coming up in affiliateland in september 2011

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Fall is underway in Affiliateland!

ARIZONA:
The Challenger Space Center opens the National Air & Space Museum’s In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight in Peoria, 9/2.

PENNSYLVANIA:
Senator John Heinz History Center displays four artifacts from the National Museum of American History in its Stars & Stripes: An American Story exhibition in Pittsburgh, 9/10.

TEXAS:
Bill Fitzhugh, archeologist from the National Museum of Natural History, will give a public lecture on Genghis Khan at the Irving Arts Center in Irving, 9/10.

FLORIDA:
The National Museum of Natural History’s Dr. Valerie Paul gives a talk at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach, 9/10.

The South Florida Museum, Tampa Bay History Center, and the Frost Art Museum will be represented at the Florida Association of Museums for an Affiliations Session in Sarasota, 9/20.

The Museum of Arts & Sciences will host the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Daytona Beach, 9/23.

CALIFORNIA:
The Riverside Metropolitan Museum will host Smithsonian Citizen Science Week in Riverside, 9/20.

NATIONWIDE:
More than 80 Affiliates take part in Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day, 9/24.

 

kudos affiliates! september 2011

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Affiliates have been busy in September!  Kudos to all.

The Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI) raised $285,887, with $150,000, from the Museums for America grant program. The funds will benefit the museum’s Understanding Arabs, Arab-Americans and Islam initiative, which aims to educate students throughout the Midwest. The museum also has been awarded a $150,000 grant by the American Association of Museums (AAM) for a project titled Watch Your Waste. The grant enables the Museum to partner with the Children’s Museum Jordan in Amman, Jordan, to create an e-museum where children from both countries will simultaneously conduct research about the garbage their families generate and dispose of.

Seven other Affiliates received Museums for America grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, Michigan) will receive nearly $150,000 to complete chemical testing for natural science specimens and to make database and technological enhancements for its natural science and cultural collections.

 USS Constitution Museum Foundation(Charlestown, Massachusetts) will received $149,023 for a hands-on, Old Ironsides 1812 Discovery Center gallery and programs, grounded in research and designed for all ages, to learn about the USS Constitution and the War of 1812.

National Civil War Museum (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) will receive $138,600 to fund The Civil War 150 Years Later–Bringing History Back for the Future, a primarily Web-based project that is intended to enhance educational resources available to teachers, students, and the public on the Civil War.

Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) will receive $112,760 to design, create, and coordinate travel for a 500-square-foot exhibition about the role of western Pennsylvania in the Civil War. 

Chabot Space and Science Center (Oakland, California) will receive $149,963 to implement the design phase of its upcoming outdoor exhibit, Launchpad. Through Launchpad, students and visitors will learn about space and the sciences as they play and engage in hands-on activities throughout the exhibit.

Conner Prairie (Fishers, Indiana) will receive $141,885 to develop and implement Test Lab: Indiana Inventions, a 500-square-foot exhibit focusing on the themes of energy, innovation and invention; life sciences; and environment and nature; that will place visitors in the role of a scientific investigator. 

Hubbard Museum of the American West (Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico) will receive $79,355 to upgrade and add technology to its new distance learning center to provide new opportunities to learn about the history and culture of the southwest for adults, families, and pre-K through grade 12 students.

 Two other Affiliates received funding for the 2011 Museums & Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA) program by the American Association of Museums and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs:

Atomic Testing Museum (Las Vegas, Nevada) will partner with the Karaganda Ecological Museum (Karaganda, Kazakhstan) to develop Nuclear Weapons Testing Legacy: The Tale of Two Cultures. Students in both cities will collect oral histories and radiation data from the areas surrounding the Nevada and Semipalatinsk test sites. Ultimately, participants will produce a joint report and conduct symposiums with experts in each country to explore the local and international implications of their findings.

California Science Center (Los Angeles, California) will work with Maloka (Bogota, Colombia) to create Rainforest Leadership Academy: Cross-Cultural Teacher Training and Mentoring.  To empower teachers with the resources, skills, knowledge, and the confidence to deliver inquiry-based science lessons to their classes, the California Science Center and Maloka will enlist mentor teachers from local public schools to collaboratively develop materials for teacher professional-development trainings and student activities.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was awarded $149,287  as part of the Museum Grant for African American History and Culture by The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  AAMP will create resources for smaller museums through a project that trains future African American museum professionals.

Three affiliates received grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities to support ongoing projects.

Montana Historical Society (Helena, Montana) received $290,000 to digitize over 100,000 pages of Montana’s microfilmed newspapers, dating from 1864 to 1922, as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

Center for Jewish History (New York, New York) will receive $103,657 to support the digitization of approximately 1,000 volumes to add to the Wissenschaft des Judentums library, which was dispersed and partially destroyed during World War II.

Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was awarded $325,000 to support the digitization of 100,000 pages of Oklahoma newspapers dating from 1836 to 1922, as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

 JP Morgan Chase & Co. is donating $1 million to the Perot Museum of Nature & Science (Dallas, Texas) to support the Bio Lab and related educational programming in the Being Human Hall, which will be part of the new museum under construction.

Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Dowell, Maryland), received a $12,000 grant from The Dominion Foundation’s to give more than 60 teens an opportunity to participate in center’s summer arts program.

The Museum of History & Industry (Seattle, Washington) has received a gift of $10 million from Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com. The grant will be used to establish the Center for Innovation at the new MOHAI opening in late fall of 2012.

bring history to life (literally) with Smithsonian theater programs

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a montage of History Alive programs, courtesy of Julia Evins

A college student in 1960s attire carrying a Civil Rights protest sign starts singing in the great hall, leading visitors to a training session to prepare for a student sit-in.  The legendary John Brown thunders in an exhibition pocket theater about his anti-slavery activities and why violence is justified.  Mary Pickersgill lays out a swath of cloth on the museum floor, asking visitors to help design  the stars for her latest project, the 1813 American flag that would become the Star-Spangled Banner.

What is going on at the National Museum of American History (NMAH)?  The History Alive! Theater Program gets visitors talking about history through an interactive, personal presentation of the stories of America’s past that resonate in the nation’s present.  NMAH shows use emotion, tension, and conflict to lead visitors comfortably through a exploration of challenging issues and topics.   

Now NMAH’s award-winning historic theater programs are eyeing the road.  Designed to travel, the programs and their actors can re-create the Smithsonian experience at Affiliate sites.  The performances can be customized to take place in a variety of locations, with different kinds of audiences, or for special celebrations such as Black History Month.  The costs include a daily fee and travel from Washington;  contact your National Outreach Manager for more information.  

Affiliates have the unique opportunity to offer two of the most popular theater programs from the nation’s history museum to their visitors.

Join the Student Sit-Ins
Join the Student Sit-Ins is an interactive presentation of the story of the 1960 sit-in for desegregation that took place at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Visitors take part in a training session based on an actual 1960s manual and prepare for their first sit-in.  The program won the Smithsonian’s Education Excellence Award in 2009 for the Institution’s best educational program.  According to one participant, “The Greensboro Lunch Counter performance was the most powerful exhibit that I’ve seen in DC.  The woman who did it was wonderful and passionate and brought me to tears.”  C. Vanarthos 8/13/11.  For more, read about the program in the Smithsonian’s Around the Mall blog.

 

John Brown makes his case to a jury of museum visitors at the National Museum of American History

The Time Trial of John Brown
History and memory are not always one and the same.  When History is on trial, only Time can be the judge.  Created in 2010, the Time Trials series allows visitors to debate and discuss the historical legacy of controversial figures.  In The Time Trial of John Brown, visitors meet the passionate and committed abolitionist who violently opposed the expansion of slavery and led a raid against the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in hopes of inciting a slave rebellion.  Visitors discuss and debate Brown’s legacy:  should we remember him as a heroic martyr, a vigilante murderer, something in between, or something else entirely? 

So, if you’re looking for a creative new way to engage your audiences, consider History Alive! Theater Programs and step right in to history!

happy anniversary to the American Jewish History museum

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August 6, 2011
Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the Smithsonian’s partnership with the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) in Philadelphia.  When we met, the Museum shared space on Independence Mall with the  Congregation Mikveh Israel (known as the “Synagogue of the American Revolution”), whose members founded the Museum in 1976.   As the only Museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to the American Jewish experience, its 15,000 square feet presented an opportunity to share over 100 exhibitions and the largest collection of Jewish Americana in the world. 

Barry Halkin/Halkin Photography, courtesy of the National Museum of American Jewish History

Today, the Museum has moved a half-block, to a new,  state-of-the-art five-story building facing the Liberty Bell that will be celebrating its first birthday this November.  This location is significant and appropriate.  The Museum documents the 350+ year history of Jews in America, and in so doing, celebrates the freedoms that have made it possible for Jewish Americans – or any other ethnic group – to flourish in this country. 

The Smithsonian has been a proud partner with the Museum during our decade-long relationship.  For example, in 2002 the Institution worked with the Museum during Philadelphia’s ‘Culturefest’ to present Smithsonian curators and scholars on a variety of topics.  In 2005, the Museum hosted an ‘antiques roadshow’ program, designed to help its visitors save their personal collections, with the help of a Smithsonian conservator.

