Dear Members, Supporters, Friends, and Advocates,

On Wednesday, February 16th, I had the honor of testifying at the New York State Legislature’s 2022 Joint Budget Hearing on Economic Development. I have testified at hearings called by the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts, and Sports Development, but this was my first time at an Economic Development Hearing. Although I only had three minutes to speak, with my comments, those of others giving testimony, and the questions asked of us, I am certain the word “museum” has never been said more frequently at a New York State Economic Development hearing.

We asked to speak out in that forum because even though most museums operate as nonprofits, they generate significant tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments. Every direct job at a museum supports an additional job in the economy. The most recent data available shows that museums have a financial impact on New York’s economy of $5.37 billion dollars and that more people visited an art museum, science center, historic house or site, zoo, or aquarium in 2018 than attended a professional sporting event.

My testimony included that New York’s museums reported losing half of their visitor attendance and 63% of K-12 school group visits in the past two years. At the end of 2021, museums had reduced open hours by a third and their staff by 12%.

New York’s museums are in desperate need of support to allow them to recover and reclaim their roles as economic drivers, community anchors, and tourist destinations.

MANY is advocating for funding for our state’s museums that can be distributed equitably regardless of discipline, budget size, or location. We are speaking out for changes to our funding systems to actively incorporate the work and voices of BIPOC and historically marginalized communities.

We have asked for funding to:

• respond to the ways in which the pandemic forced changes in museum operations;
• restore our staff and services;
• build our capacity to serve our communities;
• invest in digital technologies; and
• secure historic properties for future generations.

We know that New York’s museums need consistent, long-term financial support to achieve economic stability so that when the next flood, fire, or pandemic hits, our museums are not at risk of shutting their doors permanently.

In my testimony, I extended thanks to Governor Hochul for including $40 million in rescue/recovery funds for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) in her 2022-23 budget and asked the legislature to include this critical funding and more in the final budget.

I thanked NYSCA for their $6.6 million in 220 grants to museums made to date for 2022, and for our new partnership program for Capacity Building Grants. I also stressed that significantly more of the state’s relief funding needs to be allocated to such a vital part of our economy.

MANY’s staff and board of directors will need your help in the coming weeks to speak out for museum funding. Half of the museums that responded to our March 2021 survey said that they have advocacy built into their annual work plan or strategic plans. Almost seventy percent said they conducted advocacy work in 2020 and 2021 by reaching out to local, state, and federal elected representatives for pandemic relief.

On Monday February 28th and Tuesday, March 1st we will be participating in the American Alliance of Museums’ “Museums Advocacy Day” along with 56 representatives from New York’s museums. I will be writing again soon to ask you to help us elevate museums to a high priority for state funding in the Legislature’s proposed budget for 2023. I know I can count on you to join together in support of our museum community.

With thanks,

Erika Sanger, Executive Director

Dr. Georgette Grier-Key is the inaugural Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society. Under her leadership at Eastville, membership increased by 30%, funding increased by 52%, and the organization created a strategic plan.  Additionally she is the President of the Long Island Historical Societies, serves on the board of the Preservation League of NYS and the NAACP Brookhaven Town Branch and is an adjunct assistant professor at CUNY Medgar Evers College and director of the Long Island History Institute at SUNY Nassau Community College. 

Grier-Key received her Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Old Westbury in Visual Arts with a concentration in Electronic Media, her Masters of Arts from Adelphi University in 2004 in Education with a concentration in Art Education, and her Doctorate of Education in 2012 from the Dowling College.

She has served on the Museum Association of New York’s board of directors since 2017 and will begin her tenure as Vice President in April 2022. We spoke to Dr. Grier-Key to learn about her role in arts and cultural organizations on Long Island’s East End.

How did you end up as the Executive Director and Chief Curator at Eastville?

I’m the first Executive Director for Eastville. Before I got involved, the organization was 100% volunteer. We’re still a heavily volunteer organization. I joined the organization in 2009 at the suggestion of my Godmother who at the time had a house in Azurest and was a member of Eastville Community Historical Society and a volunteer. 

What other jobs did you have before you arrived at Eastville?

In 2011, I started at the Huntington Arts Council as the Grants for the Arts Outreach Coordinator where I worked to increase minority participation in grant applications. I also served as a panel review for the JP Morgan Chase Grant Program in 2013 and for the Long Island Decentralization Grant Program from 2011 to 2012. At the same time, I was an administrative Assistant and Volunteer for the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton. I’ve also worked for Guild Hall in East Hampton, and was an art instructor at the Children’s Museum of the East End. 

All of these places are located on Long Island’s East End so the East End has been a part of my life for a long time. 

Can you tell us more about your background?

When I was going to school, art wasn’t encouraged. But art was always in my life and a lot of people in my family are artists including Lionel Hampton who was an American Jazz artist. My family came to Harlem through the Great Migration. My grandfather was an Underbishiop for one of the major of the Black churches and had 145 churches under his jurisdiction from Bridgehampton to Brooklyn and that's what brought us to the East End. 

My family wanted us to focus on professional careers. But I decided that I was able to incorporate art into whatever degree that I was doing even in my Masters Degree where I was studying education, but I was concentrating on art education. 

When I started working at the Huntington Arts Council, we were working on a program with the NAACP and the Children’s Museum of the East End to create a program to help immigrant mothers integrate into the school district by trying to help them feel comfortable by using the museum as a resource. Almost all of my work has been working with museums. 

When I met with the board at Eastville and learned more about the Executive Director position, I got excited it allowed me to incorporate both art and history. I thought that this was a great opportunity. Throughout my time at Eastville, I understood more and more the significance of what this place was and how to deal with it. It just was in the cards for me so to speak. 

What are some of your main motivations to do what you do? What gets you excited in the work that you do?

That’s the thing with Eastville, it’s been a regional group and most of the work that I do is tied to them. 

Right, because you are also a founding member and lead organizer of the Pyrrhus Concer Action Committee in addition to your work on the Preservation League of NYS. 

