Fall/Winter 2011 - Smithsonian Affiliations

Fall/Winter 2011
the
affiliate
News about Smithsonian Affiliates
Detail of the
Smithsonian
Community Reef on
view at the Putnam
Museum and IMAX
Theatre until 2016.
Putnam Museum Provides
New Home for Smithsonian
Community Reef
Photo courtesy
Putnam Museum
and IMAX Theatre.
By Cara Seitchek
The Smithsonian Community Reef,
a six-month highlight of the National
Museum of Natural History’s (NMNH)
Sant Ocean Hall, will grace the entrance to
the Putnam Museum and IMAX
Theatre’s Ocean Experience Hall for the
next five years. The coral reef, composed of
thousands of crocheted natural forms, will
provide myriad educational opportunities
for the Putnam Museum in the disciplines
of science, math, marine biology, ecology,
and conservation.
“We had already discussed creating our
own crochet coral reef,” said Kimberly
Findlay, president and CEO of the Putnam
Museum in Davenport, Iowa. “It was very
exciting to have the Smithsonian reach out
to us and ask if we would host an object that
had been on view at the National Museum
of Natural History.”
“Although the community coral reef
was not conceived as a traveling exhibition,” said Meg Rivers, NMNH exhibits
developer, “it was so magnificent and
received such acclaim from visitors that
we couldn’t box it up and put it in storage.
continued page 3
Smithsonian Affiliations
Putnam Museum and IMAX Theatre
1
www.affiliations.si.edu
www.putnam.org
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
from the director
We extend a warm
welcome to our newest
Smithsonian Affiliates
“We Have Returned”:
Museums and Revitalization Post-Katrina
A recent trip to Louisiana and Mississippi
made it crystal clear that museums are more
than wallpaper on the local landscape; they
are indeed essential to the survival and
revival of their communities. Six years ago,
August 29, 2005, New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The destruction along the Gulf Coast was incalculable—lives lost, neighborhoods destroyed,
infrastructure shattered, and tens of
thousands dispersed. Museums fought to
save buildings and collections; a task made
more difficult by the absence of staff due to
mandatory evacuation and personal losses.
Many predicted the complete disappearance
of New Orleans and its unique way of life.
Smithsonian Affiliates in New Orleans,
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art
and The National World War II
Museum, took a leadership role among the
cadre of cultural organizations determined
to present a different narrative. Less than
two months after Katrina, The Ogden
reopened with a regular Thursday night
concert series, affirming the musical vitality
of New Orleans while also providing jobs
and a place for locals to reconnect. Missing
New Orleans, an exhibition and book
project, was rushed to print, with a new
section featuring images of the destroyed
homes of museum staff. Across the street
from The Ogden, The National D-Day
Museum—soon to be renamed The
National World War II Museum—reopened
its doors three months after Katrina, and in
language reminiscent of General MacArthur, printed T-shirts announcing “We
Have Returned.” Both museums play a
major role in the revival of New Orleans by
offering a vibrant cultural life and embarking on expansion projects, making a strong
impact on the local economy and the
long-term outlook for the city’s future.
A hundred miles east in Biloxi, Mississippi, the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art
is also re-emerging. The museum’s Frank
Gehry-designed buildings, then under
construction, were nearly destroyed by
a barge tossed ashore during the storm.
Museum staff refused to throw in the towel;
with patience and determination, they put
the pieces of the project back together.
The museum complex, now with several
buildings open to the public, stands as a
tribute not only to its namesake George
Ohr, the self-proclaimed “greatest art potter
on Earth,” but also to the indomitable spirit
of art and those who work tirelessly to
make it accessible.
The late Stephen Weil, Smithsonian
colleague and museum sage, asked frequently and provocatively “Do museums
matter?” After my visit, I would answer
that museums not only matter but in many
places they are the core institutions that
stand between the life and death of a
community. Head to the Gulf Coast, visit
our Affiliates, and see what I mean.
Harold A. Closter
[email protected]
Columbia Memorial Space Center
Downey, CA
USS Constitution Museum
Boston, MA
Yankee Air Museum
Belleville, MI
City of Las Cruces Museum System
Las Cruces, NM
Stafford Air & Space Museum
Weatherford, OK
Editor Christina Di Meglio Lopez
Assistant Editor Elizabeth Bugbee
Writer Cara Seitchek
Designer Brad Ireland
Printing Chroma Graphics, Inc.
