Welcome to our January edition of "This Month in NYS Museums"! In this newsletter... | | | The Strength of Archival Research: How the Bowne House was selected to join the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
| | | In 2021, the National Park Service selected the Bowne House to join the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. It is the first location in Queens to join more than 700 other sites admitted to the Network since the National Park Service founded the program in 1998. The Network to Freedom program reviews applications from sites, research facilities, and programs with verified connections to the Underground Railroad. The program was created via legislation titled the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998 to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight. | | | | | MANY Board Spotlight: Andrew Saluti | Andrew Saluti is assistant professor and program coordinator of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies at Syracuse University. He collaborates with the diverse community voices and cultural heritage collecting institutions that populate both academic and professional sectors of the Central New York region. Together with colleagues, faculty, and students, Andrew considers equity, inclusivity, and accessibility core and vital aspects to museum practice and pedagogy. This commitment is reflected in the broad scope of teaching, mentoring, curricular design and professional practice that he facilitates, as well as through an ever-expanding network of emerging and established museum professionals from around the globe. We spoke with Andrew to learn more about his career path, his advice to the next generation of museum professionals, and what he’s learned throughout his career in the museum field. | | | | | Letter from Erika: Preparing for Winter | | | Dear Members, Friends, and Colleagues, I admit to being one of those people who perhaps overly prepares for winter in Upstate New York. We have a generator for our 200-year-old home because we live in a place where the power goes out. I have a “winter bag” with blankets, flashlight, water, and granola bars as well as a very large brush and ice scraper in my car. In the MANY office, we keep extra jackets on hand and cover the windows with plastic to hold back wind blowing off the Hudson River. We learn each winter about weather-related disasters that have damaged museums, historic structures, and collections. I have spoken with museum directors dealing with flooded basements because nearby creeks overflowed their banks; fire and smoke damage because electrical systems were compromised, and roofs that caved under the pressure of snow or fallen branches. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | Early bird registration is open until Friday, February 10! Meet MANY and museum professionals in Syracuse this April as we welcome 100 speakers from across New York State who will share their experiences and offer actionable solutions to help New York's museum professionals successfully meet the challenges they face and achieve progress. | | | | | | | Meet our opening keynote! We're thrilled to announce Omar Eaton-Martínez, Senior Vice President for Historic Sites, National Trust for Historic Preservation is our 2023 Conference Opening keynote.
| | | | | | | | | | | This event is free; advance registration required. Limited space available. Registration closes Wednesday, February 1. *Reading this book is not a requirement for participation. This NYC Meet-Up and Roundtable Discussion: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum is 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. | | | | | Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Awards $150,000 to the Museum Association of New York MANY is thrilled to announce that the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has awarded a three-year, $150,000 grant to support MANY’s virtual programs and provide professional development opportunities for Long Island museum professionals. This grant provides instrumental support for three years of MANY’s free virtual programming and will feature museum professionals from across the country to share their experiences and case studies of program activities in order to help museum professionals gain new skills. | | | Help Shape MANY's Virtual Programming We're assembling a three-year schedule of free virtual programs that will feature museum professionals from across the country sharing their experiences and case studies of programs in order to help museum professionals gain new skills. As a MANY member, please take a few minutes to help us shape these virtual programs. | | | | | | | Museum Association of New York Awarded $10,000 in Recovery Funding from the New York State Council on the Arts for Regional Meet-Ups and Roundtable Discussions MANY has received a Regrowth and Capacity grant of $10,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts as well as $49,500 in Support for Organizations in FY 2023. This funding will help support MANY’s regional meet-ups and “Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum” roundtable discussions focused on exploring issues in the museum field based on the recently published collection of essays in “Change is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum.” “Extending the conversations begun in ‘Change is Required’ comes at a crucial time as New York museums emerge from the continued challenges of the pandemic, reconsider how to engage with our altered communities and understand how our role as museums has shifted in the past five years,” said Brian Lee Whisenhunt, MANY Board President and Executive Director of The Rockwell Museum. “MANY is incredibly thankful to NYSCA for supporting these programs and providing a space for this dialogue in every region in the State.” Regional Meet-Ups and “Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum” Roundtable Discussions Wednesday, February 8 NYC American Museum of Natural History
Wednesday, March 22 Central NY Oneida Community Mansion House
Wednesday, May 10 Long Island Planting Fields
Thursday, June 1 Mid-Hudson The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Monday, June 12 Finger Lakes George Eastman Museum
Wednesday, June 14 Southern Tier Finger Lakes Boating Museum
Thursday, November 9 Mohawk Valley Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
October Western NY Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Capital Region and North Country to be announced. | | | | | | | NYSCA Museum Professional Development Grant The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), in partnership with CNY Arts, offers short term professional development funding for 2022. NYSCA Professional Development Grants: up to $500 New York State-based museums of any type, or museum service organizations, may apply for support to attend conferences, bring in consultants for in-house training, or for training that directly relates to the museum’s work. Applicants must be open to the public or offering programming and cannot be owned and operated by New York State. Application closes February 7 at 5 PM Learn more
NYS Canal System Tourism Infrastructure and Events Grants The New York State Canal Corporation, through the Reimagine the Canals initiative, and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor are offering competitive grant funding to support tourism and recreation along the New York State Canal System including canal waterways and Canalway Trail. The 2023 program will support tourism infrastructure and amenity improvements, and events. The grant program includes two funding categories: - Event Support- award range of $500 to $3,000
- Tourism Infrastructure & Amenity Support- award range of $5,000 to $24,000.
