Welcome to the July edition of This Month in NYS Museums! In this newsletter... | | | | | | | 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value." Photo by Alex Cassetti. | Dear MANY Members, We hope you are enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. Here at MANY, we have been hard at work cultivating relevant and engaging professional development programs you can enjoy throughout the year. It is our goal to continue to offer virtual programs free of charge, and I am asking you to donate to support MANY’s virtual program series. If you donate in any amount by 5 PM Friday, August 30, you will receive 20% off a new or renewed individual or virtual membership. We need your help to support the presenters who generously share their time and expertise, to contribute to the cost of our expanded Zoom license, which allows hundreds of people to attend each program, and to keep our organization ready to serve thousands of museum professionals, not only in New York but in the 48 states and 17 countries who regularly participate in our virtual programs. Donations are welcome from individuals and organizations, especially those whose staff attend MANY virtual programs for professional development. There are twelve more virtual programs in our 2024 Meet MANY Online series. This is your opportunity to hear some of the top-rated sessions from the conference. Each program includes closed captioning and ASL interpretation provided by Interpretek. In March 2020, MANY pledged to offer live virtual programs without charge. We knew the information being shared was critically important to our colleagues, and we continue to honor that pledge. Registration is free for this Friday’s program and for all live virtual programs that will follow in 2024. A grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation helps us deliver these programs, but as many of you know from your work, grants do not cover all program costs. Please donate any amount by 5 PM on Friday, August 30, and we will send you a code for a 20% discount on a new or renewed individual or virtual MANY membership. MANY members can access virtual program recordings for free! You can click here to donate or send a check made out to the “Museum Association of New York” at 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180, with the word “virtual” in the memo line. Thank you in advance for your support. I hope to see you soon, whether in person or virtually. | | | Sheila McDaniel, Interim Executive Director | | | Interesting in Serving on our Board of Directors? | | | Apply by 5 PM TODAY –Wednesday, July 31 to serve on the Museum Association of New York (MANY) Board Class of 2025-2027! Candidates should be museum professionals who work in New York museums, museum service industries, or for related academic programs; leaders in their museum discipline and in their commitment to advancing the field; and can demonstrate a relationship with the Museum Association of New York. Prior or current board experience is not required to join the MANY Board. | | | | | Highlighting Community: “Old/New Threads” Traveling Exhibition by the Castellani Art Museum in Partnership with Stitch Buffalo | | | Beginning of a tour of the "Old/New Threads" exhibition, with garlands made by Kaushila Biswa (originally from Bhutan) hanging over the entryway. 2024. Courtesy Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University.
| Located at the center of Niagara University campus is the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, a free admission university museum with a world-class collection of over 5,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs. The collection encompasses a broad range of contemporary art movements from the 19th century onwards; the most comprehensive collection of Niagara Falls prints in the world, including its oldest ever depiction; and works by local folk and traditional artists. In addition to permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum also curates traveling exhibitions, including “Old/New Threads,” which will begin traveling in Spring 2025. We spoke with Edward Millar, Castellani Art Museum’s Curator of Folk Arts, to learn more about the museum's history and future of traveling exhibitions. | | | | | | | | | | | Hiring? MANY Organizational and Industry Members post museum jobs for free. For other job posting opportunities, please contact the MANY office at info@nysmuseums.org or call 518-273-3400 | MANY is committed to salary transparency. All job postings require a salary range. | | | | | | | Led by museum professionals from across New York State and beyond, join us online in this webinar series. Webinars are free; advance registration required. Virtual programs are made possible thanks to support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. | | | | Friday, August 23 12 - 1:30 PM EST Old Collection, New Pride: Fresh Takes to Diversify Programming Gain fresh inspiration to invigorate family-friendly, inclusive programming from two niche museums that found novel and creative ways to connect the unique stories in their collections and archives to community events that are especially LGBTQ-welcoming. Find out how The Whaling Museum uses historic content in its archives to connect to family programming with drag performers. Explore how the Corning Museum of Glass is deepening its inclusivity for and with broader audiences through its work with community circles. Staff will share their triumphs, challenges, strategies for addressing pushback, and lessons learned from the process of expanding their public programming. Leave with practical inspiration to use your collection as a gateway to celebrate gender diversity. | | | | | | Friday, August 30 12 - 1:30 PM EST Confronting a Problematic Legacy As caretakers of the Bush House Museum, the Salem Art Association has a special responsibility to look closely at the historical record and, when evidence of oppression or racism comes to light, to acknowledge wrongdoings in an honest and upfront manner. And yet, simply condemning past racism is not enough. At SAA, we believe in the power of art to not only educate, entertain, delight, and dazzle, but to simultaneously interrogate, stimulate, and challenge. With these goals in mind, our team is re-imagining and re-inventing our programming and our curatorial work, particularly as it relates to the intersection of contemporary art and historical sites. In our talk, we will share some of the history surrounding this house and then discuss our process for making change, including issues such as defining community, sharing power, and working with artists. In New York State, New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation invested $20 million for the renovation of Philipse Manor State Historic Site buildings, grounds, and a new permanent exhibition with the goal to secure the structure and reinterpret the Manor's history to help visitors better understand the complex relationships that took place at the Manor from its construction during the Dutch Colonial period to the American Revolution and beyond.