Affiliations Staff Directory
Jennifer Brundage, National Outreach Manager
Elizabeth Bugbee, External Affairs & Professional
Development Coordinator
Harold A. Closter, Director
Alma Douglas, National Outreach Manager
Aaron Glavas, National Outreach Manager
Laura Hansen, National Outreach Manager
contents
Christina Di Meglio Lopez, External Affairs
Manager
Caroline Mah, National Outreach Manager
Gertrude Ross, Financial Manager
© 2011 Smithsonian Institution
The Affiliate is published by
Smithsonian Affiliations. All rights reserved.
For information
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8
Smithsonian Affiliations
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012 MRC 942
Washington, DC 20013-7012
1
Putnam Museum Provides
New Home for Smithsonian
Community Reef
4
2011 Smithsonian Affiliations
National Conference Focuses
on Education
2
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
6
Science Mystery VANISHED
at Affiliate Museums
6
Don Williams:
Preserving Treasures, Saving Stuff
7
The Ties That Bind:
Charlotte Museum of History
and SITES
8
Smithsonian In Your Neighborhood:
News about Smithsonian Affiliates
Telephone: 202.633.5300
Fax: 202.633.5313
affiliations.si.edu
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Smithsonian Affiliate Membership
Offer your members two memberships in one.
For more information email [email protected].
science/arts
Top to bottom
Installation of
the Smithsonian
Community Reef at
the Putnam Museum
and IMAX Theatre.
Detail of the
Smithsonian
Community Reef.
All photos courtesy
Putnam Museum and
IMAX Theatre.
continued from page 1
Putnam Museum Provides New Home
for Smithsonian Community Reef
The Putnam Museum has created a
wonderful space for it as well as incredible
programming.”
The Smithsonian Community Reef is a
satellite project of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral
Reef Project (HCCR) created by The Institute
for Figuring (IFF) in Los Angeles, California.
Organized by sisters Margaret and Christine
Wertheim, HCCR was based on the work of
Cornell University mathematician Daina
Taimina, who crocheted the first threedimensional representations of hyperbolic
geometry for her classes in 1997.
The Wertheims, who grew up in
Australia, adapted the natural forms to
create a version of the Great Barrier Reef
with loopy “kelps,” fringed “anemones,”
crenellated “sea slugs,” and curlicue
“corals.” After outgrowing their coffee
table and home, the HCCR is now loaned
to institutions around the world for display
and to inspire local communities to create
their own reefs.
NMNH’s Sant Chair in Marine Science
Dr. Nancy Knowlton, who brought HCCR
to the museum, said that the project helps
make the public aware of the problems
facing coral reefs, which have lost almost
50 percent of their living coral globally.
“I can’t think of any better way of merging
arts with sciences and showing both the
beauty of coral reefs and the deterioration
they face.”
The Smithsonian Community Reef
turned into a year-long labor of love for
Community Reef Coordinator Jennifer
Lindsay, who oversaw the creation of the
reef and outreach into the community.
Starting in May 2010, Lindsay connected
to the knitting and crocheting community,
soliciting contributions of crocheted coral
using the patterns developed by Taimina
and the Wertheim sisters.
“We received 4,000 pieces through the
mail from 819 contributors, representing
25 states, three countries, and ages from
three to 101,” said Lindsay. “Several
knitting shops hosted free events to teach
crochet and ended up with reefs growing
in their shops. Groups who participated
included blind knitters, homeless women,
and even regular visitors to the museum
would sit down and crochet a piece.”
With select pieces from IFF’s reef as
guidance, Lindsay worked with a team of
88 volunteers who assisted her in sorting
and grading the 520 square feet of “coral,”
and then helped her assemble what became
the Smithsonian Community Reef.
“Luckily I had the resources of the
museum and its specimens to serve as
models,” she said. “And comparing the
marine species on display with the crocheted reef created conversations that were
enriching for visitors.”
The final Smithsonian Community
Reef required a large platform, rolls of
chicken wire, large cardboard tubes, pipe
cleaners, twist ties, and hot glue. Installation consumed 484 person hours; de-installation, 32 person hours. The Quiksilver
Foundation, the Embassy of Australia, and
the Coral Reef Alliance provided critical
financial support. “The Putnam Museum really needed
Jennifer’s vision to re-create the reef,” said
Rivers. “We sent 200 photographs and a
50-page document explaining how the reef
was constructed.”
