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April 11, 2025

Maine Children’s Museum loses federal grant funding

A multi-story building is seen against the sky. COURTESY / DAVID PRATT PHOTOGRAPHY The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is located on Thompson’s Point in Portland.
By Tina Fischer

The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine has been notified that a three-year, $224,143 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services has been cancelled.

The Institute's Museums for America funding was awarded in August 2024 to support programming that the museum says, “brings children and families together to learn about community, culture and belonging” and included a focus on the history and culture of the Wabanaki nations. 

The notification letter to the Portland museum received April 9 cited a federal order mandating the elimination of all “non-statutorily required activities,” and added that new leadership at the institute found the grant was “no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities” and “no longer serves the interest of the United States.”

A spokesperson for the Children's Museum said only about $40,000 of the funds had been received to date. 

Provided photo
Julie Butcher Pezzino

Julie Butcher Pezzino, executive director of the Thompson's Point-based Children's Museum, responded to the funding cut in a statement. “This is devastating. The grant was awarded by [the Institute of Museum and Library Services] with congressionally approved funding.”

Pezzino said the grant had previously received strong support from all four of Maine’s congressional leaders.

“This news is so far afield of anything we could have imagined. It will seriously hamper our ability to deliver fully on our mission, and we were already well underway with implementation," Pezzino said. 

The museum was one of only a few children’s museums nationwide to receive a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the 2024 cycle and the only one in Maine.

“When we pull funding from programs like this, we aren’t saving money — we’re robbing children of valuable educational opportunities," Pezzino said. "This is a setback, but it will not be the end. This work matters.”

The Children's Museum is now seeking private support to continue programming planned as part of the grant for this spring.

“We will not stop,” Pezzino said. “We will keep telling stories that matter. We will keep helping children and members of our community feel seen and valued. We will honor the commitments we’ve made—to artists, to educators, and most of all, to children.”
 

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