With the opening of the Museum’s new home, our partnership reached new heights.  NMAJH is now displaying artifacts that are among the most rare and valuable in all the Smithsonian’s collections.  Visitors to the Museum can see Albert Einstein’s pipe, Sandy Koufax’s baseball glove, and Irving Berlin’s World War II uniform, among other items of Jewish Americana.  And our plans to share even more objects extend for many years forward.

So, to our friends and colleagues in Philadelphia – mazel tov!  Here’s to our accomplishments and may there be many more to come in the next ten years.

Staff on the Road @ fall museum conferences

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As we look ahead to conference season, we wanted to share with our Affiliates the schedules of the conferences that Affiliations staff members will be attending.  We’d love for you to come out and visit with us, or share this information with other colleagues you’d like us to meet!

August 3-6, Tallahassee, Florida: National Outreach Manager Alma Douglas will attend the 2011 Association of African American Museums Annual Conference.  

September 20-23, Tampa, Florida: National Outreach Manager Alma Douglas will participate in a panel discussion at the 2011 Florida Association of Museums Annual Conference.  She and staff from three Florida Affiliates (The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University , Tampa Bay History Center and South Florida Museum and Parker Manatee Aquarium) will discuss the “Benefits of Smithsonian Affiliation.”

October, 25-27, Greenville, South Carolina: External Affairs Manager Christina DiMeglio Lopez and National Outreach Manager Caroline Mah will host a session and exhibitor’s booth at the Southeastern Museums Conference.  Joining them will be staff from Smithsonian Affiliates in the Southeast.  

November 16-18, Harford, Connecticut: Assistant Secretary for Education and Access Claudine Brown will present as a keynote speaker at the New England Museum Association on the topic of, “Museums in the Mirror: Reflecting Relevance in a Diverse Society.”  Smithsonian Affiliations will sponsor a snack break on the first day of the conference hosted by National Outreach Manager, Jennifer Brundage. 

Hope to see you on the road!

 

 

uncovering the smithsonian’s jazz archives

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James Moody 1984. copyright 2011, Stephanie Myers.

Jazz saxophonist James Moody was raised in Newark, New Jersey, so it is little wonder that the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, the sole New Jersey Affiliate, celebrates his legacy so predominantly. In 2008 as part of the District’s annual Music Festival, they hosted a homage to James Moody, in which he himself played with many jazz luminaries, as well as with the Smithsonian’s Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

When Moody passed away in 2010, Anthony Smith, Director of Communications and Community Affairs, and Producer of the Music Festival, knew that it was time for a major tribute to this legendary figure. That’s when he turned to the Smithsonian. In addition to a musical tribute and naming a housing unit in the District for Moody, Anthony wanted to highlight Moody’s career through images, and to create a photography exhibition in Lincoln Park’s community gallery.

With the help of archivists in the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, Anthony found a collection of Stephanie Myers’ photographs, an artist and jazz photographer who donated prints to the Smithsonian in 2005 and 2009. In addition to images of Moody and his peers, she also captured timeless moments from prominent jazz festivals, such as La Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France, represented in the Archives Center’s collection of her works.

David Haberstich, Curator of Photography in the Archives Center, remarked that a great strength of the Archives Center’s holdings is material related to American music, especially jazz. “This includes a good representation of many fine photographers who specialize in photographing jazz musicians in action, up close and personal,” he said. “We’re eager for opportunities to exhibit these photographs and share them. We’re pleased to show them to anyone by appointment, from members of the general public to serious scholars.”

Although the Smithsonian’s prints could not be reproduced because of intellectual property concerns, seeing this collection “opened a door” for Anthony that led him directly to the photographer herself, who lives in New York City. Stephanie Myers was also a close friend to James Moody. “We hit it off immediately,” says Anthony. “She understood how we were trying to honor James, and wanted to be a part of it.”

James Moody, 1987. Copyright 2011, Stephanie Myers.

Together, they consulted Moody’s discography and crafted an exhibition of 30 of Stephanie’s photographs that highlight Moody and the musicians who played with him throughout his 50+ year career. The prints will be arranged in the gallery much like a stage performance, with Moody surrounded by various members of the rhythm section and fellow soloists. (Many of these same musicians will be playing in the 6th Annual Music Festival in Newark, July 29-31, 2011.) In addition, the gallery will present 20 of the District’s own photographs from the 2008 Music Festival Tribute to Moody.

Music Speaks: Moody’s Musical Moods show will open on July 28, 2011 and run through October. Visitors to the exhibition will be encouraged to leave their memories and experiences with James Moody’s music. Several public programs are planned, including a photography workshop for youth with Stephanie Myers.

“Sometimes collaborations with Affiliates turn out differently than the original plan,” said Jennifer Brundage, National Outreach Manager in Smithsonian Affiliations. “It’s especially nice when it results in new opportunities we hadn’t imagined before!”