Tag Archive for: hirshhorn museum

What to see while you’re in town for the National Conference

While you’re in D.C.,  don’t miss the opportunity to see what’s new at the Smithsonian! We know that it can be daunting to choose among all the museums and exhibitions, so here are a few suggestions, tailored to your time at the Affiliations conference.

Monday, June 15, 12:15 pm, Freer Sackler Gallery of Art
Before the conference starts, take advantage of a tour of Darren Waterson’s Filthy Lucre, a remix of the iconic Peacock Room (details here).

A decadent ruin collapsing under the weight of its own creative excess, Filthy Lucre forms the centerpiece of an unprecedented exhibition that highlights the complicated tensions between art and money, ego and patronage, and acts of creative expression in the nineteenth century and today. It’s a way to see Whistler’s Peacock Room in a completely new light.

Tuesday, June 16, 5:30 pm, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Mingering Mike: SICKLE CELL ANEMIA, 1972. Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

Mingering Mike: SICKLE CELL ANEMIA, 1972.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

Head to the Smithsonian American Art Museum a little ahead of Congressional Night at the Smithsonian to catch a tour of the Mingering Mike’s Supersonic Greatest Hits exhibition.  If you’ve seen the retrospective documentary Searching For Sugar Man, you will love Mingering Mike, the soul superstar nobody has ever heard of. Learn about him and his visionary collection of fabricated music ephemera with Leslie Umberger, curator of folk and self-taught art. She will discuss the artist’s influences, share how the museum came to own the collection, and guide you through a collection of over 150 works of art.

Wednesday, June 17, 1 pm, Haupt Garden
Why not spend your lunch break learning “What Makes a Victorian Garden Victorian?”  Join one of the Smithsonian Gardens’ knowledgeable horticulturists who will describe the various features of the Enid A. Haupt Garden, including its plants and flowers, the Asian-inspired moongate garden, and the Moorish-inspired fountain garden.  Meet outside in the Haupt Garden, near the south entrance doors to the Smithsonian Castle.  Click here for complete information.

And if you can, take a peek at these new and exciting exhibitions:
Hear My Voice: Alexander Graham Bell and the Origins of Recorded Sound, National Museum of American History
In this new exhibition, see documents, recordings, laboratory notes, and apparatus from the Volta Laboratory. Learn about the early history of sound recording in the United States. Hear some of the earliest sound recordings ever made including the only known example of Graham Bell’s own voice, thanks to sound recovery techniques developed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in partnership with the Library of Congress and the Museum.

Photographer Zack Brown shooting dapper men in Harlem, c. 1937 by Eliot Elisofon, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Photographer Zack Brown shooting dapper men in Harlem, c. 1937 by Eliot Elisofon, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Through the African American Lens: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African American History and Culture gallery at the National Museum of American History
The much anticipated National Museum of African American History and Culture is expected to officially open its doors in 2016. Check out what all the excitement is about right now!  A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History offers a preview of the artifacts and moments chronicled in the collections.

The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists, National Museum of African Art

Yinka Shonibare MBE How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Gentlemen) 2006 Sindika Dokolo Collection, Luanda Photograph by Axel Schneider ©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt

Yinka Shonibare MBE
How to Blow Up Two Heads at Once (Gentlemen) 2006  Sindika Dokolo Collection, Luanda
Photograph by Axel Schneider
©Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt

Right down the hall from conference sessions in the Ripley Center, you will find The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists exhibition.  A combination of new commissions and recently produced works of art come together in this exhibition to demonstrate the ongoing global relevance of the themes addressed in Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem, The Divine Comedy. Forty of the best known and emerging artists from 18 African nations and the African diaspora working in media as diverse as video projection, installation, painting, sculpture and textiles explore diverse issues of politics, identity, faith, and form. In so doing, they reveal that each person’s vision of heaven, purgatory, or hell is unique.

Shirin Neshat: Facing History, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Grab lunch nearby and walk to the Hirshorn Museum to stroll the gardens.  Then, go upstairs to the second level to see the Shirin Neshat: Facing History exhibition. In her mesmerizing films and photographs, Shirin Neshat examines the nuances of

Shirin Neshat, I Am Its Secret (Women of Allah), 1993. Photo: Plauto. © Shirin Neshat. Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

Shirin Neshat, I Am Its Secret (Women of Allah), 1993. Photo: Plauto. © Shirin Neshat. Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

power and identity in the Islamic world–particularly in her native country of Iran. Shirin Neshat: Facing History presents an array of Neshat’s most compelling works, illuminating the points at which cultural and political events have impacted her artistic practice.