“As a museum of science and history, we
are becoming more and more interested in
science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) content. Our education team really
wanted to do something with the reef to
meet STEM goals,” said Findlay. “Although
not typically done to accompany the reef,
our education team felt strongly about this
and worked with IFF until they agreed that
we could create an education module.”
In order to emphasize the mathematical
concepts contained in the reef, the Putnam
Museum’s signage discusses different types
of geometry — Euclidian, the familiar theory
of points, angles, and lines; and hyperbolic,
a concept useful for describing the more
complex shapes of the natural world. Simple
demonstrations by staff members show how
a simple piece of yarn could turn into
infinite numbers of parallel lines when a
piece of crochet is folded upon itself.
“We came up with a happy medium
for everyone,” said Rivers. “NMNH is very
happy for its reef to have a new home and a
new relationship with an Affiliate museum.”
Findlay agrees. “Having the reef here
benefits our community, contributes to our
purpose and mission, and strengthens our
relationships with our local schools and
the Smithsonian.”
the affiliate
“The Smithsonian
Community Reef
project complements
the experience learners of all ages have
come to appreciate at
the Putnam Museum
in Davenport. This
exhibit will give
Iowans, who do not
often get to see coral
reefs in person, a wonderful chance to learn
about the ecology of
the ocean and pacific
islands ecosystem.”
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Putnam Museum and IMAX Theatre
3
www.putnam.org
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
2011 conference
2011 Smithsonian
Affiliations
National
Conference
Focuses on
Education
By Cara Seitchek
Top left
Conference
attendees in the
Smithsonian Castle
Commons for the
Welcome Reception
at the Smithsonian
Affiliations National
Conference. Photo
courtesy Smithsonian
Affiliations.
“We tried to model how to partner and
sions about innovative education programs
think about partnering,” said Elizabeth
that reach into the local community. Fifteen
Eder, assistant chair, National Educational
Smithsonian educators from every field and
Partnerships, Smithsonian American Art
discipline shared their ideas, successes, and
Museum. “By providing an opportunity
challenges with using technology, working
for people to team up and brainstorm
with local schools, and creating citizen
together, Affiliate staff members could share science programs.
stories and broach possible partnerships.”
Afternoon sessions covered topics as
Eder’s session, Not Your Ordinary
varied as the Smithsonian’s Immigration
Classroom: Reaching Students Using Documents Initiative, building membership programs,
and Works of Art as Primary Sources, adapted
creating mobile platforms, promoting
her teacher training program to include
science education, and using works of art
“group speed dating” for greater participant
as primary sources.
interaction. This focus on partnerships
Meg Colafella, former director of
remained a key theme throughout the
membership at the Senator John Heinz
2011 Affiliations National Conference,
History Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
June 13 – 15, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
described her approach to membership as
From the keynote address presented by “non-traditional.” Instead of membership
Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, existing as a separate office, she integrated
Claudine Brown, to the Visiting Profesmembership practices into the entire
sional and Intern Partnership Awards,
museum by creating collaborations with
conference participants attended educational other departments and doubling membersessions, took behind-the-scenes tours, met
ship within two years.
with Smithsonian staff, and visited with
“I came to the session with real, usable
fellow Affiliate members.
ideas that people could take away with
For Will Ticknor, director of museums
them,” she said. “We had a lot of interaction
for the City of Las Cruces Museum
with the audience with a lot of good
System, Las Cruces, New Mexico, his first
questions and answers. I enjoyed learning
Affiliations Conference “was an excellent
with everyone there, and the information
opportunity to learn about all the benefits
sharing has continued after the conference.”
of the Affiliations program. We were so
Judy Brown, senior vice president of
busy, the week just flew by.”
programs at the Miami Science Museum,
Tuesday morning, nearly 90 attendees
Miami, Florida, had a similar experience
gathered for a series of roundtable discuswith her session, Success with Science: New
4
Smithsonian Affiliations
the affiliate
www.affiliations.si.edu
Fall/Winter 2011
Approaches for New Audiences, which focused
on issues related to increasing career
pathways in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for girls.
