Solidifying in perpetuity its commitment to the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s permanent collection, the Kerr family has announced that it is gifting 428 works, worth approximately $16 million, to the Wyoming museum.  Ever since its inception, a bedrock of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s trove of paintings and sculpture has been works, made available on loan, from the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation.  Many of those pieces were acquired over the last 40 years by William and Joffa Kerr who, together with a group of patrons, founded the museum in 1987.  Those works include several important historical pieces as well as paintings and sculpture created by contemporary masters.  A statement from the foundation reads:  “The timing of the present gift serves as an appropriate recognition of the formal designation by the United States Congress and the President of the Museum’s status as the ‘National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States.’”  In 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law a declaration from Congress making the Jackson Hole institution the official wildlife museum in the U.S.  Museum president James McNutt said of the gift:  “The Museum trustees, staff, and volunteers are extremely grateful for this generous action by the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation.  It has been in the planning for quite some time and does a great deal to reaffirm the value of the museum and its mission.”   Wildlife Art Journal has a feature story, America’s Official Shrine To Wildlife Art, about the museum and the Kerr’s lifetime of collecting.