 

For a complete list of all the events and exhibitions at the Smithsonian, click here!

affiliates in the news

Congrats to these Affiliates making news! Each month we highlight Affiliate-Smithsonian and Affiliate-Affiliate collaborations making headlines.  If you have a clipping highlighting a collaboration with the Smithsonian or with a fellow Affiliate you’d like to have considered for the Affiliate blog, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee.

Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, Montana)
Museum of the Rockies T. rex to arrive at Smithsonian in April
The T. rex unearthed in Montana in 1988 will arrive at the National Museum of Natural History on April 15 on a 50-year loan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Smithsonian is planning a new, 31,000-square-foot dinosaur hall that is scheduled to open in 2019.

Jack Horner, Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, provides scale for Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the excavation site near the Fort Peck Reservoir in Montana in June 1990. Named for its discoverer, Kathy Wankel, the Wankel T.rex is estimated to have weighed six to seven tons. Photo courtesy Museum of the Rockies.

Jack Horner, Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, provides scale for Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the excavation site near the Fort Peck Reservoir in Montana in June 1990. Named for its discoverer, Kathy Wankel, the Wankel T.rex is estimated to have weighed six to seven tons. Photo courtesy Museum of the Rockies.

American Textile History Museum (Lowell, Massachussets)
American Textile Museum Receives Major Gift
The American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA has received a major gift of $1 million from the late G. Gordon Osborne and his wife, Marjorie, who passed away last year.

affiliations conference preview: spaces for learning

Do you operate an education center at your museum, or thinking about it?  Join us at the Affiliations National Conference on June 10-12  to meet colleagues who are opening or running new spaces for learning on the Smithsonian campus.  Through tours of these spaces, frank discussions with colleagues, exchanging resources and research, and hands-on activities, discover and share what makes an education center such a vital place in a museum.

Affiliations staff is currently working with the following museums to feature their education spaces:qurious

  • The National Museum of Natural History will be opening Q?RIUS in 2013, a new interactive 10,000 square foot programming space.  Q?RIUS will have access to a 20,000 specimen collection representing all departments of the museum, innovative programming and distance learning opportunities.
  • The National Museum of the American Indian’s imagiNATIONS activity center invites families to explore how Native peoples have adapted to natural environments with innovation.  Visitors can explore different kinds of transportation (snowshoes and skateboards), homes (tipis, adobes, igloos), hands-on activities (basket-weaving, Native percussion), and more.
  • The National Museum of American History is undergoing a major renovation that will result in new education spaces when they reopen in 2015.  Affiliates can talk to the staff about their planning and prototyping process, the “Object Project” and demonstration spaces, and explore possible collaboration opportunities.
  • The National Air and Space Museum’s Moving Beyond Earth gallery is an immersive space that puts visitors “in orbit.”  Affiliates can enter their Shuttle mock-up to learn about life in orbit (including the space toilet), or play the interactive SpaceFlight Academy, a group quiz that tests flight readiness.
  • The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s very popular ARTLAB+ is a digital media studio forARTLAB teens.  Staff will share how they provide access to professional technology and art, coupled with mentorship, to develop a community of young creators and innovators.   

Come to the Affiliations National Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 10-12, and bring your own experiences with education spaces to share with Smithsonian and Affiliate colleagues in these hands-on tours.  See you there!

The Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference is for current Affiliates only. If you are interested in becoming an Affiliate, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee for more information.

Coming together in Minneapolis!

Are you going to the AAM Annual Meeting in Minneapolis this year?  So is Affiliations’ own National Outreach Manager for the midwest, Aaron Glavas.  Reach him at glavasc@si.edu or 202.633.5309 to let him know where you’ll be!