Yes, with the Pyrrhus Concer house, Eastville served as a regional organization. We tell the story of the Black Whalers because this was the whaling port for our area–Sag Harbor - where the first customs house was located. Pyrrhus Concer was a Black Whaler and he also had family in the area. 

When it came time to advocate for his property, the Eastville Community Historical Society was there. Preservation is in our mission. It’s in our articles of incorporation and it’s in our charter. It’s preservation for these buildings and preservation for these BIPOC stories. Along with art and everything else. It’s something that the founder of this organization did from the start. I really commend my institution. They were ahead of their time especially when you think that while the institution is forty years old, the community started in the 1830s and because of the Eastville community, SANS [Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions Historic District] community started to develop in the 1940s. Eastville has been able to survive through the creativity of the people who were there and the arts that surround them. I’m talking about artists that defied all odds from performing arts to visual arts. I work to protect and preserve what was a haven for 19th century African American and Native American artists like Olivia Ward Bush Banks–a poet and journalist of African and Montauk descent, Amaza Lee Meredith– who laid the blueprint for Azurest, Daisy Tapley– a classical singer, and Nathan Cuffee–a Native American author who co-wrote Lord of the Soil. Part of my job is to highlight their art but also protect it and teach it. How do we fit their stories into the story of the East End and how do we continue to add to that story thinking of artists like Standford Biggers and Colson Whitehead is our challenge. 

Where did your passion for preservation start?

I think it naturally happened alongside everything else that I was doing. There’s such a void on Long Island because we are so spread apart. I think that’s part of why I would always seek out other people’s advice and help. It’s one of the reasons why I got involved with MANY and the Preservation League of NYS. There’s a need for this knowledge about the importance of preservation. An example is the cemetery that Eastville owns, the St. David AME Zion Church cemetery [an adjacent century-old cemetery to the St. David AME Zion Church in which African and Native Americans of the earlier St. David's Church membership are buried, many of whom were Sag Harbor Whalers]. We needed a survey of the cemetery and it led us to a grant and further understanding of this historic district and the preservation of it. And of course, preserving the Pyrrhus Concer house which has been an eight year struggle. 

Eastville has always served as a regional organization and organizations in the East End count on Eastville for help. That’s why preservation has been important to us, to preserve the built environment.

Do you have a favorite day on the job? Or a favorite moment?

During the first event we were having in the first summer of the pandemic I got a call from one of our regular donors affiliated with  a prominent African American business. She called to let me know that she was still going to support our organization at her regular level. That really made my day because everybody was going through this time where we didn’t know what to expect or how to deal with things. There were so many things that were way more important going on in the world, but she remembered us. It showed me the love and support for community and for Eastville. That moment stood still for me and it stands out as one of the best days on the job. 

This is my job but I feel like I’m charged with a greater call to continue the mission of this organization because it’s important to the community and it’s important to me. 

What is your superpower?

I’m a hands-on type of director and we’ve grown in many ways. When I first came to Eastville we didn’t have a digital imprint and we didn’t have a website. My progression as a director really follows my career in that everything I learn, I incorporate. It’s one of the things when I meet other small organizations especially in my capacity as the President of the Long Island Historical Societies. I let them know that it’s okay to be small and you can still learn how you do it. I love to pass that advice on to other organizations that are trying to survive in this new digital age. These are the organizations that I try to help by sharing resources that will help them grow. I’m a connector and I raise people up. 

Do you have any key mentors or someone who has deeply influenced you?

For the qualities of leadership that would be my maternal grandfather, Rev. Dodenhuff Green [1915-2014, who founded Christ Temple Church of God in Christ Church in Uniondale], my father –George W. Grier, and Bishop Frank Otha White who has gone on. I have heavy influence from them but then as far as the historical society, the founding historian Kathy Tucker. She was a heavy influence to me as well as someone who I trained under and learned most about the organization and about the area. 

Would your 18 year old self imagine that you would be where you are today? What would you say to yourself?

Absolutely not. I thought I would be dancing around the world. But I would just say enjoy it because it goes fast. 

Learn more about Eastville Community Historical Society:

https://www.eastvillehistorical.org/ 

Learn more about Long Island Historical Societies: https://lihsocieties.org/

MANY members on our 60th birthday, 1/25/22

Dear Colleagues, Friends, and Members,

This winter the Hudson River has frozen over so hard that Ice Yachts are sailing across and down the River. It is a tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century. On January 25, we marked sixty years of the Museum Association of New York serving our state. I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about our traditions.

I was going to write this letter about our past and recount all we have accomplished for our museum community. But news of the pandemic this morning reminded me that we can not repeat the past, we can only move forward differently.

MANY’s past is documented on paper stored in cardboard boxes stacked in our Troy office. It is also in the collective memories of three generations of museum professionals who have gathered and learned together under the MANY banner.

The ways we gather and learn together will continue to change in 2022. We are pleased to announce that the free, virtual series “Museums Support Democracy” produced in partnership with Museum Hue will begin on Friday, February 25. These programs will explore Museums and Civil Rights, Protest Through Visual and Performance Art, Environmental Justice, Healing Historical Legacies, Ethical Collections, Expanding Interpretive Lenses, and Citizenship. Each topic will be presented and discussed by museum professionals from a broad range of locations and disciplines featuring the work of culturally responsive museums.

I hope you can join us virtually on Friday, April 1 at noon for our annual business meeting, welcome the members of our board of directors class of 2022-2025, and thank those stepping down who have so generously served the field. Registration for these programs will open soon!

Registration for the 2022 annual conference in Corning, NY will open on February 7th. Attendance will be limited so we can maintain the highest levels of safety protocols. Special events will be organized in small group gatherings. I look forward to seeing all who can join us in person in Corning.

The Google pins that cover the state on our member map bring me joyful reminders of travels across the state and visits to museums. In most cases, I can put a face and an image with each pin. On these cold winter days, the wind off the frozen Hudson brings warm memories of all of you. I send sincerest wishes for everyone’s health and safety as we strive to find meaningful ways to keep our community connected.

