50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides
Special thanks for this guest post to Allyson Nakamoto, Teacher Programs Manager at the Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, California). I often take for granted how easy it is to follow breaking news. To find out what happened during a raid on a compound in Pakistan, I can turn on a 24-hours news channel or […]
Think Globally
Smithsonian Affiliations staff recently met with Heather Berry, manager of International Programs at the American Association of Museums to learn more about their Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA.) MCCA is a program that connects US communities with people abroad using museums as the catalysts and facilitators for connections and collaborations. The projects are proposed by […]
what’s the big [education] idea?
In keeping with this year’s education theme at the annual Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference, we’ll be hosting a series of roundtable discussions in a session titled “What’s the Big Idea: Revitalizing Education Through Partnership and Collaboration.” This dynamic session will follow a format well-known to most museum professionals. Smithsonian colleagues from across the Institution will present at […]
coming up in Affiliateland, May 2011
Sliding into summer with lots of activity! FLORIDA: The South Florida Museum opens SITES’ Hidden Life of Ants in Bradenton, 5/7. PENNSYLVANIA: Smithsonian researcher Warren Perry presents a lecture on “William E. Doster’s Defense of the Lincoln Conspirators” at the Historic Bethlehem Partnership in Bethlehem, 5/8. MONTANA: Dr. Rick Potts, Director of the Human Origins Program […]
affiliates collaborate to Spark! imaginations
Despite being the world’s largest museum complex, one of the challenges at the Smithsonian Institution remains taking the unique offerings away from the invisible walls of the National Mall and “encourage inventive creativity in young people” who may never visit Washington D.C. The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation has met this […]
kudos Affiliates! May 2011
Bravo to the five Affiliates awarded IMLS’ 2011 American Heritage Preservation grants! National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, Massachusetts) Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Wing Luke Asian Museum (Seattle, Washington) and Wisconsin Maritime Museum (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) were five of 54 museums nationally to receive the grants from the Institute […]
NASA + Smithsonian + Smithsonian Affiliates = Blissful retirement for space artifacts
On April 12, 2011 NASA announced new homes for three space shuttles soon to be retired from the space program at the end of this summer. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will receive the Discovery and the California Science Center a Smithsonian Affiliate in Los Angeles, California, will receive the Endeavour. But […]
Inspiring a Revival in San Antonio
“Above all, cultural organizations affirm the power and potency of art and culture to re-envision possibilities for a decent life and a common dream.” -Dr. Tomás Ybarra Frausto Nowhere is this statement more relevant than at The Museo Alameda, a Smithsonian Affiliate in San Antonio, where curatorial advisor Dr. Ybarra-Frausto and colleagues have assembled a collection of […]
coming up in Affiliateland in April 2011
Hello spring! Like the cherry blossoms in D.C., activities at Affiliates are budding all over the country in April. MARYLAND: The Smithsonian Associates presents a public tour, “The Birthplace of American Railroading,” at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museumin Baltimore, 4/2. The B & O Museum will also open The War Came by Train, an exhibition commemorating the […]
Make the Smithsonian YOUR classroom.
In November 2010, the Sonoma County Museum (Santa Rosa, CA) opened the SITES exhibition Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 and was ecstatic with the positive response within the local community. The museum was able to share the bracero story so well in part due to curator Eric Stanley’s participation in the Affiliations Visiting Professionals […]
For Jazz Appreciation Month, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum is the place to be
Special thanks for this guest post to Dr. David Taft Terry, Executive Director, at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture will celebrate this wonderful art form […]
2011 affiliations conference: let’s eat!
More and more museums are exploring ways to use food and foodways as an extension of their missions, and as an additional pathway to community engagement. (Here’s an example, and what some Affiliates are doing.) Whether exploring historic and cultural traditions around food or promoting an agenda of sustainability, food is increasingly appearing in the repertoire […]
wheeling visitors in…
I have a confession to make. After 13 years in museum education, I have come to think of educational carts in the galleries as the Clydesdales of the field – the workhorses that are low-tech, straightforward, usually blue or made of sturdy metal. I fully embrace them as an effective “vehicle” to engage visitors in the galleries… […]
happy 10th anniversary College Park Aviation Museum!
Congratulations to the College Park Aviation Museum on their 10th anniversary as a Smithsonian Affiliate! Since their joining the Affiliations Program in March 2001, the Museum has been active in bringing important artifacts, speakers, and exhibitions from the National Museum of Air and Space to College Park, Maryland. The Museum sits on the grounds of the […]
National Youth Summit Flickr album
Thanks again to our fab-five Affiliate partners who engaged their local communities during the National Youth Summit: 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides. Our recent blog post highlighted what happened before the event, but now you can get a look at what happened during it through our Smithsonian Affiliates Flicker group album! Want to add your […]
SITES in your neighborhood this spring
Smithsonian Affiliates across the country are bringing Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibitions to their communities this spring. Here’s what’s opening at an Affiliate in the coming months: March 19- May 29, 2011 Orange County Regional History Center(Orlando, Florida) The Working White House: Two Centuries of Traditions and Memories Two centuries of stories and traditions are […]