 

 

 

 

 

Support your colleagues and check out these sessions featuring Affiliate and Smithsonian staff!:

Bringin’ It All Back Home: Acknowledging Your Online Support Community
Presenter: Sebastian Chan, Director of Digital & Emerging Media, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY

Communities Create: Approaches to Native American and Other Community Exhibitions
Chaired by: Zahava Doering, Senior Social Scientist, Policy & Analysis, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenting: Carolyn Rapkievian, Assistant Director, Education & Museum Programs, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

CRAFTing a Community
Chaired by: Katie Crooks, Public Programs Assistant, American Art Museum Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Engagement Tools for Building Creative Communities, Placemaking, and Partnerships
Presenter: Ethelyn Abellanosa, Deputy Director for Operations, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA

Measure What? Metrics to Engage Stakeholders and Achieve Strategic Goals
Chaired by: Amy Bartow-Melia, Director-Department of Public Programs, National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenter: Janet Abrams, Senior Advisor for Organizational Excellence, Smithsonian Institution Office of The Secretary, Washington, DC

Trauma: Creating Shared Communities in Cultural/Natural Heritage Risk Management
Chaired by:  Richard Kurin, Undersecretary for History, Art & Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Come Together:21st-Century Museum Leadership in China and the U.S.
Chaired by: Carole Neves, Director, Office of Policy & Analysis Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Daisy Wang, Project Manager for Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Linking Young People to Museums: Nothing but the Truth
Chaired by: John Franklin, Director of Partnerships and International Programs, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC

Museums and Academic Parent Organizations: the Good and the Ugly
Chaired by: Ellen Rosenthal, President & CEO, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN
Presenters: Berkley Duck, Former Chairman of the Board, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN;
Cameron McGuire, Associate Director, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

75 Ideas in 75 Minutes: Worst, Best, Next
Chaired by: Charles Katzenmeyer, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL

Chinese and U.S. Perspectives on Exhibitions as Catalysts of Creativity
Chaired by: Daisy Wang, Project Manager for Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Communities of Conversation Around Exhibitions
Chaired by: Barbara Stauffer, Chief of Temporary Exhibitions, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Harnessing Technology to Build Creative Communities
Presenter: Amy Homma, Education Technician, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC

Talking Shop: Roundtable Discussion with Volunteer Managers and Docents
Presenter: Maretta Hemsley-Wood, Docent Program Manager, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum , Washington, DC

Creative Practices in Education and Public Programs in China and the U.S.
Chaired by:  Nik Apostolides, Associate Director, National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenters: Ryan Hill, ART LAB + Program Specialist, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC;  Carole Neves, Director, Office of Policy & Analysis Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Games: Creating Connections to Collections
Presenter: Georgina Bath Goodlander, Interpretive Programs Manager, Luce Foundation Center for American Art, American Art MuseumSmithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Keeping Safe: Discovering and Handling Hidden Collection Hazards
Presenter: Kathryn Makos, Industrial Hygienist, Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Management, Washington, DC

Using Creative Problem-Solving to Cultivate Future Leaders
Presenters: Ryan Hill, ART LAB + Program Specialist, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC;  Megan Smith, Education Specialist, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC

Pacific Standard Time: The Ultimate Cultural Collaboration, California Style!
Presenters: Edwina Brandon, VP of External Affairs, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA; Gina Adams, Vice President of Development, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA

Solutions Lounge: Sustainable Operations Tool Kit
Chaired by: Jim Richerson, President & CEO, Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences, Peoria, IL

Collaboration and Education
Chaired by: Christina Schwartz, Head Registrar, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service-SITES, Washington, DC

Connecting Global Communities: Striking Successes, Fabulous Flops, and Lessons Learned
Presenter: Laura Anderson, Assistant Archivist, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL

Show Me the Money: Straight Talk About Museum Business Models
Presenter: Ellen Rosenthal, President & CEO, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN

Transforming Museum Volunteering 101: Back to Basics
Chaired by: Robbin Davis, Director of Visitor Services, Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Dangerous World: Our Role During Armed Conflicts and Other Disasters
Presenter: Richard Kurin, Undersecretary for History, Art & Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

How to Pitch Technology to Your Board: Strategy to Implementation
Presenter: Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Washington, DC

Social Media Metrics 101
Chaired by: Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenter: Victoria Portway, Chair, Web & New Media, National Air & Space Museum Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Transforming Museum Volunteering 201: Beyond the Basics
Presenters: Maria Christus, Volunteer Program Manager, Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL; Carly Ofsthun Shaw, Volunteer Coordinator, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ

U.S. and African Exhibits: Creating and Linking Communities
Chaired by: Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Deputy Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
Presenters: Marsha MacDowell, Curator, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI

Idea Lounge: The Future of Museum Education
Presenter: Timothy Rhue, Explainers Program Coordinator, National Air & Space Museum Smithsonian Institution, Fairfax, VA

