The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $25.7 million in Save America’s Treasures grants to fund 59 projects that will preserve nationally significant sites and historic collections in 26 states and the District of Columbia.

In New York State, eight institutions were awarded a total of $3,106,544.

“The Save America’s Treasures program began 25 years ago and continues to enable communities across the United States to preserve and conserve their nationally significant historic properties and collections,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “It’s fitting to celebrate this milestone anniversary through a wide range of projects that help to pass the full history of America and its people down to future generations.”

Since 1999, the Save America’s Treasures program has provided over $405 million from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) to more than 1,400 projects to provide preservation and conservation work on nationally significant collections, artifacts, structures, and sites. Previous awards have gone toward restoring the Park Inn Hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; the USS Intrepid, an Essex class carrier on display in Manhattan; and the Saturn V Launch Vehicle, a three-stage rocket designed for a lunar landing mission.

Today’s award of $25,705,000 will be matched by almost $50 million in private and public investment. NPS partners with the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services to award the grants.

Established in 1977, the HPF has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations. Administered by NPS, HPF grant funds are appropriated by Congress annually to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural and historic resources.

The HPF, which uses revenue from federal offshore oil and gas leases, supports a broad range of preservation projects without expending tax dollars. The intent behind the HPF is to mitigate the loss of nonrenewable resources through the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.

Applications for next year’s round of the Save America's Treasures Grant Program will open in the fall of 2024. $25.5 million in funding will be available.

Learn more.

American Jewish Historical Society, $165,288

The American Jewish Historical Society will use the funds to process records of the Anti-Defamation League’s Civil Rights Information Center and its Center on Extremism, which includes documents that illuminate ADL’s initiatives to expose and mitigate antisemitism, racism, and other forms of hate. The subseries of the collection is about 100 linear feet and includes correspondence, records of court cases and legislation, periodicals, reports, and research files. Selections will be digitized after processing and will be made available to researchers both on-site and online. The project will be matched with $181,998 in non-federal share.

Great Hudson Heritage Network, $269,038

The Greater Hudson Heritage Network will use funds to conserve objects from 10 small and mid-size museums in New York State. The objects include 35 items of historical significance and a wide range of materials, which, after a preliminary assessment, were selected as those items most in need of treatment. A panel of conservators will work on the objects over the course of 8-10 months and will also participate in a Community Engagement Conservation Workshop at each museum for staff and visitors to highlight unique challenges and new discoveries during the process of conserving these unique stories from New York State. The project will be matched with $269,359 in non-federal share.

Historic Hudson Valley, $630,300

Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, a National Historical Landmark, was the estate of author Washington Irving from 1835 until his death in1859. Sunnyside, known as America’s first “literary landmark,” preserves the ideals of the Romantic movement. Irving’s Cottage, one of the buildings on the property, experiences water penetration, moisture, and temperature fluctuations, deteriorating masonry and stucco, and harmful UV light. This grant project will create a site drainage system and redirect water collection as well as repair damage to lime-based and clay materials on the building envelope. This work will ensure important access to Sunnyside and continued engagement with Irving’s life and cultural legacy for future generations. The grantee is providing $640,365 of matching funds.

Livingston County Historical Society, $150,000

The Livingston County Historical Museum will improve the storage of approximately 30,000 artifacts relating to Indigenous people and habitants of the post-colonial Finger Lakes Region. Project activities will include purchasing and installing new collections storage and environmental controls, security, and fire prevention measures. Building upon a detailed assessment of storage needs conducted by an interdisciplinary team, project staff will engage experts to ensure that the equipment will properly store collections and mitigate further damage. The rehoused material will facilitate the creation of future exhibits and allow staff to rotate and rest objects from the collection. The grantee will provide $150,000 in matching funds.

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, $88,670

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will use the funds to make a portion of their archaeological collections accessible to the public through processing documents and photographing artifacts. The collections include two significant archaeological excavations in Lower Manhattan excavated in the late 1970s and early 1980s: the Stadt Huys Block Site, the first major urban excavation in New York City, and 7 Hanover Square, associated with highly significant 17th century households. There are 20,595 documents that will be processed, digitized, and data made available through the LPC’s online archaeological repository, and 8,400 artifacts that will be photographed; two digital exhibits will also be created to showcase the data for public and researcher access. The project will be matched with $96,312 in non-federal share.

St. Bartholomew's Conservancy, Inc., $749,840

The Stanford White Triple Portal is the main entrance to the St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. The Triple Portal, boasting three sets of spectacular bas-relief cast bronze doors and carved stone iconographic sculpture by renowned artists of the early 20th century, was the defining feature for the design and construction of the new St. Bartholomew’s Church building in 1918, heralded by architect Bertram G. Goodhue as “perhaps the most beautiful thing of its kind in America.” Over time the building has experienced deterioration from pollution and age. The SAT grant will focus on the preservation of the Cipollino marble columns, iconographic sculpture, the bronze doors and the limestone steps that comprise the Stanford White Triple Portal. The grantee is providing $2,957,505 of matching funds.

Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, $303,408

The Staten Island Museum will inventory and rehouse approximately 185 linear feet of archival material in preparation to move the collections into a new climate-controlled storage space. The collections include the papers of renowned scientists including Nathaniel Lord Britton, John J. Crooke, and Mathilde Weingartner. The archives also include archaeological descriptions of Lenape sites on Staten Island. This project will support the purchase of archival supplies, as well as a part-time project archivist and museum fellow, who will carry-out the collection inventory and rehousing activities. Additionally, the museum will work with a contractor to conserve and digitize 11 journals of William T. Davis, a prominent naturalist, entomologist, and historian. The project will result in improved preservation of the collection, enhanced intellectual control, and the creation of new finding aids that will increase accessibility of the collection for staff and researchers. The grantee will provide $303,408 in matching funds.

The Paley Center for Media, $750,000

The Paley Center for Media will use the funds to digitize and catalog approximately 2,500 items within their African American Collection. The collection holds rare and at-risk television media and historic programs featuring figures such as Nat King Cole, Bayard Rustin, Bernard Shaw, Toni Morrison, from Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. The Paley Center for Media will work with multiple vendors to digitize the collection. Once digitized, these materials will be used by the Paley education staff for its K-12 media education program and for the museum's public exhibits. The project will be matched with $750,000 in non-federal share.

The exhibition will be on view from September 6 to October 18 at the Robert H. Jackson Center (photo) in Jamestown, NY coinciding with the center's Constitution Days.

We're pleased to announce the next stop for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service Museum on Main Street exhibition "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" will be the Robert H. Jackson Center (RHJC) in Jamestown. 

The center will use the Smithsonian exhibition to amplify New York State and Chautauqua County’s role in the development of American Democracy as the nation approaches its semiquincentennial.

“Voices and Votes is a wonderful way to celebrate Jamestown’s rich history and the RHJC’s mission while creating an opportunity to work with our partners to bring a Smithsonian exhibit to the area,” said RHJC President Kristan McMahon. “This opportunity perfectly aligns with our mission to educate our communities on issues of justice and civic participation, and the RHJC is the perfect venue to host this exhibit. Jamestown was the home of the American Voting Machine Company, and we’re looking forward to working with the Fenton History RHJC, Chautauqua County Historical Society, Chautauqua Institution, and other community partners to tell the story of our region as a seat of the democratic process.”

The exhibition will be on view from September 6 to October 18.

Dedicated to promoting the legacy of former US Attorney General under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, US Supreme Court Justice, and Chief US Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, the RHJC serves as a museum, educational institution, and forum for discussions on legal and ethical issues focusing on advancing the principles of justice, law, and human rights. Jackson is remembered as one of the most articulate justices in the history of the Supreme Court, known for his ability to explain complex legal principles in clear, accessible language. His work at Nuremberg established important precedents in international criminal law. 

