Currier Museum lands $100K grant for solar panels on roof

Sep. 20—The Currier Museum of Art received a $100,000 grant to help place solar panels on its roof.

This grant came from the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Frankenthaler was a well-known American abstract painter who died in 2011.

The museum is one of 79 grant recipients selected nationwide and the only New Hampshire organization to receive funding in this inaugural round. Other museums included the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Alan Chong, director and CEO, said the museum received the highest amount being offered by the foundation.

"What is interesting about the grant is that it is really to help art museums become energy sustainable, which is very unusual because it is targeted to the art world," he said.

The museum has looked into installing solar panels for several years on the flat parts of the building's roof. Chong said it isn't always easy for nonprofits to land financial support for such sustainability projects.

"We really couldn't accomplish it in the short term without some financial support," he said.

Chong said the museum doesn't just want to lower its energy bills. The organization wants to be socially aware about energy sustainability and care for the environment.

"This is the normal way we always think about it as consumers and it's probably not the best way of looking at energy," he said. "In a nutshell, we see things such as sustainability, health care, wellness and culture being all interconnected. Although we are an art museum we are keen to be respectful of our environment and do the best we can for society in terms of health and welfare as well."

One challenge will be the skylights built into the main museum's roof. A contractor will be selected through a competitive bidding process.

The museum estimates being able to install 312 solar panels with a capacity of about 115,000-kilowatt hours annually.

"We think this will reduce our power usage by about 25%," Chong said.

Dan Weeks, vice president of business development for ReVison Energy, has seen an uptick in nonprofits installing solar in the past five years. The company helped the museum secure the grant.

The company also installed similar panels on the nearby Boys & Girls Club.

"We see these projects, which are often financed by our local mission-aligned investors and the Community Loan Fund, as 'clean energy endowments' — an effective way to save nonprofits hundreds of thousands of dollars in operating expenses long-term while also helping fight climate change," Weeks said in a statement.

Right now, the museum has one Frankenthaler piece, "Gypsy," painted in 1973, on loan from a private collector, Chong said. The piece is more than 7 feet wide.

The museum has also taken steps to make energy-efficient its newly acquired Toufic H. Kalil Usonian Automatic House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Chandler mansion.

The museum hopes to install the panels next year.