 

With thanks and hope in my heart,

 

In November 2021, The Wild Center sent a ten-person delegation to Scotland to attend COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. The Museum was one of only two museums in the world to participate as observers in the Blue Zone–the area of COP where the international climate change negotiations take place and only accredited individuals and organizations are permitted within the Blue Zone. Youth climate leaders and delegates participated in the Conference of Youth (COY) – the largest youth conference related to UN climate processes. 

The Wild Center COP26 Press Conference

What is COP26?

COP26 stands for the Conference of the Parties. Each year, 197 countries come together to agree on a path for climate action. The 26th gathering was held in Glasgow, Scotland from November 1st to the 12th, 2021. 

During COP26, countries reviewed the progress made since the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement and worked on developing a concrete plan to meet the targets outlined in that agreement. 

Observer Status

“Any organization can apply to attend a UN COP event, the process is quite involved and takes close to two years from start to finish, requiring multiple steps and approval process,” said Jen Kretser, Director of Climate Initiatives at The Wild Center. There are three categories of participants at UN meetings – representatives of countries known as Parties, press and media, and Observers. “The Wild Center has official NGO Observer status and we’ve had that status since the late 2000’s,” said Kretser. “Our first UN event was COP21 in Paris in 2015 and we also were a witness to the historic signing of the Paris Climate Treaty at the UN in New York city in 2016. It was an extraordinary honor to be one of two museums in the world that attended and represented the cultural sector.” This accreditation status allowed Youth Climate Program delegates inside access to panels and discussions closed to the public. 

The Wild Center also presented with two other cultural organizations, the Science Center of Minnesota and the Phipps Conservancy in partnership with America is All In at the US Climate Action Center in a session titled Culture Over Carbon: The US Cultural Sector Advancing Climate Action. “As trusted members of communities, museums are in a unique position to serve as catalysts for addressing issues of critical importance to society–whether it’s hunger, poverty, gender equity or climate action,” said Kretser. 

The Wild Center’s Delegation

The Wild Center delegation included six college students and recent graduates who presented in multiple events throughout the conference and posted regular updates of their observations online. Youth delegates included Andrew Fagerheim from Columbia University; Gina Fiorile, Coordinator, Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network at the University of Colorado-Boulder; Elise Pierson from St. Lawrence University; Silas Swanson from Columbia University, Witter Swanson Sustainable Energy Advantage, Boston, MA; and Emma Venarde from Brown University. The Wild Center also sent three members of its leadership team; Chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees Karen Thomas, Director of Climate Initiatives Jen Kretser, and Executive Director Stephanie Radcliffe. 

“Youth voices need to be part of the discussion on climate change action because you are going to be needed for leading climate change action,” said Radliffe. “Our Youth Climate Program has already empowered thousands of students around the world to be forces for change in their communities. Participating in COP26 is an incredible opportunity for our delegates not just to be heard, but to gain critical understanding into the way power works–and how they use it.”

Inside the Blue Zone at COP29. Left to right are Andrew Fagerheim and Silas Swanson from Columbia University and Jen Kretser, Director of Climate Initiatives at The Wild Center.

The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program (YCP) is a global initiative that works to convene, inspire, and network young people through youth climate summits, empowering them to lead and act on climate change solutions in their schools and communities. At the center of the program is a two-day retreat, the annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit that brings together over 200 high school and college students to learn about climate change. 

“The Wild Center has long believed in the power of youth voice to galvanize climate action,” said Kretser. Since the first Adirondack Youth Climate Summit in 2009, The Wild Center has worked to grow the network of Youth Climate Summits around the world as well as to support student-led climate action projects, and elevate youth voices for climate action. Using The Wild Center’s Adirondack Youth Climate Summit as a model, students as far away as Sri Lanka have implemented solutions in their own schools and communities. So far, almost 100 Youth Climate Summits have been held in seven countries.“The current generation of youth will be the most impacted by the effects of climate change throughout their lifetimes,” said Kretser. “[they] are the last generation with the change to lessen the impact. In climate negotiations and discussions at all scales, youth input is critical to ensure that climate targets, goals, and plans will result in a liveable future for younger generations.”

 

Centered –Gina Fiorile, Program and Communication Coordinator for the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) leads a youth panel discussion.

Takeaways and Next Steps for The Wild Center

Among some of the key takeaways for The Wild Center Delegation was that local action matters a great deal. “While actions at an international and/or national scale can feel far away and overwhelming, actions at the community, regional, and state scale are manageable and achievable,” said Ketser. “The Wild Center recognizes that in order for our world to thrive, climate change must be addressed robustly across all sectors of society.”

Partnerships and collaborations are essential to our ability to reach a just and equitable transformation to a low-carbon society. “We met so many incredible people from around the world, all doing amazing work on climate change,” said Ketser. “It was inspiring to meet a team from Bangladesh who are working on building floating schools, hospitals, and even gardens to adapt to rising sea levels. Or a youth activist from Rwanda who is planting 10,000 food-producing trees across her country to help reforest and feed her people. Or an organization in Chicago that is connecting youth around the world on climate and water issues.”

The Wild Center plans to continue to build its global network of summits through its free online planning toolkit and monthly network calls to support summits. As part of the Youth Climate Program, The Wild Center will host a Climate Change Education Institute for Educators and a Youth Climate Leadership Retreat in the Adirondacks in partnership with the Finger Lakes Institute and funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Environmental Literacy grants program. 

“It is our mission to offer the public scientifically based examples and stories of how communities can work together to find solutions here in the Adirondacks and beyond through our Youth Climate Program and our new Climate Solutions exhibition and experience opening in the summer of 2022.”