“I found it a positive experience to talk
about how programming at museums can
really make a difference in the lives of young
people. The discussion was enlightening,
and I gained insights into the participants
and their thoughts. I extended an invitation
for Affiliates to participate in our mini-grant
program; this was well received and I see
new collaborations on the horizon.”
Wednesday morning brought attendees
together at the National Museum of the
American Indian’s Mitsitam Café with
Executive Chef Richard Hetzler. His
demonstration on salmon preparation as
an interpretive tool prompted a spirited
discussion on the many ways Affiliates
incorporate food into their educational
programming.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center,
Huntsville, Alabama, for example, offers
instruction on hydroponic and aeroponic
gardening and the challenges of growing
food without oxygen or soil. Center
Director Deborah Barnhart said that her
kitchen staff has devised a menu using the
15 foods you can grow on Mars and made
it an immersive experience for participants.
Barnhart, another first-time conference
attendee, said that the conference also
allowed her to gather information on
2011 conference
preparing traveling exhibitions for international locations.
“By talking with people at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service (SITES) and learning their best
practices, we were able to emulate them
and prepare our exhibition on Wernher
von Braun so that we can send it to Europe
sooner than we thought.”
Other Affiliate attendees also tapped
into the Smithsonian’s knowledge about
loans through behind-the-scenes sessions
offered at four Smithsonian museums. A
road trip to the Anacostia Community
Museum focused on connecting to the
community, particularly in an urban setting.
Representative Sam Johnson (TX-03)
hosted the Congressional Reception, which
concluded the conference and brought
together Affiliate members, Smithsonian
staff, Congressional representatives, and
other key partners of the Affiliations
program. Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne
Clough welcomed everyone and outlined
several key Smithsonian initiatives.
More than 54 Affiliates sent staff to the
conference, with 26 states and Puerto Rico
represented. Eight new Affiliates sent staff
members with 48 percent of the 168 Affiliates sending at least one staff member.
Both Barnhart and Ticknor plan to
attend next year’s conference and bring
other staff. “It’s like having my own private
docent to the Smithsonian,” said Barnhart.
Ninety Affiliates participated in Smithsonian
Magazine Museum Day on September 24, 2011.
“The Affiliate partnership is essential to the
effort to make America’s artistic, historic
and scientific treasures
more accessible to the
American people no
matter where they live.
Just as importantly, it
brings our experts
together with your
experts to create innovative, educational
outreach programs for
learners of all ages.”
Clockwise
Smithsonian
from top left
Assistant Secretary
Smithsonian Secretary
for Education and
G. Wayne Clough and
Access, Claudine
Representative Tim
Brown, delivered the
Huelskamp (KS-1)
Keynote Address
with conference
during the 2011
guests at the
Affiliations National
Congressional
Conference.
Reception on
Erin Blasco,
Capitol Hill.
National Postal
National Outreach
Museum, and Natalie
Manager, Jennifer
DeRiso, Sentator
Brundage, took notes
John Heinz History
for discussion during
Center, discussed
a session.
program ideas at
Conference
the educational
attendees at the
roundtables. All
What’s the Big Idea?
photos courtesy tony
roundtable session.
brown / imijphoto.com.
G. Wayne Clough
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
5
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
science/history
Science Mystery
VANISHED at
Affiliate Museums
By Cara Seitchek
Don Williams:
Preserving
Treasures,
Saving Stuff
By Cara Seitchek
Perhaps you met him at a Saving Stuff event,
so you know he’s a font of information
about conservation. Maybe he appeared at
your Affiliate museum to put together a
3,000-piece wooden Chinese pavilion, so
you know he’s a wonderful woodworker.
But did you know that his favorite color is
grey and he loves peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches?
Don is just one of the multi-talented
staff members of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute
(MCI). Part scientist, scholar, and hands-on
worker, conservators bring together many
disciplines to ensure that treasures of
national and personal interest survive for
future generations.
“Conservation brings together the
intuitive and the physical,” he said. “It
combines problem-solving skills with
6
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
“Can children solve scientific problems in
a collaborative way in an online forum?”
asked Michelle Smith, SCEMS director of
publications and digital media. “We found
that they could. VANISHED demystified
science and made it very human and
accessible.”