Applicants may apply for one or both categories. Applications are open now through February 24, 2023. Learn more Preservation League of New York State –Preserve New York The Preserve New York grant program is a partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts and the Preservation League of New York State made possible with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, with additional support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation for projects in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Preserve New York grants provide support to eligible 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations and municipalities in New York State for projects that identify, document, and preserve New York’s cultural and historic buildings, structures, and landscapes. Now in its 30th year, Preserve New York helps fund historic structure reports, condition reports, cultural landscape reports, and cultural resource surveys. This program funds consulting reports only and will not fund capital repairs or construction costs, architectural plans and specifications, schematic designs, or construction documents.
Applications are by Friday, March 31. All interested applicants must submit a pre-application to receive a full application form. Pre-applications are due by Friday, March 24. Learn more New York State's Tourism Return to Work and Meet in New York Grant Programs Aimed to help the tourism industry rebuild from the pandemic by offering state funds for new employees hired in the tourism industry, and for discounts offered by event venues and lodging facilities for events held in New York State. Return to Work: - Employment growth period enhanced to include jobs added from July – September 2022
- Amended program rules applying to economic harm, minimum employees increases, and increased caps
- Clarification of existing guidelines around fiscal year requires a demonstration year-to-year loss of at least 15% with applicants with 25% or greater loss receiving priority
Learn more about Return to Work Meet in New York: - An extended period for program applications to June 30, 2023
- An extended end date for the event to occur until December 31, 2025
- An adjustment to the minimum venue size requirement, allowing for smaller venues
- Flexibility with proof of booking documentation, pre-event
Learn more about Meet in New York
NEH American Tapestry Initiative
Through new funding opportunities at NEH, American Tapestry will encourage projects that elevate the role of civics in schools and public programs, promote media literacy, and use robust humanities research to examine threats to our democracy. American Tapestry will build capacity at museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, cultural centers, and colleges and universities, benefitting more communities while amplifying the untold stories of historically underrepresented groups. Learn more
| | | From our colleagues... New York State Office of Cultural Education DEI Toolkit Stakeholder Survey This 15-minute survey is designed for people who work in, volunteer for, and use museums, libraries, archives, historical and genealogical societies, and other cultural heritage/history sites. We’ll use your feedback to develop a toolkit that will help these organizations create policies and practices in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion and to make the organizational and other changes necessary to serve all New Yorkers. Survey closes Friday, February 3 Learn more and take the survey Museum Platform Survey The Museum at Eldridge Street is changing their admissions ticketing and events platform and are seeking input from other cultural institutions. Take this short survey
| | | Advocacy UpdateGood News for Museums: FY 2023 omnibus package includes increased funding for museums! Good news! Your advocacy efforts continue to get results. The IMLS Office of Museum Services (OMS) will get a $8 million increase to $55.5 million in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill signed into law last week – an impressive 15% increase in a package that contained an overall 5.5% increase in non-defense discretionary spending. The funding had been delayed since the fiscal year began on October 1, 2022. This is a historic increase and the first time museum programs have been funded over the $50 million level. IMLS overall will get an additional $5 million (a $1 million increase for Research, Analysis, and Data Collection; and $4 million increase for Program Administration for continuation and expansion of its Information Literacy Taskforce). OMS increases were in the following programs: - $2.4 million increase for Museums for America up to $30.3 million;
- $1.2 million increase for National Leadership: Museums grants up to $9.3 million;
- $1.5 million increase for Native American/Hawaiian Museum Services up to $3.8 million;
- $769,000 increase for Museum Grants for African American History & Culture up to $6 million; and
- $2 million increase for Museum Grants for American Latino History & Culture up to $6 million.
The National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts will get $207 million each-an increase of $27 million each. Department of Education funding includes $20 million for American History and Civics National Activities grants. MANY will be at the American Alliance of Museums Museums Advocacy Day February 27 & 28 in Washington, D.C. Follow along as we speak up for NYS museums by following us on our Instagram. | | | | | | | 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 February “This Month in NYS Museums” newsletter is February 10. Email meves@nysmuseums.org | | | | | | |
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