A Message from the Executive Director: TMORA Needs Your Help
April 22, 2025
By Mark J. Meister, Executive Director
Dear Friends of TMORA,
I’m writing to share how the recent shutdown of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is directly affecting The Museum of Russian Art.
On March 31, all IMLS staff were placed on administrative leave — the first step in the administration’s plan to dismantle this vital agency. As noted in the StarTribune article on April 9, TMORA had submitted a grant request to IMLS for just under $25,000 to support the replacement of our aging lighting control system — a $36,000 project. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve already raised $11,000. It is now certain that TMORA’s funding request to complete the project will not be acted upon.
This project is urgent. Our lighting control system is so outdated it still runs on a floppy disk. We’ve already experienced outages, and as you can imagine, you can’t view art in the dark.
That’s why I’m turning to you today.
Please consider making a gift to help us complete this critical upgrade. You can donate online and type “lighting” in the Special Note box, or send a check to The Museum of Russian Art with “lighting” noted on the memo line.
As always, thank you for being a part of TMORA’s community — and for helping us keep the lights on.
With gratitude,
Mark J. Meister
Executive Director
