Kudos Affiliates!!! February 2024

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING

Frontiers of Flight Museum (Dallas, TX) received a grant from the PPG Foundation to provide aerospace education to the North Texas area. The grant contribution from the foundation will allow over 4,000 girls from underserved Dallas County neighborhoods to participate in its Aerospace-STEM Challenge for Girls program next year. The museum’s initiative provides opportunities for girls to learn from women in senior leadership roles in the aerospace industry.

Adler Planetarium (Chicago, IL) will partner with Southern Illinois University on a $2.6M grant from NASA for the SolarSTEAM project, which uses celestial marvels as inspiration to study the sun. The grant, which runs through June 2026, will pay for a multifaceted, national heliophysics public engagement and empowerment program centered on the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. Adler Planetarium will provide heliophysics-themed videos and other visualizations tied to actual events for national distribution to museums, planetariums and amateur astronomy clubs.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Plimoth Patuxet Museums (Plymouth, MA) received two awards from the New England Museum Association (NEMA) that recognize the outstanding work of museum staff and projects. Kim VanWormer, Guest Experience Manager for the Plimoth Grist Mill, was the recipient of NEMA’s tenth annual Excellence Award and Plimoth Patuxet received second place in NEMA’s 2023 Publication Award for its keystone publication – Plimoth Patuxet Life: The Thanksgiving Edition.

George Sparks, President & CEO of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, CO) was the winner of the Pinnacle Award in the Denver Business Journal’s 2023 Most Admired CEO awards program.

The American Alliance of Museums announced 41 reaccreditation awards featuring the following Affiliates:

:

Maha Freij, president & CEO of Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), was honored with the prestigious “Let Freedom Ring” Social Service award. The award presented by Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Push Coalition, recognizes individuals whose work and actions embody Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of social justice and humanity. ACCESS is the parent organization of the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI).

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Kudos Affiliates!! April 2023

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING 

Putnam Museum and Science Center (Dubuque, IA) received a $900,000 grant from Destination Iowa for its multi-year plan called Putnam Reimagined. The plan includes new exhibitions showcasing Quad-Cities history, innovation and material culture, experiences focused on families and how they impact people’s lives, upgraded education and science galleries and improvements in technology and infrastructure.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced one of the largest grants of $8 million for a new Dubuque Museum of Art (Dubuque, IA). The design is to create 45,000 square feet of new space while tearing down the 15,000 square foot current building and making it into a sculpture garden.

University of Oklahoma biomedical engineer Yuan Yang, Ph.D., has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award, known as a CAREER award, from the National Science Foundation to advance the scientific study of brain functional changes after a stroke and pioneer a tailored rehabilitation strategy that fits individual needs. The award will include a collaboration with Science Museum Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, OK) will provide resources on brain science, including the development and donation of posters, toy models and exhibits to “excite and inspire young kids about science, medicine and the brain.”

The Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, OK) announced a $93,000 federal grant award to identify and digitize collections of African American history found in state archives. The funding will be used to hired a project coordinator and an imaging specialist for a year and purchased a scanner for digitizing.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The Biden Administration announced William T. Harris, CEO, Space Center Houston (Houston, TX), and Ashley Jordan, President & CEO, African American Museum (Philadelphia,PA) have been appointed members for National Museum and Library Services Board. The National Museum and Library Services Board advises the agency on general policies with respect to the duties, powers, and authority of the Institute of Museum and Library Service relating to museum, library, and information services, as well as the annual selection of National Medals recipients.

The Air Zoo (Portage, MI) the received Historic Preservation Award, in recognition for the aviation museum’s restoration of 2 World War II aircraft rescued from the depths of Lake Michigan. The award was presented by the “Lucinda Hinsdale Stone” Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. About 140 volunteers from the restoration team are currently restoring two planes that were found in Lake Michigan, an FM-2 Wildcat, and an SBD-1 dive bomber.

Irving Archives and Museum (Irving, TX) was awarded the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) John L. Nau, Ill Award for Excellence in Museums for its exhibit The Irving Story. The award recognizes an individual or institution in the museum field for significant achievement in the areas of historical interpretation, museum education, conservation of collections and/or community involvement. “The Irving Story” features Irving’s story, from its frontier days, through its development into a rapidly growing suburb, and into the modern and diverse city it is today.