Dine and Dialogue: What’s Going On with Little Ones in Museums?
Chaired by: Betsy Bowers, Deputy Director of Museum Education, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, Washington, DC

Building a Healthy Future: Museums and Communities Tackle Issues of Wellness
Presenter: Lisa Falk, Director of Education, Arizona State Museum University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Citizen Science and Museums: Models of Partnership and Engagement
Chaired by: Karen Carney, Associate VP for Visitor Experience and Learning, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL
Presenters: Jason Reed, Online Engagement and Motivation Researcher, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL; Arfon Smith, Director of Citizen Science, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL

Linking Data Across Libraries, Archives and Museums
Presenter: Martin Kalfatovic, Assistant Director, Digital Services Division, Smithsonian Institition Libraries Acquisitions, Washington, DC

Wikipedia and the Museum: Lessons from Wikipedians in Residence
Presenter: Sarah Stierch, Wikipedian in Residence, Smithsonian Institution , Washington, DC

Young, Informed, Engaged: Innovation in Creating Sustainable Global Youth Communities
Presenters: Priscilla Hancock Cooper, VP, Institutional Programs, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL

Decoding Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: A Sustainability Necessity
Presenter: William Harris, Senior Vice President of Development and Marketing, California Science Center Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

Future Engagement: The Latest From Brands, Games, and Entertainment
Chaired by: Judy Gradwohl, Associate Director for Education and Public Programs, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

happy 10th anniversary Annmarie Garden!

July 27, 2011

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Smithsonian’s affiliation with Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center.  My, what a decade it’s been!

'Africa' by sculptor Isaac Witkin, on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum, on view at Annmarie Sculpture Garden

 Annmarie Garden is currently home to more artwork loans from the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum than any other Affiliate, with a total of 27 sculptures on long-term loan.  This impressive record is the result of a true partnership.   Annmarie Garden has consistently been willing and able to help the Smithsonian conserve, care for and preserve these works.  Beautifully arranged in a .25 mile meandering path through woods and open space, the first loan dates from 2003.  With the opening of a beautiful new art building in 2008, Annmarie Garden has also featured indoor sculpture from the Smithsonian’s collections.

Our collaboration extends beyond art works.  Annmarie Garden was one of only 5 Affiliates chosen to participate in a pilot project of the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.  The Center’s popular “Spark!Lab” activities were transformed into traveling kits, and adapted by participating Affiliates to complement and highlight their own collections and programming.

The Smithsonian and Annmarie share expertise as well.  A Smithsonian expert is a regular feature on juries for the Garden’s highly creative invitational exhibitions.  Past participants have included an associate director from the National Zoo judging works for the Wild Things exhibition;  the Smithsonian’s director of mobile strategy choosing works for a teen exhibition called text/message, and a Postal Museum curator judging portraits for the About Face exhibition. 

new art building at Annmarie Garden, debuted in 2008

Happy anniversary to Annmarie Garden, and may our creative collaboration continue to flourish in the next decade!

thanks for a wonderful conference!

Affiliations Director, Harold Closter, greeting conference guests at the Welcome Reception at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

We were so delighted that so many of you were able to join us for this year’s Annual National Conference.  The spirit of friendship permeated our gathering as did the passion and commitment that you bring to our profession.  We were sorry that some of you were unable to attend, but know that you were with us in thought, and that we’ll see you next year, if not sooner.

Thank you for your many kind words of praise.  We try hard to build a conference that offers the right mix of intellectual challenge, workshops on cutting edge topics, new ways of engaging the Smithsonian, and enjoyable networking opportunities.  We hope our blend worked for you, but if not, let us know so we can try something different next year.

Conference attendees brainstorming with Smithsonian experts at the "Grand Challenges" roundtables.

This year we had more Affiliate presenters and more Smithsonian participants than ever before.  We are grateful to all of you for taking the time to prepare and share your experiences.  They were informative, enlightening, and ever indicative of the impact that we create together through Smithsonian Affiliations.  I am confident that everyone left with a suitcase full of new ideas; we can’t wait to begin unpacking.

Wish we all of you a wonderful summer, certainly one not as hot as in Washington, and continued success in serving your communities.  We are proud to be your partners!

Harold A. Closter

PS- Missed something at the conference?  Click on these links to review Conference Presentations, browse the Conference Guidebook, and enjoy photos from all three days of activities.

Have ideas for next year? Please email Elizabeth Bugbee with ideas for topics YOU want to learn about next year!