Welcome to the March edition of This Month in NYS Museums! In this newsletter... | | | MANY Announces Change in Leadership with Departure of Executive Director Erika Sanger | Sheila McDaniel Appointed Interim Director After eight years in the role of executive director and two prior years as a member of the board of directors Erika Sanger departs the Museum Association of New York with strong leadership in place to carry the organization forward. Sanger’s focus on building organizational structure, securing fiscal responsibility, strengthening membership services, and expanding programming has grown the organization immeasurably. After the April 6-9, 2024 annual conference she will take the role of Executive Director of Opera House Arts, a performing arts and cultural center in Stonington, Maine. In this new role, she will focus her talents and energies on advancing the work of this community-centered arts organization that offers a year-round schedule of professional theater, music, film, dance, educational programs, community events, and more in a National Register Historic Theater. | | | | | Conversation with Ben Garcia, Executive Director, The American LGBTQ+ Museum | | | Rendering of the New-York Historical Society’s expansion project, as seen from Central Park West. Photo courtesy of Alden Studios for Robert A.M. Stern Architects
| Scheduled to open at the New-York Historical Society in 2026, The American LGBTQ+ Museum will occupy 5,000 square feet within the 80,000 square feet new wing expansion. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the new wing will be a five-story structure called the “Democracy Wing.” It will complete the New-York Historical Society’s complex on Central Park West, providing additional space for educational programs and storage as well as a new exhibition gallery, courtyard, and rooftop garden terraces. The American LGBTQ+ Museum will be New York City’s first museum dedicated to national, and local LGBTQ history and culture. Through exhibitions, contributions from scholars, public programming, and collaborations with other LGBTQ institutions, the museum will aim to act as a “school for activists” by highlighting the lives of queer people who are not ordinarily reflected in our cultural institutions today. We spoke with Executive Director Ben Garcia to learn more about this unique partnership and the role of The American LGBTQ+ Museum will play in amplifying queer history from across New York State and beyond. | | |
The American LGBTQ+ Museum is anticipated to open late 2026, early 2027. To learn more about the museum, visit https://americanlgbtqmuseum.org/. Ben Garcia will join Jennifer Scott, Executive Director of the Urban Civil Rights Museum in an opening keynote discussion, “Slow Cooking: Recipes for Centering Value in Museums” moderated by MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger at the 2024 annual conference in Albany, NY on Sunday, April 7 at 3 PM in Chancellor’s Hall, The New York State Education Department Building. To learn more and to register for the conference, visit https://nysmuseums.org/annualconference.
| | | MANY Board Interview: Sophie Lo, Deputy Director at The Museum at Eldridge Street | | |
Sophie Lo at The Museum at Eldridge Street | Sophie Lo has more than a decade of experience working at the intersection of arts and culture and education. She is currently the Deputy Director at the Museum at Eldridge Street, directing museum operations and strategic initiatives. Her prior experiences include overseeing public programs and events at The Institute of Fine Arts at NYU and managing public programs and communications at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). She has freelanced for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), consulted on diversity initiatives for young adult novels and children’s education materials at Scholastic Inc. Sophie was an Art Commissioner for Queens Council on the Arts from 2021-2022 and selected for New York Foundation for the Arts Incubator for Executive Leaders of Color Program, an initiative aimed to foster equity and diversity in the arts industry. She earned her B.A. in Culture and Media Studies from The New School, her M.S. in Human Capital Management and Organizational Effectiveness from NYU, and received a certificate for Managing Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace from Cornell University. Lo joined the Museum Association of New York Board in January 2024. We spoke with her to learn more about her museum career journey. | | | | | Voices and Votes: Democracy in America Makes its New York State Debut at Preservation Long Island | | | Old Methodist Church building, headquarters and exhibitions gallery for Preservation Long Island. Photo courtesy of Lauren Brincat, Curator, Preservation Long Island | The Museum Association of New York is the designated partner for the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street Program, circulating Smithsonian-created exhibitions across New York State. From March 2024 to January 2026, MANY will travel the exhibition “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America” to 12 museums in 9 NYS REDC regions. With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, MarketNY, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, MANY will help the museums attract visitors, expand their programming, and grow their donor base. “Voices and Votes” opens at Preservation Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor this March. We spoke with Preservation Long Island Curator, Lauren Brincat, to learn more about how the exhibition will impact programming, museum capacity, and amplify Long Island’s role in American democracy. | | | | | | | MANY is committed to salary transparency. All job postings require a salary range. | | | | | 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 | | | Giving Voice to Value
2024 Annual Conference
April 6 - 9 | Albany, NY | | | Registration Closes March 31!
