Welcome to the August edition of This Month in NYS Museums! In this newsletter... | | | The William G. Pomeroy Foundation and America250 | | | Deryn Pomeroy, Trustee and Director of Strategic Initiatives at the William G. Pomeroy Foundation speaks at the 2023 conference in Syracuse NY. Photo by Daylight Blue Media. | | | Earlier this month, MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger spoke with Deryn Pomeroy, Trustee and Director of Strategic Initiatives at the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history, and working to improve the probability of finding appropriate donor matches or other life-saving treatments for blood cancer patients. Deryn does a lot of public facing work on the Foundation’s behalf, speaks to audiences about the Foundation’s grant work and attends programs and conferences. The William G. Pomeroy Foundation partnered with MANY to establish the Pomeroy Fund for NY History which distributed $297,808.72 to 103 museums in relief assistance during the pandemic. The Pomeroy Foundation recently awarded MANY a grant of $120,000 for its “Voices and Votes: A New Agora for NY" project that is helping twelve museums and their communities commemorate America250 and tell the story of their community’s role in the development of American Democracy. | | | | | IMLS Funding Opportunities: Inspire! Grants for Small Museums and Museums for America | | | Preservation Long Island was awarded $45,137 for an assessment of its inventory practices to improve access and the long-term care and maintenance of the collections displayed and stored at its historic sites and facilities—the PLI Headquarters building in Cold Spring Harbor, Joseph Lloyd Manor (pictured) and Collections Storage in Lloyd Harbor, Sherwood-Jayne Farm in Setauket, and the Custom House in Sag Harbor.
| | | The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s approximately 120,000 libraries and 35,000 museums and related organizations. In 2022, the IMLS awarded $44.7 million in 280 grants to museums; $7.1 million was awarded to 37 museums in New York State. We spoke to three New York State museums who were awarded an Inspire! Grants for Small Museums or a Museums for America grant in FY2022 about their project goals and advice for museums interested in applying. | | | | | Letter from Erika: Priority Item #1: NY250: Tell the Whole Story | Instead of a traditional Letter from Erika, this month Erika shares the text she wrote for the Museum Association of New York’s priority request to the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus’ 2024 People’s Budget.
| | | In 2026, our nation will mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Ten of the original thirteen states along with 25 others have fully seated, active commissions, New York remains without. New York needs a commission and legislative action that will promote this opportunity as a priority and will allocate funding so that museums, historical societies, historic sites, and historic battlefields can begin to share their cultural resources with their communities and beyond. We must take this opportunity to welcome and incorporate equally the stories of Indigenous Nations, BIPOC, and new Americans. | | | | | IMLS Funding to Museums | | | The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York was awarded $50,000 from the IMLS Inspire! Grants for Small Museums to increase staff capacity.
| 36 NYS museums were awarded a total of $6,108,821 in the latest round of grant funding to museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Inspire! Grants for Small Museums, Museums for America, and Museums Empowered. A total of $31,509,007 was awarded to 218 projects across the nation by the IMLS from 568 applications requesting $73,685,100. | | | | | | | This article was written by Erika Sanger for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) blog. | | | MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger leads a roundtable discussion at The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College this past June. | In April of 2022, I was invited to provide a promotional endorsement for the book Change Is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, edited by Avi Y. Decter, Marsha L. Semmel, and Ken Yellis and published by Rowman & Littlefield as part of the AASLH Book Series. When the manuscript arrived, I placed the stack of pages at the center of my desk, anticipating an engaging and thoughtful read. The note that accompanied the invitation said that the collection of essays would empower readers to “address the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, economic dislocation, and social protest and stimulate new thinking about the future directions of museums in America.” The powerful voices held within that stack of papers lifted me to a place of hope for the future of museums beyond the struggle, loss, and injustice that we heard from thousands of museum professionals during and in the wake of the pandemic. | | | | | | | MANY is committed to salary transparency. As of June 1, 2022 all job postings require a salary range. | | | | | Hiring? MANY Organizational and Industry Members post museum jobs for free. For other job posting opportunities, please contact the MANY office at info@nysmuseums.org or call 518-273-3400 | | | | | Join MANY this summer and fall for a series of virtual programs. All virtual programs are free and open to the public. Check back for more virtual programs! Virtual programs are made possible by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. | | | | | Prison Prisms: Reflections on Prison History and Criminal Justice Reform in NYS through the Lens of Auburn, Attica, and Sing Sing Friday, September 8, 2023 12 - 1:30 PM EST These three prisons recently embarked on explorations of their complicated narratives using the exhibition format. These exhibitions include uncovering difficult and often disturbing stories as viewed from those both on the outside and the inside. This panel includes leaders across the field, formerly incarcerated people, as well as those engaged in monitoring and reporting on the NYS correctional systems, and will take a deep dive into this often hidden world. | | | | | | | | |
