Coming Up in Affiliateland in March 2018

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D. C.
Affiliate participants in the Will to Adorn project from the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco) and the Institute of Texan Cultures (San Antonio) will discuss their work with students as part of the Youth Access Grant Forum in Washington on 3.1.

Curator Leslie Przybylek from the Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh) will be a panelist in the program  Innovative Lives: How Women Shaped the Alcohol Industry at the National Museum of American History, 3.16.

PENNSYLVANIA
The African American Museum in Philadelphia  will screen the Smithsonian Channel program  The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X in Philadelphia, 3.1.

Jasper Francis Cropsey, The Coast of Genoa, 1854, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Aileen B. Train, Helen B. Spaulding and Julia B. Key

FLORIDA
The Polk Museum of Art will exhibit Jasper Cropsey’s The Coast of Genoa, a painting on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in Lakeland, starting 3.3.

CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut Historical Society will host a lecture and book signing by Dr. Richard Kurin on The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects in Hartford, 3.5.

KENTUCKY
The Frazier History Museum will host an exhibition on The Magnificent Mona Bismarck, who donated fashion collections to the National Museum of American History, opening in Louisville, 3.15.

NEW YORK
The Rockwell Museum will host a talk by curator Matilda McQuaid of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum as part of their Art + Science lecture series in Corning, 3.22.

WASHINGTON
The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience will host a workshop entitled  Teacher Creativity Studios: APA Cultural Presence in the Classroom in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Center for Learning and Digital Access in Seattle, 3.24.

Kudos Affiliates! for February 2018

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Congratulations Affiliates on these recent accomplishments!

FUNDING

Citizens Bank and the African American Museum in Philadelphia (PA) have partnered for the 12th year to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Citizens Bank has contributed $25,000 to support the museum’s King Weekend Celebration. The celebration includes four days of events and special activities, culminating in a free and discounted day at the museum on MLK Day 2018.

Telluride Foundation has awarded a grant of $18,000 to assist the Pinhead Institute (Telluride, CO) to pay for its programs in Norwood, the West End, Ridgway and Ouray. In addition, Pinhead Institute has been awarded a $30,000 general operating grant from the Daniels Fund to support K-12 STEM education and internships throughout rural, Southwest Colorado.

Lincoln Financial Foundation awarded the Durham Museum (Omaha, NE) an education grant to provide early childhood education programming.

The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, IA) announced the receipt of four grants for various Museum & Aquarium initiatives:

Congrats to the National Mississippi River Museum on their recent funding awards!

– The Iowa Department of Natural Resources: Resource Enhancement and Protection – Conservation Education Program has awarded the Museum & Aquarium funds to support the institution’s Citizen Science Research: Mussel Propagation Project.

– Alliant Energy Foundation has awarded the Museum & Aquarium funds to support its current Rivers to the Sea 2.0 Expansion. Through a biological, environmental, and conservation focus, this project includes a robust educational outreach program and supports the recently opened Conservation Lab.

– Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) has awarded the Museum & Aquarium funding to support its Student Ocean Conference, September 20-21, 2018. The annual conference hosted at the Museum & Aquarium explores the Mississippi River’s impact and interconnectivity to oceans, seas, and subsequent watersheds through a biological, environmental, and conservation focus.

– The Iowa Economic Development Authority, through an Iowa Tourism Grant, has awarded the Museum & Aquarium funds toward a new, custom-built, mobile-first website.

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Ann Fortescue, Executive Director of the Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH) has been selected to serve on a select state arts group. She will join the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Board, a nonprofit, grassroots arts advocacy organization to promote excellence in the arts, advocate directly with legislators, government leaders and other influential leaders and to build membership.

Union Station, Kansas City (MO) was honored with the Heart of Kansas City Award for “Attraction of the Year”. This prestigious recognition was given by the Greater Kansas City Attraction Association. Union Station was specifically recognized as Attraction of the Year “for its exemplary yearly attendance of over 1.8 million, its internationally-awarded Science City, world-class touring exhibitions, seasonal celebrations and events like the annual Maker Faire and more.”


STAFF CHANGES 

Dion Brown, new director of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH)  has named Dion Brown as the center’s new president. Mr. Brown will begin his tenure on February 26.

 

Coming up in Affiliateland in February 2018

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Happy new year! We may still feel cold, but events are heating up at Affiliates across the country.

NATIONWIDE
Five Affiliates will host (via videoconference) the Smithsonian Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council meeting. Thank you to the Arab American National Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Upcountry History Museum and the Rockwell Museum for sharing their students and spaces for this important dialogue happening in Washington, 2.7.

