ellsworth Kelly Foundation supports the conservation and care of modern and contemporary works of art. The award letter, signed by Kelly, notes that the Foundation is “honored to assist in the efforts to help fund the work of the conservations facility at The Nelson-Atkins…” The letter also states that the funds cannot be used to conserve Ellsworth Kelly works.

The conservation department at the Nelson-Atkins is headed up by Director Elisabeth Batchelor and has 10 members four of whom are Fellows in the American Institute for Conservation, a professional organization that bestows such status after rigorous peer review. The Department’s primary mission is to preserve and protect the more than 33,500 art objects in the Museum’s collection and almost 6,000 square feet of space at the Museum is dedicated for that work.