This spring, 15 Affiliates reached out
to local students through VANISHED, a
learning game created through a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology’s (MIT) Education Arcade and
the Smithsonian Center for Education
and Museum Studies (SCEMS). The
game, funded by a grant from the National
manual work, as well as research and the
challenge of figuring out a solution. I love
the research and history of furniture making
as well as the technical aspect of it.”
Don’s path to conservation was a bit
backwards. Always a “putterer” in his
garage, he started his career working in a
furniture warehouse, spending half his time
cleaning the warehouse and the other half
learning about furniture restoration.
“I worked my way through better and
better shops, and while I had a few false starts,
I always came back to furniture restoration.”
When one job enabled him to work on
objects in the collection of Charles and Jayne
Wrightsman, he realized his interest could
be a career, so he attended the University
of Delaware, earning a B.A. in conservation.
“Usually people get the degree and
then work in an apprenticeship, but I had
already had years of experience, so I did my
apprenticeship before my training.”
In 1984, Don joined the Smithsonian
Institution, where he has worked on Archie
Bunker’s chair, the Wright Brothers’ Flyer
and many other iconic objects. He says his
favorite object is always the one he is
working on right now. Today, he’s working
on an Italian marquetry cabinet for Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
and creating an exact replica of a Samuel
Gregg chair from the National Museum
of American History.
Students from eight Affiliates were selected
to participate in the Smithsonian Latino
Center’s Young Ambassadors Program in
June and July 2011.
Science Foundation (NSF), challenged
participants to locate clues in their neighborhoods in order to solve a scientific
mystery and, in the process, learn more
about problem-solving.
VANISHED presented the target
audience — 10 ½ to 14-year-olds — with an
environmental disaster that could be solved
through puzzles, online challenges, and
visits to museums. Over an eight-week
period, participants worked together by
sharing question and answers, interviewing
scientists, and locating clues — some found
at their local Affiliate.
“A child would get to a particular
museum at a specific day and time, identify
the clue, and communicate it to the other
players,” said Smith.
Some Affiliates offered behind-thescenes tours or an opportunity to meet staff
experts, while other museums suggested
exhibitions to explain an area of science
or history relevant to solving the puzzle.
Students could visit the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson,
Kansas, to investigate space exploration, or
the North Carolina Museum of Natural
Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, to
explore ecosystems, and then message the
other 6,500 participants to share this
knowledge and move the group toward
solving the mystery.
“This grant was awarded from the NSF’s
informal science education program,” said
Smith, “and the Affiliates played an
important role in the informal learning that
took place in their museums.”
Five Smithsonian scientists served as
advisors and mentors, providing videoconference “office hours” for live interactions
with a geologist, a paleontologist, an
entomologist, and other experts. Students
posed questions related to the game and
interviewed the scientists about their career
paths and the challenges of their jobs.
“We have extensive evidence of players
becoming highly engaged; they designed
and criticized sophisticated hypotheses and
were thrilled to collaborate with scientists,”
said Stephanie Norby, SCEMS director.
“They threw themselves into the game’s
science fiction in order to conduct real
scientific research.”
Outside the Smithsonian, Don is an
active member of the Society of American
Period Furniture Makers. He serves on
their board and expresses concern that
“people today are not being schooled in
manual professions.”
To teach people about the importance
of conservation, Don co-founded MCI’s
graduate Furniture Conservation Training
Program, which has trained dozens of
specialists in furniture preservation. He
lectures extensively, and writes for both
professional and popular audiences on topics
including shellac, varnish, and japanning. His
2005 book, Saving Stuff (written with Louisa
Jagger), provides simple, easy-to-read, and
easy-to-understand conservation tips for the
general public. Many Smithsonian Affiliates
have hosted Don for lectures, demonstrations, and staff training since he began
traveling to Affiliate neighborhoods in 2005.
“Two hundred years ago people were
writing about the science of painting and
the art of metallurgy,” he said. “I love
bringing together two seemingly different
things and finding the connections and
similarities. It’s a path of delight.”
the affiliate
Top
Bottom
Artwork copyright
Don Williams
Ruwen Liu 2010
examines a visitor’s
photo album at
Littleton Museum in
Littleton, Colorado.
