Press Releases

Kirkpatrick Foundation makes its first-ever grant to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

Oklahoma City, OK — The Kirkpatrick Foundation announces its latest round of grant recipients, including first-time partners like the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

"While the Kirkpatrick Foundation continues much of its traditional grantmaking, our focus is broadening to include new partners whose missions are consistent with ours," says Kirkpatrick Foundation executive director Louisa McCune-Elmore. "By supporting the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum's forthcoming master plan, we can help ensure that this amazing place remains a relevant part of our city’s history and culture."

The Memorial attracts 140,000 visitors annually and ranks as Oklahoma's top tourism site. The $40,000 grant will help fund the master-planning process, which is aimed at expanding exhibits and enhancing the facility. Development of the plan will be lead by Gallagher & Associates (National Museum of Natural History, the Reagan Library, and the International Spy Museum) and Hillman & Carr (Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress). The two Washington D.C. firms will collaborate with memorial staff to design the museum's "roadmap" for the future.

"We are so excited to have the support of the Kirkpatrick Foundation on this major project," says Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. "As we move to the next decade, the museum planning for updates and upgrades in technology will be key to keeping this story alive with the next generation."

The Kirkpatrick Foundation also made a preservation grant to St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral for repairs stemming back to the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The historic church is located northeast of the museum.

Kirkpatrick Foundation trustees awarded more than $780,000 to thirty nonprofits, including first-time gifts to Midwest City-Del City Public Schools Foundation, Urban League, Foundation for Western Heights Public Schools, and the Central Oklahoma Humane Society.

Chaired by Christian Keesee, the foundation is a longtime funder of Oklahoma City's cultural, artistic, and nonprofit institutions. Granting more than $60 million since its inception, the foundation is focused on arts, culture, education, animal concerns, and environmental conservation and preservation. The philanthropy was established in 1955 and has helped to organize a number of Oklahoma City institutions, including Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Ballet, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Letters of inquiry for the Kirkpatrick Foundation’s next large grants cycle are due June 1, 2012.

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