Tag Archive for: Conner Prairie

affiliates in the news

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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

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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

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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 center…READ 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

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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

kudos, affiliates! june 2010

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Despite the economy, there are many bright spots to celebrate in Affiliateland this month.  Great job everyone!

The Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) at the Center for Jewish History (New York City) recently signed an agreement with the German Foreign Ministry, to receive $3 million over 2010 – 2013 for “New Acquisitions Preservation Project”, allowing for the cataloging of significant new historical material pertaining to the survivor population of refugees from Nazi Germany.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati) will have a new gallery housing a permanent exhibit on contemporary slavery, thanks to a generous gift from Lois and Richard Rosenthal. The new gallery space, comprising approximately 3,000 square feet, will open as the “Lois and Richard Rosenthal Gallery of Contemporary Slavery” in October and will feature the “Invisible: Slavery Today” exhibit on modern forms of slavery — the first of its kind in the world.

The PNC Foundation has awarded the African American Museum (Philadelphia), $75,000 to support Lens Legacy, a video project seeking to record personal stories.

Heritage Preservation announced the Atomic Testing Museum (Las Vegas) has been chosen to participate in Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Collections Assessment Program for 2010.  The program assists museums by providing funds for specialists to identify the conservation needs of their collections and recommend ways to correctly improve collections conditions.

The Montana Historical Society (Helena) has been selected to receive a “Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning” grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  The $40,000 grant is designed to assess the status of cultural heritage collections in the state and develop recommendations to ensure the ongoing preservation of these collections. 

The Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing) and Arizona State Museum (Tucson) are two of 33 museums nationally to receive a 2010 Conservation Project Support grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The MSU Museum receives a $149,316 grant to purchase and install “space-saver” (high-density) storage units and supplies for newly acquired collections, which include textiles and masks, as well as accompanying letters and documentation. Arizona State Museum receives $147,043 to treat 700 archaeological and ethnological ceramic vessels from its Southwest collections.

Conner Prairie (Fishers, Indiana) received the 2010 Pinnacle Award for the program “1859 Balloon Voyage Exhibit Launch” from the Hoosier Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recognizing Indiana’s best and brightest communicators for work completed in 2009.

flying toward success: a collaborative approach to designing 1859 balloon voyage at conner prairie

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Thanks to Conner Prairie’s General Manager for Experience Delivery, David Allison,  for this guest post.  

Winner, 2009 Pinnacle Award for “Best Of Show” for the 1859 Balloon Voyage Exhibit Launch.

The biggest news at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park north of Indianapolis in the last year was the debut of our new 1859 Balloon Voyage experience. This project has been highly successful and highly popular for our guests. We had over 21,000 people fly to 400 feet in our balloon last year as we told the story of John Wise’s airmail journey through interactive exhibits and engaging storytelling. As project manager for the contenballoont and operations of the balloon, people often ask me how we were able to blend the modern balloon experience with the unique Indiana story of the first airmail flight. As we delved deeper into John Wise’s story, we realized that we were going to need to consult with experts in the field of aviation history. One of our first official meetings about the balloon project involved the world’s authority on the history of ballooning in America- Dr. Tom Crouch, the chief curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. His expertise helped to guide the stories that we told through our exhibits to keep us firmly “grounded” in the history of aviation. Additionally, he explained to us how America’s fascination with flight in the 19th century led to the excitement surrounding John Wise’s flight from Lafayette, IN, in 1859. 

balloon2

Tom Crouch then joined us for the debut of the exhibit in June as a keynote speaker. Our on-going relationship with Dr. Crouch (and the Smithsonian network of museums in general through our new Smithsonian Affiliation) led us to finding out about an annual Air and Space Museum conference that is held in Washington DC. This year, myself (Dave Allison, General Manager for Experience Delivery) and BJ Sullivan (Chief Pilot for 1859 Balloon Voyage) attended the Mutual Concerns conference in DC in late March to share with other Air and Space Museum professionals from around the country how Conner Prairie designed and developed our cutting-edge fusion ofballoon3 a modern-day thrill ride (the balloon) with an age-old historical story about Indiana’s past. This nexus of an exciting experience grounded in the reality of a unique Indiana story is the heart of Conner Prairie’s mission to “inspire curiosity and foster learning about Indiana’s past by providing engaging, individualized and unique experiences”.

Photos courtesy Conner Prairie.