Photo courtesy
Tim Nimz, Littleton
Museum
the affiliate
history
Summer 2011 Affiliations Visiting
Professionals and Intern Partners
Congratulations to our summer 2011 Visiting Professionals and Intern Partners! Smithsonian
Affiliations is proud to offer opportunities for Affiliates to support ongoing initiatives at
their organization through professional development programs across the Institution. For
information about these opportunities, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee, [email protected],
202.633.5304
V isiti n g P r o f essi o n a l
V isiti n g P r o f essi o n a l
Angelica Docog
Annette Fromm
A f f i l iate
A f f i l iate
Charlotte Museum of History (Charlotte, North
Carolina)
The Frost Art Museum at Florida International
University (Miami, Florida)
S I u n it
S I u n it
Pan-Institutional
Pan-Institutional
P r o j ect
P r o j ect
Models of Accessibility: Identifying Conceptual
Frameworks for Special Needs Communities,
Culturally Diverse Communities, and Educators
Exhibition Planning: An Interdisciplinary
Exploration of Sensitive Exhibit Design and
Community Consultation for Reflections Across
Time: Seminole Portraits
I n te r n Pa r t n e r
I n te r n Pa r t n e r
Meghan Burke
Jessica Lapinsky
A f f i l iate
A f f i l iate
Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing,
Michigan)
Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
(Champaign, Illinois)
S I u n it
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural
Heritage
S I u n it
P r o j ect
P r o j ect
Accessibility, Evaluation, and Collections
Management at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife
Festival
Disaster Planning and Response: Developing
a Workshop Series for Library, Archives, and
Museum Collections at the University of Illinois
I n te r n Pa r t n e r
I n te r n Pa r t n e r
Brandie Macdonald
Marlina Reese
A f f i l iate
A f f i l iate
Charlotte Museum of History (Charlotte, North
Carolina)
The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the
Future (Dallas, Texas)
S I u n it
S I u n it
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of American History
P r o j ect
P r o j ect
Broadening Museum Access: Enhancing
Community Engagement with Culturally Diverse
Programming
From Cataloguing to Digitization: A Study in
Collections Management Best Practices at the
National Numismatic Collection
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Angelica Docog photo courtesy tony brown/imijphoto.com. All others courtesy Smithsonian Affiliations.
The Ties That Bind:
Charlotte Museum
of History and
SITES
By Cara Seitchek
The Charlotte Museum of History
(CMH), an Affiliate since 2003, is actively
expanding its relationship with the
Smithsonian. From hosting Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service (SITES) exhibitions to making
connections through professional development programs, CMH is enthusiastic about
the ways in which the Affiliations program
benefits its community.
CMH has hosted several SITES exhibitions — five booked between April 2011 and
2013. To complement them, CMH created
programming to draw in new audiences,
aided by Smithsonian Community Grants
sponsored by the MetLife Foundation.
“The SITES exhibitions provide a
conceptual framework around which my
staff can then create local programming or
a complementary exhibition,” said Angelica
Docog, CMH president and CEO. “We
don’t have the staff or resources to create
an exhibition of the level or caliber of the
Smithsonian, but collaborating with SITES
has given us new ways to connect with our
communities.”
The exhibition, Singgalot (The Ties
That Bind), is just one example of CMH
using SITES to broaden its reach in the
Charlotte community. Singgalot provided
CMH with an opportunity to work with
the Filipino-American Community of the
Carolinas, which raised funds to produce
three free family days that brought in more
than 5,000 people.
“They took ownership of the exhibition
and programming, and embraced it as one
of their own,” said Docog. “We received
a lot of coverage in the local Asian press.”
One poignant story, reported in the
The Charlotte Observer, described a local
woman discovering a photograph of her
father in the exhibition. Singgalot’s message,
the bond between people and their histories, encouraged her to re-connect with
her family.
Native Words: Native Warriors, on view
through January 2012, provided avenues to
engage with the Charlotte Native American
community through a partnership with
Many Journeys, a local American Indian
organization.
In November, the National Museum
of the American Indian (NMAI) sent
Museum Cultural Specialist Dennis Zotigh
(Kiowa / Ohkay Owingeh / Santee Dakota)
to participate in the 3rd Annual American
Indian Heritage Celebration at CMH.
During the event, Zotigh presented a Hoop
Dance Workshop, led a blessing of the
grounds, demonstrated Native American
drumming, and sang Native American songs.