The ClimateSolutions exhibition and experience was awarded $249,549 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2019 and is set to open in July 2022. “It’s a museum-wide initiative comprising a new long-term exhibition, with enhancements to exhibitions found throughout The Wild Center,” said Kretser. The core of the Solutions exhibition is a 3,000 square foot space featuring large-scale imagery, video, interactive activities, and first-person accounts from leaders in climate solutions as well as those most impacted by climate change, including youth and indigenous communities. Solutions also includes a hands-on experimental studio and education programs for K-12 students and general audiences. “Climate Solutions will focus on the people and innovations working to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change in the northeast and around the globe,” said Kretser. 

“We want to use our presence at COP26 to drive a greater awareness of the power of our Youth Climate Summit model,” said Ratcliffe. “But we also want to use our participation to highlight to all our visitors that they can take action also. This work needs to be done on multiple levels. We’re all responsible for doing what we can.”

Learn more about The Wild Center’s participation in COP26: https://www.wildcenter.org/our-work/cop26/

In September 2021, the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) and the Children’s Museum at Saratoga (CMAS) signed a management agreement. They will reopen in June of 2022 at a new shared location at the Lincoln Bathhouse in Saratoga Spa State Park. This new space will create a regional children’s museum with CMAS managing all aspects of operations, programming, and administration and CMOST expanding their programming. This relocation will feature a larger space with new exhibitions, interactives, classroom space and access to the natural resources and amenities of the State Park. 

CMAS Executive Director Sarah Smith and CMAS Board President David Martin speak at the groundbreaking. Photo courtesy of Melissa Schuman, MediaNews Group.

Strength in Partnership

CMOST and CMAS have a long history of collaboration and partnership. Current CMAS Executive Director Sarah Smith previously served as the CMOST Executive Director. Smith left CMOST in November 2019 to join the staff at CMAS and immediately began working with CMOST to share resources, including sharing staff.  “By that December we actually contracted to share the development officer between both museums with a 50/50 split,” said Smith. “Those sorts of resource sharing began at that point and it was similar to what happened previously. My predecessor had been the director of education at CMOST and then she wrecked at CMAS and I followed that same trajectory.” Sharing staff helped both museums continue programs while providing salary and benefit support. 

When the pandemic forced both museums to close their doors to the public, potential merger discussions accelerated. Smith cited the importance of fulfilling the missions of both organizations and that was reaching the children. “We saw that our friends were in trouble and we [CMAS] went ahead and served those people that were traditionally served by CMOST.” CMAS raised money from companies including Regeneron and Capcom to create 6,000 hands-on science-based learning kits and distributed them to Boys and Girls Club of Troy. “The kits were delivered to public housing, along with food provided by the Boys and Girls Club,” said Smith. The kits were also distributed throughout the Capital Region YMCA. “We continued to send out materials and information and provided our online resources and we reached close to 200,000 people that first year through online programming. We just felt very strongly that by serving the public that was traditionally served by both museums without financial gain, fulfilling the mission was critical and that really laid the groundwork for this merger.” CMAS and CMOST saw a partnership agreement as an opportunity to expand programming to reach most students and families as a regional organization. CMAS plans on utilizing CMOST programs to create hybrid and virtual versions to expand their reach throughout and beyond the Capital Region. 

CMAS and CMOST announced their formal management agreement in September with the intent to merge in the future. CMOST, which closed its location in the early days of the pandemic in North Greenbush, will not reopen to the public. Both museums will initially continue to operate under their own brand identities as they work toward a combined entity, joint programming, and a new shared location at the Lincoln Bathhouse in Saratoga Spa State Park. 

Reimaging a Space for the Future

Second-floor rendering at the Lincoln Bathhouse

Built in the 1920s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Lincoln Bathhouse is located in Saratoga Spa State Park. The State Park is the home to arts and cultural organizations including the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Saratoga Automobile Museum, and the National Museum of Dance. CMAS signed a lease with NYS parks in April 2021 and hired Bonacio Construction, Peter Hyde Design, M. Catton & Co., Envision Design, and Empire Exhibits and Design for the renovation and redevelopment.

The museum space will be 16,000 square feet (double the size of the old CMAS location on Caroline Street). “This building deserves to be a children’s museum. It’s such a beautiful building and we like that it was a healthcare facility,” said Smith. “Even before COVID times, cleanliness was a big concern for children’s museums, and this space has materials that are easy to clean.” The building also has a 4,000 square foot interior courtyard that Smith is excited to incorporate into the exhibition spaces. “We knew we needed more space and we knew how imperative it was to have access to the natural world. This [interior courtyard] was a huge selling point for us.” Exhibitions will be inside and out and will occupy two floors of the bathhouse. 

Both museums plan on designing spaces that have an emphasis on universal access, building on their existing goals of hands-on learning. Large scale building sets from CMOST and other CMOST exhibitions will be incorporated into the exhibition including the imagination blue box and rigamajig skyline toolbox. Many exhibitions will be updated in order to meet accessibility requirements to make them more inclusive as well as create an exhibition floor with sightlines from one end to the other. 

Most of the exhibitions will be housed on the second floor, accessible by elevator, with a target age range of zero to 12. The museum will use labels and icons for children in pre-literacy stages. The science gallery that will be located in the middle of the exhibition floor is intended for all age ranges and encourages families to learn together. Programs will target older children. 

Rending of the fire station interactive exhibition.

“We will also be able to tell the story of the building itself and the park,” said Smith. “I think it’s important that New York State bought this land to preserve its natural resources. It’s super early environmentalism which ties into the environmental science we teach.” Design plans include tracing some of the mechanicals on the ceiling of the second floor. “We want to articulate the engineering systems so when we’re talking about taking kids and teaching them a little bit about architecture we can also talk about the bigger picture using this building,” said Smith. “I think we call it preschool to trade…giving kids other paths that are more hands-on and really engaged in building trades like plumbing and carpentry. It’ll be creating maker space-type activities.” 

Funding

Renovations to the Lincoln Bathhouse began in November.  The entire project is expected to cost $3.5 million. Empire State Development awarded the project $600,000 and over $2.3 million was raised from a combination of corporate and individual sponsors. 