The following Affiliates (Category & Place) were recognized in the final 2023 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards:

Best Art Museum

No. 7: Booth Western Art Museum (Cartersville, GA)

No. 8: Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ)

Best History Museum

No. 1: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH)

No. 2: Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)

No. 9: Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Cody, WY)

No. 10: The National WWII Museum (New Orleans, LA)

Best Music Museum

No. 6: Birthplace of Country Music Museum (Bristol, VA)

Best Religious Museum

No. 6: National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, PA)

Best Science Museum

No. 3: Michigan Science Center (Detroit, MI)

No. 4: Tellus Science Museum (Cartersville, GA)

No. 5: Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, MO)

No. 10: The Museum of Flight (Seattle, WA)

Best Free Museum

No. 2: Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, MO)

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Kudos Affiliates!! February 2023

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING

New Hanover County leaders announced Cape Fear Museum (Wilmington, NC) was one of the first round of grant recipients from a $1.25 billion community endowment. The museum was awarded $17,000 to support STEM programs.

Philadelphia City Council approved a midyear budget transfer of $3 million to African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) to support museum operations.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (Albuquerque, NM) has partnered with Meta. The museum board voted unanimously to approve Meta’s proposal to grant the company the naming rights for the Space Sciences wing of the museum, including the planetarium, for a period of five years. In return, Meta will provide the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Foundation with a $300,000 grant, which will go toward expanding educational programming.

History Colorado (Denver, CO) was awarded $74,998 from the National Park Service as part of their Underrepresented Community Grants. History Colorado will fund a statewide survey of Green Book sites in Colorado, as well as to nominating one such location to both the National and State Registers of Historic Places. In addition, History Colorado recieved $40,000 from the Colorado Tourism Office to support the growth of the motor tour coach market through the promotion of diverse experiences and cultures in the American West.

Duke Energy has donated $20,000 to the White River Alliance to boost the nonprofit’s efforts to improve and protect water resources throughout central Indiana. Duke Energy’s support will fund the installation of two new White River Art Canoes, one near Duke Energy’s substation and the other at Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN) to raise awareness of the importance of the White River to the local economy and the quality of life for area residents. The donation is also supporting the planting of trees at Conner Prairie near the 3.3 miles of river that run through its property.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Association of African American Museums announced the particpants and advisors for their Mellon Funded Working Group. Samuel W. Black, Director, African American Program, Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA) and Dr. Jacqueline Hudson, Exhibitions Content Developer, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH) were named participants. Dr. Dina Bennett, Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs, American Jazz Museum (Kansas City, MO) was appointed advisor.

Antonio J. Busalacchi, President, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) (Boulder, CO), has been named an honorary member and fellow of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).

LEADERSHIP

Dan Provo, Director of Oklahoma History Center (Oklahoma City, OK) announced he is retiring from his position effective January 30, 2023. Jeff Briley has been named interim director.

Bishop Museum of Science and Nature (Bradenton, FL) announced that Mr. Andrew M. Sandall has been appointed the new CEO of the Museum. Most recently, Sandall has been the executive director of the Morris Museum (Morristown, NJ). Mr. Sandall will succeed interim CEO Charles Zajaczkowski and assume his new responsibilities on March 6, 2023.

The Long Island Museum (Stony Brook, NY) announced that Sarah Abruzzi and Joshua Ruff have been appointed to the joint role of co-executive directors of the museum. Neil Watson, former executive director of the LIM, retired on October 7 after nine years of leadership.

Kudos Affiliates!! November 2022

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING

Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust awarded the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, IA) a $200,000 grant for its Rivers to the Sea Gallery. The grant will support fabrication and installation of the exhibit, which will include new tanks for new animals. The museum also received $21,305 from Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program for Rivers to the Sea conservation education, and $5,000 from Andersen Corporate Foundation to support aquatic life in the exhibit.

As part of the North Carolina Science Museums Grant Program, the Schiele Museum of Natural History (Gastonia, NC) ($111,180.63) and Cape Fear Museum of History and Science (Wilmington, NC) ($111,691.76) received funding to support expenditures from 2022 through 2025.

Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (Akron, OH) received a gift of more than $5.9 million from the estate of Drs. R. Allen and Beatrix T. Gardner to support ongoing collections care and programming within their archives and museum. In addition, the Gardners donated an extensive archival collection documenting their groundbreaking work on chimpanzee learning, including the daily logs of chimpanzee learning, images, and film footage of the chimpanzees at play, and paintings created by the chimpanzees.

A $2 million gift commitment from Michigan State University Federal Credit Union to the Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, MI) will advance the Museum’s new CoLab Studio, which evolved from the museum’s partnership with Science Gallery International. In addition, the Museum has been awarded a grant of $24,000 from the State of Michigan Arts and Culture Council to present the exhibition Sounds of Religion and public programming that explores the myriad ways the sounds of religion permeate our daily lives.

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature (Bradenton, FL) has secured a state funded grant for $718,700 to be used in the expansion of its manatee care and rehabilitation program. The funds appropriated through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will provide supplementary assets for manatee rescue and rehabilitation. Upgrades include emergency transportation, veterinary lab equipment, and renovation of a newly leased facility in Myakka City, formerly used as a sea lion conservation center.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced $31.5 million in grants including these Affiliate projects:

The Dennos Museum Center (Traverse City, MI) ($8,717) for the purchase of four new flat file storage units and three flat file bases to rehouse the permanent collection of works on paper and photographs.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York, NY) ($9,417) to acquire folders to rehouse YIVO’s Jewish Political and Labor Movement Archives, which consist of 900 linear feet of materials documenting the activities of the Jewish Labor Bund in Europe, as well as other labor and political movements and organizations in the United States from 1870 to 1992.

Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (Akron, OH) ($10,000) to support a 3-day onsite assessment of their facility’s mechanical systems and a subsequent report of the findings. This is the first step in enabling the Center to match the mechanical capabilities in the building with the environmental needs of its historical collections for improved long-term care.

Museum of Flight (Seattle, WA) ($10,000) for digital preservation consultation that will result in a digital
collection development policy, a digital preservation plan, and staff training in best practices for digital preservation.

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience (Seattle, WA) ($189,410) to host workshops for 72 K–12 educators to learn about the histories of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the Pacific Northwest.

Kudos Affiliates!! October 2022

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING

Historic Annapolis (Annapolis, MD) has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant by the National Park Service to support the state-of-the-art restoration of the James Brice House, a National Historic Landmark located in downtown Annapolis. The grant is part of the inaugural round of funding for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

LEADERSHIP

HistoryMiami Museum (Miami, FL) has selected Natalia Crujeiras as its new CEO and executive director, becoming the first woman to assume the leadership of the museum. Starting October 3, she will officially take on the role that was previously held by Jorge Zamanillo, who was tapped in February as founding director of the Smithsonian’s newly created National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC. Previously, Ms. Crujeiras was executive director of cultural affairs for Miami Dade College and led six Miami-Dade cultural institutions, including the Miami Book Fair, the National History Landmark Freedom Tower, Miami Dade College Special Collections Galleries and the Miami Film Festival.

Historic Annapolis announced Karen Theimer Brown assumes the position of President and CEO of Historic Annapolis, serving as the day-to-day leader of the organization. Previously Senior Vice President of Preservation, Brown’s promotion builds on six years of her demonstrated leadership at HA and a growing presence in community affairs. Brown takes over from Robert C. Clark, whose role will shift to Executive Chairman of the organization.

The Museum of Arts & Sciences (Daytona Beach, FL) has appointed Tabitha Schmidt as executive director, succeeding Interim Executive Director Maria Hane, and former Executive Director Andrew Sandall. Ms. Schmidt comes to the museum after serving as the CEO of the Powell Gardens. Kansas City’s botanical garden, for the past six years. During her tenure at Powell, she guided the gardens through a shift in strategic direction that resulted in the highest attendance and membership numbers in its history.

Kudos Affiliates!! September 2022

Kudos to these Affiliates on their recent accomplishments! Do you have kudos to share? Please send potential entries to Aaron Glavas, GlavasC@si.edu.