Join hundreds of museum professionals from across the state to discuss the proposition that it is time to look at new ways to communicate our value to stakeholders, funders, legislators, visitors, and communities. Museums dedicate resources to rationalize relevance, impact, community service, and investment in collections, programs, and facilities. The 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value" features: → Over 100 presenters in 25 concurrent sessions, pre-conference workshops, and capstone experiences; → two keynotes; → special events at the New York State Education Department Building, the New York State Museum; → eclipse viewing and after party;
→ and a Night at the Museums tour. | | | | | | | | | | | Conference Special Events Have fun with friends old and new after the conference sessions end! Add a special event to your conference registration –Dinner at The Hollow, Eclipse After Party at the New York State Museum, Dinner at the New York State Museum, and Night at the Museums! | | | | | 2024 Awards of Distinction | | | Museums, museum professionals, industry partners, and legislative leaders will be recognized for their exceptional achievements at MANY’s 2024 annual conference “Giving Voice to Value” in Albany, New York this April. The fifteen awards celebrate unique leadership, dedicated community service, transformational visitor experiences, community engagement, and innovative programs that use collections and resources to support museums and to tell stories of everyone who calls New York home.
| | | | | 22 Museum Professionals Awarded Scholarships to Attend the Museum Association of New York’s 2024 Annual Conference in Albany this April | | | The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is proud to announce that 22 museum professionals from across New York State will attend the 2024 annual conference “Giving Voice to Value” in Albany, NY, April 6-9 with full scholarship support. Scholarships include conference registration, travel, hotel accommodation, workshop or special event registration, and complimentary individual MANY memberships for one year. Scholarship recipients were selected through a competitive application process. Applications were reviewed by a panel that included MANY’s board members, staff, and local conference committee members. “We look forward to welcoming these exceptional professionals to Albany and express our sincere gratitude to our donors helping MANY’s expand our service to the field,” said MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger. | | | | | Meet our 2024 Conference Keynotes! | | | | | Ben Garcia Executive Director The American LGBTQ+ Museum | | | | Jennifer Scott Executive Director The Urban Civil Rights Museum | | | | Margaret Middleton Independent Exhibit Designer and Museum Consultant | | | Meet MANY+ MuseumHue Online | | | Climate Change Facilities and Programming Friday, March 15, 2024
12 - 1:30 PM EST Building in anticipation of climate change involves designing and constructing museums with the future impacts of climate change in mind. This proactive approach aims to enhance resilience reduce vulnerability, and mitigate the potential negative effects of changing climatic conditions. Designed by Caples Jefferson Architects and completed in 2014, Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn was designed to be a balance between the existing, 19th-century houses of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America and to create a new 23,000 sq ft complex that would include a museum and state of the art exhibition, performance, and education facilities. The buildings gravitate around the central landscaped area where past and present face each other and are bound together by the ever-changing farmland vegetation that evokes the agricultural heritage of the community. The Climate Museum is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the climate crisis. Over the last five years, the Museum has presented eight exhibitions and more than 300 events; engaged 350+ high school students in leadership, advocacy, and arts programs; and welcomed more than a hundred thousand visitors in-person and many more online. As the climate crisis intensifies, so does the need for communal spaces where we can all gain understanding and resolve. The Climate Museum makes inclusive dialogue and immersive cultural programming on climate accessible to a broad public. The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program (YCP) is a global initiative that works to convene, inspire, and network young people through youth climate summits, empowering them to lead and act on climate change solutions in their schools and communities. At the center of the program is a two-day retreat, the annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit that brings together over 200 high school and college students to learn about climate change. As a science-based organization, The Wild Center is deeply concerned about how changes in one of the major pillars that support the natural world will impact life on Earth. From Youth Climate Summits to creating solutions to environmental issues through our Building a Greener Adirondacks initiative, The Wild Center is making strides toward a sustainable future. | | | | | These virtual programs were organized in partnership with Museum Hue, a nationally recognized organization that works to paint a larger portrait of the arts and culture field by providing greater support and recognition for Black, Indigenous, and people of color throughout museums and other cultural entities across the United States. |
Virtual programs are free with thanks to support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. MANY is committed to making our virtual programs as accessible as possible. ASL interpretation is provided by Interpretek. All virtual programs are recorded and available for MANY members via the Member Resource page within 7 days of the live program.
| | | | | Humanities New York
Action Grants
Action Grants offer $6,500 to $10,000 to implement Humanities projects that encourage public audiences to reflect on their values, explore new ideas, and engage with others in their community. All subjects and themes relevant to the communities served are welcome.
For projects starting July 1, 2024 or later, the application portal will open on March 4, 2024 and close at 11:59 pm on April 1st, 2024. Learn more | | | Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Mohawk Valley Historic Revitalization Grant Program This program will offer grants for brick-and-mortar investment in National Register listed historic properties and properties that contribute to a listed historic district located within selected small rural Mohawk Valley communities adjacent to the NYS Canal System. Grants will be open to private, public, and nonprofit owners of historic properties. Requests may not be less than $50,000; nor exceed $100,000. A 25% cash match of the total project cost is required. Up to $712,000 in funding is available and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. This new program is supported by a Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant from the National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund. Applications open on April 1 Learn more
| | | The New York State Archives
2024-2025 DHP Grant Funding Cycle
The New York State Archives is pleased to announce the availability of the guidelines and application for the 2024-2025 DHP funding cycle. Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) Grants grants are designed to build a more comprehensive and equitable documentation of New York State’s history and culture by supporting projects that identify, survey, collect, arrange, describe, and make available records that relate to groups and topics traditionally under-represented in the State. DHP funds projects from non-profit organizations that improve access to historical records including but not limited to arrangement & description, digitization, documentation planning, conversion of descriptive tools for online access, community archiving, and reparative description. Organizations that have received an Archival Needs Assessment from DHPSNY are eligible for up to $5,000 in grant funding to implement one or more of the recommendations outlined in the assessment report. Application closes on April 2 Learn more
| | | | | | | 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 | | | | | |
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