Zotigh’s participation resulted, in part,
from a connection made when CMH
Education and Volunteer Coordinator
Brandie Macdonald (Choctaw / Chickasaw)
traveled to NMAI as an Affiliations Intern
Partner in summer 2011.
Macdonald also utilized her knowledge
to create new programs. One she developed
while at NMAI — Art is History, You Me We:
Our Generation — received funding and was
offered to 50 inner-city high school students.
Macdonald said, “By providing educational programming, we encourage a deeper
understanding of our community’s past and
present.”
Docog is already planning for hosting
SITES’ American Sabor: Latinos in U.S.
Popular Music exhibition. “Seeing it installed
as a full-scale exhibition gave me ideas on
how we can use the content in Charlotte,”
she said. “I want to ensure that we are
accessible to everyone.”
Michelle Torres-Carmona, director of
SITES scheduling and exhibitions, described
CMH as having “established a foothold in the
Charlotte community. They work well with
their neighbors and other organizations.”
the affiliate
Singgalot opening
Bert Rodriguez and
celebration with
Nini Rodriguez.
Angelica Docog, Tony
Photo courtesy Hearth
Amore, Dr. Nini Batista,
Bound Photography.
FACC President
The Charlotte Museum of History
7
www.charlottemuseum.org
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
Top to bottom
Summer campers
Robert Adams
help welcome
(1917 – 1984),
HistoryMiami,
Upright Leaf Forms,
Miami, Florida,
1957, iron, Gift of
to the Smithsonian
Joseph H. Hirshhorn,
Affiliations program.
Hirshhorn Museum
Photo courtesy
and Sculpture
HistoryMiami.
Garden, Smithsonian
Institution, on loan
to the Ellen Noël Art
Museum in Odessa,
Texas.
Smithsonian
In Your
Neighborhood
News about Smithsonian Affiliates
Arizona
California
Challenger Space
Center (Peoria) hosted
the National Air and
Space Museum’s
(NASM) exhibition In
Plane View: Abstractions of Flight in
November 2011.
Riverside Arts and
Cultural Affairs
Division, Riverside
Metropolitan Museum
(Riverside) hosted
Smithsonian Week in
Riverside in May 2011.
In September 2011,
Rusty Russell, collections manager, botany,
National Museum
of Natural History
(NMNH), lectured
during Smithsonian
Citizen Science Week.
Connecticut
In May 2011, Hunt Hill
Farm (New Milford)
hosted Anna Karvellas,
managing editor,
William Steinway Diary
Project at the National
Museum of American
History (NMAH) and
The Smithsonian Associates Scholar, Robert
Wyatt.
Mashantucket
Pequot Museum &
Research Center
(Mashantucket) hosted
a live webcast of the
National Museum of
the American Indian
(NMAI) symposium,
Quantum Leap: Does
Indian Blood Still
Matter?, in September
2011. In October 2011,
the museum opened
the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling
Exhibition Service
(SITES) exhibition
IndiVisible: AfricanNative American Lives
in the Americas.
Illinois
Florida
Iowa
The South Florida
Museum and Parker
Manatee Aquarium
(Bradenton) hosted the
SITES exhibition Farmers, Warriors, Builders:
The Hidden Life of
Ants in October 2011.
Smithsonian
Assistant Secretary for
Education and Access,
Claudine Brown, gave
remarks and presented
HistoryMiami (Miami)
with a Certificate of
Affiliation in July 2011.
The Museum of
Arts and Sciences
(Daytona Beach) began
an annual program,
Septembers with the
Smithsonian, with a
lecture from Valerie
Paul, director of the
Smithsonian Marine
Station at Ft. Pierce,
and a performance
by the Smithsonian
Jazz Masterworks
Orchestra Septet in
September 2011.
Anna Forgerson,
senior museum education specialist at the
Smithsonian Early
Enrichment Center,
taught a workshop at
the Putnam Museum
and IMAX Theatre
(Davenport) in May
2011.
Georgia
NASM Photographer,
Eric Long, lectured and
hosted a book signing
in July 2011 at the Tellus Science Museum
(Cartersville). The
museum also hosted
the NASM exhibition,
At the Controls, in
November 2011.
David W. Penney,
associate director for
museum scholarship
at NMAI, presented
a lecture on Native
American objects at
Booth Western Art
Museum (Cartersville)
in October 2011.