“The residents of Jamestown have a history of active participation in American Democracy,” said Agora Project Fellow Ren Lee. “From the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson to the Jamestown-based companies that revolutionized the voting process with automatic voting machines, the RHJC has a unique opportunity to share stories of civic engagement. We’re excited to hear those stories from the past and learn how the RHJC continues Jackson’s influence and encourages active participation in democracy today.”

The exhibition coincides with the RHJC’s Constitution Days on September 17 and 18. It will feature a presentation by Dr. Karen Korematsu, who will speak about her father’s landmark US Supreme Court Case and the importance of civic participation.

Additional programming as part of the “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” that will run during the exhibition includes a responsive exhibition focused on the Chautauqua Region’s voting story and an in-person Community Conversation led by Humanities New York Director of Grant-Making Joseph Murphy on September 25. Additionally, a teacher training workshop on October 4 will be led by New York State Museum Educator James Jenkins, who will align themes from the Voices and Votes and responsive exhibitions with New York State Learning Standard that encourages hands-on and inquiry-based classroom learning. 

MANY is the statewide organizer for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service’s Museum on Main Street Program, which previously brought the “Water/Ways” exhibition to six New York Museums in 2019. The Museum on Main Street program offers traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming across America to communities through local museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues.

Learn more about the New York State tour of the Voices and Votes exhibition: https://agoranewyork.org/ and preview the full schedule of programming and events happening at the Robert H. Jackson Center.

Voices and Votes is a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It’s based on an exhibition by the National Museum of American History. It has been made possible in New York State by the Museum Association of New York. Support for MoMS in New York State has been provided by the United States Congress with additional funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” humanities discussion programs are made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  About the Museum Association of New York The Museum Association of New York is the only statewide museum service organization with more than 780 member museums, historical societies, zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums. MANY helps shape a better future for museums and museum professionals by uplifting best practices and building organizational capacity through advocacy, training, and networking opportunities. Visit www.nysmuseums.org and follow MANY on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @nysmuseums  About the Robert H. Jackson Center The Robert H. Jackson Center advances Justice Robert H. Jackson's legacy through education, including live presentations, exhibitions, multimedia, research, and scholarship that demonstrate the relevance and applicability of Justice Jackson’s ideas to present and future generations. To learn more, visit roberthjackson.org.

In its latest museum grant announcement, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded twenty-one #NYSmuseums $4.3 million in funding from its Museums for America grant initiative.

One hundred and fifteen museums of diverse sizes, disciplines, and geographies will receive support for strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. In total, the program’s FY24 awardees will receive $23,361,915 in federal funding. 

This year, IMLS saw an increase in MFA grant applications requesting funding for projects related to America250. America250 is the nationwide commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 led by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. IMLS is proud to support these institutions as they share America’s history, and where we stand today.  

“IMLS remains committed to serving the museum field and furthering the goals of the American public,” said IMLS Acting Director Cyndee Landrum. “The Museums for America program encourages applicants to be creative in their response to challenges, and to envision a bold future for their institution.” 

Adirondack Experience, $145,653

The Adirondack Experience will engage with a professional firm to conserve 139 drawings identified to be in urgent need of treatment following a survey of its drawing collection. This project will build upon previous IMLS-funded projects involving treatment of the oils on canvas, watercolors, and artists' sketchbooks. General treatment for most drawings will include both dry and aqueous surface cleaning, humidifying, and pressing, while some others will require more involved treatments such as removing supports, mending tears, and stabilizing iron gall ink. The conservation treatments will be documented in detailed reports including before and after photos; conditions addressed during treatment; the methods used, and high-resolution images. As a result, public access to the collection will be expanded by stabilizing and treating the objects so that they can be safely rotated in exhibitions.

American Museum of Natural History, $190,810

The American Museum of Natural History will improve the care and access of their collections of African and Asian elephant skulls, and African bovid specimens. Project activities will include unifying bovid specimens that are in offsite storage with the specimens in compact storage at the museum’s new Gilder Center; as well as cleaning, rehousing, digitizing, and moving elephant skulls to offsite storage where post-crania are kept. Two part-time conservation interns will provide support to the museum team by carrying out critical cleaning, stabilization, and documentation tasks on the skulls. Museum staff and researchers will experience increased access to frequently used specimens, and the objects will benefit from reduced exposure to key agents of deterioration.

BRIC Arts Media Brooklyn, $200,000

BRIC Arts Media Brooklyn will offer thirty-five to forty, twelve-session residencies per year partnering with New York City public schools. BRIC education staff will work collaboratively with teaching artists, teachers, administrators, and social service providers to design program curricula to strengthen arts and media mastery, develop critical thinking skills, and promote social-emotional well-being. The programs will engage in and enhance subject-area learning in social studies, language arts, and STEM to support meeting Common Core Learning Standards and the New York City Blueprint for Teaching and Learning the Arts. During each two-hour session, BRIC teaching artists and classroom teachers will deliver a custom curriculum that explores historical and contemporary works of art and engages students in hands-on, art-making activities. BRIC will supplement the residencies with BRIC House Gallery exhibition visits, family programs, and an annual exhibition to showcase student artwork.

City Lore, $235,153

City Lore will create exhibitions and programming focused on immigrant communities around the topics of women in the Blues, Cuban music, J’ouvert festival traditions, and the material culture of House Ballroom in the New York LGBTQ+ community. The exhibitions will be held in several locations in New York, Massachusetts, and Florida. Project staff will consult with cultural ambassadors to work with artists and communities and curate exhibitions. Staff will train cultural ambassadors on ethnographic methods to document cultural expression and assist them in establishing relationships with local government authorities. An online toolkit will be developed, which will provide professional information for artists, such as work samples for grant proposals and event production and promotion. 

Genesee Country Village & Museum, $188,841

Genesee Country Village and Museum will strengthen interpretation related to the history of enslavement in 19th century New York State. The project will focus on the educational interpretation of four historic buildings on site: the Nathaniel Rochester House, Land Office, Livingston-Backus House, and Quaker Meeting House. Staff will work with interpretive and educational consultants to create content and evaluation plans as well as to train staff on content delivery. Staff will also work with local community partners as well as both local and national subject experts to create and review in-person interpretation, exhibit, audio tour, and school program content.

George Eastman Museum, $249,849

The George Eastman Museum will digitize and provide free online access to a collection of audio and audiovisual recordings. The nearly 600 hours of recordings document the interviews, lectures, and gallery discussions of significant photographers, actors, filmmakers, scholars, curators, and critics who have influenced the study of visual culture over the past seventy-five years. Building on a previous IMLS-funded digitization project, the museum will reformat the recordings, which currently require technologically obsolete playback equipment to access, to open-source digital formats accessible through the museum’s website. The project will support a temporary full-time project processing archivist. The digitization of the recordings will improve long-term preservation by minimizing handling and will allow the museum to provide free online access for the benefit researchers, historians, enthusiasts, and the public throughout the world.

Heckscher Museum of Art, $250,000

The Heckscher Museum of Art will undertake a collaborative effort to produce exhibitions and associated educational programming showcasing major works by LGBTQ+ artists. A community advisory board and a youth advisory board will inform exhibit interpretation and programming to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth voices and perspectives are centered. Exhibitions will include works by LGBTQ+ artists in the museum's permanent collection, a retrospective of American neoclassical sculptor Emma Stebbins (1815–1882), and a photography exhibition created by teen participants on the youth advisory board. A full-time Community Outreach Coordinator will be hired to facilitate the advisory boards, collaborate with the museum's education team to inform school programming, and work with core project team members including a guest curator, exhibition design contractor, and external evaluator. As a result of the project, the museum will build sustainable relationships with the local LGBTQ+ community, support the mental health and well-being of local LGBTQ+ youth, and elevate, contextualize, and interpret experiences of LGBTQ+ figures in American Art History, past and present.

