Tag Archive for: Conner Prairie

Smithsonian Affiliates in the news!

This week has been busy in Affiliateland. From World Historic Site nominations to Civil War anniversary events, to welcoming new Affiliates, it’s not only the temperature that’s on fire this week!

"Crochet Coral and Anemone Garden" with sea slug by Marianne Midelburg. Photos © The IFF by Alyssa Gorelick.

Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science (Davenport, IA)Smithsonian Community Coral Reef to live on in Davenport, Iowa. READ MORE 

Rubin Museum of Art (New York, NY)
It is a rare and wonderful day when The Observer can share not one but two news items from the sometimes-sleepy world of Tibetan art. READ MORE 

With the support of a three-year, $270,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, Dr. David Jackson–the world’s foremost scholar of Tibetan Buddhist painting and a consulting curator for the Rubin Museum–will publish a new series of exhibition catalogues on Tibetan thangka paintings drawn primarily from the museum’s collection. READ MORE 

Poverty Point State Historic Site (Baton Rouge, LA)
Louisiana is working with the federal government to put the Poverty Point State Historic Site in northeast Louisiana on the World Heritage Site list. READ MORE 

Prehistoric earthworks of Poverty Point

The prehistoric earthworks of Poverty Point in Louisiana and a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings across the United States will be nominated by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for the U.N. World Heritage List. READ MORE 

Poverty Point Nominated for World Heritage List. READ MORE 

HistoryMiami (Miami, FL)
One of Miami-Dade County’s oldest cultural institutions, has been accepted as a Smithsonian Affiliate. READ MORE 

HistoryMiami Becomes an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, Claudine Brown, Smithsonian Institution’s Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, to present HistoryMiami with Certificate of Affiliation. READ MORE 

Mark the occasion as HistoryMiami becomes a Smithsonian Affiliate. READ MORE 

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (Spokane, WA)
Forrest B. Rodgers has been appointed the new executive director of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. READ MORE 

Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)
History center helps antique owners put a price on the past. READ MORE 

Civil War 150th Anniversary:

National Civil War Museum (Harrisburg, PA)
Without stars or bars, blue and gray flags dot the entrance to the National Civil War Museum – each representing a soldier killed in a battle the Confederates called Manassas and the North called Bull Run. READ MORE

To mark the 150th anniversary of the battle of Bull Run — the first major battle of the Civil War — The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg set out blue and gray flags to honor all those soldiers killed in action. READ MORE 

Greensboro Historical Museum (Greensboro, NC)
Combining state-of-the-art 3-D technology with American history, the Greensboro Historical Museum will offer a special program of some 170 images of President Lincoln and the Civil War era. READ MORE 

Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN)
The magic of technology combines with the authenticity of characters in an outdoor historical setting to provide a truly unique experience. READ MORE 

Smithsonian Affiliations Reciprocal Membership Program

Here’s a great deal you may already have access to: Paying for membership to one museum can actually mean free entry into several museums across the country. READ MORE

kudos Affiliates! May 2011

Bravo to the five Affiliates awarded IMLS’ 2011 American Heritage Preservation grants!

were five of 54 museums nationally to receive the  grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium received a $2,948 grant to conserve native son and nationally known artist Alexander Simplot’s painting of the steamboat Virginia titled Steamboat Taking on Wood. Plimoth Plantation received $1,153 to preserve and protect house the museum’s 130-item rare book collection which provides perspectives on both the seventeenth century and the legacy of the English colonists and native Wampanoag people living in seventeenth-century Plymouth Colony. The Senator John Heinz History Center received $2,975 to conserve the Adam Saam discharge paper, which is believed to be the only surviving example of the elaborate pre-printed form of discharge paper from the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Wing Luke Asian Museum will use their $3,000 grant to conserve the painting, Rock Island Dam, by Japanese-American Painter Takuichi Fujii. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum received $3,000 to purchase equipment to record temperature and relative humidity levels in its newly expanded museum facility and on the submarine USS Cobia, a National Historic Landmark vessel.

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust has awarded Conner Prairie Interactive History Park (Fishers, Indiana) $100,000 to support the 1863 Civil War Journey Exhibit.

The Arizona State Museum (Tucson, Arizona) was awarded a $400,000 grant from the federal preservation competition Save America’s Treasures. The project entitled Saving Woven Wonders of American Heritage will rehouse the most comprehensive collection of Southwest Native American woven basketry in a climate-controlled space, which will include visitor visibility, to mitigate threats from light, temperature, humidity, insects, and abrasion.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) will be part of a $39,550 Joint Effort Marketing grant presented by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism to market a new multi-community sales promotion, “Wisconsin’s Schooner Coast Passport.

affiliates in the news

Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines this week! 

