EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A nonprofit group that supports cultural organizations in Illinois plans to open an office in southwestern Illinois this week.

Chicago-based Illinois Humanities, which was founded in 1973, is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The group says it’ll open an Edwardsville office at Lewis & Clark Community College’s Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities.

The Edwardsville Intelligencer reports the new office opens Wednesday.

Angel Ysaguiree is executive director of Illinois Humanities. She says the new center will allow the organization to engage more fully with communities in southern and western Illinois.

The news comes as school officials are beginning to renovate the Mannie Jackson Center.