Coming up in affiliateland: June 2016

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Texas
The SITES exhibition Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 opens at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, part of the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department, 6.4.

South Dakota
“Smithsonian Saturday” moves to Sunday for this online program at the South Dakota State Historical Society. The rebroadcast will feature the life of Hank Aaron, originally broadcast by the Smithsonian Channel, 6.5.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sweet Dreams, Baby!, from the portfolio, 11 Pop Artists, Volume III, 1965, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Philip Morris Incorporated, copyright Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sweet Dreams, Baby!, from the portfolio, 11 Pop Artists, Volume III, 1965, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Philip Morris Incorporated, copyright Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

Florida
A selection of 37 prints from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection are included in the Pop Art Prints exhibition at the Mennello Museum of American Art, opening 6.10.

South Carolina
The National Museum of Natural History loaned a meteorite to the Museum of York County to be included in its exhibition Dinosaur Revolution Maze, on view beginning 6.11.

Idaho
Last chance to see Titanoboa: Monster Snake at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, through 6.12.

New York
The Smithsonian Associates presents a New York City tour featuring the Museum of American Finance and its exhibition Worth Its Weight: Gold from the Ground Up, which includes artifacts from the Smithsonian and three Smithsonian Affiliates, 6.17.

Ellen Feingold, curator at the National Museum of American History, brings her expertise to the Museum of American Finance for a lecture on The Value of Money, 6.23.

North Carolina
The Schiele Museum of Natural History will partner with its local YMCA to host middle school students for the third installment of the astrophotography program, Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 6.20.

Maryland
Under Secretary, Richard Kurin, joins Smithsonian Affiliations Director, Harold Closter, to announce the new affiliation of Historic Annapolis. Dr. Kurin will also speak about the Hope Diamond following the affiliation announcement ceremony, 6.22.

Connecticut
Mystic Seaport concludes its Stars of the Smithsonian series with The Art of Oceanic Navigation and Land Finding lecture featuring Douglas Herman, Senior Geographer at the National Museum of the American Indian, 6.23.

Illinois
Harold Closter will visit the DuSable Museum of African American History, to announce its new affiliation with the Smithsonian, 6.25.

Beautiful Users is organized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Beautiful Users is organized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Georgia
Beautiful Users, a traveling exhibit from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, features nearly 100 objects that illustrate the evolution of “user-centered design,” at the Museum of Design Atlanta, 6.26.

Affiliates in the news: June edition

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Congrats to these Affiliates making news!  If you have a clipping that highlights a collaboration with the Smithsonian or with a fellow Affiliate, or a clipping that demonstrates leadership in education, innovation, and arts/culture/history/science you’d like to have considered for the Affiliate blog, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee

Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle President and Executive Director Douglas Dolan; Director of Smithsonian Affiliations Harold Closter and Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle Board of Trustees Chair John Augenblick show off the certificate that states the museum and the castle are now Smithsonian Institution Affiliates during a gathering at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown on Thursday, May 19, 2016. Photo by Christian Menno, Staff

Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle President and Executive Director Douglas Dolan; Director of Smithsonian Affiliations Harold Closter and Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle Board of Trustees Chair John Augenblick show off the certificate that states the museum and the castle are now Smithsonian Institution Affiliates during a gathering at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown on Thursday, May 19, 2016. Photo by Christian Menno, Staff

Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle (Doylestown, PA)
Doylestown museums now Smithsonian affiliates
The museum – which is celebrating its 100th year since first opening its doors in Doylestown – is now a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate along with Fonthill Castle.

2 Bucks County museums named Smithsonian affiliates
The Mercer Museum and its Fonthill Castle in Doylestown, Pa., have been named Smithsonian Institution affiliates, making the institutions two of only about 210 Smithsonian affiliates across the United States.

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, HI)
Interview: National Youth Summit at the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor  VIDEO
The Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor is participating in a National Youth Summit.  The discussion will focus on Japanese American Incarceration in World War Two.  We talked with Shauna Tonkin, she is the Director of Education at the Pacific Aviation Museum. 

Museum to participate in youth summit
Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor is one of four Smithsonian affiliate organizations hosting a regional youth summit, and is partnering locally with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii to host a panel discussion with scholars, family members of those incarcerated at Honouliuli Internment Camp, and Hawaii’s youth.

Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL

A Muslim American child reads a letter from a Japanese internment camp victim, with Rep. Mike Honda. (Courtesy of Frank Chi)

A Muslim American child reads a letter from a Japanese internment camp victim, with Rep. Mike Honda. (Courtesy of Frank Chi)

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
The Smithsonian asked Muslim American children to read Japanese internment-camp letters
In the 1940s, as Japanese American families were being rounded up and sent into years of imprisonment, a librarian in San Diego named Clara Breed gave children paper and ink and stamps. She told them to write to her, and she sent them books and letters. Chi came across the collection of letters on the Japanese American National Museum’s website. The museum, in Downtown L.A., houses the collection in an archive.

Space Center Houston (Houston, TX)
Sky-high ambition: : Greenfield native reflects on his path to becoming Space Center Houston CEO
The job comes at a particularly exciting time, Harris said, as NASA continues to pursue its vision of humans on Mars within the next several decades. “The other side of the coin here, too, is our nation faces a real crisis in science learning,” he said. “We have a whole generation of baby boomers who have worked in science careers that are retiring, and we do not have an adequate number of people in the pipeline to fill those positions.” A critical part of the space center’s infrastructure, he said, is to inform, engage and motivate young people’s interest in the STEM fields through outreach and education – skills that run thick in Harris’ blood.

Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)
NEXT Up: Andy Masich
I’m looking forward to a call with John Gray from the Smithsonian to discuss the American History 101 initiative, designed to help improve all Americans’ basic knowledge of history and civics. The History Center is proud of our Smithsonian affiliation–we’re “the Smithsonian’s home in Pittsburgh.”

The National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem opened its doors May 5, 2016, for a sneak peek at its collection. Planned since 1997, the museum is scheduled to open in the summer in a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. building. It features many items on loan from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Photo Sue Beyer for lehighvalleylive.com

The National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem opened its doors May 5, 2016, for a sneak peek at its collection. Planned since 1997, the museum is scheduled to open in the summer in a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. building. It features many items on loan from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Photo Sue Beyer for lehighvalleylive.com

National Museum of Industrial History (Bethlehem, PA)
Time to close one chapter of history in Bethlehem | Editorial
“We’re really trying to showcase the stories of people,” Hollander said, adding that the nation’s industrial heft will be displayed through the efforts of laborers, innovators and entrepreneurs, connecting the past with the future of industry and innovation. And thanks to the museum’s affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution, the grand opening will also showcase pieces from the Smithsonian Institution’s 1876 Centennial exhibit.

1st look: Sneak peek at National Museum of Industrial History (PHOTOS)
When the museum opens, the public will again have a chance to see pieces from the Smithsonian Institute’s 1976 bicentennial exhibit, which was a recreation of the original 1876 centennial exhibit. The museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian and exhibits are on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

VIDEO- Sneak peek: National Museum of Industrial History gives tour to history buffs
The museum has artifacts donated and lent by companies and community groups all over the Lehigh Valley. It features the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s collection of 19th-century machines representative of those at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, an event often regarded as the United States’ coming out party as an industrial powerhouse.

Polk Museum of Art (Lakeland, FL)
Judge looks forward to Mayfaire return: Maria del Carmen Cossu selected
Cossu said she was chosen to be judge by the Mayfaire coordinators Brenda Friedman and Maya Beck partly because of her work – the Smithsonian Institution and the Polk Museum of Art being a Smithsonian affiliate. She is the sole judge of the event.

Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE)
Hagley Museum Displaying Large Collection of Patent Models
Hagley Museum and Library now has the world’s largest private collection of patent models, second only to that of the Smithsonian Institution, after it acquired more than 4,000 models from the Rothschild Collection

Denver Art Museum (Denver, CO)
Star Wars invades Denver at art museum May the Fourth kickoff event
Dozens clad in intergalactic costumes gathered outside the Denver Art Museum on Wednesday to celebrate the ticket sales kickoff of the upcoming ” Star Wars and the Power of Costume” exhibit.

May the 4th be with you
Star Warsâ„¢ and the Power of Costume will open Nov. 13, 2016 at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibition will showcase more than 60 iconic costumes from the films and examine the captivating process of costume design. It was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in partnership with the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and in consultation with Lucasfilm Ltd.

Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum (Bisbee, AZ)
Bisbee tops list of top historic towns
Bisbee’s appeal lies in its Victorian architecture, pretty scenery and laid-back vibe, and the Smithsonian-affiliated Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum does an excellent job of recounting the town’s colorful history

Museum of American Finance (New York, NY)
Museum of American Finance Founder Makes Final Visionary Gift to Institution
Wall Street veteran John E. Herzog has announced a final $5 million gift to the Museum of American Finance, the New York institution he founded more than 25 years ago. Herzog established the Museum in response to the Crash of ’87 and has been the institution’s largest donor ever since.

Museum of American Finance founder donates $5 million to cause
John E. Herzog, founder of the Smithsonian Institution-affiliated Museum of American Finance, will be feted May 17 for his recent $5 million contribution to carry on the finance museum’s mission.

Photo courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Photo courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts (Alta Loma, CA)
Famous for His Rocking Chair, Sam Maloof Made Furniture That Had Soul
Curator Atkinson points out that “Maloof’s elegant curves just grow and bend as his designs mature.” A good example of this can be seen in the Smithsonian chair, on which the rockers curve slightly downward at the back ends. While this has a safety purpose, preventing a too-energetic sitter from falling over backwards, the curve adds to the chair’s elegance. Robyn Kennedy (no relation to any of the Kennedys previously mentioned), chief administrator at the American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, points out that the “way Maloof sculpts his elements gives even practical features an aesthetic feel.”

South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre, SD)
SD History Conference in Pierre focuses on food, including beer and ice cream
The idea of the heritage of food in the state, said keynote speaker Susan Evans McClure, is that since most people eat from time to time, looking at food is a good way to look at the wider history of any culture, or people or state. McClure is director of the Smithsonian Food History Programs at the National Museum of History and she spoke Friday.

The Rockwell Museum (Corning, NY)
Reimagining the Rockwell Museum in Corning
A newly established affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution will help the Rockwell bring new pieces and exhibits to Corning. The Rockwell Museum is the only Smithsonian-affiliated museum in upstate New York.

Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, MT)
Retiring Jack Horner celebrated at Museum of the Rockies
The Museum of the Rockies was just a small building back in 1982 when then-director Mick Hager hired Horner. .Horner’s summer digs in Montana’s badlands filled the museum with the world’s largest collections of Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops fossils. The nearly complete Wankel T-rex he dug up in 1988, renamed the nation’s T-rex, will be the centerpiece of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History when it opens in 2019.

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (Dubuque, IA)
Milwaukee zoo official to take over Dubuque’s River Museum
The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium and Dubuque County Historical Society announced Dr. Robert Davis will take over as President and CEO on Jun. 6. . Additionally, Davis has been a. a Smithsonian faculty fellowship recipient, Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park/Department of Animal Health/ Reproductive Physiology Program.

coming up in Affiliateland: May 2016

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Washington, D.C.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, 5.5.

Smithsonian Affiliations welcomes staff from Affiliate organizations at a reception celebrating our 20th Anniversary on the first day of the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting, 5.26

Florida
Maria del Carmen Cossu, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service project manager, will serve as a juror at the Mayfaire Arts Festival at the Polk Museum of Art, 5.7.

The Mennello Museum of American Art opens Pop Art Prints, an exhibition of 37 items from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The installation includes works from the 1960s by Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, and others. The installation is part of a series that highlights objects from the collection that are rarely on public view, opening 5.6.

Missouri
Last chance to see Above and Beyond at the Saint Louis Science Center. The exhibition celebrates the power of innovation to make dreams take flight and features two artifacts from the National Air and Space Museum. The exhibition closes 5.8.

California, Michigan, Washington, Hawaii, Colorado
Four Affiliates– Arab American National Museum, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, and History Colorado – and the National Museum of American History will connect via webcast to a live Youth Town Hall at the Japanese American National Museum for National Youth Summit: Japanese Incarceration in World War II, 5.17.

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Ohio
The Ohio History Connection will host a videoconference featuring Dr. Jeremy Kinney, curator at the National Air and Space Museum.  The videoconference will connect NASM with the Ohio History Connection and Stone Gardens Assisted Living Complex near Cleveland. Kinney will discuss the Enola Gay and its restoration while a curator from OHC will address the Ohio connections to the plane, 5.19.