The Northern Slavery Collective: How Museums and Historic Sites are Joining Forces to Collaborate on Interpreting the History of Enslavement Friday, September 22, 2023 12 - 1:30 PM EST The Northern Slavery Collective (NorSC) is a group of museum professionals and academics dedicated to researching and interpreting the history of enslaved people and the practice of enslavement in the Northern United States. A panel of professionals will discuss the challenges that member institutions faced in their journey to create a more inclusive narrative and how they have worked creatively to overcome them. The panel will begin with a brief introduction to NorSC and each panelist’s institutions and then move into a question and answer session. | | | | | | | | |
Centering Cultural Competency Friday, October 6, 2023 12 - 1:30 PM EST Join three museum leaders to learn about and discuss how to commit to Cultural Competency, a framework to mitigate organizational bias through immersive learning experiences. Presenters will share strategies that improve internal operations, cultural awareness, knowledge, understanding, and cultural literacy. Discussion will focus on commitment to growth, how to cultivate a sense of belonging within our institutions, and implementing actions that address public discontent with diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and justice. | | | | | | | | | Regional Meet-Ups and Roundtable Discussions | If you were to open a museum tomorrow, what would you prioritize? Would you invest in your staff? Public programming? Justice and equity? What would you keep? What would you change? Join your colleagues and MANY for regional roundtable discussion about the future of our museums based on the recently published collection of essays "Change is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum."* Meet-ups and discussions are free; advance registration required. Limited space available. *Reading this book is not a requirement for participation. | | | | | | | | | | | | | Meet MANY and your Western NY museum colleagues at Buffalo AKG Art Museum on Thursday, October 26 from 4 - 6 PM. | | | | | | | Meet MANY and your Mohawk Valley museum colleagues at Munson on Thursday, November 9 from 4 - 6 PM. | | | | | | | Meet-Ups and Roundtable Discussions are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
| | | Funding Opportunities Greater Hudson Heritage Network/NYSCA Conservation Treatment The NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Grant Program is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation supports projects in New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties. Support of up to $7,500 is available for conservation treatment of paintings, works on paper (including individual drawings, watercolors, prints, or photographs), textiles (including costumes, domestic textiles, and upholstery), furniture, frames, sculpture, historical, ethnographic, and decorative objects. Applications due Friday, September 1. Learn more Preservation League of NYS –Technical Assistance Grants Technical Assistance Grants are available to eligible NYS nonprofits and municipalities. The TAG Program provides support for planning studies or analyses of New York State’s historic resources that serve an arts and/or cultural function. TAG funds consulting reports only, completed by architects, engineers and/or other design and preservation professionals. These grants do not fund capital construction costs, architectural plans and specifications, schematic designs, or construction documents. Pre-application deadline is Monday, October 9 Grant application deadline is Friday, October 20 Learn more
Institute of Museum and Library Services Museums and related organizations across the United States have six opportunities in the coming months to apply for grants from the nation’s primary source of federal funding for museum services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for six grant programs: Applications for all six programs are due on November 15, 2023. Applicants should review the notices of funding opportunity carefully to understand each program’s specific goals and objectives, which reflect the agency’s focus on championing lifelong learning, strengthening community engagement, and advancing collections stewardship and access. | | | From the field...
The Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission (Corridor) is seeking to retain professional services from consulting teams to create an overarching plan for the historic sites and museum visitor experience. The Corridor requests proposals for services to be conducted between November 2023 and December 2024. This project seeks to evaluate, record, and research the collections, stories, and experiences embodied in the Corridor and its 4 Anchor Institutions in order to create a plan to properly care for and interpret existing collections and expand access to content. The project will build the capacity for five African American institutions in Buffalo, New York, to develop and expand public programs and exhibitions. The Corridor will hire a consulting team specializing in the African American experience, history, and contemporary historic site and museum visitor experience. The project will result in a plan to manage our existing collections and exhibit our many histories with a cohesive narrative that tells the story of the entire Michigan Street Corridor. This Corridor includes the Michigan Street Baptist Church (owned by the Buffalo Niagara Freedom Station Coalition), The Nash House Museum (owned by the Michigan Street Preservation Corporation), the Historic Colored Musicians Club and Jazz Museum, and WUFO Black Radio History Collective. Priority will be given to teams with experience working with archives, collections, or in designing and creating spaces/sites that highlight the historical and contemporary experiences of African Americans and other historically marginalized communities. This includes expertise in working with Underground Railroad sites, Jazz and Urban Radio-focused museums, or historic sites dedicated to Black life. Teams that include partnering with local Colleges, Universities, or Historians will be prioritized.
Learn more | | | | | | | What's happening at your museum? Submit your museum news as a newsletter article! How is your museum growing institutional resources, including welcoming new staff and board members and securing funding for projects, how is your museum working with their community and visitors; and how we use our exhibitions and collections in new ways. The deadline to submit for the September “This Month in NYS Museums” newsletter is September 15. Email meves@nysmuseums.org | | | | | |
