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the Moon is rising in Affiliateland in April 2019

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Great events at Affiliates as spring starts blooming!

NORTH CAROLINA
The National Air and Space Museum has loaned three Apollo-related artifacts for the exhibition One Giant Leap: North Carolina and the Space Race opening at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, 4.5.

WASHINGTON
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission exhibition, organized by the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, will open at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, 4.13.

ILLINOIS
As part of the Smithsonian Year of Music, the DuSable Museum of African American History will host A Celebration of Ella!!, a tribute event honoring the music and legacy of Ella Jenkins. At 94, Jenkins is one of the most revered singers and songwriters of the past century, with dozens of albums released through Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, in Chicago, 4.13.

PENNSYLVANIA
A protest armband from the 1960s, on loan from the National Museum of American History, will be part of the The Vietnam War: 1945-1975 exhibition at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, 4.13.


NEW YORK
Katherine Ott, curator at the National Museum of American History, delivers the last talk of the Questioning Identity lecture series, Poking at Normal: Museums and the History of Real People  at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, 4.24.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Teens from five Affiliate communities will visit Washington with museum staff and parents, to meet with Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton and participate in person in the final meeting of the Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council. Thanks to the Rockwell Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Arab American National Museum, and the Upcountry History Museum, for helping us to include national teen voices in the work of the Smithsonian over the last two years!, in D.C.,  4.24.

IOWA
Smithsonian Affiliations Director Myriam Springuel and National Outreach Manager Aaron Glavas will participate in the affiliation announcement at new affiliate, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, 4.26.

MASSACHUSETTS
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory will present the April talk Moon Race: The U.S.-Soviet Competition to Put a Human on the Moon as part of the year-long Moon Landing in Context lecture series at Framingham State University in Framingham, 4.27.

 

Coming up in Affiliateland in March 2019

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Congratulations to Affiliates on these great programs!

NEBRASKA
The Durham Museum opens American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith, a SITES exhibition, on 3.2. National Museum of American History curator Dr. Barbara Clark Smith will deliver a public talk on her new book about resistance in revolutionary America in Omaha, 3.5.

RHODE ISLAND
National Museum of American History curator Dr. Claire Jerry will present a talk on Woman Suffrage with the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence, 3.7.

NEW YORK
Mary Elliott, curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will deliver the keynote address at the Long Island Museum‘s day-long symposium, Surviving Slavery on Long Island in Stony Brook, 3.9.

Diana N’Diaye of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage will give a talk on the Will to Adorn: Stories of African American Dress and Identity project as part of the Questioning Identity lecture series at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, 3.27.

FLORIDA
The Mennello Museum of American Art opens the Art of the Airport Tower exhibition from the National Air and Space Museum, in Orlando, 3.14.

MASSACHUSETTS

photograph

President Kennedy with VonBraun

Dr. Michael Neufeld, curator at the National Air and Space Museum, will present a lecture titled Space Hero or Nazi Villain? The Life of Wernher von Braun as part of the Moon Landing in Context project at Framingham State University in Framingham, 3.28.

SITES Corner: New Exhibitions for a New Year

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The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) has some exciting exhibitions for 2019 and beyond. Check out what’s available and bring a Smithsonian exhibition to your neighborhood soon.

Soldier with painting.

Courtesy Matt Mitchell.

100 Faces of War
Featuring 100 portraits of Americans from every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the subjects represent a cross section of those who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and reflect a variety of military branches, job descriptions, and personal backgrounds. Each oil painting is coupled with a personal statement from the participant to create a fuller portrait. Tour through fall 2020.
For more information, contact Ed Liskey, liskeye@si.edu, 202.633.3142

Billie Holiday at Sugar Hill: Photographs by Jerry Dantzic
The exhibition offers a rare glimpse into the iconic jazz musician’s public and private life just two years before her death at the age of 44. Includes 65 pigment prints with labels, panels, objects, ephemera, projected video, and vinyl excerpts from the work of renowned writer/author, Zadie Smith. Tour launches 2019. Special discounts for February 16, 2019 to May 12, 2019 ($10,000) and for September 29, 2019 to January 5, 2020 ($15,000), all plus shipping.
For more information, contact Michelle Torres-Carmona, torrescm@si.edu, 202.633.3181.

Girl in Red by R. Blackburn

Robert Blackburn, Girl in Red, 1950, Lithograph, 18 1/4 x 13 1/2, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Photograph by Karl Peterson

Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking
Explore the work of the Robert Blackburn, the first Master Printer for the Universal Limited Art Editions, and founder of his own highly influential Printmaking Workshop. Viewers will trace his artistic journey leading up to and during the “graphics boom” in American printmaking and his later experimental works. Seventy original prints by Blackburn and his contemporaries are included from significant public and private collections. Tour launches May 2020.
For more information, contact Minnie Russell, russellm@si.edu, 202-633-3160.

The Way We Worked
We are pleased to expand the offering of The Way We Worked, a highly successful exhibition from our Museum on Main Street program, to qualified venues. The Way We Worked explores how work became such a central element in American culture by tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the past 150 years. The exhibition draws from the National Archives’ rich photography collections to tell this compelling story. Tour launches summer 2019.
For more information, contact Minnie Russell, russellm@si.edu, 202-633-3160.

Photo of children working.

