Megan Eves <meves@nysmuseums.org>

This Month in NYS Museums: January 2024

Museum Association of New York <info@nysmuseums.org>Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 12:11 PM
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Letter from Erika

Testimony of the Museum Association of New York Submitted to the 2024 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing

Inside the NYS Assembly Chambers on January 30 during the 2024 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing.

Photo by Elizabeth Reiss, President & CEO, The Arts Center of the Capital Region

Below and linked is the submitted written testimony. Please share this testimony with your legislative representatives and thank them for their continued support of museums. 

Click here to find your NYS Assembly Member

Click here to find your NYS Senator

Dear Chairpersons Krueger, Weinstein, Ryan, Stirpe, Serrano, O’Donnell, and members of the Senate and Assembly finance committees,

On behalf of the board of directors of the Museum Association of New York, our 750 members of every museum discipline and budget size in every region of our state, and our dedicated staff, I respectfully present this testimony with gratitude for the legislature’s steadfast support of New York’s museums. In doing so, I also seek your esteemed leadership in addressing three critical areas: 1) Providing financial support for museums, 2) Advancing the results of The Museum Study Act to tackle sector challenges, and 3) Securing funding for NY250 along with promoting inclusive representation in our cultural narratives. Your leadership in these areas is pivotal for the continued flourishing of our state’s rich cultural history.

Continue reading

Building a Social Justice Museum

In Conversation with Jennifer Scott

Future headquarters of the National Urban League and Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem on 125th St., Harlem, New York. Image courtesy of National Urban League

Scheduled to open in 2025-2026, the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem will be New York’s first museum dedicated to civil rights. The museum planners are considering how museums can inspire the social change we want to see happen and how we build a museum that is more democratic and one that critiques the flaws within our democratic systems? These are crucial questions for the museum’s inaugural director and chief curator Jennifer Scott. 

Continue reading

The Urban Civil Rights Museum is scheduled to open in 2025/2026. To learn more about the museum, visit https://nul.org/news/national-urban-leagues-innovative-urban-civil-rights-museum-will-bring-little-examined-corners

Jennifer Scott will join Ben Garcia, Executive Director of The American LGBTQ+ Museum in an opening keynote discussion, “Slow Cooking: Recipes for Centering Value in Museums” moderated by MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger at the 2024 annual conference in Albany, NY on Sunday, April 8 at 3 PM in Chancellor’s Hall, The New York State Education Department Building. To learn more and to register for the conference, visit https://nysmuseums.org/annualconference.

 

Job Board

MANY is committed to salary transparency.

All job postings require a salary range.

Cultural Center Director –Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center

Director of Learning and Engagement –Everson Museum of Art

Museum Educator –Historic Hudson Valley

Development Manager –Aquarium of Niagara

Managing Editor –American Numismatic Society

Development Officer –Planting Fields Foundation

Executive Director –Glenn H. Curtiss Museum

Manager of Finance and Planning –Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College

Communications and Media Manager –Boscobel House and Gardens

Registrar –Fort Ticonderoga

Museum Technician –Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Education Coordinator –Shaker Heritage Society

Director of Programs –Robert H. Jackson Center

Associate Director, Donor Engagement –Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Explore more job opportunities

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

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Sponsor the MANY Job Board

Learn more

Giving Voice to Value
2024 Annual Conference
April 6 - 9 | Albany, NY

Early Bird Registration is open!

Join hundreds of museum professionals from across the state to discuss the proposition that it is time to look at new ways to communicate our value to stakeholders, funders, legislators, visitors, and communities. Museums dedicate resources to rationalize relevance, impact, community service, and investment in collections, programs, and facilities.

The 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value" features:

 Over 100 presenters in 25 concurrent sessions, pre-conference workshops, and capstone experiences;

→ two keynotes;

→ special events at the New York State Education Department Building, the New York State Museum;

→ eclipse viewing and after party;

→ and a Night at the Museums tour.


Early bird registration closes Friday, February 16!

Click here to register
 
See the full conference schedule
 

Conference Special Events

Have fun with friends old and new after the conference session end!