Historic Saranac Lake, $250,000

Historic Saranac Lake will create an exhibit about the history of Saranac Lake and its role as an international center for tuberculosis treatment and scientific research. Informed by an interpretive planning process and a previous design project supported by IMLS, staff will work with exhibit design professionals and humanities scholars to draw connections to topics such as the development of public health in the U.S., the history of occupational therapy, and the evolution of tuberculosis treatment and prevention. The exhibit will be installed in both the home of Dr. E. L. Trudeau and the neighboring Saranac Laboratory Museum. Beneficiaries of the project will include local residents, visitors, students, and members of the academic community.The Intrepid Museum will create accessible and interactive exhibits within seven compartments in Intrepid’s medical facility, known as sick bay. The exhibits will blend storytelling with multisensory elements and advanced augmented reality (AR) experiences and engage visitors with the experiences of medical personnel and their patients. The cross-departmental museum team will partner with the NYU Ability Project, experts in creating accessible environments through assistive technology and adaptive design for people with disabilities. The project team will also engage with a media group that combines producers and AR technology experts. Throughout the project, Disability Advisory Group, self-advocates with a range of lived experience and expertise, will provide continuous feedback on each exhibit element. This project will address an ongoing and documented interest from visitors of all ages and geographic regions in accessing more of the ship's historic areas, of which only 44% are currently open to the public.

Intrepid Museum, $250,000

The Intrepid Museum will create accessible and interactive exhibits within seven compartments in Intrepid’s medical facility, known as sick bay. The exhibits will blend storytelling with multisensory elements and advanced augmented reality (AR) experiences and engage visitors with the experiences of medical personnel and their patients. The cross-departmental museum team will partner with the NYU Ability Project, experts in creating accessible environments through assistive technology and adaptive design for people with disabilities. The project team will also engage with a media group that combines producers and AR technology experts. Throughout the project, Disability Advisory Group, self-advocates with a range of lived experience and expertise, will provide continuous feedback on each exhibit element. This project will address an ongoing and documented interest from visitors of all ages and geographic regions in accessing more of the ship's historic areas, of which only 44% are currently open to the public.

Long Island Museum, $134,334

The Long Island Museum will create a permanent exhibition and associated programs to explore the fight for equal rights in horse-drawn public transportation in the United States. The exhibition will be anchored by a c. 1885 streetcar that will include an accessible entrance for visitors to climb aboard, interact with the vehicle, and examine episodes such as the story of Elizabeth Jennings, a Black school teacher who fought for her right to ride a New York City streetcar in 1854. The project team will contract with a design firm to fabricate exhibition components, develop programs for families, students, and individuals living with memory loss, and make adjustments to the exhibition based on assessment findings. As a result, visitors of all ages and abilities will engage with an immersive and interactive gallery space.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, $250,000

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will develop and launch a suite of public programs tied to the reopening of the galleries dedicated to the Arts of Africa, Ancient Americas, and Oceania. The initiative will activate the collections and ideas explored in the new galleries, create multiple entry points for the museum’s diverse audiences, and incorporate Indigenous perspectives essential to understanding the collections. Project components will include performances and concerts, study days and salon-style discussions, symposia, thematic gallery tours, and additional programs such as art-making workshops, classes for teens, and access programs for visitors of varying abilities. The museum will build upon outreach efforts to civic, social, and professional groups in New York City and the tri-state area. The resulting suite of programs will further develop relationships with source communities at the museum while generating lasting resources for educators, artists, scholars, individual learners, and families.

Museum of the City of New York, $249,920

The Museum of the City of New York will create programs and classroom resources aligned with New York City’s “Civics for All” public school initiative. The museum will convene a paid teacher advisory group to work with a curriculum consultant to develop educational resources for students in grades six through eight. The advisory group will also provide feedback on two new “Civics for All”-themed field trips. In addition, the museum will host several professional development programs for New York City teachers focused on civic engagement themes. To support project activities, the museum will contract with a curriculum consultant, project evaluator, graphic designer, and translation services to translate curriculum materials into Spanish to reach a broader student population. The new “Civics for All”-aligned curricula and field trips will reach an estimated 10,000 New York City students and teachers.

National September 11 Memorial and Museum, $160,069

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum will create an exhibition of children’s artwork of 9/11, which will highlight the experience of children as witnesses to the events of 9/11 through the art they created in the year following. Museum staff will select works from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 800 works of children’s art. For the project, staff will develop an audio tour and online educational resources. To accompany the exhibition, staff will conduct educational public programming. Beneficiaries of the project will include multigenerational audiences, educators, adult visitors who were children on 9/11, and youth visitors.

New Museum of Contemporary Art, $246,718

The New Museum of Contemporary Art will expand and refocus its educational programming to address the need for teachers to meet the New York Department of Education’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education framework, an educational strategy for student-centered learning that uses aspects of students’ race, social class, gender, language, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or ability to learn about the world around them and connect across cultures. The museum will partner with teaching artists and twelve New York City public high school teachers to develop and implement lesson plans. The museum will then engage 360 teachers in professional development workshops. Ultimately, 2,600 teachers across the city will benefit from access to digital lesson plans that they can implement in their classrooms, and over 78,000 New York City high school students will benefit from art-based instruction, which has increasingly been cut from public schools.

New York Botanical Garden, $249,912

The New York Botanical Garden will implement the second phase of its Therapeutic Horticulture and Rehabilitative Interventions for Veteran Engagement (THRIVE) program to provide horticultural therapy programming for local veterans. In partnership with the Resilience and Wellness Center in the Bronx-based James J. Peters Veterans Administration Medical Center, the garden's Edible Academy will expand services and outreach for participating veterans and THRIVE alums. Program participants will learn about plants and nutrition by growing, harvesting, preparing, and consuming fresh produce with horticultural therapy specialists. The garden will hold a symposium with cultural institutions, horticultural therapy specialists, and veterans' organizations to share strategies and best practices informed by the THRIVE program, and staff will present findings and share information about horticultural therapy intervention for veterans at professional conferences and via new digital resources. 

Paleontological Research Institute (Museum of the Earth), $101,976

The Museum of the Earth will expand access to the collection of Cenozoic corals from the Western Atlantic by digitizing specimens and sharing data through online portals and educational resources. Project activities will include photographing 200 specimens and creating 50 illustrated species pages that will be published on the museum’s free, web-based educational portal. The museum will hire a collections assistant and train them in all aspects of specimen digitization and curation. A team of interns and volunteers will be trained to associate labels to specimens, enter information for the specimens in the collections database, and re-box items. This project will enhance the collection’s long-term preservation and accessibility for scientists, students, and the public to understand how coral reefs, which are one of the ocean’s most threatened habitats, respond to environmental stresses.

Rochester Museum and Science Center, $240,302

The Rochester Museum & Science Center will partner with the Ganondagan State Historic Site and the Friends of Ganondagan to offer programming related to the opening of the museum’s Hodinöšyö:nih (Haudenosaunee) Continuity, Innovation, and Resilience exhibit. Curated by a Seneca Knowledge Keeper, and informed by Haudenosaunee community member feedback, the exhibit will explore themes of Haudenosaunee cultural continuity and change, identity, and sovereignty through featured artists and artworks. A series of educational programs featuring traditional Haudenosaunee artistry through artist demonstrations, workshops, and cultural festivals will be planned and carried out. Project staff will provide professional development for staff, docents, and volunteers across the organizations to increase cultural knowledge and awareness about partner collections and resources. In addition to hosting field trips, staff will share online associated lesson plans and educational videos for the benefit of teachers, students, and Haudenosaunee audiences.

