Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Cleary University is awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant of $320,000 to help support the Arthur Secunda Museum on the university’s campus.

The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS), in coordination with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, awarded this grant to Cleary.

Funds will be used for the Arthur Secunda Collection Conservation and Accessibility Project, to preserve, enrich and enhance a collection of more than 800 pieces of art created by internationally acclaimed American artist Arthur Secunda.

Over a period of nearly seven decades, Secunda traveled the world purposefully to study a wide range of artistic techniques from the most renown talents. Through his journeys, he learned and mastered most art forms – lithographs, serigraphs, monotypes, etchings, collages, block prints and welded sculptures. The largest collection of Secunda’s art is housed on the Cleary University campus in its Arthur Secunda Museum.

Secunda passed away in August 2022.

“Our goal is to ensure the legacy of this internationally recognized artist lives on for generations to come,” announces Tom Egan, Cleary director of Development and project director of the Save America’s Treasures grant. “These funds will be used to restore, maintain, preserve and share the art of this American treasure with the entire community, and what better place than a university where students, staff, faculty, alumni, families and visitors can explore the life and talents of Arthur Secunda. Through his art, Cleary will preserve the history and cultures that have shaped the world for decades.

“We expect everyone of all ages who knows a lot, or even very little, about art will leave the Arthur Secunda Museum emotionally touched by his masterpieces and the stories behind them,” Egan explains.

“Each piece is a view into his life. In fact, when Arthur toured the museum before it first opened more than 10 years ago, he talked about how he was reliving his life through his art.”

Near the end of his life, Secunda requested that his art be preserved, explored, treasured and appreciated by everyone of all ages. He wanted children as well as adults to view his work, talk about it, feel inspired by it, and learn from it. His art life spanned three quarters of the 20th century, several wars, and a dozen great art movements and revolutions of technology.

“This American treasure is precious, inspirational, enriching, educational and motivational, and is begging to be shared with countless people,” Egan adds. “According to his son, David, this is exactly what Arthur wanted. His hope was for people to study his art, interpret it through their own eyes, and feel its impact on them historically, culturally and emotionally. This is all part of the educational experience, and this is what Arthur treasured the most.

“Cleary is overwhelmingly grateful that the Institute of Museum and Library Services shares our dream to preserve the legacy of Arthur Secunda,” Egan points out. “Cleary’s Secunda art collection, with its exceptional quality, breadth and depth, emerges as a nationally significant cultural and educational asset, poised to contribute significantly to the understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage of our country for all to experience. With this generous funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the extensive and inspirational work of Arthur Secunda can make a lasting impact on the world, right here at Cleary University,” Egan emphasizes.

Over the next three years, through the grant funds, Cleary not only will secure the preservation of Secunda’s 800 pieces of art at the university, but also will catalogue, digitize, restore, frame and reframe his art to ensure a secure storage environment that will protect the art while making it accessible to the public.

The grant funds also will be used to hire a Curator of Art and establish partnerships with local museums and academic institutions to create a long-term preservation and enrichment plan for the Secunda collection. Cleary also plans to offer guided tours of the museum throughout the year, workshops, hands-on-learning events and many educational opportunities for established as well as promising artists.