Add a special event to your conference registration –Dinner at The Hollow, Eclipse After Party at the New York State Museum, Dinner at the New York State Museum, and Night at the Museums!

Learn more

Meet our 2024 Conference Keynotes!

Ben Garcia

Executive Director

The American LGBTQ+ Museum

Jennifer Scott

Executive Director

The Urban Civil Rights Museum

Margaret Middleton

Independent Exhibit Designer and Museum Consultant

Meet MANY+ MuseumHue Online

Success in School Partnerships

Friday, February 16, 2024

12 - 1:30 PM EST

Join us and MuseumHue on Friday, February 16 for a discussion all about museums and school partnerships with Michelle Wohlgemuth Cooper (Guggenheim Museum), Ron Chaluisan Batlle (Newark Trust for Education), and Sonnect Takahisa (Consultant).

Virtual program is free; advance registration required.

Register

Digital Communications Engagement Best Practices

Friday, February 23, 2024

12 - 1:30 PM EST

Join MANY and MuseumHue on Friday, February 23 as we explore current digital communications engagement best practices with Kate Meyers Emery (Candid), Bryce Armijo (Poster House), and Ansley Jemison (Ganondagan State Historic Site, Seneca Art and Culture Center).

Virtual program is free; advance registration required. 

Register

These virtual programs were organized in partnership with Museum Hue, a nationally recognized organization that works to paint a larger portrait of the arts and culture field by providing greater support and recognition for Black, Indigenous, and people of color throughout museums and other cultural entities across the United States.

Virtual programs are free with thanks to support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation

MANY is committed to making our virtual programs as accessible as possible. ASL interpretation is provided by Interpretek.

All virtual programs are recorded and available for MANY members via the Member Resource page within 7 days of the live program. 

2024 Virtual Annual Meeting

Friday, March 1, 12 - 1 PM EST

Please join MANY staff and board on Friday, March 1 for our virtual annual meeting where we will welcome new board members, thank our outgoing board members, review the 2023 financial report, 2023 program highlights, and look at what's ahead for the Museum Association of New York.

Register

Funding Opportunities

New York State Council on the Arts

Professional Development Grants for Museums

New York State-based non-profit museums or museum service organizations may apply for support to attend conferences, bring in consultants for in-house training, or participate in training that directly relates to the museum’s work and connects to NYSCA’s mission.

Awards will be for up to $1,000 for professional development opportunities within New York State and up to $500 out of state.

Application closes March 1, 2024 at 5 PM

Learn more or email Kristin.Herron@arts.ny.gov

New York State Canal Corporation

and Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor

Tourism Infrastructure & Amenity Support
Program supports capital improvement projects and acquisition of equipment and amenities that enhance tourism, especially overnight stays, and recreational assets along the NYS Canal System (Canal waterways and Canalway Trail).

Applicant may request up to 10 percent of the grant award amount for project management (unless staff salary is used to meet match requirements). If requested, the 10 percent must be included in the project budget as part of the total grant request (not in addition to the grant request).

Award range: $5,000 to $24,000
Applications open January 8, 2024

Applications due February 23, 2024


Learn more

Event Support

This program supports public events and festivals that encourage exploration and enjoyment of the wealth of cultural, heritage, nature and recreational offerings within New York State's canal corridor.

Award range: $500 to $3,000
Applications open January 8, 2024
Applications due February 23, 2024

Learn more

Institute of Museum and Library Services

21st Century Museum Professionals Program

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its relaunched 21st Century Museum Professionals Program (21MP). 21MP will support projects that offer professional development opportunities to the current museum workforce, employ strategies to train and recruit future museum professionals, or evaluate such efforts.

In addition to supporting the museum field, 21MP aims to contribute to US economic recovery. A special emphasis for the program this cycle will be on spurring economic growth through workforce development in the post-pandemic environment, especially for cultural institutions in rural and economically distressed communities.

