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Dear MANY Members,
Welcome to the May 2019 edition of This Month in NY State Museums. As summer approaches, each of the three newsletter articles include things that you might do this summer. At the Schenectady County Historical Society, where a change in programs is changing the museums’ relationship with their community, you can take a kayak tour of the Mohawk River. You can get back to the garden at the Museum at Bethel Woods where they are celebrating Woodstock's 50th anniversary with the exhibition entitled “We Are Golden” – the title taken from the Joni Mitchell lyric that called a generation to action following the renowned music festival. A summer activity that ties some of us to our desks when we would rather be out at play is the July 26th deadline for the Regional Economic Development Council grant applications. Our article dedicated to resources this month features the work of some recent grant recipients that we hope will get your ideas flowing and inspire you to apply for these grants that are making a difference for so many of our state’s museums.
We are busy this summer preparing to see you all in the fall at workshops, Meet Ups and at The Museum Institute at Great Camp Sagamore. Write to us about your summer programs and we will include you in our upcoming newsletters.
Thank you for your continuing support,
Erika Sanger
Executive Director, MANY
 
Regional Economic Development Council Competition is Now Open
Design mock-up for the Albright Knox Gallery exhibition space. View of the north building from Elmwood Avenue. Image courtesy Albright Knox Gallery.
In 2018, over $23 million was awarded to fifty-seven museums through the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) Initiative. With the opening of the grant portal on May 1, New York State’s ninth round of REDC initiatives includes two New York Council on the Arts (NYSCA) funding programs.
Read more >
How the Schenectady County Historical Society Embraced Change and Their Role in the Community
New programming has brought in new audiences at the Schenectady County Historical Society like their Independence Day Celebration with the Schenectady Symphony (pictured above). Image courtesy Schenectady County Historical Society.
As communities that surround museums change and the pressure to remain relevant and create more sustainable sources of revenue increases, museums are looking at the roles they play in their community. Through relevant programming, exhibitions, and events, museums can reach new audiences, celebrate local history and culture, and add to the quality of life in their communities. Read more >
Connecting Today’s Youth With the Woodstock Generation
The replica of the Message Tree, designed to model the landmark tree on the field at Woodstock. The original, a red maple tree would serve as a meeting point and be covered in messages like asking people for rides, times to meet, etc. This replica Message Tree (pictured above) allows visitors to We Are Golden to leave their own thoughts about the exhibition and what they want to see in the world. Image courtesy The Museum at Bethel Woods.
We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival and Aspirations for a Peaceful Future, an exhibition at the Museum at Bethel Woods celebrates and interprets Woodstock’s golden anniversary through artifacts, oral histories, and mixed media and connects social movements in the 1960’s to events at Woodstock and beyond by drawing parallels from then to today.
Read more >
Jambalaya Nation
Sugar boiling pots and slave cabins, Whitney Plantation
When I was young, teachers at PS 110 in Manhattan tried to teach me that America was a “Melting Pot.” As I learned about my friends, classmates, neighbors, and how my family came to this country, that phrase lost its sensibility. My grandmother never opened a cookbook and my mother embraced the ever expanding frozen food aisle. I learned about the people who shared my world through their music and food ways and was fortunate to be surrounded by an endless supply of sounds and flavors to nourish my heart and my body.
Read more >
Lonnie G. Bunch III to Become the Smithsonian's 14th Secretary
The founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Bunch represents the first insider to lead the institution in decades.
Read more>
Should These Clothes Be Saved?
Thousands of articles of everyday women’s clothing are being preserved in lockers in a college basement. But where, exactly, does their value lie?
Read more >
Gurvich is New Executive Director at Warwick Historical Society
The Historical Society welcomes Nora Aman Curvich as the new Executive Director.
Read more>
Culture Pass brings library patrons to New York museums-and now, museums to libraries
Branches across the boroughs are now hosting museums' educational programs
Read more>
Weeksville, a Haven for Free African-Americans Before the Civil War, Is Fighting for Survival
Weeksville could have vanished altogether once before.The remains of the village of free African-Americans who had carved out a settlement after New York abolished slavery were crumbling in the 1960s. Preservationists crusaded, and the refuge nestled in the heart of Brooklyn was saved.
Read more>
Local Students Bring Perspective to Smithsonian Institution
Some local students were able to take a trip to Washington, D.C earlier this month to bring some perspective to the Smithsonian Institution. Three teens from the High School Learning Center in Corning drove to D.C. to represent the Rockwell Museum, which is a Smithsonian affiliate.
Read more>
New Statue of Liberty Museum Illuminates a Forgotten History
The museum, opening Thursday on Liberty island, reminds visitors of the vague and often dubious ideal of "liberty for all."
Read more>
The Long Journey Home for Chief Cornplanter's Tomahawk
The Seneca Nation is hoping that the cherished relic will reside permanently in their new museum. The tomahawk and pipe of the great Seneca Nation Chief Cornplanter was recently unveiled at the Seneca Iroquois National Museum, but the road taken to get there was a long one.
Read more>
A Queer Look at Brooklyn: Student-Curated Exhibition on Brooklyn's LGBTQ History, Opens at Brooklyn Historical Society
A Queer Look at Brooklyn is broken down into four panels which explore how themes of community, gentrification, and advocacy have historically affected Brooklyn’s queer experience.
Read more>
Fort Wood Creek on the National Register of Historic Places
On March 14, 2019 the French and Indian War fortification known as Fort Wood Creek was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Wood Creek, located on the Rome Historical Society’s Fort Bull property, dates to 1756 when it was constructed by the British to replace Fort Bull after it had been attacked and destroyed by 362 French and their Indian allies.
Read more>
New Directions at New York History
Cornell University Press is pleased to announce that the journal New York History, published in association with the New York State Museum, will begin its second century of publication with a new look and an expanded mission. With volume 100, number 1, to appear this summer, New York History will feature a fresh design and offer more space and devote greater editorial attention to public history and the essential work done in museums and historical societies across the state.
Read more>
"Access and Identity: Leading for the Future"
The Museum Institute at Great Camp Sagamore
September 24-27, 2019
The Institute is the perfect place for emerging and established leaders to develop strategies to face new challenges. What you learn in this immersive, participatory program will help you affect positive change in your organization, your career, and your community.
Learn from other leaders in the museum field who will share their experiences across a variety of disciplines to help create solutions, build audiences, and develop your institutional management skills.
2019 The Museum Institute Presenters:
Tonya Matthews
Director of Inclusion, American Alliance of Museums
Sonnet Takanhisa
Teaching and Learning Consultant, Arts and Cultural Strategies, Inc.
Andrew Marietta
VP, Regional Development, NYCON
Garet Livermore
Independent Museum Professional with 30+ years in the museum field
Bruce Whitmarsh
Executive Director, Chemung County Historical Society
Erika Sanger
Executive Director, Museum Association of New York
Learn more
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