The Lizzadro Museum
of Lapidary Art (Elmhurst) exhibited five
pieces of jewelry on
loan from NMAH and a
sapphire flower brooch
on loan from NMNH in
September 2011.
Maryland
NASM Curator, Mike
Neufeld, lectured on
his book National Air
and Space Museum:
An Autobiography at
College Park Aviation
Museum (College
Park) in October 2011.
Montana
In May 2011, Rick Potts,
director of the Human
Origins Program at
NMNH, presented
Discovering Human
Origins: Excitement
and Challenges in the
Public Understanding
of Human Evolution
at the Museum of the
Rockies (Bozeman)
and Briana Pobiner,
science outreach and
education program
specialist for the
Human Origins Program led a workshop.
In October 2011,
NASM Curator, Mike
Neufeld, spoke about
his book National Air
and Space Museum:
An Autobiography.
New York
NMAH Exhibition
Program Manager,
Monica Smith, spoke
about the history of
the electric guitar
at The Long Island
Museum of American
Art, History & Carriages (Stony Brook)
in June 2011.
Smithsonian
National Board
Member, Abby Joseph
Cohen, presented
the lecture LongTerm Prospects for
Economic Growth and
American Prosperity
at the Museum of
American Finance
(New York) in October
2011.
North Carolina
Smithsonian Affiliations Director, Harold
Closter, presented
a 10th Anniversary
Affiliate Award to
the Schiele Museum
of Natural History
8
the affiliate
Fall/Winter 2011
Four Affiliates welcomed Smithsonian
Books author and astronaut Al Worden for
lectures and book signings, August through
October 2011.
& Lynn Planetarium
(Gastonia) in September 2011.
Oklahoma
Tricia Edwards, education specialist for the
Lemelson Center for
the Study of Invention
and Innovation at
NMAH, traveled to
Science Museum
Oklahoma (Oklahoma
City) for a Spark!Lab
Outreach Kit workshop
in May 2011.
Pennsylvania
Gail Joice, NMAI
collections manager,
participated in
Pittsburgh’s Hidden
Treasures at the Senator John Heinz History
Center (Pittsburgh)
in June 2011. NMAH
loaned the museum
four flag-related
artifacts, including a
fragment of the StarSpangled Banner, for
the exhibition Stars &
Stripes: An American
Story exhibition, on
view through June
2012.
National Portrait
Gallery (NPG) Writer,
Warren Perry, presented the lecture
Presumed Guilty: William Doster’s Defense
of the Lincoln Conspirators at Historic
Bethlehem Partnership, Inc. (Bethlehem)
in May 2011.
Puerto Rico
The Museo y Centro
de Estudios Humanistícos (Gurabo)
hosted the annual
museum studies workshop in June 2011. The
workshop featured
Suzannah Niepold
and Elizabeth Deines
(Smithsonian American
Art Museum), Jenny
Wei (NMAH), and was
co-taught by Jennifer
Brundage (Smithsonian Affiliations).
www.affiliations.si.edu
Tennessee
Smithsonian Folkways Archivist, Jeff
Place, spoke at the
Birthplace of Country
Music Alliance (Bristol)
during the Rhythm
and Roots Festival in
September 2011.
Texas
NMNH Senior
Archeologist, William
Fitzhugh, presented
a lecture on Genghis
Khan at the Irving
Arts Center (Irving) in
September 2011.
In May 2011, The
Women’s Museum:
An Institute for the
Future (Dallas) exhibited Lillian Evanti, an
oil on canvas by Lois
Mailou Jones, on loan
from NPG.
The Ellen Noël Art
Museum (Odessa)
unveiled Robert
Adams’ sculpture
Upright Leaf Forms,
on loan from the
Hirshhorn Museum
and Sculpture Garden,
at a press ceremony
featuring Smithsonian
Affiliations Director,
Harold Closter, in June
2011.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Maritime
Museum (Manitowoc)
hosted the SITES
exhibition Native
Words, Native Warriors
in October 2011.
Wyoming
Buffalo Bill Historical
Center (Cody) loaned
five works of art to the
Smithsonian American
Art Museum for The
Great American Hall
of Wonders, an exhibition in Washington,
D.C., through January
2012.