By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When officials of the Taft Museum of Art were preparing to ask for Fine Arts Fund money for 2003 and 2004, they faced a special challenge, said deputy director Lea Emery.

"We had to ask ourselves, how do we stay competitive when we're closed?"

The museum will reopen its doors May 15 after extensive renovations that kept it shuttered for more than a year. During that time, the institution kept up its work by taking its programs on the road.

Outreach included a lecture series, teacher training and a school program that reached more than 4,000 students and was such a success that it earned and award of excellence from the Ohio Museums Association.

After re-opening, the outside programs will continue, Emery said, the better to reach residents throughout the Tristate.

The Fine Arts Fund provided more than $300,000, about 15 percent, of the Taft budget last year. Emery said the share will be 12 percent this year and 8 percent next. "It's not that their dollars are decreasing; they're going up. Our budgets are getting bigger," she said.

"At the most basic level the Fine Arts Fund dollars go to support our operating budget," said Emery. "They can pay for staff salaries and turning on the lights, which is so hard to raise from any other source. ... It fills an important void."

Housed in an 1820 National Historic Landmark building at 316 Pike St. downtown, the Taft features historic murals painted by African American artist Robert S. Duncanson, and the large art collection -including works by Thomas Gainsborough - donated along with the house in 1927 by Anna Sinton Taft and her husband, Charles Phelps Taft.

The 2004 Fine Arts Fund campaign continues through April 30 with a goal of $10.3 million. The 55th annual campaign provides operating funds to members: Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Arts Center, May Festival and Taft Museum of Art as well as smaller grants to associate members and project grants to small Tristate arts organizations. The Enquirer will be highlighting recipient organizations during the 10 weeks of the campaign.