(APPLETON, WI) — The History Museum at the Castle meets its goal to get a $100,000 matching grant. The David and Rita Nelson Family Fund offered the donation if the museum could find matching pledges this year. Museum Chief Curator Dustin Mack says a better than expected response will keep plans for a new exhibition on schedule.
“We raised over the $100,000 we were hoping to raise,” Mack says. “So in the last month we’ve added over $200,000 to our fundraising to fully fund this new exhibit. So we’re able to sign the contract to build the exhibit and stay on schedule so that it’s ready for the public to see next spring.”
Mack says community response to the museum’s fundraising plea was amazing.
“We had a number of donors offering a hundred dollars or twenty dollars, you know? Lower level amounts,” Mack says. “And then we had some bigger donors come in, too, with tens of thousands of dollars. And that all makes a difference as we’re trying to do something on a large scale that will have a generational impact on how the community views its history and how we can share it with others.”
The combined dollars will fund the upcoming You are Here exhibition.