Applications due March 1, 2024

Learn more

National Park Service

African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund

Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund are designed to advance place-based cultural heritage preservation projects for historic places representing African American cultural heritage. The Action Fund awards grants across four project categories: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation.
Grants made from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund range from $50,000 to $150,000.

Applications due February 1, 2024

Learn more


Semiquincentennial Grant Program

The National Park Service is accepting applications for the third round of funding for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program. This grant program was created by Congress in 2020 to support the preservation of sites and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that commemorate the founding of the nation.
The FY2023 round features several notable changes from the previous round:

In addition to resources that were built during the founding period (i.e. prior to 1800), resources that commemorate the people, places, and events of the founding period are eligible for funding if they meet the other program requirements related to ownership and National Register listing.
Resource specific plans, studies, and reports are eligible as standalone projects and do not need to be conducted as part of a preservation project. Pre-preservation projects that do not include physical work to a resource may apply for grants of $15,000-$75,000.
Awards for physical preservation projects are $75,000 - $750,000.
Work to properties owned by entities other than the state. This includes properties owned by local governments, nonprofits, tribes and other applicant types. Preference will be given to state owned properties.

The Semiquincentennial Grant Program is funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and managed by the National Park Service. Funding for the HPF is provided from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease revenues, not tax dollars. Congress has appropriated $10,000,000 for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program for FY2023.

Applications are due March 5, 2024

Learn more

From the field...

Doing History in Polarized Times Virtual Summit
American Association of State and Local History

February 8 - 9, 2024
Political and cultural divisions in America today pose great challenges to the history field. While research shows that there is broad public support for a full and honest portrayal of American history, there are also basic disagreements that persist. How can our field navigate disputes about the past, build on areas of consensus, and make the most of the transformative potential of the coming U.S. 250th anniversary? This virtual summit from the American Association for State and Local History, held over the course of two half-days, will explore recent research, emerging strategies, and case studies to help history practitioners work more effectively in today’s fractious discourse. We will also consider the needs of history doers working in this difficult environment and our field’s role in identifying common ground and connecting past and present. 

Learn more and register

Repatriating the Red Jacket Peace Medal

and Cultivating Museum Partnerships

Western New York Library Resources Council


Join Melissa Brown, Executive Director of The Buffalo History Museum, and Dr. Joe Stahlman, Director of the Seneca Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office, for a discussion centered on the relationship between the one regional Indigenous community and the Buffalo History Museum.

Executive Director Brown and Dr. Stahlman share their story and some of the complexities behind the Red Jacket Peace Medal, which was repatriated back in 2021. Together, they share this unique history and discuss how this one moment opened a set of doors that has allowed the WNY Indigenous arts and culture community to interact with the Buffalo History Museum, which has broadened how and the ways that we share our collective regional stories.

Webinar happening on Thursday, February 15 at 2 PM EST

Click here to learn more and register

Somos Boricuas

The Bronx Music Heritage Center and Brooklyn College, are pleased to announce Somos Boricuas, a two-week summer institute for K-12 educators. This Institute, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will offer K-12 educators learning tools, resources, lesson ideas, and historical and social content for teaching about immigration and migration experience of first- and second generation- Latin Americans, with a special focus on Puerto Rico. It will also offer insights and classroom applications that summer scholars can adapt to their teaching of other recent migrant/immigrant cultures.

Happening in New York City from July 14-27, 2024.

Applications due March 5.

Learn more

If you have questions, email or call Elena Martínez at emartinez@citylore.org, 917-557-2354.

Congratulations to MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger who was selected as one of City & State's Fifty Over 50 honorees this year!

"One of the defining characteristics of New York is its thriving museum scene, and Erika Sanger is committed to the success of these cultural attractions statewide."

Learn more

Museums in the News

What's happening at your museum?

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 16. Email meves@nysmuseums.org

Share Your News

This Month in NYS Museums is supported by NYSCA and Humanities NY

Museum Association of NY

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518-273-3400 | info@nysmuseums.org

This monthly newsletter is a benefit of MANY membership.

Learn more about membership benefits. For questions about membership access, renewing, and more, please email info@nysmuseums.org 

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