Long Island

The Long Island Explorium partnered with Stony Brook University lecturer Qin Han and their digital art students to explore environmental issues through an artistic lens.The curated exhibit, A Visual Dialogue on Environmental Issues, launched in Fall 2021 and received MANY’s Engaging Communities Award ($100,000 - $500,000). This work built a model for community sourced art exhibitions that intersect environmental issues and local community dialogues.

NYC

Studio Museum in Harlem partnered with Visual AIDS to develop and publish a digital resource page focused on sharing stories of “activism, belonging, care, leisure, and remembrance in Harlem during the AIDS epidemic.” The page includes an interactive map, oral history interviews, artwork and other resources, and invites community members to contribute to the project by sharing their own stories.

Western NY

Using an artwork not normally accessible to the public, Faith Ringgold’s Sunflower: Quilting Bee at Arles, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts partnered with the African American Center for Cultural Development in Olean, NY in a virtual object based learning activity for sixth grade students to better understand the prominence of quilts in Black art and culture by making their own story quilt. Museum Educator, Sean Conklin, joined the class virtually for almost three months, leading students through lessons on story structure, emotional learning, art history, quilt design and construction.

Mid-Hudson

Percy Grainger House embarked on a project to expand access to the Grainger instrument collection and historic house as a lasting space for musical innovation. Project participants created GLOSS (Grainger Library of Sampled Sounds), a digital sound library published under creative commons licenses. Currently hosting over 118 sounds, the library will continue to grow as more instruments are sampled. Sounds can be integrated into compositions and will be leveraged for composition workshops in schools.

North Country

Participants from the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site developed new skills in video and audio production to reach local and international audiences through new video content. While the US-Canada Border remained closed, staff at Sackets Harbor collaborated with the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada Bridge Annex as part of their 2021 virtual conference. Other video content produced using new technology highlights the staff, site history, historic preservation efforts, and local community events.

Mohawk Valley

Using a stone monument in front of their building as a launching point, Arkell Museum & Canajoharie Library investigated the history of commemoration and memory connected to the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. With newly digitized collection materials tied to the 150th anniversary celebration in 1929, project participants developed a virtual program to spur reflection and dialogue in the area. 

Southern Tier

Project participants at Schuyler County Historical Society, utilized new technology including TASCAM recorders and iPad Pro to document and preserve oral histories in connection to their exhibit, Echoes in the Valley, focused on the Squires Junior Drum and Bugle Corps. Using social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube, they shared stories from the exhibit digitally and connected with a broader geographical audience. The oral history interviews and digitized photo collections can be found on YouTube where they have garnered over 1442 views.

“This was a huge growth year. We never previously offered virtual programs. Building Capacity trainings allowed us to live-stream/record all of our 2021 public programs. Our tiny staff works efficiently and creates work plans for projects, but circumstances still caused us to fall behind. This experience brought home the fact that some things are just beyond our control and we have to do the best we can do with what we have and accept that as success.”

–Sarah Kijowski, Slate Valley Museum

“Year one of this project has proven to be a difficult but rewarding journey. I had little experience in creating digital content, but in watching the workshops and trainings offered, I was able to expand my knowledge and feel more prepared to take the content being developed and create something digitally engaging with the new resources allocated to me."

–Samantha Mahoski, Hart Cluett Museum

“Over the past year, I have learned a great deal about new technologies and new strategies for creating virtual programs. Technologically, my learning has been focused on video filming and editing. Prior to this program, my experience was limited to the basic functions of iMovie. I have since become proficient in Adobe Premier Rush and now use the software regularly to create dynamic educational videos for a variety of asynchronous programs…I believe my new editing skills, paired with engagement strategies learned from Eli’s Story Structure workshop have helped us produce more engaging virtual programs.”

–Brenna McCormick-Thompson, The Whaling Museum at Cold Spring Harbor

“In the past, I have taken part in online course and workshops, but virtual meetings and live presentation in a virtual setting are completely new to me. I also really enjoyed hearing and learning from other institutions that are part of the grant. Going to the MANY Regional Meeting July was a great way to share our experience in creating a new project and story with our colleagues and to hear from the other institutions and what they were working on as well.”

-Kacey Page, Buffalo Museum of Science

“My goal has been to make the Arnot Art Museum a more inclusive space and this MANY grant has provided me with the tools and training necessary to begin this process. This year I sought to focus on reaching new audiences by launching new accessibility initiatives. I focused my learning on adopting accessibility best practices and how to use technologies to facilitate these efforts.”

-Natasha Bishop, Arnot Art Museum

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [CAGML-246991-OMLS-20].