Sciencenter, $249,660

The Sciencenter will partner with regional libraries to expand equitable access to hands-on STEM learning by leveraging and supporting public libraries as trusted spaces that offer relevant and engaging experiences. The project team will use input from prior library collaborations and listening sessions to co-create STEM activity kits and establish a learning community with library educators to support locally relevant STEM learning opportunities that address regional challenges. Project activities will include prototyping activities with museum and library visitors, disseminating kits for at-home and library learning, and a developmental evaluation. As a result, the museum will strengthen partnerships to reach new audiences with a focus on rural communities and libraries; regional libraries and families will increase their capacity to facilitate STEM learning; and children will improve science process skills through increased STEM learning and engagement.

Staten Island Museum, $248,057

The Staten Island Museum will build a collaborative approach to the stewardship of the Native American and Indigenous collections in its care. Museum staff will work directly with Lenape representatives to catalog the Lenape archaeology collection and ensure appropriate handling, storage, and interpretation. The collection contains nearly 3,500 artifacts found on Staten Island and surrounding areas, part of the traditional homeland of the Lenape people. The museum will host advisory meetings with Lenape representatives to gain insight regarding the cultural and spiritual significance of the artifacts. The project will support the hiring of a part-time collections assistant and a museum fellow. This project will increase the care of the collection while allowing the museum to make the collection as accessible to the public as possible in a way that respects the heritage and significance of the artifacts.

Studio Museum in Harlem, $200,853

The Studio Museum in Harlem will install an inaugural exhibition in the new building about the life and artistic achievements of Tom Lloyd, that will address Lloyd's career as an artist, community organizer, and museum leader. The exhibition will include every known extant electronic sculpture Lloyd created, as well as works in metal and paper, and will be traveled to three venues along with an exhibit publication. Project activities at the museum will include free, weekly educational programs, art-viewing and art-making workshops, exhibition tours, and public programs for adults. During the museum’s opening year, the exhibition will be featured in free tour programs for all schools in New York's District 5. The project team will partner with institutions focused on underserved populations and addressing needs of their local communities to host the traveling exhibition. The resulting exhibition will be an entry point for arts learning for new audiences and non-traditional museum goers around the country.

University of Rochester (Memorial Art Gallery), $62,955

The Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester will work with a professional conservator to complete conservation treatments on 29 South Asian miniature paintings and drawings. These artworks range in date from the 16th through the 19th centuries and are inaccessible to visitors and very limited to researchers due to their present condition. The conservator will document the treatment in full photographic and written reports, and museum staff will re-mat the works and compile the treatment data for inclusion in the collection object records. As a result, the paintings and drawings will be available to the public, either on display in the Asian Art gallery or made accessible through photographs on the museum website.

Learn more and IMLS Museums for America: https://www.imls.gov/news/imls-awards-over-23m-grant-funding-through-museums-america-program?utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=20240808&utm_source=govdelivery

Eleven NYS museums were awarded $498,809 in the latest round of the Institute of Museum & Library Services' Inspire! Grants for Small Museums to serve the public through exhibitions, educational programs, institutional planning, collections management, and other initiatives. In total, 78 museums across the country will receive $3,324,571 in federal funding.

This year, the Inspire! program provided applicants with two funding options – institutions requesting $5,000 to $25,000 were not required to provide any of their own funding, while institutions requesting $25,001 to $75,000 were required to match their requested funding amount with non-federal funds. This structure enables Inspire! grantees to propose larger-scale projects without putting undue burden on institutions that cannot provide a funding match.

The decision to update the program in this way was made with consideration to the diversity of small museums. Increasing the program’s adaptability enables applicants to design projects that best fit their institution’s needs and capacity. This is especially critical now, as many small museums are still struggling to return to pre-Covid funding and staffing levels.

“Small museums exist across a wide range of disciplines and geographies,” said Acting IMLS Director Cyndee Landrum. “Many serve as the only cultural institution in their community. Federal investment in small museums is an investment in access to art, science, history, and the preservation of local culture and stories. IMLS’s mission is to support small museums as the engines of vibrant, thriving communities.”

Oneida Community Mansion House, $25,000

The Oneida Community Mansion House (OCMH) will inventory and catalog approximately 850 objects in its care to preserve and improve access to its collection and advance knowledge of the Oneida Community and its relevance in United States history. OCMH staff will hire a part-time collections manager to inventory and photograph objects, create and update digital catalog records, and implement a collection storage plan and location system for two collections storage areas. Completion of this project will result in increased intellectual and physical control over the collection. Improving preservation and access to the collection will benefit visitors, students, researchers, historians, and Oneida Community descendants.

The Flow Chart Foundation, $25,000

The Flow Chart Foundation will partner with the Information Sciences Department at the University at Albany to create a paid internship program at the Ashbery Resource Center (ARC). ARC is the foundation’s repository and special collection library dedicated to the scholarly research of the 20th-century American poet, John Ashbery, and the broader New York School of Poets and Painters. Three part-time interns will be hired and trained under the direction of the ARC ’s Archivist/Librarian to assist with processing, cataloging, digitizing, and rehousing undocumented collections. The project will support museum and library workforce development by providing interns with hands-on training in collections management and archival processing. The work completed by interns will enhance preservation and access to the collection for students, visitors, and researchers and expand documentation for use in exhibitions and programming.

Hanford Mills Museum, $73,071

Hanford Mills Museum will draft and implement an updated Interpretive Master Plan to heighten connections between the site’s history and larger global systems and conditions. Museum staff will contract with a consultant to assist in writing the plan, building upon its recent interpretive audit and draft framework. The project team will draft interpretation and evaluation processes and protocols and provide interpretive workshops for staff, other small museums, and students. The project will result in a master plan to guide and expand interpretation, including an updated orientation script and mill tour. The planning process, resulting documents, and workshops will increase internal and external capacity and staff knowledge. Project beneficiaries include museum staff and board members, staff from surrounding small museums, nearby museum studies programs, and ultimately visitors to the site. 

The Museum at Bethel Woods, $43,442

The Museum at Bethel Woods will build upon its oral history initiative to document personal stories of the Catskills, the Woodstock festival, and community activism during the 1960s and 1970s. The museum will partner with the Borscht Belt Museum and the Borscht Belt Marker Project to organize oral history pop-ups and conduct long-form interviews. Museum staff will process and transcribe oral histories and contract with an outside advisor to ensure adherence to ethical standards and best practices. The project will result in 60 videotaped oral histories that will be used by all three institutions in exhibits and public programs to help commemorate the 250th anniversary of America. This collaborative project will expand partnerships and contribute to organizational capacity-building. Documenting these rapidly disappearing personal accounts will enhance public understanding of a formative period in our country's history.

King Manor Museum, $60,000

The King Manor Museum will create a series of three exhibitions about local and national history as well as the abolition of slavery in New York. The museum presents the history of the King family, focusing on Rufus King (1755-1827), a Founding Father and anti-slavery advocate in early American government. The exhibitions will explore such topics as: the history and legacy of antislavery activism from 1805 (which was when Rufus King purchased the property) through the end of the Civil War, the history of Jamaica Queens, and the American bicentennial commemoration in 1976. Staff will work with community members to co-curate exhibitions. Staff will conduct associated public programming with the exhibitions for the benefit of the local Southeast Queens community.