CMAS is also selling its building at 69 Caroline Street and will use those funds towards renovations. The building and its adjacent parking lot are listed at $2.25 million. Smith said that in its fundraising efforts, the museum plans on setting aside funds to help create an endowment that will grow over time. “It’s something that we haven’t had and it’s important to have protected funds to help our financial future. We’re planning for the future, so we have a little bit of money from our incredibly generous corporate sponsors and generous private foundations. We’re still not done with fundraising.” 

Future Impact

The museum expects to serve close to 100,000 people a year and will offer outreach education programs in school districts in 11 counties across the Capital Region and beyond. “This operating agreement and potential merger between these two organizations has really enhanced our reach,” said Smith. “The financial acumen and business practices of CMAS with the programming success and outreach at CMOST just shows it’s just such a great idea to leverage the strength of both organizations. This affiliation will capitalize on the strength of each organization while making us more financially stable.” 

Learn more: https://cmssny.org/about-us/#lincolnbathsproject

New York State Education Department Historic Marker, 1932, Cooperstown, NY

Dear Friends, Members, and Colleagues,

When I was young and was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I didn’t have an answer. I tried being a park ranger, an artist, and a teacher before I found museum education. At the time, being a museum educator encompassed everything I sought in a career. But the thing that kept me motivated in the face of innumerable challenges was that I was able (and required) to continuously learn new things.

Professional development opportunities for people entering the field may have been more prevalent forty years ago. I regularly attended trainings in content, pedagogy, and administration as I moved forward in my career. Today, the acquisition of a university or college degree can be a barrier for many people interested in museum work. But lack of access to time and money for formal education doesn’t mean that museum professionals must stop learning. In fact, to keep our field vital and current, staff professional development should be a priority no matter the budget size or discipline of a museum.

We are fortunate that in 2022, the New York State Council on the Arts has made a significant investment in professional development for New York’s museum professionals. With the American Association of State and Local History annual conference in Buffalo, the American Alliance of Museums annual conference in nearby Boston and their virtual museum advocacy training (MANY members get discounted registration), and of course, MANY’s conference in Corning, there are exceptional opportunities to advance your professional practice, build connections, and learn with your colleagues in 2022.

Applications for New York State Council on the Arts Professional Development grants are due on February 7th, and you can access the application here.

In 2022, I hope to learn how to be a better listener, grow MANY’s advocacy for New York’s museums, and discover ways to call out things that can create positive change.

The historic marker pictured above was placed in 1932 as part of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Revolution. By the late 1960s, the function of the state’s historic marker program shifted from a short-term commemorative program to a long-term educational program. With all that we have learned in the past 100 years, the approaching 250th anniversary presents us with an opportunity to expand our learning together and change the stories we tell to more accurately reflect the history of all who call New York home. I look forward to learning together this year and changing the things that we can.

 

With hopes for the new year,

Erika Sanger

MANY Board Spotlight: Diane Shewchuk, Curator, Albany Institute of History & Art and MANYBoard Secretary 2022-2025

