The National Gallery of Art in Washington announced a $116 million donation from billionaire collector Mitchell P. Rales to establish a nationwide loan program aimed at expanding access to its extensive collection for smaller and mid-sized museums across the United States. The initiative, named Across the Nation and timed to coincide with the country’s 250th anniversary, intends to circulate artworks for two-year loans, enabling regional institutions to exhibit pieces typically kept in storage due to limited display space.
Rales, a long-serving National Gallery trustee and former president, emphasized the need to extend the museum’s reach beyond its Washington location. He pointed to ongoing challenges in the arts sector, including reduced funding and declining attendance, as factors driving the gift. “We are the nation’s museum,” Rales said, noting that the collection includes approximately 160,000 works, many of which rarely leave storage.
The endowment will cover all associated costs for borrowing museums, including shipping, installation, insurance, and marketing, which are often prohibitive expenses. The National Gallery will also assist in developing programming centered on the borrowed art to enrich local cultural offerings. Kaywin Feldman, the institution’s director, stressed the goal of fostering a sense of ownership among partner museums and providing broader access to masterpieces by artists like Monet, Degas, O’Keeffe, Rembrandt, Rothko, and da Vinci.
Founded by Congress in 1937, the National Gallery operates under a public-private partnership, with the federal government funding approximately 80 percent of its $235 million budget. The gallery absorbed the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s collection in 2014, adding significant artworks from the Hudson River School.
The loan program follows earlier efforts by museums, including the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, which recently launched its own initiative to lend modern and contemporary works to smaller institutions nationwide. That program is managed in partnership with the Art Bridges Foundation, created by Alice Walton, founder of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
A pilot version of the National Gallery’s loan program, also funded by Rales, has already reached nearly 900,000 visitors through partnerships with 10 museums, including the Boise Art Museum in Idaho and the Mint Museum in North Carolina. The Nevada Museum of Art in Reno utilized 80 photographs by Dorothea Lange to present an exhibition on resilience, while the Figge Art Museum in Iowa was able to enhance its Northern Renaissance and Baroque collections through loans from the National Gallery.
The next phase of Across the Nation is scheduled to begin in fall 2027 and run through 2029, with new partner museums to be announced. The program reflects a growing trend among major institutions to support regional cultural hubs, ensuring broader public access to significant artworks outside major metropolitan centers.
Rales, who co-founded Danaher Corporation and operates the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation supporting arts, education, and science, described the initiative as “a love letter to America through art.” National Gallery board president Darren Walker highlighted the critical role of private philanthropy in sustaining such programs, noting the importance of making art more accessible nationwide.
Despite political shifts and adjustments to past diversity initiatives, Feldman reaffirmed the gallery’s commitment to representation and inclusion, emphasizing that excellence in the arts today requires reflecting the full diversity of the American population. Rales echoed this view, suggesting that broadening the art on display is essential for attracting diverse audiences to the gallery.