Historic Cherry Hill, $47,469

Historic Cherry Hill will develop programming aligned with its reinterpretation plan and in preparation for the commemoration of the United States Semiquincentennial and 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in New York. Building upon previous IMLS funding and audience feedback, the museum will conduct historical research on enslavement, transcribe and digitize documents, and create a new tour and programming to share the complex stories of the diverse members of the Cherry Hill household. Museum staff will contract with historians, an interpretive specialist, and an evaluator to assist with the project. The resulting programming and new focus tour will help reshape the interpretation of the museum for the next generation of visitors.

En Foco, $25,000

En Foco in the Bronx, New York, will inventory, rehouse, and digitize materials chronicling its 50-year exhibition history. Founded as a collective of photographers from the Puerto Rican diaspora, En Foco’s exhibition records detail the cultural legacy of photographers of color. This project will support the hiring of a full-time digital librarian to research, organize, digitize, and rehouse the exhibition’s archive. The digitized collection will be available onsite at the Nueva Luz Study Center as well as digitally online. Archive staff will purchase a computer, document scanner, and archival supplies. The project will result in greater preservation and access to the collection and will serve as a crucial resource for the Bronx community of Latino artists and artists of color. Providing online access to the collection will benefit artists, scholars, writers, curators, gallerists, and the public.

The Whaling Museum, $75,000

The Whaling Museum will fabricate, install, and evaluate a 2-year special exhibition that explores ocean-inspired myths and monsters and their contemporary connections. The museum will develop an array of onsite and offsite learning opportunities including school group tours, workshops, and lectures to complement the exhibition. The project will support staff, exhibit and programming supplies and materials, and marketing. To convey the fragility of our oceans, the museum will commission a local artist to create a kraken sculpture made from plastic debris collected from local shore cleanups. The stories and messages in the exhibition will be gateways to launch wider discussions about the cultural roots of hate and negative stereotypes. By exploring nautical mythologies, visitors will be prompted to think about the ocean’s influence on how cultures were shaped and continue to shape us, and our impacts on the ocean today.

Center for Photography at Woodstock, $71,000

The Center for Photography at Woodstock will implement an educational program to engage local high school students enrolled in the English as a New Language Program. Center staff will partner with Kingston High School to organize field trips and weekly in-school classes designed to help students improve language skills through photography. The program will culminate in a student-produced public art piece and a publication. The center will contract with an artist team that has facilitated similar community projects. The expected outcomes are to build students’ sense of self-worth and foster a wider discussion about the neighboring Latin American community. The center recently relocated to Kingston, and engagement with its new community will help it build capacity and establish new audiences. Primary beneficiaries include participating students, their families, and the local community.

Roger Tory Peterson Institute, $20,374

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute will purchase equipment to enhance preservation and access to the approximately 80 framed works of art in its collection. The Institute holds the largest collection of works by the artist-naturalist and creator of the well-known Peterson Field Guides. Informed by a 2022 Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) report, museum staff will purchase and install powder-coated cabinets and wall-mounted screens to store its framed artwork collection. Staff will also take the opportunity to photograph and complete condition reports for each piece as it is being rehoused. The project will result in improved preservation and access to the framed art in the collection and the creation of more functional space for collection care support activities.

Underground Railroad Education Center, $33,453

The Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region will develop a Museum Studies Teen Program for junior and high school students. The organization will offer a comprehensive out-of-school program to prepare students from low-income and/or marginalized backgrounds for a career in the museum field. Staff will hire a full-time Program Manager, initiate partnerships for mentorship, develop curriculum with input from external consultants, and recruit program participants. The project will result in a ready-to-implement plan that can be shared with other small museums wishing to replicate the program at their institutions. The project will increase organizational capacity, engage community youth, and help diversify the museum workforce, benefiting student participants and the museum field as a whole.

Learn more about IMLS Inspire! Grants for Small Museums: https://www.imls.gov/news/imls-awards-332m-grant-funding-through-inspire-grants-small-museums 

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 19^th 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.

 Installation photo of "Old/New Threads". 2024. Courtesy Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University.

Why travel exhibitions?

Museums often develop traveling exhibitions to enhance their mission, outreach, and operational goals, as well as the ability to share their unique resources and collections. Partnering with another museum or organization to bring in a traveling exhibition, especially a high-profile exhibition, can increase attendance or attract a more diverse audience.

Before the pandemic, the Castellani Art Museum had a robust traveling exhibition program which toured exhibitions nationally and internationally, developed by Michael Beam, Curator of Exhibitions and Special Projects. “We predominantly created these traveling exhibitions from our collection, which worked for us as a mid-sized university art museum,” said Millar. “The exhibitions attracted a large audience and increased awareness for the museum…but then the pandemic happened.” Like many New York museums during the pandemic, the museum was forced to reduce staff, pausing current traveling exhibitions and their future development.

During the pandemic pause, the museum took it as an opportunity to reflect on and strategize its traveling exhibition program. “We wanted to better understand the traveling exhibition market. What kind of exhibitions are museums looking to host? Should we focus on thematic exhibitions or artist retrospectives? We want to create something museums will be interested in bringing into their communities and telling a story utilizing our collections while being conscious of the challenges of adapting exhibitions for travel and the need to build our museum capacity to achieve this.”

Now in 2024, the museum is back to capacity and rebuilding its traveling exhibition program, with its newest offering, “Old/New Threads”, ready for travel in Spring 2025.

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.

Stitch Buffalo Partnership 

“Old/New Threads” is a collaboration between the museum and Stitch Buffalo, a textile art center in Buffalo committed to empowering refugee and immigrant women, environmental stewardship, and community education. The exhibition highlights the intersection of art, economy, and community and features over 14 local artists and 73 traditional and contemporary artworks—encompassing Afghan, Karen, Pakistani, Bhutanese Nepali, and other textile traditions.

Millar first connected with Stitch Buffalo in 2015, about a year after the group was founded. At the time, Stitch Buffalo was hosting monthly meet-ups at a local hall on the West Side of Buffalo, which was a well-known gathering space for Buffalo’s refugee community. Since then, Stitch Buffalo has grown into one of Buffalo’s major arts and cultural organizations, and recently relocated in Spring 2024 to a brand-new, expanded physical location (their second since 2017) that includes a storefront, community class space, work areas, textile donation room, and more.

For the Castellani Art Museum, grassroots organizations like Stitch Buffalo help fill an important gap in the support network for local refugee and immigrant women. “Stich Buffalo has been an important organization in Western New York [for years] but we never necessarily had [found] a project to work on together. When the pandemic happened, we started to think about the bigger picture in terms of what kind of stories we can help share that are maybe beyond one specific tradition. We connected with Dawne Hoeg (Founder and Executive Director of Stitch Buffalo) in 2020 about the possibility of developing an exhibition together.”

One of the exhibition's goals is to tell the story of Stitch Buffalo and its community of artists, and their impact on the fiber arts and refugee communities. “It’s been amazing to see Stitch Buffalo grow over the past decade. We want to share their story with a wider audience to not only help support what they do but help them grow by connecting them with new markets and people across New York and beyond through this traveling exhibition partnership.”

Hkwang Lung (l) and Munawara Sultana (r) at Stitch Buffalo. 2022. Courtesy Michael Mandolfo.

The Exhibition 

“Old/New Threads” explores how textile arts can be a medium for artistic expression, economic empowerment, and community building through the artists and story of Stitch. “Interpretive content for the exhibition came from interviewing the artists at Stitch Buffalo,” said Millar. “From talking about their work and how they’ve created additional income for their families and a community of women with shared interests but different cultural backgrounds. It’s a space where they can participate and share what’s going on in their lives and their art.” 

