For Immediate Release: July 11, 2007
Morris Museum Awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Grant

Morristown, New Jersey.  The National Endowment for the Humanities
has awarded a grant of $82,255 to the Morris Museum.  This grant has
been funded by the Division of Preservation and Access to purchase
and install a high-density mobile storage system for on-site viewable
storage of the museum's most recent Murtogh D. Guinness collection of
mechanical musical instruments and automata.  The funding also allows
the museum to transfer the collection from its current off-site storage
location to the new viewable storage facility at the museum where it
will be accessible to the public.

"As the museum's newest acquisition, the Guinness Collection complements
and enhances the museum's existing collections of decorative arts,
natural history specimens and costumes and offers numerous avenues for
humanities programming," said Board Chair Mary Chandor.

In his will, Mr. Guinness stipulated that the entire collection be
given to a museum where it could be enjoyed by the general public.
Guinness Viewable Storage will provide public access to the collection
in its entirety for the first time.

"Thanks to the NEH funds to relocate the Guinness collection to the
museum and to purchase and install viewable storage and shelving, the
Morris Museum will enhance the collection and provide viewable access
for visitors and scholars for years to come," stated Morris Museum
Executive Director Steve Miller.

In November, the museum will unveil its exhibition of the
internationally stellar Murtogh D. Guinness collection in a 4,300
square foot wing designed by RMJM Hillier of Princeton.  The museum
is creating the first public museum of its kind in the Western
Hemisphere devoted to interpreting mechanical musical instruments
and automata.

Approximately 140 pieces of the 700 piece collection will be on view
in the interactive exhibit designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture +
Design Partnership of New York City.  The more than 550 remaining
instruments, automata and related program media will be housed on the
lower level in the Guinness Viewable Storage Gallery.

Under the terms of this grant, NEH offers to provide federal matching
funds of up to $62,735 on condition that an equal amount of third party
gifts is raised by December 31, 2007, and sufficient funds allocated
for matching purposes are available in the Division of Preservation
and Access.

"The museum is already working hard to raise $62,735 from individuals,
foundations and corporations to release the federal matching funds.
We remain optimistic that the outright grant from NEH together with
federal matching funds will ultimately total $144,990," stated Chandor.

One of New Jersey's oldest, most active and largest museums, the Morris
Museum serves more than 200,000 individuals each year by providing
a broad array of exhibitions and educational programs that explore
creativity through art, history, science and performance.  The
institution is undergoing an expansion and renovation project that will
see its core permanent exhibitions reconfigured to more fully interpret
science and the humanities for visitors.

The Morris Museum, located at 6 Normandy Heights Road (at the corner
of Columbia Turnpike) in Morristown, NJ, is open Tuesday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.  Admission to the museum is $7 for adults and $5
for children, students and senior citizens.  Admission is always free
for museum members and is free to the public every Thursday between
1 and 8 p.m.  For more information, call 973-971-3700, or visit
www.morrismuseum.org.

Kimberly Tauriello
PR Manager, Morris Museum
Morristown, New Jersey