Photo by Lewis Hine, 1909. Courtesy National Archives, Records of the Children’s Bureau

coming up in Affiliateland in December 2018

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Happy holidays to all!

NORTH CAROLINA
The Cape Fear Museum of History and Science officially joins the Affiliations program with a public announcement in Wilmington, 12.3

MASSACHUSETTS
The third annual Smithsonian Week in Springfield focuses on the ways popular culture has played a major role in influencing and expressing the sentiments of generations of Americans. Pop! Icons of American Culture from the Smithsonian, an exhibition of 18 artifacts from four Smithsonian museums will be on view at the Springfield Museums and will be complemented by lectures from sports and entertainment curators from the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. A family workshop on making your own comic book is also included, in Springfield, 12.6-13.

PENNSYLVANIA
Michael Neufeld, curator at the National Air and Space Museum, will give a talk about the Apollo program and the development of the Destination Moon exhibition (currently on view from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service) at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, 12.9.

CONNECTICUT
Patios, Pools and the Invention of the American Backyard from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service opens at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, 12.18.

 

Coming Up in Affiliateland in October 2018

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Shark girls, genomes and zombies… oh my! It’s October in Affiliateland.

CONNECTICUT

Mallory Warner, Museum Specialist from the National Museum of American History, will give a talk on women’s medical uniforms in World War I at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, 10.11.

CALIFORNIA

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes will host a workshop for teachers on Fostering Global Competence in the Classroom with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, in Los Angeles, 10.13.

The Japanese American National Museum will also host Fostering Global Competence workshops for teachers in Los Angeles, 10.20.

FLORIDA

The Orange County Regional History Center opens the Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code exhibition produced by the National Museum of Natural History, in Orlando, 10.13.

The South Florida Museum opens SITES’ A New Moon Rises exhibition in Bradenton, 10.20.

HAWAII

The Lyman Museum and Mission House will host a screening of Shark Girl from the Smithsonian Channel in Hilo, 10.15-16.

TENNESSEE

The American Museum of Science and Energy is holding a grand opening event to welcome visitors to its new location, an 18,000-square-foot space with a newly-designed exhibit gallery featuring state-of-the-art interactive exhibits and hands-on activities, in Oak Ridge, 10.18.

MARYLAND

The Smithsonian Associates’ day-long study tour, 18th-Century Annapolis: Architecture and Decorative Arts, will visit the structures and gardens of Historic Annapolis, 10.19.

OHIO

The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art and Technology will host the Let’s Do History workshop for teachers in collaboration with the National Museum of American History, in Newark, 10.22-23.

MULTIPLE STATES

Five Affiliates will facilitate teens’ virtual participation in the Smithsonian Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council, kicking off in Washington, D.C., 10.24. Thanks to the Rockwell Museum (Corning, NY); the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI); the Upcountry History Museum (Greenville, SC); the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH); and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (Fort Worth, TX) for your partnership.

PENNSYLVANIA

Curator Eric Jentsch from the National Museum of American History will discuss zombies in pop culture as part of Living Dead Meets Walking Dead at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, 10.26.

Smithsonian Announces Director for Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations

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Myriam Springuel

Views from the Destination Moon press event that was held in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, on February 22, 2017. Event was held to announce the national tour of the Apollo 11 Command Module exhibit. Myriam Springuel, Director, SITES. Photo by Dane Penland. [Apollo DestinationMoon-2-22-2017-0223] [NASM2017-00421]

Today we are pleased to announce an important step in strengthening our content and peer-outreach capabilities. As of June 7, we have aligned the work of two organizations into one management structure called the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations. This unit will be overseen by Myriam Springuel. As many of you know, Myriam has served as the Director of Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) since 2015 and as the interim director of Affiliations since June 2017.

Smithsonian Affiliations has grown into a globally recognized program that establishes and maintains the Smithsonian’s long-term partnerships with museums, educational organizations, and cultural institutions—there are now more than 200 affiliated organizations in 46 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama. For more than 65 years, SITES has shared Smithsonian exhibitions and educational resources with people and places all across the country. More than 500 communities in all 50 states host SITES shows in formats ranging from large-scale exhibits with iconic Smithsonian objects, to exhibitions for mid-size museums and cultural centers, and from small exhibitions for rural America, to poster exhibitions tailored to school classrooms. Putting these two critical entities together under one leader is an important step in improving capabilities related to several goals in the Institution’s new Strategic Plan, including understanding and reaching new audiences, using partnerships more effectively, and catalyzing new conversations around complex challenges across the nation.

Myriam brings 30 years of experience in museum planning, management, exhibitions, education, and staff training. Before returning to the Smithsonian in 2014, Myriam worked as a consultant with museums across the country. She was Director of Education and later Associate Director for Programs at SITES from 1986 to 1994. Earlier in her career, she curated fine arts exhibitions and developed education programs at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Myriam holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of Maryland.

We encourage you to engage with Myriam as we consider how to take our work across the country and benefit from our relationships with other museum leaders in the Affiliate community.

Sincerely,

John Davis
Provost and Under Secretary for Museums, Education, and Research

Patty Bartlett
Associate Provost for Education and Access and Senior Advisor to the Secretary

If you have questions, please contact Myriam Springuel, Director, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations at SpringuelM@SI.edu