To develop the exhibition, the Castellani Art Museum was awarded an Inspire! Grant for Small Museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and a Mid Atlantic Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grant. The museum also receives support from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The exhibition is organized into three main areas reflecting its major themes: artistic expression, economic empowerment, and community building. By exploring artworks like a Karen woven shirt or a knit cap with shisha embroidery, viewers can learn about how traditional and contemporary fiber art can express cultural heritage. Through interpretive paneling about Stitch Buffalo as an organization, visitors can learn about how the sale of artwork is a form of economic empowerment for community members. Direct quotes from artists and artist profiles demonstrate how textiles bring together members of a multitude of refugee communities in the area into a shared community—or, as artist Munawara Sultana put it—a “family…a second home”. 

Stitched Stories, like this new one made by Hkwang Lung in 2024, were one of the earliest initiatives of Stitch Buffalo, providing an opportunity for refugee women to create works that express and share memories of home. 2024. Courtesy Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University.

Exhibition Specifications

The traveling exhibition recommends 100 feet of running wall space, salon-style, although 150 feet is preferred. There are ten 24” x 36” interpretive panels, ten 11” x 17” panels, and two 24” x 17” panels on Sintra board. Digital copies of interpretive materials are provided as part of the exhibition rental, and 50 physical copies of a 6-page trifold, full-color brochure are also provided (in addition to a QR code link to the digital copy of the catalog). Host sites must provide a certificate of insurance. The exhibition period is 12 to 20 weeks, with the first opening in Spring 2025.

“It’s great that the material items in this traveling exhibition are textiles, which makes it a bit easier because they can ship flat,” said Millar. Another consideration for the panels was to decide on what type of corners, sharp edges or rounded. “We ended up getting them rounded for use and longevity. There’s a lot to consider when designing an exhibition that will travel [in this case] even with displaying the prayer pouches. Early on, we reviewed a lot of different suggestions but ended up going with embroidery hoops, which fit the exhibition theme and is also portable.”

The rental fee is a sliding scale, based on the organizational budget size of the host site to accommodate institutions of varying resources. The weekly rental fee for an organization with an annual budget of less than $500,000 will be $200. Organizations with a budget size between $500,001 to $2,000,000 is $300 per week, and $2,000,001 and higher is $400 per week. The museum hopes to travel this exhibition throughout at three or four host sites annually.

“What we hope to accomplish with “Old/New Threads” is to spread the word about Stitch Buffalo and the type of support they’ve been able to provide for their community over the years,” said Millar. “We want to highlight their massive impact and encourage people to pick up a skill they may have seen their parents or grandparents do regarding sewing or creating things and thinking that artistry is not necessarily just paintings. [Traditional] textile and fiber arts are sometimes seen only as crafts or functional items. Those who make traditional clothing might not be seen as an artist. However, a big part of this exhibition is recognizing that a lot of artistry is involved with [traditional] textile and fiber arts, and…it’s an art that you often learn to make based on your culture or from your family.”

The museum wants this exhibition to spark interest where it travels, in either supporting or developing grassroots initiatives like Stitch Buffalo who have had such a positive impact on their community’s quality of life. “We want to encourage them to see how an organization like Stitch Buffalo grows into a larger organization and how it provides more opportunities for members in its community,” said Millar. “And if there isn’t a local organization in your community like Stitch Buffalo, what would it look like to create one? That’s something we would love to see… having institutions reach out and work with their communities.” Millar also wants host sites to encourage members of their community to interpret the textile art, or include their own textile art and traditions in supplement to the traveling exhibition.

“Ultimately, we hope that this traveling exhibition can help support these women in their community and organization, and give them a platform where others can recognize their work and dedication to creating each work.”

 

Learn more about “Old/New Threads” and View its Travel Prospectus & Fee Schedule: https://castellaniartmuseum.org/exhibitions/oldnew-threads  

Exhibition and humanities discussion programs on democracy opens 176 years after the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls

The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is delighted to bring the Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition Voices and Votes: Democracy in America to the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY. 

The exhibition and start of the “A New Agora for New York” program series will be unveiled on July 12 with a ribbon cutting and ceremony to open the Hall’s second-floor exhibition space at the historic 1844 Seneca Knitting Mill. This Seneca Falls landmark building is interwoven with the history of the women who worked there. It will be the first time that the second-floor exhibition space will be open to the public following years of extensive restoration efforts. 

The Hall will use the Smithsonian exhibition as a launching point to explore, reflect on, and tell the story of women's role in the evolution of American democracy through the stories of the Seneca Falls community and its more than 300 inductees.

“Voices and Votes is the perfect way to celebrate the Hall’s new space with an exhibition that speaks to the heart of the Hall’s work to share stories that are too often overlooked or left out of American history,” said the Hall’s Museum & Community Relations Manager Nellie Ludemann.

The first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls on July 19, 1848, beginning the women’s rights movement in the United States. The Hall’s collection, including suffragist buttons, books, and pamphlets, tells the story of women's suffrage.

“MANY understands the importance of having the National Women’s Hall of Fame as one of our host sites for this project. New York’s role in the Women’s Suffrage Movement was pivotal, and we are so lucky to have a site that can connect with that story in such a deep way,” said MANY Agora Project Fellow Ren Lee.  

The Hall’s responsive exhibition will include a national fiber arts exhibition, “Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism,” curated by Hinda Mandell and Juilee Decker, a mural installation by artists Victor Pultinas and Bernadette Bos, “La Cicatrice” art exhibition by Rebbeca Aloisia, and “The Rollercoaster for Women’s Rights, Equality, and Freedom” exhibition curated by Mia Tetrault, Greta Paasch, and Betty Bayer that will feature the Hall’s collection and archives on the long history of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Additional programs as part of the “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” will run during the exhibition, including a presentation by Ashley Hopkins-Benton, Senior Historian and Curator at the New York State Museum.

MANY is the statewide organizer for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service’s Museum on Main Street Program, which previously brought the “Water/Ways” exhibition to six New York Museums in 2019. The Museum on Main Street program offers traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming across America to communities through local museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues. 

This exhibition is being supported by a Market New York grant awarded to the Museum Association of New York by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY/New York State's Division of Tourism through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. 

Additional funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation supports public events, community exhibitions, free public lectures, workshops for teachers, and community discussion programs. 

Learn more about the New York State tour of the Voices and Votes exhibition: https://agoranewyork.org/ and preview the full schedule of programming and events happening at the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

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Voices and Votes is a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It’s based on an exhibition by the National Museum of American History. It has been made possible in New York State by the Museum Association of New York. Support for MoMS in New York State has been provided by the United States Congress and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. 

“A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” humanities discussion programs are made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About the Museum Association of New York

The Museum Association of New York is the only statewide museum service organization with more than 780 member museums, historical societies, zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums. MANY helps shape a better future for museums and museum professionals by uplifting best practices and building organizational capacity through advocacy, training, and networking opportunities. Visit www.nysmuseums.organd follow MANY on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @nysmuseums 

About the National Women’s Hall of Fame

The National Women’s Hall of Fame was founded to bring the contributions and achievements of American women fully into our national narrative. We believe that an equitable and healthy nation is possible when all people are empowered to achieve their dreams. The Hall serves as a home for women’s stories, informed discussion, and collaborative partnerships. As a hybrid (virtual and physical) institution, the Hall aspires to be a national leader in conversations about women, their history, and the future.

The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is pleased to announce an open call for positions on its Board of Directors for the Board Class of 2025-2027 and invites applications for those interested in serving.

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.

