Tag Archive for: Conner Prairie

Kudos Affiliates!! February 2023

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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!! December 2022

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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 

Peoria Riverfront Museum (Peoria, IL) received two major gifts as part of their 10th anniversary celebration. Along with a $1 million commitment from the Gilmore Foundation, the museum unveiled the latest acquisition for its permanent collection: a 10-foot amethyst geode from Uruguay. The funding will be used for additional acquisitions to their collections and exhibitions that will help bring in new audiences and inspire people at the museum. 

The Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, MI) was awarded $15,000 from Michigan Humanities to support public programming for Sounds of Religion. Sound of Religion is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in cooperation with the American Religious Sounds Project of The Ohio State University and Michigan State University and made possible through the generous support of The Henry Luce Foundation. 

Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum (Ashland, NE) received a $29,986 contract from the Nebraska Department of Education to be a Center of Excellence. As a Center of Excellence, the museum’s education team will develop a “STEM in Space” workbook that includes activities corresponding to 2023 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) directives, such as the Artemis Mission series and James Webb Space Telescope. 

Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art (Oak Brook, IL) was awarded $2,500 from the DuPage Foundation as part of its Community Needs grants. The grant will support ongoing programs at the museum. 

Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH) announced $800,000 in new commitments to its capital campaign including a $500,000 gift from the Hatch Foundation. 

Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach, CA) has been awarded a grant of more than $2.5 million by the Perenchio Foundation. The multi-year Operating Support Grant will go towards increasing the museum’s capacity and supporting day-to-day expenses, organizational learning, and additional staff. 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic named Cecilia Rokusek, president and chief executive officer of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (Cedar Rapids, IA) as the recipient of the prestigious Gratias Agit award. The award is in recognition “for the promotion of the good name of the Czech Republic abroad, and in appreciation of prominent personalities and organizations developing activities in non-governmental fields.” 

The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) presented the Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Individual Leadership Award to Peg Filliez, Volunteer, University of Nebraska State Museum (Lincoln, NE). The Individual Leadership category recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in a leadership role for the individual’s organization and/or the field. 

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) announced the reaccreditation awards of the Accreditation Commission for the following Affiliates: 

Conner Prairie Museum (Fishers, IN) 

Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver, CO) 

International Tennis Hall of Fame (Newport, RI) 

Kudos Affiliates!! May 2022

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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

Kenosha Public Museum (Kenosha, WI) received a $1,000 Creativity by Kids Small Grant from the Kenosha Community Foundation. The funding will support its Artsy Afternoons program for children.

Putnam Museum and Science Center (Davenport, IA) was the largest grant recipient by the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation for the 2022 grant cycle. The museum will receive $140,000 per year over five years to continue a reimagining of the museum, including a long-planned regional history update. Some of the Hubbell-Waterman funds will go to match a $245,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for an ongoing community collaboration exploring regional history.

Science Museum Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, OK) was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation through its Community Grant program. The grant will assist in developing capacity at the public libraries in Checotah and Westville to deliver educational hands-on science programming.

Amesite, Inc, a leading artificial intelligence software company, is partnering with Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN) to deliver an online Learning Community Environment™ system offering K-12 programs for teachers, parents, life-long learners, and students.

A new project “Equitable Access to the Night Sky” created by Springfield Science Museum, part of Springfield Museums (Springfield, MA), has been approved for a $750,000 federal earmark. The funds will create a full-dome, digital projection system with state-of-the-art software for the planetarium to augment the historical star ball.

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (Baltimore, MD) will received $650,000 as part of the fiscal year 2022 omnibus funding legislation. The funds will support the work of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission and construct a permanent exhibit and memorial to educate about these extrajudicial vigilante killings and honor the memories of those whose lives were taken.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The Michigan Association of Broadcasters named the Science of Grief podcast the winner of the Best Use of New Media award for Public Radio Group 2 during its 2021 Broadcast Excellence Awards ceremony. The Science of Grief podcast is a collaboration between WDET-FM, Detroit’s NPR Station, and Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, MI). The Broadcast Excellence Awards program recognizes outstanding achievement in broadcasting by commercial and public television and radio stations in Michigan each year.