A native of New York's Capital Region, Diane Shewchuk has more than 30 years of experience working in museums and historic houses throughout New York State. She has held the positions of Curator at Clermont State Historic Site, Historic Site Manager at John Jay Homestead State Historic Site, and Curator promoted to  Director at the Columbia County Historical Society in Kinderhook. Today she is the Curator at the Albany Institute of History & Art.  She has curated numerous exhibitions including Spotlight: Albany and Anti-Suffrage, Well-Dressed in Victorian Albany, and The Schuyler Sisters and Their Circle. Shewchuk has an MA in Museum Studies: Decorative Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City. Throughout her career, she has worked on the treatment of museum collections with conservators at the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites as well as  those in private practice. Shewchuk was elected to the Museum Association of New York Board of Directors in April 2019. We spoke with her to learn more about her path to museums, what she gets excited about in her role, and what motivates her. Albany Institute of History & Art Curator Diane Shewchuk speaking with the media at 2019’s The Schuyler Sisters and Their Circle Exhibition. Photo courtesy of Albany Institute of History & Art MANY: Do you remember your very first museum experience? Diane Shewchuk: Maybe it was visiting the Clark [Art Institute] in high school. I’m not really sure. I didn’t grow up going to museums as a child with my parents, so it likely was some school trip. But I was always interested in art and I always liked being surrounded by beautiful art. So I think when I went to the Clark, it was the first place that I really learned to appreciate art.  When did you first become interested in art? I think it was because I would always do crafts. It goes back to my heritage, making Ukrainian Easter eggs, embroidery, and just learning the traditional arts associated with my culture. I was often representing my community through the arts and then teaching others.  My parents didn’t take me to museums but encouraged me to travel when I was in college so I could see great art. I went to study at the Ukrainian University in Rome for a summer where  I got to see my first Michaelangelo. The trips abroad were an important way for me to see great art and great museums.  Tell us more about where you grew up and what was it like? I was born in Albany but my parents were Ukrainian and came to the United States after World War II. My father was a prisoner of war in Italy and they were both technically born in Poland that is now a part of Ukraine because the border shifted. They ended up meeting each other in the United States and settled in the Capital Region where many other Ukrainians settled.  My parents came to this country where everything is new and I think what shocked them is that I wanted to surround myself with old things. They never really understood that because I took a non traditional career path that they didn’t understand. I didn’t become a nurse or teacher or something that they could relate to.  It’s hard thinking back and explaining my career choice to my parents. We never spoke English at home. I didn’t even know English until I went to kindergarten. The Ukrainian community is very close. But my parents worked hard so that we (my brother and I) could do the things that they thought were the American dream. I did want to escape, so I went to New York City for grad school for museum studies.  What other jobs have you had? What was your journey to get to your current role? I liked that throughout my career I have worn many different hats which helped me discover what I like to do and what I don’t like to do. My first museum job out of graduate school was Curator at Clermont State Historic Site. It’s located in a really beautiful setting. Technically I worked for the Friends Group, not the state [NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation ]. I loved that even though historic houses are basically giant exhibitions, you get to tell the story of a family in depth. I liked telling the story of the Livingston family and at that time, many members of the family were still alive. So I got to meet them and that was really exciting. After I left Clermont, I did a little bit of consulting work and then worked as the Coordinator of Special Events in the development office at the College of St. Rose in Albany. I learned a lot in the development office and I worked there until the registrar position opened up at the Albany Institute of History & Art.  Then I took an opportunity to become the director of the John Jay Historic Site. I moved to Westchester and lived on site in the coachman’s house. I supervised a very large staff with grounds people, education, and worked closely with the sites’ friends group. I relied on my previous connections with conservators from my days at Clermont which helped, but I ultimately didn’t enjoy being a site manager. I didn’t want to do trail maintenance. I didn’t want to worry about rabid animals or hazardous trees. My parents were getting older and I wanted to move back towards Albany to be closer to them. I left and did more consulting work at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, the Shaker Heritage Society, and the Columbia County Historical Society working on object-based cataloging. Eventually, the Columbia Historical Society hired me as a full-time curator, and later on when their director left, I was promoted to curator/director.  When the curator position opened at the Albany Institute, I applied and got the job. I was happy to return and I’ve been here for six and half years.  What have you learned from those other jobs that have impacted your current role as a curator? By working in different departments I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot because I’ve had to do many different jobs. I’ve learned what education does, I’ve learned what development does. I’ve learned even more about special events, the gift shop because when you’re a small site you’re stocking, buying, and selling gift shop items. A curator normally doesn’t learn all of these different roles but because I’ve worked in places with a small staff, you do a little bit of everything, including learning how to manage people. At the John Jay Historic Site, I ended up managing a larger staff. I’ve also done a lot more public speaking than I ever thought I would do. I enjoy speaking to reporters and taking them through the galleries, talking about the shows I’ve curated. I love talking to people about exhibitions.  My biggest takeaway from all of my previous roles is maintaining my connections with colleagues. That’s what’s been the most important thing in my career. They’ve helped me be successful in what I do today. I can speed dial a whole group of people and get their help on areas that I’m not an expert in. I’ve had this great honor of working with people in this field. We’re losing generations of historians now and I really feel like my work stands on the back of their work.  Diane Shewchuk and Norman S. Rice, Former Curator and Executive Director at the Albany Institute of History of Art of which he was associated for nearly 70 years, starting in 1953. Rice passed away early this year at age 95. Photo courtesy Erika Sanger What do you get excited about? What motivates you to do what you do?  What gets me excited is that we have this facility at the Albany Institute where I can handle amazing things and share them with the Albany community and other visitors. I love the power of the authentic object. Having a facility where the climate and security are top-notch allows me to dream really big. I like getting people excited about history and I will piggyback on things that are popular in pop culture. People think that I curate a lot of costume shows, which I do because we have an audience for that but it’s actually exhibitions about the anti-suffragists [Spotlight: Albany and Anti-Suffrage] and the Schuyler Sisters [The Schuyler Sisters and Their Circle] that get me more excited because of their stories and they’re real people. I remember getting the email from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University for Eliza Schuyler Hamilton’s wedding ring and it was beyond what I had expected… to get that ring back to Albany where Hamilton put it on her hand. It came here and I never got to touch it, you know, because the courier came and we stitched it into the case, highly alarmed, but it was powerful to  think about what that ring witnessed.  I can’t tell the whole story in an exhibition label and that’s why I do a lot of gallery tours. You can only say so much in a label and I really like to tell people what goes into curating an exhibition like that because it helps people from outside the museum world understand.  Photo courtesy of Albany Institute of History & Art Can you describe a favorite day on the job? I love walking through the galleries and seeing people enjoying the exhibitions. Sometimes the most trivial thing has a great story and in the end, I love the objects...they don’t talk back to some people, but they do to me. I can make an object ‘talk’ in different ways and sometimes the same objects are in five different exhibitions for five different reasons.  What is your superpower? My master’s degree is in museum studies and I study antiques. I got to turn my hobby into a career and I’m incredibly lucky. I work with the museum staff to create the look of the exhibits. I get to create the installations that showcase the objects and the environments to help tell the story. I always knew I’d be in the creative field and I think museums are more creative than people give them credit for. I think that I can create anything on a relatively low budget –which I think is a strength because we often have to stretch small pots of money to fit big projects.

Dear Members, Friends, and Supporters,

I wake early this time of year to see the glorious colors of winter sunrises. All of us have worked so hard over the past two years, it may be hard to remember that we are just a few days away from the solstice when we can welcome the increasing light. Last week I was in Corning, NY for meetings about our 2022 annual conference. I woke up in our conference hotel and for a moment didn’t quite remember where I was - this tends to happen after a lot of travel. I crossed the room, lifted the shades to watch the sunrise, and was gifted the sight of a bald eagle flying up the Chemung River. 

We have been challenged this week to keep up with all the announcements of funds granted to New York museums for 2022. There is good news from so many of our funders that renewed my hope for 2022 being a brighter year. 

Grants to museums from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for general support and recovery totaled almost $7.5 million, including the NYSCA/MANY Capacity Building partnership that will award $500,000 in 100 grants of $5,000 each to museums through a competitive grant program.

If you received a grant from NYSCA, please take a moment before the end of the year to thank your New York State legislators for their generous appropriation this year. Let them know how the funds will make a difference to your museums and how much we need to maintain, or even increase, the level of funds available to museums for 2023. Not sure who represents you in Albany? You can click here for Assembly Members and here for Senators. 

Yesterday, Governor Hochul’s office announced $196 Million in awards through Round XI of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative. Almost $21 million was awarded to 31 museums for preservation and marketing projects. You can also send a thank you note to Governor Hochul whose unparalleled support for our sector will help us sustain our organizations into the future. 