| | | | | | | Friday, September 6 12 - 1:30 PM EST Voicing Our Own Value: The New Museum Labor Movement In recent years, museums across the country have seen a new wave of unionization efforts As museum staff have begun to recognize the importance of organizing, these efforts often involve contradictions between new expectations and the “way things have always been done” at our institutions. Can unions provide new energy for cultural organizations rather than pose a threat? Can living wages and protections against toxic workplaces coexist within a vibrant and sustainable museum economic model? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Humanities New York Reading & Discussion Grants Reading & Discussion grants fund (up to $2,000) programs across the state which provide an opportunity for communities to deeply consider a topic or issue of interest to them. In each program, participants read a series of thematically linked texts and discuss them over the course of four to six sessions facilitated by a trained local scholar. Organizations may choose to use one of the themes HNY has developed or propose their own. Host sites must identify a facilitator from their own communities. Applications for programs taking place in Fall 2024 will close on August 30. Learn more | | | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior History of Equal Rights, FY 2024 Grant Opportunity
The National Park Service (NPS) is proud to announce the History of Equal Rights Grant Program (HER) which preserves sites related to the struggle of all Americans to achieve the ideal of equal rights. HER Grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), administered by the NPS, and fund a broad range of physical preservation work and pre-preservation planning activities for historic sites that are listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. Congress has appropriated $5 million for the HER Grant Program for fiscal year 2024. Eligible costs include: architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and physical preservation to structures. Grants will be awarded through a competitive process and do not require non-Federal funding match.
Learn more Applications will be due August 20, 2024. | | | | | William G. Pomeroy Foundation Names Bill Brower Executive Director Following a national search, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation Board of Trustees announced that they have appointed Bill Brower as the organization’s next executive director, effective August 12, 2024. Brower has worked most of his career in educational advancement, the last decade at Le Moyne College as vice president of advancement and special assistant to the president for strategic partnerships and workforce innovation. As the longest-serving advancement VP in Le Moyne’s history, Brower completed a $100 million comprehensive campaign. Under his leadership, the number of volunteers actively engaged with the college increased ten-fold, he led the effort to diversify Le Moyne’s Board of Trustees and other volunteer bodies, and he managed Marketing and Communications and Career Advising and Development. His work with foundations, corporations, and public funders since 2021 has resulted in over $45 million in commitments. Learn more | | | Nominations Now Open for 2025 IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Services Nominations are now open for the highest honor awarded to museums and libraries—the Institute of Museum and Library Service’s (IMLS) National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Since 1994, the award has been given to 222 institutions that exemplified extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service. The National Medal recognizes outstanding libraries and museums of any type and size. To be honored, the institution must deeply impact its community by: - fostering a lifelong passion for learning for all people, nourishing curiosity and imagination from early childhood through adulthood, for people of all abilities and needs;
- providing access to information through advancing digital capacity, focusing on digital inclusion and access to digital and informational resources, including e-books and materials to help address workforce development and public health;
- enriching the lives of community members by being trusted community spaces for convening, connection, and conversation; enlightenment and shared thoughts and opinions; and preserving natural and cultural heritage and community memory; and
- catalyzing community connections, collaborations and/or coalitions to advance community goals.
Anyone, including the organization’s employees, board members, community members, and elected officials, may nominate a museum or library for this honor. An organization that is nominated either by an outside nominator or by self-nomination must complete the Nomination Form to be considered. Components of the nomination form include organizational information, an overview and narrative, and letters of support. Nominations are open until September 6.
Learn more | | | The Institute of Museum and Library Services seeks volunteers to participate in their National Museum Survey.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) seeks volunteers to participate in interviews about the upcoming first-ever nationally representative survey of museums, the National Museum Survey. What you need to know: IMLS’ contractors ICF and Ebony need 24 museum leaders and administrators to help ensure that the NMS’ questions are easily understood and answerable. IMLS needs a wide range of perspectives — interviewees from museums of all types and sizes are welcome! Researchers will work to schedule one-hour virtual interviews at times that are convenient to you in July and August. Your interview will be confidential. The information you share will not be shared with IMLS grant makers and will not affect any current or future relationship with IMLS.
Learn more | | | AASLH Virtual Summit: Next Practices: Discussions on the Future of Interpretation, August 6 -7 Join the American Association for State and Local History Educators and Interpreters Committee as we investigate new and developing models of history and museum interpretation, considering all sides of the big questions facing our teams and organizations. Representatives from sites across the country will share their successes, tips, and strategies for adapting to our rapidly changing public history landscape. This virtual summit takes place over two half-days on August 6 – 7. Registration includes access to all the live sessions and recordings of all sessions in case you need to watch them at another time. Learn more and register | | | | | | | What's happening at your museum? How is your museum growing institutional resources, including welcoming new staff and board members and securing funding for projects, how is your museum working with their community and visitors; and how we use our exhibitions and collections in new ways. Share your news by emailing meves@nysmuseums.org | | | | | |