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) announced reaccreditation awards to the following Affiliates:

USA Today announced the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, featuring the following Affiliates in the respective categories:

Winners of Best Science Museum

Winners of Best History Museum

Winners of Best Pop Culture Museum

Winners of Best Art Museum

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Year End Kudos!

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Congratulations 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 North Carolina Museum of History (Raleigh, NC) received a $2.5 million gift from the David R. Hayworth Foundation to create the Dr. David R. Hayworth Children’s Discovery Gallery. The Gallery will have four primary areas focusing on school-age children, preschoolers, a space for live learning, and the Tar Heel Junior Historian Association exhibition.

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation announced a $100 million commitment to transform the financial strength and long-term viability of Southeast Michigan’s arts and culture communities through the establishment of an endowment that will support the sector now and forever. The Foundation will gift the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI) $100,000 annually and Michigan Science Center (Detroit, MI) $200,000 annually to support general operating needs. Each organization will also co-design, in partnership with Community Foundation and national consultants, metrics and benchmarks that support their goals and strategic plans.

Kimball Electronics Gives, the employee giving circle of Kimball Electronics, announced Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN) has been awarded a $500 grant to support the purpose of Creating Quality for Life for the communities in which the company operates and where its employees live. 

The Durham Museum (Omaha, NE) received a $35,974 American Rescue Plan federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The museum plans to use the funding to add additional part-time facilitators to its education team. A portion will also be used to expand and enhance both online and on-site educational programming such as the museum’s virtual field trips and award-winning Museum Live! weekly webcast series.

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is distributing $1 million among 118 Iowa arts and cultural groups to encourage people to safely “Re-imagine, Re-engage, Reconnect” with concerts, museums, festivals, and one another. Funds will provide economic relief to organizations challenged by the pandemic. Recipients include:

Union Station, Kansas City, Inc. (Kansas City, MO) received a $5 million gift from the Sunderland Foundation to be used for a wide range of Union Station improvements, including diamond-polishing the granite and marble floors, repairing its ornate ceiling, and completely overhauling its restrooms.

Flushing Town Hall (Flushing, NY) received a $50,000 grant from the Guru Krupa Foundation in support of the cultural institution’s art education programs that cater to the population of Queens and beyond. The grant will fund Flushing Town Hall’s Diwali Festival and help fund artist fees and public programs, along with general operating expenses of Flushing Town Hall. 

Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT) will receive an American Rescue Plan Act grant award of more than $40,000 to support the rebuilding of the museum’s Sustainable Maritime Trades and Skills Program.

The NBA Foundation awarded a grant to the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA) to help create employment opportunities, further career advancement and drive greater economic empowerment for Black youth.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Retired Executive Director Dr. Bob Blackburn of the Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma City, OK) received the Governor’s George Nigh Public Service Award for his contributions during 41 years of public service.

The article ‘Not a Tinker’s Damn’: The Politics of Suffrage in the South Dakota Election of 1918, by Gerard Boychuk from the South Dakota History, the quarterly journal of the South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre, SD), won the Michael P. Malone Award from the Western History Association. The article was part of a special issue on the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted most women equal voting rights.

LEADERSHIP

The Morris Museum (Morristown, NJ) announced it has appointed Andrew Sandall to be the next president & CEO, succeeding Dr. Cleveland Johnson, who will retire at the end of the year. Sandall is currently the Executive Director of the Museum of Arts & Sciences (Daytona Beach, FL).

