The Peabody Essex Museum announced a $5 million pledge Thursday from the Lynch Foundation, adding to the museum’s already impressive endowment.

The money will be used to establish continuity for the museum’s changing exhibition program, featuring exhibits like the recently opened Alexander Calder display, “Calder and Abstraction: From Avant Garde to Icon.”

The Lynch Foundation, formed by Marblehead’s Carolyn and Peter Lynch in 1988, focuses on health care, education, museums and Roman Catholic religious institutions. Carolyn Lynch has sat on the PEM board for nearly two decades; she is president and chairwoman of the Lynch Foundation.