Conner Prairie received the National Medal for Museum Service, a top honor for museums and libraries. (Photo Courtesy Conner Prairie)

Conner Prairie (Fishers, Indiana)
Top museum honor goes to Conner Prairie. READ MORE 

Miami Science Museum (Miami, Florida)
MiaSci receives girls’ education grant. READ MORE 

African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Citizens Bank Foundation donates $25,000, sponsors free Community Day at the African American Museum. READ MORE 

National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
A Museum Taken on Faith. READ MORE
Here’s how to navigate Philly’s newest addition. READ MORE

Montana Historical Society
(Helena, Montana)
Montana Historical Society keeps accreditation. READ MORE

U.S. Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama)
Bobby’s Bama: U.S. Space And Rocket Center. READ MORE

Kudos for December 2010

Great job Affiliates for ending the year on a high note!  and congratulations to all Affiliates for their accomplishments this year.   Bravo!

Big congratulations to Conner Prairie (Fishers, Indiana) and Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, California) for being two of 10 museums and libraries to receive the 2010 National Medal for Museum and Library Service from The Institute of Museum and Library Service. The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries that make extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions. In addition to the National Medal, each institution receives a $10,000 award.

 As part of the Illinois Public Museums Capital Grants Program, the Adler Planetarium(Chicago) will receive a $750,000  grant towards new and expanded facilities, exhibits and infrastructure improvements.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a new $3 million grant to  the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art (Biloxi, Mississippi) to complete the structure for the gallery that displays the work of the celebrated Mississippi potter, George Ohr. The new addition will be named the John S. and James L. Knight Gallery.

The Heard Museum (Phoenix, Arizona) recently won two grants to help support free school admission for students to tour the museum during field trips. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, awarded the museum $75,000 to support school tours, while the Orange County, California, Community Foundation’s S.L. Gimbel Foundation Fund gave a $7,500 grant to support student programming.

PPL Montana Community Fund awarded the Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, Montana) a $2,500 grant to allow eligible Head Start families a free annual museum membership, part of a team effort between the museum and Head Start to provide financially disadvantaged children the opportunity to visit a museum.

The New York State Museum (Albany, New York) has received a $1 million federal grant to conduct a new research project aimed at protecting endangered species of native freshwater mussels from the lethal fouling impacts of invasive zebra mussels. The grant from the  Environmental Protection Agency, through its Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, will allow museum scientists to use their environmentally safe invention to continue their research with a new emphasis on open-water applications.

Museum of Design Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia) received a $50,000 grant from the Charles Loridans Foundation to help support its move from downtown to Midtown, where it will open across Peachtree Street from the High Museum of Art in February.

affiliates in the news: week of July 12

Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines this week! 

The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion will consist of a build-out of the existing 940 Magazine St. warehouse.

National World War II Museum (New Orleans, LA)
For the past 10 years, visitors to the National World War II Museum have gazed upon such carefully restored artifacts as tanks, Jeeps and Higgins landing craft.By next spring, they should be able to watch restorers preparing those treasures for prime time…READ MORE

Frazier International History Museum (Louisville, KY)
WKU graduate student selected for prestigious Smithsonian internship…READ MORE 

MSU paleontologist Jack Horner and team arrive in August 2007 at a site on the Hell Creek Ranch to excavate a Triceratops (Photo by Lon Bolick)

Museum of the Rockies(Bozeman, MT)
MSU finds Triceratops, Torosaurus were different stages of one dinosaur… READ MORE

North Carolina Museum of Natural Science (Raleigh, NC)
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Tuesday introduced the director of its new Nature Research Center and accepted a $1.5 million gift to support the centerREAD MORE  

Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN)
Kids often hear “Look, don’t touch.” At Conner Prairie, families are encouraged to explore with all their senses…READ MORE

New York State Museum (Albany, NY)
A New York State Museum paleontologist has become the only scientist in the U.S. selected to participate in an all-expense paid research program in Spain that will enable him to investigate the effects of climate change on mammals over the last 2 million years… READ MORE 

 

Francis Koenig, founder of AnnMarie Garden, lived long enough to see the first permanent sculpture installed as he requested, a sculpture fountain dedicated to the oyster tongers. (Annmarie Garden, Baltimore Sun / July 14, 2010)

Annmarie Garden(Solomons, MD)
…Today, Annmarie Garden is a Southern Maryland gem – a woodland preserve dotted with art ranging from world-class sculptures to whimsical fairy houses created by staff…READ MORE

affiliates in the news

Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines!

Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, MA)
Updating museums

San Diego Natural History Museum (San Diego, CA)
San Diegan finds rare plants on Guadalupe Island
Glitter in their eyes: New exhibit showcases gems’ historical allure

San Diego Air & Space Museum (San Diego, CA)
Museum lets you soar through aviation photos online

U.S. Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, AL)
Out of this world

Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panama (Panama City, Panama)
PANAMANIAN PASSAGES”: NAVIGATING FROM PANAMA’S PAST TO THE PRESENT

Riverside Metropolitan Museum (Riverside, CA)
Riverside Metropolitan Museum Welcomes RACE Exhibit June 3

Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta, GA)
Georgia Aquarium names new president

Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN)
Celebrate Indiana’s cultures June 5 & 6 at Conner Prairie’s Indiana Festival (SI Jazz Masterworks mention)

Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, MT)
Dino/bird theory no surprise to Museum of the Rockies, Jack Horner
Video: Jack Horner interview