Virginia
Last chance to see two of George Washington’s battle swords together for the first time in over 200 years. One sword is on loan to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens from the National Museum of American History. Exhibit closes 5.30.

clippings2Idaho
There’s still time to see Titanoboa: Monster Snake at the Idaho Museum of Natural History, an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. On view through 6.12.

SITES: 65 Years and Counting

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Special thanks to our colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) for this guest post.

Since our founding in 1951, we have traveled over 1,500 exhibitions to more than 13,300 host venues, and we’re still counting. When was the last time you hosted a SITES exhibition? Let us know of your interest in our latest offerings listed below and you’ll be among the first to receive more information as it becomes available.

Here’s what’s new:

Drought damage on Walnut Creek Ranch in CA in 2014. USDA photo by Cynthia Mendoza.

Drought damage on Walnut Creek Ranch in CA in 2014. USDA photo by Cynthia Mendoza.

H20 Today
Water is the most vital resource for life. Through immersive content, interactives and digital media, H20 Today explores the diversity and challenges of our global water sources. This fully designed, build-it-yourself exhibition is licensed and provided to host venues as print-ready graphic files, detailed design drawings, videos and computer interactives. Host venues can choose from a suite of engaging interactives and build what works best for your museum.

Dolores Huerta with bullhorn by Jon Lewis, gelatin silver print, 1965. ©Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Books & Manuscript Library

Dolores Huerta with bullhorn by Jon Lewis, gelatin silver print, 1965. ©Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Books & Manuscript Library

Dolores Huerta
Presidential Medal of Freedom-winner Dolores Huerta has shined in many roles over her celebrated life: teacher, human rights activist, civil rights pioneer, and National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers) co-founder. Huerta is an integral figure in women’s history, Latino history and American history, and SITES is proud to announce plans for a new exhibition that will explore her life, inspirations, and her social activism with César Chavez in the 1960s and 70s. Featuring bilingual text (Spanish and English), reproductions of historic and personal photographs and documents, stunning graphics, select videos, and supplemental educational resources, the exhibition is a collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Courtesy of Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smithgroup

National Museum of African American History and Culture
Courtesy of Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smithgroup

National Museum of African American History and Culture Poster Exhibition
SITES is proud to work with the National Museum of African American History and Culture to create an historic, limited-edition poster exhibition to celebrate the opening of the newest Smithsonian museum on September 24, 2016.  Based on the Museum’s inaugural exhibitions exploring African American history, culture and community, the poster exhibition will be accompanied by a broad range of programming ideas and educational resources to help venues connect to the Museum’s opening events.  A limited number of poster exhibition sets will be available by request beginning early this summer. Check sites.si.edu to learn more.

Last Painting, 1985-1993 Robert De Niro, Sr. Courtesy Estate of Robert De Niro, Sr.

Last Painting, 1985-1993
Robert De Niro, Sr.
Courtesy Estate of Robert De Niro, Sr.

The Art of Robert De Niro, Sr.
As New York City emerged as the center of the contemporary art world in the 1940s and 50s, a small group of artists achieved fame and became known as the New York School. SITES reintroduces the work of one of its members, Robert De Niro, Sr. (1922-1993). This retrospective, comprised of the artist’s most important works spanning several decades, will explore De Niro’s importance as an American artist, illuminate his personal artistic journey and critique the schools of art represented in his works. The Art of Robert De Niro, Sr. is organized in cooperation with the Estate of Robert De Niro, Sr. and DC Moore Gallery.

For additional information on any of these exhibitions, please contact us at sites_schedule@si.edu or 202.633.3140. Highlight your special connection to the Smithsonian by hosting a SITES exhibition!

Traveling to the AAM Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. later this month? Don’t forget to stop by SITES’ Booth #7045 for more information about our offerings, plus fun giveaways and raffle prizes. You’ll also have the chance to connect with SITES and Affiliations staff.

kudos affiliates! may edition

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Congratulations to these Affiliates on  their accomplishments! Have an award, a funding announcement, or significant staff change you’d like to see here? Email us!

