Exploring ideas and engaging in conversation

Month: March 2011 (Page 3 of 3)

House Appropriations Letter Supporting Office of Museum Services

This is a move-fast kind of alert. I just completed the process outlined here by the AAM, and it took two minutes and twelve second. (Yes, I used a stopwatch.)

That two minutes and twelve seconds included composing the following paragraph, which I offer here for you to cut-and-paste into the relevant section of the email form (it requires you to type something in there):

As a member of the Tufts Museum Studies community, I am keenly aware of how necessarily IMLS support is for the future of museums in America. The availability of public funding for innovative, community-based educational outreach of the kind provided at museums is crucial. The IMLS has a longtime track record of providing just such support.

Representative Mike Capuano has not yet signed this appropriations letter. This is an opportunity for Tufts students to really make a difference. I know you can take less than two minutes out of your day to do this!

Instructions as provided by the AAM below:

Act Now! Ask Your Representative to Join House Appropriations Letter Supporting Office of Museum Services

Great News!  Once again in conjunction with Museums Advocacy Day, U.S. Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) are circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter in the U.S. House of Representatives encouraging Members of Congress to join their bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Committee urging $35 million for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

**The deadline to sign on to this letter is this THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011. **

CLICK HERE to ask your Representative to SIGN THE TONKO/SLAUGHTER/LANCE APPROPRIATIONS LETTER Today!

“Members of the House of Representatives are most likely to sign on to a Dear Colleague letter when asked by a constituent,” said AAM President Ford W. Bell.  “We have already seen a number of attacks on cultural agencies and programs this year, and we need to ensure enough Members of Congress sign on to this letter to protect the IMLS Office of Museum Services from funding cuts.  I applaud the leadership of Representatives Tonko, Slaughter and Lance on this issue.”

The letter highlights the many educational and other vital services museums provide in their local communities every day and asks the Appropriations Committee to support $35 million for FY12 for OMS.

Thanks to advocate visits during Museums Advocacy Day, the following Representatives have already agreed to sign the letter:

Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), lead co-signer
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), lead co-signer
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), lead co-signer
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU)
Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK)
Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA)
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)
Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA)
Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME)
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Rep. James Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA)

The Office of Museum Services received just over $35 million in the last completed funding cycle (FY10). President Obama has requested an 8.2% reduction in his FY12 budget proposal. Congress is currently completing work on its FY11 budget, and the House is already beginning to work on funding for FY12.

To get involved in more advocacy for museums visit www.speakupformuseums.org today!

Audience and the Future

Those of you who don’t listen to NPR regularly might not know that the public radio organization has been in quite a bit of hot water lately. Most recently, its former head of development was caught on tape saying some rather…ill-advised things. He believed he was talking to representatives of a potential donor; he was actually talking to political activists. As part of the fallout of those revelations, NPR’s board of trustees asked for and received the resignation of NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller.

What does this have to do with museums?

Well, a lot, actually. One of the hot-button issues in public radio right now is whether or not it should receive government funding. Museums are also in danger of losing their public funding; indeed, they already have lost quite a bit in recent budget revelations. Public radio and museums both find themselves juggling many of the same difficult issues: relevance, money, appeal, and message, among others.

One subject that has been talked about a lot in the museum community is audience: who is our audience now? who should it be in the future? how should we best identify, communicate with, and appeal to our audience? (should we do these things?)

For these and many other reasons, a recent commentary by Sue Schardt, executive director of the Association of Independents in Radio, really struck a chord with me. Among the really interesting things she said was this:

We have built an extraordinary franchise. It didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we used a very specific methodology to cultivate and build an audience. For years, in boardrooms, at conferences, with funders, we have talked about our highly educated, influential audience. We pursued David Giovannoni’s methodologies. We all participated. It was his research, his undaunted, clear strategy that we pursued to build the successful news journalism franchise we have today.

What happened as a result is that we unwittingly cultivated a core audience that is predominately white, liberal, highly educated, elite. “Super-serve the core” — that was the mantra, for many, many years. This focus has, in large part, brought us to our success today. It was never anyone’s intention to exclude anyone.

But we have to accept — unapologetically — that this is the franchise we’ve built.

Read the whole thing. It’s extraordinary.

Museums in the News – The Overdue Roundup

First: sorry for missing last week’s museum’s in the news roundup! I am not always as on top of my intrepid blog editor persona as I’d like to be.

As a bonus, this week’s news roundup will be twice as long. I know you’re excited.

NH university plans Museum of the White Mountains (proposed museum, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire)

Copper theft attempt costly for Firefighters Museum (Firefighters Hall and Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Singapore’s ArtScience Museum: Lots of museum, not so much artscience (ArtScience Museum, Singapore)

Woman who ripped print at museum must pay almost $3,000 (Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, Chicago)

Museum of Flight prepares for NASA shuttle (Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington)

Museum to honor fallen co-worker (Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama)

World’s richest man turns to art with Mexican museum (Museo Soumaya, Mexico City, Mexico)
Emperor’s New Museum

Museum to display Afghan treasures (British Museum, London, England)
“Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World” on view at British Museum (Photos)

How to get into New York museums for free (various museums, New York City)

National Museum of China re-opens after three year renovation (National Museum of China, Beijing, China)

Museum crowd-curation and the way we live now (various museums)

Plans to open a Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in Australia (proposed museum, Sydney, Australia)

Details of the Leavesden Studios “Harry Potter Museum” are revealed (proposed museum, London, England)

The Nutropolitan Museum of Art: A Peanut Butter Sandwich Art Gallery (The Nutropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York)

Clark Art Institute gets $4.5M in gifts (Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts)

Oklahoma legislature to consider support of Marshals Museum (proposed US Marshals Museum, Fort Smith, Oklahoma)

Weekly Job Listings

Welcome to our weekly jobs report. As always, new jobs appear first on their own, separate job announcements page.

  • Docent, School, and Adult Programming Specialist [Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum]Curator of Education: Docent, School, and Adult Programming Specialist Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum *Overview:* The Woodson Art Museum ­ a 35-year-old, well-supported north central Wisconsin museum ­ seeks an innovative and dynamic educator t…
  • Director of Education [Lower East Side Tenement Museum]LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION JOB DESCRIPTION Organization Background The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, founded in 1988, promotes tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation of the…
  • Director of Public Programs [Museum of Jewish Heritage]Department of Public Programs Director of Public Programs The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is seeking a seasoned professional to manage its Public Programs. Created as a living memorial to those who perished during…
  • Museum Education Fellow [Bates College Museum of Art]Museum Education Fellow Department  Bates College Museum of Art Job status  Full Time, Full Year This is a full-time, one year position and is renewable for a second year. The salary is $18,500 per year and includes a benefits package. The Ba…
  • Education Intern [Illinois State Museum]The Monticello College Foundation Internship in Museum Education provides an exciting and challenging opportunity to work with museum educators, exhibits staff, and curators in a mid-sized museum of natural  history, anthropology, and art. The Mont…
  • Science Instructor [New York Hall of Science]Formal and Informal Teaching and Learning Department-Science Instructor The Science Instructor will report to the Director of Formal and Informal Teaching and Learning. The role involves implementing programs, workshops, science curriculum developme…
Newer posts »

Spam prevention powered by Akismet