Kudos Affiliates!! October 2021

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Congratulations 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 National Park Service announced $7.27 million in Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants to support the preservation of historic buildings in rural communities across the country, including Ohio History Connection (Columbus, OH) ($750,000) for its Appalachian Region Historic Revitalization Sub-grant Program to rehabilitate and preserve historic buildings across Southeast Ohio.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, and Staten Island Borough President’s Office announced FY 2022 capital funding for the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden (Staten Island, NY) ($1.1 million) to support key infrastructure and expansion projects that will help ensure the historic cultural campus will continue to support the needs of organizations, while attracting audiences to Staten Island.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced History Colorado (Denver, CO) ($207,478) was awarded funding for the National Leadership Grants for Museums program, which supports projects that address critical needs of the museum field and that have the potential to advance practice in the profession so that museums can improve services for the American public. History Colorado will lead a collaborative effort to expand the Museums for Digital Learning (MDL) platform, an online resource providing K-12 educators with access to authentic collections-based museum resources for use in and outside the classroom. History Colorado, in partnership with the Field Museum and Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields will recruit additional museums to provide content in the form of Resource Kits that include activities such as narratives, slideshows, timelines, hotspots, games, and annotation activities, as well as ebooks.

In addition, IMLS announced $2,921,766 in CARES Act Grants to support the role of museums and libraries in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The following funded Affiliate projects were selected:

  • Adler Planetarium (Chicago, IL) ($198,760) will develop digital engagement experiences for 6th-8th graders in under-resourced neighborhoods in Chicago and rural communities of Illinois. The Adler will work with an interdisciplinary team of museum practitioners, educators, astronomers, and visualization experts to engage students in STEAM learning within 3-D immersive environments, with hands-on and digital pre/post activities to deepen the impact.
  • Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN) ($320,666) will develop a digital learning initiative for preschool and K-8 teachers as an alternative to onsite field trips during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The “Conner Prairie in the Classroom” project will provide an array of digital programming, complemented by “HiSTEAMic” hands-on classroom kits to support digital learning, digital backpacks to close the digital divide, and supplementary pre- and post-educational materials for educators and parents.

The National Park Service, in partnership with IMLS, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), announced $15,500,000 in Save America’s Treasures grants including the following Affiliate preservation and conservation projects:

  • The Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, CO) ($206,933) will inventory, process, and catalog the Jones-Miller Site, a Paleoindian Hell Gap period (ca. 10,500–11,500 years ago) bison kill site.
  • The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (Jackson, MS) ($291,109) will preserve its archaeological collections, which represent over 14,000 years of the state’s past.
  • Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT) ($52,300) will preserve and make accessible the newly acquired Witherill Ocean Liner Collection, which documents the evolution of ocean liners during a heightened period of immigration to the United States in the early to mid-twentieth century. The collection includes 7,500 pieces of documents, letters, brochures, and other ephemera pertaining to broad themes of American maritime history and culture, including accounts and documents from the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.
  • The B&O Railroad Museum (Baltimore, MD) ($500,000) will undertake a 36-month project to restore and interpret its No. 3316 ‘Washington’ Tavern-Observation Car built by the Pullman Company in 1949.  The project will provide a unique opportunity to board and go inside the car and an interpretive space to explore the impact of streamliner railroading on everyday Americans. New educational offerings will provide further interpretive information about the railroad car, particularly in the context of African American contributions to and experiences with railroading.
  • The Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society (New York, NY) ($352,300) will digitize the Baron de Hirsch Fund Records. Founded in 1891 to support Jewish refugees fleeing pogroms and abject poverty in Russia, the Baron de Hirsch Fund trained immigrants in farming and trades and provided financial support for everything from meeting new arrivals at ports of entry and teaching English language classes to assisting with farm mortgages.
  • Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) ($336,000) for the replacement of roofing installed over newly added plywood sheath and include repairs to weathered rafters, replace deteriorating posts and beams, and re-surface a second-floor exterior balcony. Insulation between the roof and ceiling will be added to improve energy efficiency in the 70-year old structures.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The Cosmosphere (Hutchinson, KS) won a 2021 Travelers’ Choice Award from Tripadvisor for being in the top 10% of attractions worldwide.

LEADERSHIP

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) announced Dr. Ashley Jordan has been named as the next President and CEO. Dr. Jordan, who most recently served as Senior Director of Development at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, brings significant experience managing and leading cultural institutions focused on memorializing and celebrating the African American experience in the United States.

Kudos Affiliates!! January 2021

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Congratulations 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 Abbe Museum (Bar Harbor, ME) and the California African American Museum (Los Angeles, CA) are recipients of an Art Museum Futures Fund grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The emergency COVID-19 grants will be used to support general operations.