The Board Nominating/ Governance Committee has set a priority for people with the following skills:

The Committee is seeking nominations for museum professionals in the following regions: 

MANY board members assume certain roles and responsibilities, including a financial commitment to the organization. Members of the Board of Directors are responsible for the custody, control, and direction of MANY under NY and federal statutes and regulations and organizational bylaws.

Click here to read the document outlining those roles and responsibilities. We encourage applicants to discuss the roles and responsibilities with their immediate supervisor or board chair to ensure they have institutional support for their application and potential Board service.

Members of the Board of Directors work with colleagues to address the challenges and opportunities for museums in the state. MANY is committed to continuing to diversify its Board by geographic region, museum discipline and budget size, differing abilities, skills, race, gender, sexual identity, ethnicity, and age and welcomes applications from people who bring a range of skills and expertise to sustain a dynamic, innovative, and responsive organization.

MANY staff and Board meet at various locations around the state at least five times a year, with one mandatory meeting held during the annual conference. Board terms are three years long and are renewable for a second three years. The length of service may change if nominated to serve in an officer capacity. 

Members of the Board of Directors: 

Applicants must be: 

Click here to apply.

Applications close at 5 PM on July 31, 2024.

The Governance and Nominating Committee will review applications, and selected candidates should expect to participate in an informational discussion with Committee members as part of the application review. The Committee will bring nominations for a full board vote at the September 18, 2024 board meeting. Applicants will be notified soon after.

Nominees approved by the board will be put to a vote by the membership in accordance with MANY by-laws. 

Andrea Harden has over twenty years of senior-level management and consulting experience in training and development, employee relations, harassment prevention, diversity and inclusion, change management, and effective communication. She is a key partner in supporting museum leadership, focusing on employee engagement, relationship management, and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA). Harden is responsible for developing and administrating various plans and procedures that guide and support museum staff, including recruitment, retention, performance management, development, and compliance. Harden collaborates with the museum’s director and other staff to understand, refine, and implement the museum’s strategic plan. She works with the Buffalo AKG’s Leadership Team and Management Team to ensure alignment of departmental and individual goals and objectives with the broader institutional plan, which includes coordinating IDEA processes, programs, and initiatives in collaboration with other Leadership Team members, ensuring the integration and measurability of IDEA in all aspects of museum operations alongside institutional goals, and making changes and updates as needed to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal employment laws and regulations and best practices for museums. 

Harden joined the MANY Board of Directors this past January. We spoke to her to learn more about her journey into the museum field, what motivates her, and more.

Andrea (far right) with MANY Interim Executive Director Sheila McDaniel (left) and MANY Board President Georgette Grier-Key (center) at the 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value" in Albany

Museum Association of New York (MANY): What was your first museum experience?

Andrea Harden (AH): I have two early museum memories. Both were from school field trips. Shortly after I moved to Buffalo, I remember a giant, taxidermied polar bear at the Buffalo Museum of Science, and it was terrifying. It’s still there because when I took my kids years later, I wondered if it was still there, and sure enough, it was! The other memory I have is of the mirrored room at what was the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, which is now known as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. 

What’s your current role?

AH:  My current role is the Director of Talent and Culture (formerly Human Resources) at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. It’s a department of two, including me, with a Talent and Culture Manager. We are strategic partners with everybody in the museum and are responsible for recruitment, performance management, development, and retention. Our goal is to make sure that our employees have the best experience that they can. I work closely with the leadership team, providing assistance and guidance on performance management, shifting away from the typical once-a-year review to ongoing communications – coaching them on ongoing conversations to have with their team regularly and understanding how they can be better leaders. Bottomline, while people are here, I aim to ensure that it’s their best experience. It’s also about strategic planning for the museum, understanding who we are, what we look like, and how we can keep people central to our core of who we are. Our core values include inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA), and we want to know how this plays out within the organization across departments. We want to make sure that these values are immersed throughout the museum. 

What other jobs have you had? What did your journey look like to get to your current role?

AH: Buffalo AKG Art Museum is my first museum job. I’ve been in human resources for about thirty years, primarily in corporate HR positions or consulting. Albright Knox (Buffalo AKG Art Museum) was one of our clients and we were helping them hire their human resources manager. I ended up helping the museum on a part-time basis because at the time, I still wanted to consult and have that flexibility. It was a nice transition for me to learn more about museums. Then, about a year before the museum was set to reopen after extensive renovations, rebranding, etc. I decided to accept the full-time position, and I love it. 

What experiences from previous jobs have been most helpful for your current role?

AH: At the end of my consulting career, 95% of my role was training, primarily diversity and inclusion training, because of what was happening in the country in 2020. There was a lot of training and facilitation across New York State, and facilitation skills are very helpful to my role at the museum, especially working with employees from all generations and backgrounds. I think I also came into their role with a lot of patience and the ability to help people interact with each other. I think that’s the biggest skill I could bring from my previous experiences, and I’m okay with talking to people on the leadership team and the board or in entry-level positions.

What was the last museum that you visited?

AH: Probably The Buffalo History Museum, and full disclosure, my daughter works there! She didn’t tell me she was interviewing for a position there, and I didn’t know that she wanted to stay in Buffalo, but she has a background in digital media. She’s working as a digital media specialist at the museum. I enjoyed the exhibition “Say Their Names: Honor Their Legacies” by the Uncrowned Queens Institute, which shares the stories, wisdom, and insights of Buffalo’s community elders. It closed in April but highlighted African American men and women who have made amazing changes in our community but may not get all the recognition. I saw a few friends of my parents, who I hadn’t seen since I was a child, being recognized. 

There’s been a lot of investment in Buffalo into art and cultural organizations, and we're seeing a shift in how the public and museums approach each other. I enjoy visiting other museums because I see a different perspective from that of a contemporary art museum.

Let’s take a step further back… can you tell us about where you grew up?

AH: I was born in Los Angeles, California, and everybody asks me why I am in Buffalo. (laughs) It really wasn’t my choice, but my father, who actually bribed us, told us that there was snow in Buffalo, which, as a child, got me excited. I moved here at a really young age because both of my parents grew up in Buffalo, and my dad was big on family. He wanted us to be closer to grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I ended up staying and attending Buffalo State for my undergraduate degree and then attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City for fashion merchandising and business. 

Did your 18-year-old self imagine that you would be where you are today?

AH: No, I always thought that I would be a teacher. My mom is a retired teacher, and I was that kid who lined up my stuffed animals to teach them. In my senior year of high school, my guidance counselor told me that there weren’t jobs in teaching and that it wouldn’t be a good path for me. They said that I should be an accountant because I excelled in math. But I didn’t want to do that, so I went to Buffalo State to major in communications and business. I loved fashion, which brought me to the Fashion Institute of Technology. I liked New York City but wanted to return to Buffalo and figure out what I wanted to do. It still came back to teaching. I love training. I attended the University of Buffalo School of Management and got my MBA in Human Resources. 

I don’t think I ever thought that working at a museum would be part of my future. It’s funny because I think the pandemic solidified it for me. After all, it was the people we had at the museum who realized that healing could happen and that we could use it through art. I could see the breadth of our museum experience for people and wanted to be part of what we were trying to do for our community. 

What motivates you to do what you do? What do you get excited about? 

AH: Last week, we extended an offer for one of our leadership positions, an internal promotion, to someone who had started here part-time in a front-of-house position. They left and then came back to a different part-time position. Then, they were promoted to a full-time position and moved up into management. Now they’re our new director of museum experience. That is what motivates me –seeing change and growth in people. 

