Women’s History Month
It’s March, and spring is finally upon us. And so is Women’s History Month. You go girl! Heritage Months are a big deal at the Smithsonian, and now, the offices devoted to national outreach are getting into the game as well. For each of the five months celebrated by the Smithsonian (Hispanic Heritage, Native American, Black […]
A visit from the Pequots
One of my favorite parts about this job is when Affiliates come to DC to visit, either bringing their members, their boards or staff. Why? We get to connect with Affiliates and their goals in very tangible ways. AND, it usually means we get to meet new people and see cool stuff! Last week, we got […]
Report from the Road: Huntsville, Alabama
as reported by Caroline Mah, coordinator for the southeast: Happy 50th Anniversary! Not only does January 31, 2008 mark the 50th Anniversary of America in space, but it also celebrates the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s (Hunstviille, AL) official opening of their new Davidson Center for Space Exploration, home to the recently-restored Saturn V rocket. This […]
Is your audience contributing to your permanent exhibitions? Should they?
It’s refreshing that in an age when “interactivity” seems synonymous with “hi tech,” (see post below!) Museums still find ways to engage simply with pen and paper. This has long been true with younger audiences of course, with carts, activity rooms, etc. An inspiring reminder of audience input comes from a recent story in the newsletter of the National Museum […]
Goings-on around the Smithsonian
Here’s some random, current news of potential interest, and opportunities for professional development if you’re interested. Hope you can join us! The Smithsonian’s Early Enrichment Center is holding their annual seminar, Creating Collection with Young Children, on Saturday, February 9. If you’ve never taken one of their courses, and are interested in reaching pre-K students […]
Happy new year!
Happy 2008! We look forward to a year full of collaboration and many successes! Among some of our earliest ones: Congratulations to our newest Affiliates – The Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, FL https://www.mennellomuseum.org/ Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL https://www.thephil.org/museum/museum.html Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR https://www.historicarkansas.org/ Kudos and congratulations ! to the Museum […]
Report from the Road: New York City
I just returned from a whirlwind tour, visiting 8 Affiliates and 2 SI units in New York City and Newark, NJ. What exciting things are happening there! The New Jersey Historical Society opened SITES’ Our Journeys Our Stories, welcoming a strong turnout from media, local officials and a Latino public that, while prominent in the city, has […]
a new Museum of Biodiversity
Affiliations was in the spotlight this week as Dr. George Angehr, Curator of Exhibitions at our Affiliate, the Museum of Biodiversity in Panama, lectured to about 50 Smithsonian staff about this exciting project. Dr. Angehr is also a research associate at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama, a major collaborator on content with the new museum. Some of […]
Wow!
Affiliations staff participated in a lovely morning tour of the newest spectacular space at the Smithsonian, the Kogod Courtyard at the Reynolds Center. (American Art Museum & Portrait Gallery’s building). Our pictures wouldn’t do it justice, so check out the awesome images from their public opening a few days ago on SAAM’s blog. Can’t wait for Affiliates to […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s wishing everyone a very happy and safe thanksgiving. In the spirit of the season, and in the name of historical accuracy that’s also fun, here are some recipes from our friends at Plimoth Plantation, our affiliate in Plymouth Massachusetts (experts in all topics Thanksgiving!) Enjoy! An Onion Sauce for Roast Turkey; Sobaheg: A Wampnoag Recipe (a stew); […]
I just returned from lovely Portland Maine and the annual New England Museum Association conference. One of the things I admire most about this conference is how honest people are – participants and presenters. I so frequently heard comments like, “ultimately, the program didn’t work so well” or “yeah, we found that the particular board model […]
Breaking Ground!
Congratulations to two Affiliates who have reached milestones in their development – groundbreaking on new museums that promise to be stellar contributions to America’s cultural landscape. On September 30 in Philadelphia, the National Museum of American Jewish History broke ground on its phenomenal new space at 5th and Market streets, directly across Independence Mall from […]
Shaping Outcomes
Are you familiar with this course offered through IMLS? Several SI staff had the opportunity to participate in a training session about this approach yesterday, and it was a real eye-opener. Here’s an example – In a typical project, you get an idea. You plan the program, budgeting resources and costs, and argue successfully for modest funding. […]
Smithsonian on iTunes
A nugget to add to the “who knew?!” category… We recently got an announcement that Smithsonian’s Global Sound, a program of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, had launched a new section on the iTunes store in the iTunes U section called ‘Beyond Campus.’ One of only 6 organizations featured in this new project (with […]
What is trade literature anyway?
Funny you should ask! The Smithsonian Libraries have one of the most outstanding collections of trade literature in the United States. Affiliations staff were honored recently to get an up-close, personal view of some samples that were presented by three of the collection’s experts. What is it? Trade literature is mass produced by manufacturers to promote and explain […]
Web 2.0
Do you currently use these sites? Are you blogging or podcasting from your site? If so, you’re navigating Web 2.0. An array of Smithsonian webmasters led a fascinating discussion today on the challenges and implications of Web 2.0, which, according to wikipedia (appropriately enough) refers to the newest generation of the web that faciliates […]