Eight Affiliates will host screenings of The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X , a new film from the Smithsonian Channel as part of their Black History Month programming. Thanks to the following Affiliates for sharing the film with your audiences!
2.1 – Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD
2.6 – Museum of History & Industry in Seattle, WA
2.7 – Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA
2.8 – African American Museum in Philadelphia, PA
2.12 – History Colorado in Denver, CO
2.22 – California African American Museum in Los Angeles
2.23 – Mennello Museum of American Art/Orlando Museum of Art, FL
2.26 – Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, TX

CALIFORNIA
The Riverside Metropolitan Museum presents the Uncovering Ancient Mexico: The Mystery of Tlatilco exhibition, exploring an ancient society in central Mexico that flourished 3000 years ago. The exhibition features 9 artifacts from the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian and opens in Riverside, 2.3

WASHINGTON
The Whatcom Museum opens Jeweled Objects of Desire featuring over 50 artifacts on loan from the National Museum of Natural History’s gem and mineral collection in Bellingham, 2.3.

FLORIDA
The Orange County Regional History Center opens the SITES’ exhibition Things Come Apart in Orlando, 2.10.

Take it Apart! A fun contest in Orlando for the Things Come Apart exhibition.

PENNSYLVANIA
A ‘rum runner’ ship model on loan from the National Museum of American History will be on view at the Heinz History Center as part of their American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition exhibition in Pittsburgh, 2.10.

OHIO
With a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, educators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Accessibility Program will lead three workshops for teachers in collaboration with the Springfield Museum of Art on strategies for using art to reach students with multiple disabilities, in Springfield, 2.15-16.

MARYLAND
Annmarie Garden opens Big Fun Art, an exhibition of local and national artists juried by Jennifer Brundage, Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, that explores playfulness, dynamism and joy, in Solomons, 2.16.

ARIZONA
Dr. Richard Kurin will be speaking on and signing his book The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, 2.20.

TEXAS
The Asian American Resource Center will host a teacher workshop in collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access entitled Teacher Creativity Studios: Asian Pacific America Cultural Presence in the Classroom in Austin, 2.21.

NEBRASKA
The Durham Museum will host a lecture by Dr. Krewasky Salter, Guest Associate Curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Double Victory: The African American Military Experience in Omaha, 2.27.

 

  

Kudos Affiliates! for November 2017

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Bravo Affiliates on these great accomplishments!

Funding

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recently announced $1,998,484 in funding for 28 training and professional development projects for museums across the country as part of its Museums for America grant program, including the following Affiliate projects:

Abbe Museum (Bar Harbor, ME)-Award: $53,050.00

The Abbe Museum will invest in professional development and training for its staff, board, and volunteers to support its work with the Wabanaki Nations towards a decolonized approach to every aspect of its operations. An emerging concept in museum practice, decolonization is an ongoing process of sharing authority for the documentation and interpretation of Native culture.

John G. Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL)-Award: $246,981.00

The Shedd Aquarium will undertake a two-year project to build the capacity of museum staff to engage diverse communities through increased cultural competencies. Through a multi-departmental and integrated suite of professional development opportunities, the project will ensure that the institution’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is effective and sustainable.

Mid-America Science Museum (Hot Springs, AR)-Award: $21,939.00

Mid-America Science Museum will implement a professional development program for its education staff and those from member museums of the Arkansas Discovery Network. Museum staffers will participate in a series of three day-long workshops on robotics, app development, and microprocessors.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science (Dallas, TX)-Award: $24,819.00

In response to changing demographics in north Texas, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science will develop staff capacity to create a culturally competent, bilingual (English and Spanish) institution.

 

Through the agency’s largest competitive grant program, Museums for America, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced $19,189,929 in grants for museums across the nation including the following Affiliate projects:

Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI)-Award: $200,000.00

The Arab American National Museum will increase its educational outreach programming about Arabs, Arab Americans, and Islam to regions of southeastern Michigan. The museum will provide comprehensive educational resources and tools, underwrite fieldtrips to the museum, and offer off-site workshops to under-resourced school districts in the targeted regions of the state.

Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody, WY)-Award: $255,000.00

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West will work with advisory groups and an external exhibit design firm to renovate and reinstall the Cody Firearms Museum, a 22,500-square-foot gallery. The reinstallation will feature six thematic areas with educational interpretation and media interactives that put firearms into the larger context of history while still providing the technical information of interest to collectors.

USS Constitution Museum (Boston, MA)-Award: $326,032.00

The USS Constitution Museum will transform the interpretive endeavors of two separate entities through a strategic alliance with the U.S. Navy’s USS Constitution. The All Aboard project will integrate experiences to take place both on board the ship and in the museum for the first time to maximize learning.

Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH)-Award: $24,729.00

The Springfield Museum of Art will increase public access, knowledge, and use of the 325 prints in its permanent collection by partnering with the Dayton Printmakers Cooperative. The Print Positives: Rediscovering and Using Our Print Collection project will include study sessions and research assistance from the printmakers to enable museum staff to develop an exhibition of prints from the permanent collection.

San Diego Museum of Man (San Diego, CA)-Award: $310,430.00

The San Diego Museum of Man will engage with the Kumeyaay Nation to build the museum’s capacity to engage the federally recognized tribe as a partner in decisions about collections, exhibitions, and programs.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC)-Award: $139,681.00

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will address urgent conservation needs for three marine invertebrate collections acquired from the Charleston Museum, Duke University Marine Laboratory, and the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham, AL)-Award: $184,295.00

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will digitize interviews from its oral history collections to allow broader access to the public and encourage scholarship and new interpretations of the Civil Rights Movement.

Connecticut Historical Society (Hartford, CT)-Award: $24,467.00

The Connecticut Historical Society will undertake a film digitization project to catalog, digitize, and improve storage conditions for selected items from its motion picture film collection, which provides insights into the lives and culture of 20th -century Connecticut residents and communities.

 

Arconic Foundation awarded Putnam Museum (Davenport, IA) a $40,000 grant for the IMMERSE Program, a week long, immersive, in house learning experience for students.

Burton D. Morgan Foundation trustees approved a $172,000 grant to The National Inventors Hall of Fame (Newark, OH) to operate its Camp Invention programs in the summer and conduct a study on STEM education in co-curricular settings.

The Dubuque County Historical Society has received funding from the City of Dubuque’s Arts & Culture Special Projects program. Funding will support the creation of hand-painted murals that illustrate the stories of aquatic life featured in the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium’s (Dubuque, IA) Rivers to the Seas exhibits and the much-anticipated Conservation Lab.

Coming up in Affiliateland in November 2017

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We’re thankful for all the activity in Affiliateland this month. Happy Thanksgiving Affiliates!

D.C.
Two Affiliates are loaning objects to The Sweat of their Face: Portraying American Workers exhibition at the Smithsonian. The Lowell National Historical Park has lent a wood engraving by Winslow Homer and the High Museum has lent a photograph by Peter Sekaer and an oil painting by Francis Hyman Criss. Opening at the National Portrait Gallery, 11.3.

CALIFORNIA
The San Diego History Center opens the Mail Call exhibition (SITES) which explores the history of America’s military postal system, in San Diego, 11.4.

MASSACHUSETTS
Richard Kurin, Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, will lecture on his book, Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem at the Springfield Museums, 11.5.

NATIONWIDE
Teens at five Affiliates continue to advise the Smithsonian through the Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council, meeting again via videoconference from Fort Worth, Corning, Cincinnati, Dearborn and Greenville, 11.8.

GEORGIA

From the Ocean Optimism initiative website, oceanoptimism.org

Dr. Nancy Knowlton, senior scientist emerita from the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute in Panama, will give a Science on Tap lecture to discuss the Ocean Optimism Initiative, at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, 11.14.

ALABAMA
A new Smithsonian Spark!Lab, an immersive, interactive place for exploring invention, will open at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, 11.24.

Kudos Affiliates! for September 2017

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Great job Affiliates!

The National Endowment for the Humanities announced more than $39 million will be awarded to nonprofit organizations including the following Affiliate initiatives:

Portrait of Leonard Berstein, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

  • Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Denver, CO) $300,000
    To support a project to rehouse an archaeology collection of 72,000 objects that focuses on North America. The artifacts will be moved to the LEED-certified Avenir Collections Center and placed on custom-created storage mounts and in new cabinetry.
  • Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT) $154,811
    To support a four-week institute for twenty college and university faculty to study the social, cultural, and environmental history of American maritime regions.
  • Kentucky Historical Society (Lexington, KY) $300,000
    To prepare for digital publication of the papers of the governors of Kentucky during the Civil War.
  • Mississippi Department of Archives and History (Jackson, MS) $274,175
    To progress the Mississippi Digital Newspaper Project, Phase Three
  • National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, PA) $250,000
    To implement a traveling exhibition about American composer Leonard Bernstein on the centennial of his birth.
  • Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Cody, WY) $200,000
    To upgrade environmental controls and improve fire and security systems at the Cody Firearms Museum, which houses a collection of 7,000 firearms and more than 20,000 related objects chronicling the development of firearms from 1425 to the present.

Humanities Nebraska recently awarded a $5,500 grant to the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (Ashland, NE) for the case and signage of a new exhibit on Astronaut Clayton Anderson.