The other thing that motivates me is ensuring that I represent our community and that the museum looks like ours. As a Black woman in a senior leadership position, I like to make sure that my face gets out there, attend conferences or meetings, and say what I’m doing and where I’m doing it because representation matters. 

Can you describe a favorite day on the job or is there a favorite aspect of your role?

AH: Training and facilitation are my favorite things. Last week, I worked with two people who were having a difficult conversation, and I was able to help by sitting in on their conversation as a mediator. I listened more than anything but was there to help summarize. 

We have a training day each year, and we also incorporate team building. My favorite days are when I interact with others.

What is your superpower?

AH: Flexibility is one, you know, learning on the fly, as we call it in HR. It’s important to be able to pivot. Diplomacy is another, making sure I am saying things in a way people need to hear so they’re still willing to listen. I would also say my positive attitude. I didn’t realize this until my mom told me that I said, “It’ll all work out” and that I always say that. I heard myself say that at work last week and just started laughing. I guess it’s true that I say that a lot!

Do you have any key mentors or someone who has deeply influenced you? Can you tell me about them?

AH: My parents. Both were professionals and established my work ethic when I was young. My dad passed a few years ago, but my mom is 90 and is running a food pantry at her church. They both set a strong foundation for me. 

In my museum career, I would say our former Deputy Director Karen Spaulding. She was the one who kind of convinced me to stay at the museum. She is such a strong servant leader. I saw her strength, but she was never overwhelming to people. She’s very good with courageous conversations to the point that The John R. Oishei Foundation here in Buffalo has a fellowship for Leaders of Color named after her. I was fortunate to be part of the signature cohort five years ago, and now my daughter just finished her cohort. 

She’s amazing and taught me the balance of speaking up and using our voice. Our voice is powerful; if we don’t use it, then we’re not doing a service to ourselves or anyone else following us.

Five NYS museums were awarded a total of $846,372 Museum Grants for African American History and Culture from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Funding will support projects that build the capacity of African American museums or support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American Museums. 30 institutions across the United States were awarded a total of $5,916,807.

Weeksville Heritage Center will complete a comprehensive collections inventory and increase public access both onsite and online to its collections, documenting the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America. For the project, staff will hire a new Collections Associate position and two paid interns. Project activities will include compiling existing inventories, cataloging items not yet accessioned, improving safe collections storage, restructuring digital records, and digitizing high-priority items. As a result of the project, staff will expand public access to the collections via a public database portal, enhanced exhibition displays, and an onsite Resource Center with educational resources for researchers, museum professionals, and community members.

The Lewis Latimer House Museum will hire staff to improve collections management and create a digital exhibition from the museum’s collection. In partnership with Queens Public Library, museum staff will digitize the Latimer Family Papers. The museum will hire a Collections Digitization Manager to train and supervise paid interns on digital asset management practices for the project. The museum will also hire a Digitization Specialist to implement collections digitization software. Staff will travel to conduct collections research, informing the creation of a digital exhibition of the museum’s permanent collection. 

The Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission will increase staff capacity and access to collections for five historic locations: the Michigan Street Baptist Church, Nash House Museum, Historic Colored Musicians Club and Jazz Museum, WUFO 1080 AM Black Radio History Collective, and Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor. To improve collections care and access, the organization will hire a new full-time Museum Collections and Interpretive Assistant to develop and coordinate exhibition content and programming. 

The Louis Armstrong House Museum will solicit oral histories from the local community about Louis and Lucille Armstrong to add to the Armstrong Archives and utilize in expanded programming. Located in Louis Armstrong's former neighborhood, the museum staff will gather accounts of the Armstrong family from surviving community members about Armstrong’s life, work, and community impact. Staff will record one-on-one and group interviews, catalog those interviews within a searchable database, and make the database accessible online for public use. 

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem will create educational videos and provide artist-led workshops for students.  Educational resources will focus on introducing jazz and improvisation to grade 1-3 students and multimedia workshops will serve fourth and fifth-grade students. Following each workshop, the museum will solicit detailed feedback from teachers. Staff will work with a team of educational consultants to create and post online videos for teachers to show their classes before visiting the museum to prepare students for their visit and videos for after students visit the museum to stimulate classroom discussions and reinforce concepts learned at the museum. 

Since its establishment in 2006, the program has provided $35,714,804 million in funding to over 250 African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. By investing in these institutions, IMLS helps ensure that their histories are preserved and that their students have opportunities to explore the museum field.

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Mari Irizarry is the Director of the Three Village Historical Society, a small museum in Setaukey on Long Island. We asked Mari and the other twenty-one museum professionals from across New York State who received a scholarship to attend the 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value" in Albany this past April to reflect on and write about their conference experience.

Please note that this conference essay have been edited for clarity and/or length.

As a queer, LatinX, female director of a small museum, attending the "Giving Voice to Value" conference in Albany this April was a profound experience. The event's title resonated deeply with me, encapsulating my journey as a museum professional over the past eight years. Each day, I confront challenges that test my resolve, yet I find solace and strength in my identity and leadership role within my community.

The conference provided a platform for hundreds of museum professionals from across the state to converge and engage in meaningful dialogue. For me, it was not just an opportunity to learn but a reaffirmation of the values guiding my work and my museum's spirit. At our institution, we (the staff) believe in "checking our ego" at the door, allowing each other's strengths to shine through. We embody the principles of giving voice to value daily, striving to challenge the status quo and affect positive change in our community.

Conference capstone experience at Ten Broeck Mansion

One of the central themes of the conference was the role of historical societies and museums play in addressing racism, bias, and other injustices in American history and contemporary society. As a cultural organization dedicated to archiving and preserving our local history, we recognize our responsibility to amplify marginalized voices and educate the public about the injustices they have faced.

Throughout the conference, I was inspired by the stories and experiences my fellow museum professionals shared. We discussed strategies for fostering inclusivity, confronting bias, and centering marginalized narratives in our institutions. There was a sense of solidarity and determination in those rooms as we collectively recognized the urgency of our mission.

The conference isn't just about exchanging ideas and insights; it celebrates collaboration and togetherness. I eagerly anticipate reconnecting with our counterparts from across the state, knowing that moments of pure enjoyment await us amidst the hustle and bustle of our professional duties. Picture this: colleagues and friends from different corners of the state gathering together to ride a historical carousel, laughter echoing against the walls of our state museum in earshot of the capitol. It's a scene that encapsulates the spirit of the conference – a perfect blend of work and play. In these moments, connections deepen, ideas flourish, and memories are made.

Meeting up with old friends at the conference. From L to R: Mari Irizarry, Three Village Historical Society, Anna Conlan, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

But perhaps the highlight of it all is the after-hours adventures – exploring majestic historic mansions and gardens, and wandering through the corridors of museums, each step a journey through time. It's these experiences that remind me why I love my job – not just for the work we do, but for the moments of joy and discovery we share with colleagues who feel like long lost friends. As a leader, I left the conference with a renewed sense of purpose and resolve. I am committed to doing more, listening more, and educating more to combat injustice and support marginalized and underserved communities. This means not only diversifying our collections and programming, but also creating a workplace culture that values and celebrates diversity in all its forms.

The Museum Association of NY – Giving Voice to Value conference was not just a professional development opportunity; it was a reaffirmation of my identity and values as a BIPOC museum professional. It reminded me that every day, we have the power to make a difference and give voice to the values that define us.

Experiencing the partial eclipse with friends at Empire State Plaza. Front to back: Kimberly Phyfe, Three Village Historical Society, Janna Rudler, Preservation League of NYS, and Peter Hyde of Peter Hyde Design.

Mari thoroughly enjoying the carousel ride at the New York State Museum

Click here to read other Conference Experiences and Reflections