FUNDING

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature (Bradenton, FL) has secured $547,000 in state funding to expand its manatee care program, providing additional holding and acute care space in the statewide effort to rescue, rehabilitate, release, and monitor Florida’s manatees.

The National Coral Reef Conservancy (ReeFLorida) at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (Miami, FL) secured $1,150,000 in state funding for the Conservancy. The monies will provide groundbreaking research, education, and conservation to save Florida’s damaged coral reef while connecting the Miami community to STEM-based education opportunities with the goal of conserving, restoring, and sustaining Florida’s Coral Reef.

The Morris Museum (Morristown, NJ) was awarded $15,000 under the Morris County Small Business Grant Program, to assist in part with operating expenses following a four-month shutdown of the museum due to the pandemic. In addition, the Museum was approved for a $186,939 Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant. The grant will help the museum to continue restoring the slate roof of the historic building.

The Putnam Museum and Science Center (Davenport, IA) received an equity grant from the Terracon Foundation, which support organizations that mirror Terracon’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. These grants are focused on systemic changes in racially diverse and underrepresented communities.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced grant awards for museums across the nation to improve services to their communities through the agency’s largest competitive grant program, Museums for America, and its special initiatives, Museums Empowered and Inspire! Grants for Small Museums.

Museums of America supports projects that strengthen the ability of individual museums to benefit the public by providing high-quality, inclusive learning experiences, maximizing resources to address community needs through partnerships and collaborations, and by preserving and providing access to the collections entrusted to their care. Affiliates funded through this year’s Museums for America program include:

  • Las Cruces Museum System (Las Cruces, NM) ($54,000) to adapt a museum exhibit into an educational resource for school-based settings. The Indigenous Borderlands exhibit will launch at the Branigan Cultural Center in late 2022, exploring Indigenous history and culture of the “borderlands,” in the present-day Las Cruces, NM, El Paso, TX, Ciudad Juárez, MX region. The project team will collaborate with local Indigenous academics and cultural leaders to develop educational activities that complement the exhibit and augment school curricula. They will design a traveling trunk as a mobile educational kit loaned to schools for use by teachers. Indigenous partners will provide in-classroom and recorded talks in connection with the trunk.
  • Indiana Historical Society (Indianapolis, IN) ($224,961) to implement an outreach program to support history organizations and individuals across Indiana in preserving their local stories. In response to a statewide needs assessment, the project will provide local organizations with training on best practices for collecting and retaining digital content.
  • Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA) ($151,580) to redesign the True Northwest: The Seattle Journey exhibition with a focus on integrating accessibility and inclusive design principles. The redesign will incorporate findings from a three-year evaluation of True Northwest and develop an exhibit that better reflects the lived experiences in the Puget Sound region.
  • Mercer Museum (Doylestown, PA) ($111,907) to improve the care, management, and intellectual control of 500 objects installed in 1916 in its Central Court, which has been preserved and exhibited as an historic interior.
  • Ohio History Connection (Columbus, OH) ($249,810) to launch the “Marking Queer Ohio” project to identify the stories, spaces, and places that reflect the impact of LGBTQ+ Ohioans in shaping the state’s larger history. As part of its Gay Ohio History Initiative, the museum will partner with Equality Ohio and a network of partners to build a foundation of primary sources to support the placement of ten LGBTQ+ historical markers across Ohio.
  • Cincinnati Museum Center (Cincinnati, OH) ($250,000) to fabricate and install the exhibit Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight, combining its invertebrate paleontology collection of more than 450,000 specimens with cutting-edge technology. Using an interdisciplinary approach and inclusive lens, the exhibit will blend science, history, and technology to enliven stories of the city’s prehistoric environment.
  • Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, CO) ($222,670) to conduct a three-year project to advance collections stewardship for logistically challenging large bones of dinosaurs in the Morrison Formation fossil collection. The project will increase access to these scientifically significant specimens—including holotype specimens—for scholars and the public.
  • Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT) ($236,788) to stabilize and improve the condition of film negatives from its collection that have been affected by a form of severe deterioration known as vinegar syndrome.
  • Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ) ($245,678) to improve the care, management, and long-term preservation and access to its collection of Native American materials, books, artist documentation, and archival collections.
  • Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA) ($104,690) to catalog and conserve items from its collection of art and associated ephemera of Japanese American artist Henry Sugimoto.
  • Adler Planetarium (Chicago, IL) ($116,857) to collaborate with Illinois library system partners to reach audiences throughout the state in advance of the October 2023 and April 2024 solar eclipses. The planetarium will develop a booklet and poster for librarians featuring solar eclipse educational activities and content. It will distribute these resources, along with a supply of solar viewing glasses, to every public library in Illinois, equipping them to share sky observing resources with their community members.
  • City Lore (New York, NY) ($190,000) to expand its “Creative Traditions” initiative by implementing a series of community-curated exhibitions, public programs, and mentoring opportunities to sustain the cultural traditions of diverse communities in New York City. The center will create a citywide network of folk and community-based artists, host monthly convenings and performances, and offer fellowships for four Cultural Ambassadors to curate exhibitions about their communities’ traditions and aspirations.
  • South Carolina State Museum (Columbia, SC) ($249,856) to improve the stewardship of its collections through a collections inventory and digitization project of 3,500 objects in its science and technology collection as well as 2,000 objects currently on view in its exhibition galleries.
  • Connecticut Historical Society (Hartford, CT) ($84,015) to provide digital access to primary sources as a response to new state legislation mandating every secondary school in Connecticut offer a course on Black and Latino studies starting in the 2022–2023 school year. Project activities include developing 10 digital resource packs that will contain digital copies of primary sources from the history society’s collection, a lesson plan linking the primary sources to themes in the state curriculum, and a short video giving deeper context to the primary sources.
  • Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, MI) ($92,129) to improve the care and management of over 2,000 vertebrate specimens that include rare, endangered, threatened, and extinct species.

