The Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art has received a $1 million challenge grant from The Allen Foundation for the Arts.

The grant, along with four other recent gifts from local foundations and corporations, will be used to help support the creation of the newest contemporary arts center in the Pacific Northwest.

The Museum has raised $37.6 million of its $63 million capital campaign goal.

Museum officials said this latest gift shows strong local support for the project.

“Local support has been incredible,” said Josi Callan, director of the Museum.

“In addition to the generous gift from The Allen Foundation for the Arts, the museum has received gifts from local corporations and foundations, including the Joshua Green Foundation, Regence BlueShield, the Schultz Family Foundation and Washington Mutual.”

The Allen Foundation for the Arts supports projects and organizations that advance the visual, performing and literary arts; feature local, regional and national artists in a variety of disciplines; and encourage public participation and the promotion of critical thinking.

Past grant recipients include the 911 Media Arts Center, On the Boards, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Founded in 1988, The Allen Foundation for the Arts is administered through Vulcan Inc. of Seattle.

Opening in July, the Museum of Glass will be an international contemporary arts center with a sustained focus on the medium of glass.

With advanced, specialized facilities for the exhibition and interpretation of the art, the Museum of Glass will be a specialized museum of the 21st century.

In addition to a Hot Shot Ampitheater where visitors can watch artists work, facilities include galleries, outdoor exhibition areas, a theater, education studio, grand hall, store and a cafe.

For more information about the Museum of Glass, check out the project’s Web site at:

www.museumofglass.org.