Humanities NY announced $360,000 in “SHARP” (Sustaining the Humanities Through the American Rescue Plan) Action Grants to 43 New York cultural nonprofits affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In September, HNY announced SHARP general operating grants totaling $710,000 to 67 New York museums.

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in partnership with the NYS Canal Corporation awarded IMPACT! Grants totaling $64,323 to seven organizations including three museums. 

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded 33 NY Museums $1,422,104 in American Rescue Plan funds for FY 2021. 

Earlier this month, MANY asked its members and supporters to help us advocate for state recovery funds by comparing calendar year 2019 to 2021 in a survey of visitor attendance, open hours, staff, and number of school groups. 97 NYS museums of all sizes, locations, and disciplines reported:

• An average loss in visitor attendance of 48%

• An average decrease in the number of open hours of 29%

• An average loss of FT and/or PT staff of 12%

• An average decrease in K-12 school group visits of 63%

I look forward to working with you in 2022 to raise awareness of our current needs and to ask for recovery support to allow New York’s museums to reclaim our roles as essential community anchors, economic engines, and tourist destinations. 

With best wishes for the New Year, e

This past April, the Strong National Museum of Play broke ground on the second phase of a $75 million, 90,000 square foot expansion that will be the centerpiece of the new Neighborhood of Play in downtown Rochester. Included in this expansion are two exhibitions dedicated to the ways that video games and technology changed play, a state-of-the-art welcome atrium and admissions area, and a new flexible Maker’s Space/Play Lab for interactive workshops, classes, and activities. The expansion is expected to increase annual attendance from 600,000 to nearly 1 million visitors.

Concept rendering for the gateway building and new wing. Image courtesy of The Strong Museum

Need for Space

“Since we opened our doors in 1982, the Strong has always had a kind of philosophy to try to improve and move forward,” said Museum President and CEO Steve Dubnik. “We’re always looking for opportunities to continue to improve and grow so we can present more things.” The Museum has undergone two previous expansions– the first in 1995 that added the atrium and the second in 2006 that added 135,000 square feet for the Museum’s reading adventure land. 

By the mid-2000’s the Museum realized that video games were an important part of where play was going. “We needed to begin preserving and representing video games in our collection and exhibitions,” said Dubnik. The Museum started seriously collecting video games in 2007 and formed the International Center for the History of Electronic Games. Today the collection contains more than 60,000 artifacts and hundreds of thousands of archival materials, including games and the platforms on which they are played on, game packaging and advertising, game-related publications, game-inspired consumer products, and other items that illustrate the impact of electronic games in people’s lives. “As we started growing this collection, we began looking for ways to display and to talk about the impact of electronic games on play. We began reallocating space while always kind of keeping an eye out. It was an ongoing goal to expand.”

Expansion construction in October, 2021. Photo courtesy of The Strong Museum

The new museum wing will house the Worlds Video Game Hall of Fame and the Digital Worlds Gallery. The Galley’s two exhibitions, “High Score” and “Level Up” offer an interactive look at the history of video games. Exhibitions will also highlight the contributions of Women and People of Color to the video game industry. “We wanted to use this expansion as an opportunity to celebrate, preserve, and study the impact of video games in order to help people understand that while video games are played there is a lot of learning happening,” said Dubnik.

Digital Worlds Gallery exhibit ‘Level Up’ rendering. Image courtesy of The Strong Museum.

Another reason for this expansion was that the Museum’s audience continues to grow. “We reached close to 600,000 people in 2019 and there were days where the museum was close to capacity,” said Dubnik. “So if we wanted to continue to grow and attract more people, we needed more space. All of these things came together and led to the idea of creating a neighborhood of play as a way to increase our footprint. We were looking for a way to increase our marketing area to bring more people into Rochester from 4 to 5 hours drive time away. And if we were going to do that, we would need a place for them to stay that was nearby.”

Creating a Neighborhood of Play

In 2013, the City of Rochester was awarded a $17.7 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the Federal Government to fill in portions of its Inner Loop, creating pockets of developable land, including the southeast loop adjacent to The Strong. The City wanted to “bridge the moat” between the city center and communities like the Neighborhood of Play that have been separated by the Inner Loop since the 1950s. “Now we had buildable land next to us,” said Dubnik. “We started engaging planning consultants and reached out to our community to talk about what were some of the possibilities for the museum. We started planning and the whole idea of creating a neighborhood of play with the ability to live, work, and stay in the same area and in a neighborhood that is focused on play really grew from that whole process.” 

The Museum partnered with two local commercial developers–a developer who owns and operated multiple hotels in the Finger Lakes region and the other who is focused on mixed-use development. “We partnered with them but we don’t actually have an economic interest in those portions of the development. It’s not a legal partnership but we very much act like partners in that we use the same civil engineering firm and the same architect so that the design is consistent and cohesive. We are using different builders, but they’re meeting and coordinating on all these different elements.”

The first phase completed was a new, five-story covered garage with 1,000 parking spaces completed in 2020. “We doubled our parking spaces from 500 to 1000 and going vertical with a parking garage freed up land that we could sell to our development partners,” said Dubnik. 

The Neighborhood of Play features a 17,000 square foot outdoor play exhibit, a 125-room all-suites Hampton Inn and Suites, 240 residential units with 17,000 square feet of retail space that includes a play-oriented restaurant called Nirvana. The video game-themed restaurant will open in late 2022. 

Outdoor play garden rendering. Image courtesy of The Strong Museum.

