(ST MICHAELS, MD – August 22, 2017) The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., recently received a $100,000 grant from the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, an Easton-based philanthropy that supports educational achievement and growth.

“The Grayce B. Kerr Fund is pleased to support the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum,” said John R. Valliant, president of the fund. “Planning has always been a cornerstone of CBMM’s growth and we are happy to participate in this important effort.”

CBMM has recently commissioned a Master Plan to help guide the museum’s future growth. The grant will help underwrite the cost of the Master Plan process, an integral part of CBMM’s five-year comprehensive campaign to allow the development of a number of long-term campus enhancements, including the locations of four new buildings.

In 2015, CBMM launched its comprehensive campaign to support museum improvements and grow its endowment, with a goal of securing the future of CBMM, and thus the history and culture of the Chesapeake Bay. The campaign aims to solve challenges in dealing with older facilities while creating new opportunities to engage with its more than 80,000 yearly guests.

“We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, which will allow us to commission a Master Plan to guide our long-term plans,” said CBMM President Kristen Greenaway. “It’s been almost 15 years since CBMM last held a campaign. In that time, a great deal has changed in the life of CBMM’s infrastructure, as well as expectations of the 21st century museum guest. We’re ecstatic about what the future holds for CBMM.”
Thanks to generous community and state support in these endeavors, CBMM has been able to install upgraded campus-wide alert systems, make improvements to many of its exhibition buildings, and support the historic two-year restoration of 1889 bugeye Edna Lockwood. It has also allowed CBMM to expand its Rising Tide After-School Boatbuilding Program, whose participants launched a boat of their own creation during this year’s Community Day celebration.

Upcoming priorities include expansion of CBMM’s shipwright apprentice program, the completion of various deferred maintenance projects, and a push to double the number of K-12 students visiting CBMM’s campus over the next five years.

To learn more about the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, visit gbkf.org. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a world-class maritime museum dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay, with the values of relevancy, authenticity, and stewardship guiding its mission. To learn more or to support CBMM, visit cbmm.org.

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PHOTO:
John R. Valliant, president of the Grayce B. Kerr Fund, and Kristen Greenaway, president of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum smile in front of CBMM’s 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. CBMM was recently awarded a grant from the Grayce B. Kerr Fund to support its future growth.

Source: CBMM Receives Grant from Grayce B. Kerr Fund