$200K Given To Morris Museum In Pandemic Recovery, Preservation Grants

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The Morris Museum received two grants totaling $201,939 from the Morris County Board of County Commissioners for historic preservation and restoration, as well as COVID-19 relief.

The museum is located in Morris Township in the Twin Oaks Mansion, which was the home of P. Ballantine & Sons Brewery president Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen. The Neo-Georgian-style home was built in 1913 and is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.

The Morris Museum was first presented with a $15,000 check last week by the Morris County Board of County Commissioners as part of the Morris County Small Business Grant Program, which assists both nonprofits and small businesses with pandemic-related losses and expenses.

The additional grant was announced by Commissioner Director Tayfun Selen during a meeting with museum Executive Director Andrew Sandall.

“Along with this small business program check, I have the pleasure to inform you today that the Morris County Board of County Commissioners last night unanimously approved a Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant for the museum for nearly $187,000,” Selen said.

The additional $186,939 grant will help the museum continue to restore the 19-year-old slate roof, which was approved for a $250,000 grant by the Commissioners and the Historic Preservation Trust Fund program last year. The $15,000 small business grant is intended to help with operating expenses after the museum was closed for four months due to the pandemic.

“We appreciate this,” Sandall said. “Museums everywhere have been at about 60 percent of their usual membership and visitation since the pandemic. We think it’s plateauing now. There is still some hesitancy among some about going into theaters and museums, although as you can see here, we are spacious and there is plenty of room for people to move about.”

Since last year, the nonprofit museum has lost revenue due to lower admissions, fewer theater ticket sales, the suspension of education programming and rentals for private events, and a one-third drop in membership enrollment.

However, the museum was filled with sound last week, as three busloads of young students toured the facility, according to Selen.

The Morris Museum is currently hosting the Timeless Movements exhibition, which will be on display until Aug. 28.

Timeless Movements is the final installment of Anne Ricculi’s four-year A Cache of Kinetic Art automata series, which is meant to complement the Museum's renowned Guinness Collection of mechanical musical instruments.

The exhibition features 35 works of kinetic art by 26 national and international artists that explore broad themes of the human experience and how time manifests in nature.

To learn more, or to view other temporary exhibits, visit the Morris Museum website.