Art museum turns to crowdfunding for acquisition

The Springfield Art Museum has turned to a crowdfunding portal run by Community Foundation of the Ozarks for the last leg of a drive to raise funding for an art acquisition.

The city-owned museum is seeking $10,000 within 45 days via CauseMomentum.org. With 41 days remaining in the campaign, the museum has raised $893, roughly 8.9 percent of its goal.

The museum already has raised more than $30,000 toward the $45,000 purchase of George Caleb Bingham's portrait of L.A.D. Crenshaw, which is currently on loan at the 1111 E. Brookside Drive museum from owner Rachael Cozad Fine Art in Kansas City. The acquisition would permanently reunite the portrait of L.A.D. Crenshaw with another painting of his wife, Fanny Crenshaw, after a century-long separation. The Crenshaws were among the earliest settlers of Greene County, and L.A.D. Crenshaw acquired some 1,200 acres of land and was considered a prominent citizen, according to a news release.

“The crowdfunding model seemed perfect for this acquisition,” Springfield Art Museum Director Nick Nelson said in the release. “The museum’s art collection is the community’s art collection. We hope that this campaign will not only provide funding to get the painting, but also will provide everyone participating with a sense of ownership of the museum’s collection. We hope the museum’s art collection can serve as a point of civic pride.”

The paintings were produced by Bingham, a personal friend of the couple, in 1869. The painting of Fanny Crenshaw has been in the Springfield Art Museum's possession since 1990, when her daughter, Clara Crenshaw Early, donated it.

Donations supporting the purchase of the L.A.D Crenshaw portrait have been made by the Southwest Missouri Museum Associates, the McQueary family and the Friends of the Springfield Art Museum, according to the release.

Another Springfield crowdfunding campaign has reached about 71.6 percent of its goal with 33 days to go.

Via CrowdIt.com, the city is seeking $15,000 to develop a Route 66 roadside park. During the Oct. 2 kickoff event, the city raised some $8,000 for the campaign, and exceeded the $10,000 mark by day two. Since, the campaign has raised about $400, putting funding at $10,742, according to its crowdfunding page.