The Ohio State Controlling Board approved $1.2 million to Ohio History Connection (Columbus, OH) for the support of educational initiatives. The funding is part of Ohio’s response to the health and economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery is donating to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD) as part of its Guinness Gives Back Baltimore Community Fund. As an extension of the brewery’s mission to contribute to America’s craft brewing scene in a positive way as makers and creatives, the brewery’s support will champion underrepresented artists to inspire the next generation.

Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH) received $61,200, an Ohio Arts Council CARES Act Economic Relief for the Arts award, to support salaries and operating expenses. In addition, the museum received $61,227 from the Park National Bank to support general operating expenses.

The Andrew W. Mellon and William Penn Foundations selected the African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) as one of 37 institutions to split an $8 million fund. The museum was awarded $200,000 to support general operating costs.

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission announced nearly $2 million in grants to museums and historical societies across the commonwealth including the following Affiliates:

Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded grants to the following Affiliates as part of its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The funding will be used to develop exhibitions and education programs that accurately portray the role of religion in the U.S. and around the world.

  • Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN) ($500,000) – to create a new storyline on the role of religion in African American history in the early 19th century.  The project will “explore the vital role of religion in the lives of antebellum Black settlers, who often thought of the Northwest Territory as their Promised Land.”
  • Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ) ($2,500,000) – to develop a permanent exhibition that will explore the origin stories of four North American indigenous tribes — the Seneca in the Northeast, the Yup’ik in the Arctic, the Akimel O’odham, and the Navajo in the Southwest — in an immersive and educational presentation that seeks to educate about the diversity and beauty of indigenous religion and spiritual practices.
  • Plimoth Patuxet Museums (Plymouth, MA) ($2,499,110) – to support The Light Here Kindled: Providence, Manitou and the Legacy of America’s Founding Faiths program that seeks to strengthen and expand the museum’s capacity to incorporate the crucial role of faith, particularly the beliefs and practices of Reformed Christianity, into its interpretations of Colonial Plymouth and the people of the indigenous Patuxet.

Putnam Museum (Davenport, IA) received a $35,000 grant from the Scott County Regional Authority to support the design and construction of a world culture gallery.

Wisconsin Maritime Museum (Manitowoc, WI) received a $138,000 State COVID-19 Cultural Organization grant to help sustain operations through challenges posed by the pandemic.

Peoria Riverfront Museum (Peoria, IL) received $700,000 through the Illinois Public Museum Capital Grants Program to support its STEM Inspires program for dome planetarium capital upgrades.

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (Cedar Rapids, IA) received a $10,000 Virtual Arts Experience grant through the Iowa Arts Council, to offer 15 virtual music performances by local artists for K-12 music classrooms and aging adults in care centers. Participating students and aging adults will engage in a virtual pen pal program. Students will submit music-related questions to adult learners who will record their responses with the help of care center staff.

Four Affiliates received a grant from the Iowa Arts and Cultural Recovery Program to provide relief for lost income or extra expenses incurred due to the pandemic. The grants may be used to offset operating expenses, as well as costs associated with reopening in person or adapting programs to virtual formats.

The Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, OH) will renovate its library using a $3 million gift made by the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Foundation. The gift allows for the continuation of the physical and cultural transformation of its main campus and headquarters by renovating the library’s first floor public reading room and consolidating staff workspaces.

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Kimberly Robinson, a 31-year NASA veteran, has been named the executive director and CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Huntsville, AL). She will assume her role Feb. 15. Robinson is NASA’s Utilization Manager for Advanced Exploration Systems and was previously the Payload Mission Manager for Artemis I, the first integrated flight test of the NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System rocket, and the Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Center.

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD) announced the appointment of Terri Lee Freeman, former President of the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN) as the new Executive Director. As a national leader, who brings an entire career in philanthropy, focused on fundraising and building strategic alliances, she will join the museum in February.

Ben Jones was named the new executive director of the South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre, SD). Ben is the former Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Education.

Dan Joyce announced he will retire as executive director of the Kenosha Public Museums (Kenosha, WI) at the end January following more than three decades at the museum.