Funding

Three charitable foundations gifts totaling $650,000 were awarded to Union Station, Kansas City, Inc.’s expansion and bridge project. The Gary Dickinson Family Charitable Foundation donated $250,000. The Sunderland Foundation donated $250,000. The Victor E. and Caroline E. Schutte Foundation donated $150,000. The expansion will include an interactive outdoor exhibit at Science City based on a winning entry in the last Battle of the Brains competition. The project also will include a new entrance to the theater area and planetarium.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum announced the upcoming expansion of the exhibit “Wisconsin’s Underwater Treasures,” thanks to an $85,000 donation from the Ruth St. John and John Dunham West Foundation. The exhibit is focusing on the historic and cultural significance of many notable shipwrecks and unique personal stories from communities along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline and will include new technology-based experiences along with a variety of interactives for visitors.

The South Dakota Historical Society Foundation has received a $5,000 grant from the BNSF Railway Foundation and a $1,000 grant from the Midco Foundation to digitize historic photographs and make the images available online.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced $21.1 million in grants for 248 humanities projects including the following Affiliate initiatives:

Ohio History Connection: $74,943
Project Title: TourSites for WordPress: Digital Tour Experiences for Multi-site Museum Networks
Project Description: The development of a platform that supports the sharing of humanities content through mobile tours in both exterior and interior spaces, building on Curatescape and WordPress platforms.

National Museum of American Jewish History: $40,000
Project Title: Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music
Project Description: Planning for a traveling exhibition, a scholarly catalog, and curriculum materials exploring the life, music, and influence of composer Leonard Bernstein.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Match: $260,000
Project Title: The YIVO Vilna Collections Project
Project Description: The arrangement and description of 301 linear feet of manuscripts and archives and the creation of over 458,000 digital images from these sources, which form part of the “Vilna Collections” held by the YIVO Institute, a repository housed in the Center for Jewish History. Images created by YIVO will be merged with extant holdings of the Lithuanian Central State Archive and National Library of Lithuania as part of a larger seven-year initiative.

Dane County approved $17,087 in grant awards through the Dane County Environmental Council’s Community Partners and Capital Equipment programs including $1,000 to the Madison Children’s Museum (Madison, Wisconsin). The funds will be used for purchasing supplies and equipment needed to develop a traveling homing pigeon program for local events, camps, and summer school programs that serve low-income areas in Dane County.

Connecticut Humanities granted Mystic Seaport $10,415 for the development of an exhibition centered on the newly re-installed captain’s cabin of the Down East merchant ship, The Benjamin F. Packard. The planning phase of this project requires extensive research in the museum’s collections and an audience study on engagement. This exhibit will teach about the maritime cargo trade that shaped Connecticut throughout history.

PPG Foundation Donates $10,000 to Frontiers of Flight Museum for Tech-Focused Program Grant supports expansion of Young Women’s STEM Leadership Initiative. The program serves 6th through 12th grade students from three public all-girls schools in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Awards and Recognition

The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced the 10 recipients of the 2016 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to the community including Mid-America Science Museum (Hot Springs, Arkansas).

Kristin A. Swain, executive director of The Rockwell Museum, was honored during the Museum Association of New York’s annual conference. Swain received the Anne Ackerson Innovation in Leadership Award for guiding “staff and the museum board of trustees through the broadening of the Rockwell’s mission, transitioning focus from the American West to ‘art about the American experience.

The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center was recognized with the Keepin’ it Fresh and New Award for its Vietnam Exhibit – Courage, Commitment, and Fear. The center was recognized by the Hershey Harrisburg Visitors Bureau Partner in Tourism Platinum Award Ceremony.

Leadership and Staff Changes

Michael Hammond, Ph.D., Executive Director of Agua Caliente Cultural Museum for the past 17 years, has announced his retirement effective July 31, 2016.

The San Diego History Center has a new director.  Bill Lawrence previously served as operations manager and trustee and comes from a background in broadcasting.

The San Diego Natural History Museum has announced that Judy Gradwohl, who has held numerous positions at the Smithsonian Institution, will be its new president and CEO, replacing Michael “Mick” Hager, who’s retiring June 30 after 25 years at the Balboa Park institution.

Mystic Seaport announced that Nicholas R. Bell has been named Senior Vice President for Curatorial Affairs, a new position at the Museum that will be responsible for the care, management, strategic development, and exhibition of the Museum’s collections. Bell will assume the position June 1, 2016. Bell is presently The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC.