Market Research

“The other key part of this expansion was creating additional space for more visitation, so we conducted a marketing study as part of this project,” said Dubnik. The Museum surveyed communities in Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, areas in eastern New York to find out what would attract people to Rochester. “We needed to find out how many people we could expect to come and visit Rochester and the survey revealed that we could get more than half a million with certain types of development, including video games, and so we built a business plan around getting 400,000 more people to visit the Museum.” The Museum also spoke with neighborhood residents and business leaders about what they wanted to see developed. “We worked with our other cultural partners in Rochester and formed what we call ‘Play Rochester,’ a partnership where we do some joint marketing campaigns,” said Dubnik. ‘Play Rochester’ includes the Rochester Museum and Science Center, the Seneca Park Zoo, the Eastman Museum, and Genessee Country Villiage & Museum. “We very much made this expansion project a collaboration within the community, businesses, and with other cultural organizations.”

Funding Sources

The project is supported by the Museum’s $60 million “Powered by Play” capital campaign which has raised $50 million thus far through private and public donations. New York State’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative was one of the first contributors with $20 million that helped start the project. Other support has come from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Support from private foundations include $100,000 from the Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Foundation to build three video game preservation labs, a $5 million capital grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, and $500,000 from the Louis S. and Molly B. Wolk Foundation in which the Museum will name the new admission area the Wolk Admission Area.

The Museum also entered a naming partnership with ESL Federal Credit Union. ESL Federal Credit Union committed $1.5 million which gives them naming rights to the 24,000 square foot Digital Worlds Galley for 25 years. 

“One of our goals has really been to be a national museum and we’ve focused on building our relationship with the toy and video game industries,” said Dubnik. “We’re the home to the toy hall of fame and we work with those larger toy companies for their help in our expansion and likewise with the larger video game industry whether it’s Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony. Creating those national and international collaborations and bringing that to Rochester has been an important part of what we do.”

The expansion and Neighborhood of Play are expected to open to the public in summer 2023. For more information visit, https://www.museumofplay.org/support/expansion-campaign/ and https://www.neighborhoodofplay.org/

Earlier this year, the Westchester Children’s Museum was among 500 museums from across the country selected by NASA to celebrate the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s new space science observatory. The Museum used this distinction to forge new partnerships, highlight new and existing exhibitions, and feature programs that focus on space exploration. The culminating celebration event for the Museum’s James Webb Telescope Launch initiative was held on November 13. 

Selection by NISE

The Museum was selected through a competitive proposal process administered by the NASA/National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE). NISE is a membership community of informal educators and scientists dedicated to supporting learning about science, technology, engineering, and math across the United States. The organization offers an entire resource page online dedicated to NASA that includes a digital download Earth and Space toolkit, content training videos, and other recorded workshops. 

“We’re a NISE member and we learned about this opportunity through them,” said Leta Wong, Acting Director of the Westchester Children’s Museum. “At the beginning, there were a few occasions maybe a month apart where NISE inquired if any museum would be interested in being a celebration site for NASA. We were interested and sent them an outline of what we wanted to do for the celebration. It was a simple application process and what’s great about NASA is that size didn’t matter. We’re on the smaller end, but we were accepted.”

Making Connections

Wong was fortunate to meet Peter Sooy of NASA at the last in-person meeting for the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) in Toronto in 2019. “[Peter] represented NASA in the section of the conference that had presenters and exhibits about sustainability, climate, and environmental issues,” said Wong. “We had a very good discussion about sustainability, what NASA does regarding their education materials which are extensive and free, and topics they cover in the STEM education section of their website.”

The James Webb Telescope is the largest and most complex space science telescope ever built and will be the premier observatory of the next decade. The telescope is equipped with a 21.3 foot primary mirror that makes the Webb the farthest-seeing telescope ever built. This international mission, led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies will launch on the Ariane 5 rocket on December 18, 2021. 

Celebrating the Launch

The Westchester Children’s Museum transformed its 5,000 square foot MakerSpace into an outer space STEAM experience with free activities for children of all ages. “NASA was very flexible and generous when it came to the requirements for the Museum’s participation,” said Wong. “Anything that we did had to be free and open to the public because it was helping NASA's goal to promote earth science, space exploration, and climate.”

To-scale models of planets in our solar system created by Artistic Coordinator of the Museum Lisa Archigian.  Photo courtesy of Westchester Children’s Museum

On November 13, the NASA-related activities and exhibitions began in the Museum’s reception area and workshop room. Children were given a sticker from NASA and a badge that museum staff made withthe NASA logo and the text “Museum Think Tank Authorized Personnel.” Lisa Archigian, the Artistic Coordinator for the Museum created to-scale models of each planet in the solar system including a 5-foot beach ball for Saturn. Each planet was suspended from the ceiling in the MakerSpace. There was also a two-third scale model of the James Webb gold mirror with information about what the telescope sees on the light spectrum. Exhibitions included three videos with hands-on activities including a virtual trip through the Orion Nebula and atmospheric effects. 

Building Partnerships

The Museum also had activities outdoors with celestial day-viewing on the boardwalk led by the group Westchester Amateur Astronomers. “NISE encourages partnerships to help expand their network,” said Wong. “This was the first partnership we had with them [Westchester Amateur Astronomers] and it kind of happened by accident.”

Westchester Amateur Astronomers on the boardwalk in front of the Museum. Photo courtesy of Westchester Children’s Museum

Wong met the Westchester Amateur Astronomers before COVID closed the Museum outside on the boardwalk. The group was viewing a planet and Wong struck up a conversation. “They said that they would be happy to partner with the museum for any events or classes. They were the first group I thought of to partner with for this celebration.” Westchester Amateur Astronomers helped Wong confirm which weekend would be best for the Museum to host their celebration so that it was also the best time for viewing planets. 

288 people attended the museum’s James Webb Telescope Launch celebration with people participating in both the free NASA activities and exploring the museum’s exhibitions. “It was great to see that people who came for the free NASA activities stayed and paid the special discounted admission to explore the museum afterwards,” said Wong. 

“We as a staff, and I especially, feel like we can never do enough with partnerships so we are always looking for new partnerships,” said Wong. “We wanted to do this just because it’s with NASA but also to expand our reach. We’re trying to get our neighbors involved with our programming and that’s really our vision–to be a community hub and do as many partnerships as we can with as many organizations as we can.”