Billionaire collector and National Gallery of Art trustee Mitchell P. Rales has donated $116 million to the museum. The gift, the largest programming endowment in the institution's history, will fund the 'Across the Nation' initiative, which loans works from the National Gallery's permanent collection to small and midsize museums across the United States for two-year periods at no cost to the borrowing institutions.
The program, established to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary, aims to make the National Gallery's vast collection more accessible nationally. It addresses a critical need as arts institutions face financial strain from lower post-pandemic attendance, shifting donor patterns, and significant cuts to public arts funding. The initiative has already reached 900,000 visitors through a pilot program and will launch its main cycle from 2027 to 2029.