A new CEO with extensive fundraising, strategy and communications experience takes the helm at the Space Center Houston. William T. Harris has more than 30 years in nonprofit leadership and was previously at the California Science Center Foundation as senior vice president of development and marketing. 

David Wood has been promoted from director of exhibits and operations to chief operating officer at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. In his new role, Wood will direct and oversee the daily operations and logistics of the museum, including exhibit development and management.

Bethlehem’s National Museum of Industrial History has hired Andria Zaia as curator of collections. Zaia will be responsible for overseeing the museum’s collection of iron, steel, textile, and industrial artifacts and archival materials.

Affiliates in the news: May edition

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Congrats to these Affiliates making news!  If you have a clipping that highlights a collaboration with the Smithsonian or with a fellow Affiliate, or a clipping that demonstrates leadership in education, innovation, and arts/culture/history/science you’d like to have considered for the Affiliate blog, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee

The musicians Terri Davis, left, and Bill Saxton at the opening of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times The National Jazz

The musicians Terri Davis, left, and Bill Saxton at the opening of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times

National Jazz Museum in Harlem (New York, NY)
National Jazz Museum in Harlem reopens in new location
On the very same day that the United States Postal Service held a ceremony in Newark, New Jersey, to celebrate the new Sarah Vaughn postage stamp, Harold Closter, Director of Smithsonian Affiliations, told a funny anecdote about his contribution to the history of jazz. Addressing the audience at the opening night of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s new location, Closter joked that his contribution to jazz history was the time he was tasked with carrying the train of “the Divine One’s” (as Vaughn was known) dress onstage once.

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem Finds a Permanent Home
The museum found its footing, in incremental steps, under the executive leadership of Loren Schoenberg. A veteran saxophonist, pianist, educator and historian, Mr. Schoenberg brought an air of authority to the museum, while strengthening its bonds with the jazz public and institutions like the Smithsonian.

Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, MO)
Saint Louis Science Center selected as Smithsonian Institution Affiliate
“We are very pleased to join the ranks of some very distinguished organizations and institutions across the country,” said Bert Vescolani, president and CEO of the Saint Louis Science Center. “Having the opportunity to share Smithsonian artifacts, including space capsules, aircraft and rare minerals with our visitors will help to spark interest and excitement in science and the important role it plays in our lives.”

Mid-America Science Museum (Hot Springs, AR)
Mid-America Science Museum wins prestigious national award
Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs has landed the Institute for Museum and Library Services National Medal for Community Service. The award stands out as only 10 museums and libraries around the country are awarded it each year.

Visitors at "The Art of Video Games" exhibition. Photo courtesy Frost Art Museum.

Visitors at “The Art of Video Games” exhibition. Photo courtesy Frost Art Museum.

Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum (Miami, FL)
Remember ‘Pac-Man’? Museum exhibit has fun with classic video games
From “Pitfall!” and “Space Invaders” to “Super Mario Brothers,” the collection celebrates the artistic and creative factors involved in creating the games’ virtual landscapes and moving images.

1960s Living Room at the Senator John Heinz History Center. (Photo: Rachellynn Schoen)

1960s Living Room at the Senator John Heinz History Center. (Photo: Rachellynn Schoen)

Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)
Playing With the Past
There were many other surprises in this exhibit of nearly 500 favorites developed in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society. For those of you who destroyed or failed to hold on to your childhood treasures, the 8,000 square-foot exhibit may well be worth the trip to Pittsburgh. Your head will be swiveling as Mr. Potato Head, Gumby, Barbie, and action figures from three decades vie for your attention.

National Inventors Hall of Fame
The Greatest Celebration Of American Innovation Inspiring The Future And Honoring The Past
The National Inventors Hall of Fame and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host the Greatest Celebration of American Innovation May 4-5. The two-day event will include the Induction of 16 innovation trailblazers into the Hall of Fame [at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery] and the unveiling of the expanded National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum.

DuSable Museum of African American History (Chicago, IL)
DuSable Museum named as Smithsonian Institution affiliate
Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History has been granted affiliation status by the Smithsonian Institution. The distinction, announced Thursday, gives the museum access to Smithsonian artifacts and traveling exhibits. The DuSable is the second Chicago facility to receive Smithsonian Affiliate status, joining the Adler Planetarium.