Museums Empowered: Professional Development Opportunities for Museum Staff is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program supporting staff capacity-building projects that use professional development to generate systemic change within a museum. Affiliate awards include:

  • Wolfsonian (Miami Beach, FL) ($249,877) to expand the professional development opportunities that it offers to undergraduate and graduate students at Florida International University, a designated Hispanic Serving Institution.
  • Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, CO) ($211,531) to develop a training program for emerging leaders in the museum. Six cohorts of 12 staff members will participate in a 12-week training program led by a newly hired training specialist to develop leadership skills.

Inspire! Grants for Small Museums, a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program, is designed to reduce the application burden on small museums and help them address priorities identified in their strategic plans. Awarded Affiliates include:

  • Virginia Museum of Natural History (Martinsville, VA) ($37,781) to enhance its science education programs and outreach activities by transforming an existing underutilized laboratory into a new Exploration Lab.
  • Dennos Museum Center (Traverse City, MI ) ($24,665) to improve the care of its collection through rehousing and inventory updates. Informed by a recent Museum Assessment Program (MAP) report, the museum will purchase and install five compact shelving units and reorganize their storage space to optimize collections care for approximately 165 objects from Michigan and the Midwest.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced the projects for the National Leadership Grants for Museums program including:

  • Spurlock Museum (Urbana, IL) ($48,454) to develop an affordable, simple tool to measure the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light, which can cause irreparable damage to museum collections in galleries, work areas, and storage.
  • Ohio History Connection (Columbus, OH) ($49,340) to test and evaluate a community of support program model to encourage museum visits through Museums for All, an initiative through which museums offer free or reduced admission to people receiving food assistance.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Union Station, Kansas City (Kansas City, MO) has been named one of the 37 most beautiful train stations in the world by Architectural Digest.

LEADERSHIP

The trustees of the Abbe Museum (Bar Harbor, ME) announced the selection of Betsy Richards as the new Executive Director and Senior Partner with Wabanaki Nations. For over 25 years, Betsy Richards has been dedicated to building cultural and narrative power for Indigenous peoples and other BIPOC communities. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she brings to her role a wealth of experience in museums, philanthropy, social justice, and the performing arts.

The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs has named Anthony R. Fiorillo as the new executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (Albuquerque, NM). Previously, Fiorillo has been a senior fellow at the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University. He will begin on September 19.