NEW YORK — The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Live Arts Endowment, made possible by a major new grant from SNF, will help sustain the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MetLiveArts program in perpetuity, bringing the museum’s gargantuan collection to life by giving visitors access to a diversity of perspectives from living artists.

“MetLiveArts offers groundbreaking programs that interrogate the Museum’s encyclopedic collection through the lens of contemporary artistic voices, and provides opportunities to invite audiences to partake in an ever expanding dialogue on performance, creativity, and contemporary social issues. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), these important programs will now be available for generations to come,” said Met Director Max Hollein.

“MetLiveArts answers the question ‘Who are museums for?’ with a resounding ‘Everyone!’ It reminds us that museums, at their best, are vibrant civic spaces full of activity and life,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “Increasing access to world-class cultural resources is a key focus of SNF’s work, and access means not only opening doors, but also opening a conversation and an invitation to find relevance to our own lives. Through MetLiveArts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art excels in this.”

The new endowment builds on a longtime history of SNF support for the Met.