Tag Archive for: Smithsonian Affiliations

on the road in New York

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It’s a chilly, rainy, autumn day along the east coast, but that’s not stopping Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager Jennifer Brundage!  She’s on her way to visit our Affiliates in the New York- New Jersey area and participate in some really exciting events this weekend.  A golden Monopoly set, a Chinese pavilion, and a Tibetan Shrine Room are among the fascinating things she’ll be reporting on as she travels. You can follow her journey on Twitter at @SIAffiliates. Here’s a look at some highlights along the way:

Tomorrow, Jennifer will be on-hand when the Museum of American Finance in New York City unveils the display of an 18-karat solid gold Monopoly set covered with hundreds of precious gemstones, on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. In the afternoon, the museum will host Monopoly tournaments for children and adults to go along with the unveiling! Look for #Monopoly posts as Jennifer tweets during the day.

While she’s in the city, Jennifer will visit the Tibetan Shrine Room currently on view at the Rubin Museum of Art. On loan from the Alice S. Kandell Collection and organized by the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Shrine Room provides visitors an extraordinary opportunity to experience Tibetan Buddhist art in context.

On Saturday, Jennifer will close her journey with the opening reception for the Within the Emperor’s Garden: Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion exhibition at Flushing Town Hall in Flushing, New York. Based on the original Wan Chun Ting pavilion that stands in the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City in China, this highly detailed 1:5 scale replica is made of red sandalwood and constructed using mortise-and-tenon joinery. The exhibition was organized by the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, with assistance of the China Red Sandalwood Museum and the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Also on her road trip, she’ll be stopping-by these Affiliates too:

Known for their rich history of African American jazz and pop music, the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District /Museum of African American Music in Newark, New Jersey, captures the energy, spontaneity, and spirit of African American music through a combination of live performance, physical artifacts, audio-visual media, interactive exhibits and educational programs.

Most recently hosting the SITES exhibition Legacy of Lincoln, Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island is one of New York City’s most unexpected and extraordinary destinations. Set within an 83- acre National Historic Landmark district, the center is a place where history, architecture, the visual and performing arts, and environmental science all come together to provide a rich and powerful learning experience.

Don’t forget you can follow Jennifer’s journey on Twitter at @SIAffiliates and look for #Monopoly posts tomorrow during the Monopoly tournaments! And keep checking the Smithsonian Affiliates Flickr photostream in the next week for photos from the road.

Smithsonian Affiliate provides peek into an internet-free time in history

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Special thanks to Alma Douglas, Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, for this post.

“What did you people do before the internet?” It was a question that produced a hilarious moment for Smithsonian staff this summer when asked by one of this year’s young ambassadors, hosted by the Smithsonian Latino Center.   

Historic building with sheep at the Museum of Appalachia

Visiting one of our Affiliates, the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN, gives a clue.  This museum presents a stunning time travel experience as it presents Appalachian cultural heritage. 

Founder John Rice Irwin has assembled an amazing collection of objects of everyday life, photographs, and buildings which convey the way life as was lived in Appalachia once upon a time.  Authentic log cabin housing, a one-room school house, outdoor kitchens, meat houses,  handmade tools and musical instruments, even the proverbial out house, are represented in the museum’s collections.  Necessity, invention, and imagination joined forces to create some very unique objects that eased the way of living and provided joyful relief for Appalachian families. 

Authentic out house at the Museum of Appalachia.

Just imagine banjos and guitars of every shape and design, made with whatever might have been available at the time–creating a new art form, the stirrings of country music, to warm the heart and soul.   Soap made from hog renderings, houses to cure meats so it could last for a time, canning so that families could eat long after the harvest, shearing sheep and spinning the wool to make fabric for clothing, all done by hand.  Lamps lit by tallow, hearth baking, lumber cut at the saw mill.    

The annual, upcoming Tennessee Fall Homecoming, October 8-10, 2010 is a wonderful celebration of the Apppalachian culture which immerses you in that time and place.  What might that young intern think after this experience?    

Demonstration of Appalachian music by performers in period dress at the Museum of Appalachia.

You can learn more about Appalachian traditions in the television documentary program “Heartland Series,” airing in 2010. Several episodes were filmed at the Museum of Appalachia.

Kentucky welcomes iconic Lexington home again

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Special thanks to Alma Douglas, Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, for this post.

It took several years of negotiations to determine the feasibility of loaning a 135 year-old skeleton of a horse to the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, KY, but it finally happened in August.

Thomas J. Scott, Portrait of Lexington, 1888, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, sight 24 1/8 x 34 3/8 in. (61.3 x 87.4 cm.). Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection. This portrait is on view at the Headley-Whitney Museum, another Smithsonian Affiliate in Lexington, KY.

Lexington, a beautiful bay, was one of America’s and some would say one of the world’s greatest racing champions. He was born in 1850 as Darley and renamed in 1853.  He won six races out of seven in addition to what was considered to be the greatest match race of the 19th century.  Lexington was also raced against the clock to produce a speed record that held for over 20 years — four miles in seven minutes, 19 ¾ seconds.  Forced to retire because he was going blind, Lexington was a leading sire who produced a record number of champions over the course of 16 years.  After his death, Lexington’s bones were donated to the Smithsonian and placed on exhibit.

