The Meridian Museum of Art is working to make art accessible to everyone as it applies again for a grant through the Mississippi Arts Commission to make its building more amenable to those in wheelchairs.

Speaking to the City Council on Tuesday, Kate Cherry, executive director of Meridian Museum of Art said the museum’s project was not chosen for funding from the Building Fund for the Arts last year, but they were going to try again. The Arts Commission received additional funding from the legislature this year to go into the Building Fund grant program, she said.

“The legislature of Mississippi gave $5 million to the Arts Commission for the building fund,” she said. “Last year, they had $3 million.”

The Meridian Museum of Art has been housed in the city-owned former Carnegie Library building for 53 years, Cherry said. In that time, the museum has taken care of most of the building’s upkeep, including a remodel of the interior in 2018.

The museum is asking the Arts Commission for $500,000, which would go toward an extension onto the existing building, Cherry said. The extension will include an elevator, handicap accessible restrooms and a humidity controlled area for the museum’s permanent collection.

Meridian Museum of Art’s permanent collection is made up of more than 1,000 pieces, Cherry said, and the museum does not have the storage necessary to properly preserve them.

“Currently, we have one small room, and the works are stored in wooden storage units,” she said.

Tim Allred, president of the Board of Trustees for the art museum, said the building is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with a wooden ramp that has been there for roughly 20 years and a single chair lift inside. Coming into compliance, he said, is crucial.

The museum isn’t just a gallery, Allred said. Classes, workshops and other events are held at the museum throughout the year. For example, he said, the museum offered art lessons to members of the Boys and Girls Club over the recent summer break.

“These kinds of programs right here we cannot continue to have if we don’t provide handicap accessibility to our museum,” he said. “All of our classrooms are on the second floor, and the only way up is the stairs.”

The museum is a government building, Allred said, and as such, it is required to be ADA compliant. Beyond the desire to serve the entire community regardless of physical ability, he said, the museum also has a legal obligation to see this project through.

The $500,000 from the Mississippi Arts Commission requires a dollar-for-dollar match from the museum, Allred said, but would not be enough to cover the extension. The project as it is now, he said, is estimated at $1.6 million.

At least some of the matching funds will need to already be in place before work can begin as the MAC will provide an initial $250,000 but will not release the remainder of the funds until the project is complete.

Cherry and Allred said they hoped to partner with the city to identify grants and other funding opportunities that could help bring in some of the additional money needed to complete the work. When applying for grants, Allred said, the city, as the owner of the building, is technically the one applying. The museum, however, is willing to help out with grant writing or whatever else is needed along the way.

Councilman Joe Norwood Jr., who serves as president of the City Council, said the first stop would be East Central Planning and Development District to see if any grants or other funding opportunities were available for the project.