In 1998, Carlene Stephens, a curator at the National Museum of American History, related the significance of horse racing, where races are won by tenths of seconds, to the subject of time while working on the Timex sponsored “On Time” exhibition.  Lexington was featured in the exhibition.  When “On Time” was de-installed, the skeleton went back into storage.

Interest was rekindled in bringing Lexington back to Kentucky by William Cooke, Executive Director of the International Museum of the Horse. Kudos to the team, headed by Linda Gordon, Collections Manager, Department of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History; Ed Ryan, Assistant Registrar and Carol Slatick, Outgoing Loans Coordinator, National Museum of American History, who worked seamlessly together to coordinate the loan.

Lexington’s skeleton, fully assembled, at the International Museum of the Horse. Photo by James Shambhu.

Lexington stands as an iconic symbol for Bluegrass Country.  His image is found throughout Lexington, KY in celebration of his greatness.  Packed and crated gently for the long ride, the skeleton is now on display at the International Museum of the Horse, along with a full view of his portrait.  As thousands of horse enthusiasts from across the country and around the world visit Kentucky for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Lexington will be “in the house.”

affiliates in the news: week of september 27

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Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines this week!

Discovery Science Center (Santa Ana, CA)
Best of Orange County 2010 Winners. READ MORE 

A life-size wax figure of George Washington appears in the “Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon” exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, N.C. By The Associated Press

North Carolina Museum of History (Raleigh, NC)
There’s the George Washington made famous in the Gilbert Stuart portrait found in many elementary schools and, in engraved fashion, on the $1-dollar bill: a severe man, whose severity is accentuated by thin, taut lips. READ MORE

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum (St. Augustine, FL)
Richard Willich pledges $50,000 to maritime group. READ MORE

Smithsonian Cup goes on display at Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art in Elmhurst, Illinois. The cup was designed by Gianmaria Buccellati and donated to the National museum of Natural History in 2000. The cup is only on view at the museum until October 10, 2010.

Durham Museum (Omaha, NE)
Be one of the first to see Dig It! The Secrets of Soil created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. READ MORE
Get the dirt on something we just can’t live without. READ MORE

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem (New York, NY)
Historic music find ‘redefines’ swing era jazz. READ MORE

International Storytelling Center (Jonesborough, TN)
The world’s premier storytellers will take the stage in Jonesborough the weekend of Oct. 1-3, 2010, as Tennessee’s oldest town plays host to the 38th annual National Storytelling Festival. READ MORE

“Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” opens at the Durham Museum on October 2.

Kudos! October 2010

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In these times of economic challenges, it’s nice to see some bright spots!

Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences (Peoria, Illinois) has been awarded a $10,000 Arts Education Invitational Grants Initiative grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to digitize the Picture Person Program, an art appreciation outreach program in which parent volunteers borrow art kits from the Museum and present them in K-6 classrooms monthly throughout the school year.

The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook (Long island, New York) announced it has received accreditation from the American Association of Museums, the highest honor awarded by the national organization.

The PNC Foundation announced $3 million in grants to four of Chicago’s premier institutions including the Adler Planetarium, to enhance science education for underserved students in preschool programs operated by Chicago Public Schools and the Big Shoulders Fund.

The Putnam Museum and IMAX Theatre (Davenport, Iowa) won RK Dixon’s Make My Nonprofit Run Better contest and a $20,000 grand prize of an office technology makeover. 

affiliates in the news: week of september 20

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Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines this week!

Museum of American Finance (New York, NY)
The Museum of American Finance will unveil the display of an 18-karat solid gold Monopoly set covered with hundreds of precious gemstones, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. READ MORE

Museum of American Finance To Display Jeweled Monopoly Set and Host Tournament. READ MORE

Polk Museum of Art (Lakeland, FL)
Polk Museum of Art is pleased to announce that it has been accepted into the Smithsonian Affiliations Program. READ MORE 

Polk Museum Gets Affiliation With Smithsonian. READ MORE

Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences (Peoria, IL)
Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences has been awarded a $10,000 Arts Education Invitational Grants Initiative grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to digitize the Picture Person Program educational kits. READ MORE

Hunt Hill Farm (New Milford, CT)
. The Smithsonian curator who got the ball rolling was Rayna Green, curator and director of the American Indian Program, Division of Home and Community Life, who will present “In Julia’s Kitchen”. READ MORE

The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages (Stony Brook, NY)
The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook announced Thursday it has received accreditation from the American Association of Museums, the highest honor awarded by the national organization. READ MORE

The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar (Richmond, VA)
Richmond visitors have a new starting point for the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and the end of slavery: Historic Tredegar. READ MORE

Historic Tredegar: The Region’s Gateway to the Civil War. READ MORE

National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, PA)
On November 12th, the National Museum of American Jewish History will reopen in its new location at Independence Mall. The weekend of celebration will feature performances by Jerry Seinfeld and Bette Midler. READ MORE

Two of the country’s most famous Jewish performers will highlight the opening of one of the most ambitious Jewish museum projects in years. READ MORE

North Carolina Museum of History (Raleigh, NC)
Exhibit in North Carolina Shows the Real George Washington. READ MORE

National Mississippi River Museum (Dubuque, IA)
Foundation awards river museum $1 million grant for river center. READ MORE

Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day
Everybody loves a freebie and this Saturday, September 25, marks Smithsonian magazine’s 6th Annual Museum Day, when more than 1,500 museum and cultural venues across the United States will honor Smithsonian.com’s special get-in-free ticket for two. READ MORE