Welcome to the June edition of This Month in NYS Museums! In this newsletter... | | | Letter from Sheila: Reflect, Recharge, and Refresh | | | MANY Board and Staff attend a board retreat at Great Camp Sagamore earlier this month. | Summertime, and in many ways, living is easy. Summer is often a time of year for a break to refresh, recharge, and have fun. These moments to take a breath are critical to our care and wellness. We hope you can all find time and space to catch your breath. We will also look for ways to catch our breath at MANY offices. Rest assured, we are here for you. Our commitment to serving our members and engaging with stakeholders remains unwavering. We will continue to provide the resources our sector needs. To do this work effectively, we must constantly evaluate our processes and procedures to ensure we are maximizing our ability to meet goals and deepen the positive impact we can have on the sector. During the next few months, we will test new ideas and procedures, some of which will be visible to you and others behind the scenes. This is all better to serve our community of museum professionals and organizations. Your feedback will be crucial as we navigate these changes, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts as we try new things. To make time and space to elevate the incredible work of MANY, we will suspend our newsletter for July and August. We will critically assess the newsletter and all our communications to provide more information during this time. Do not fear; you will continue to receive important notices and information from us regularly. We will do this through email, our website https://www.nysmuseums.org/, and our Instagram account, @nysmuseums Have a great and relaxing summer, | | | Sheila McDaniel, Interim Executive Director | | | MANY Board Spotlight: Andrea Harden | | |
Andrea (far right) with MANY Interim Executive Director Sheila McDaniel (left) and MANY Board President Georgette Grier-Key (center) at the 2024 annual conference "Giving Voice to Value" in Albany
| Andrea Harden has over twenty years of senior-level management and consulting experience in training and development, employee relations, harassment prevention, diversity and inclusion, change management, and effective communication. She is a key partner in supporting museum leadership, focusing on employee engagement, relationship management, and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA). Harden is responsible for developing and administrating various plans and procedures that guide and support museum staff, including recruitment, retention, performance management, development, and compliance. Harden collaborates with the museum’s director and other staff to understand, refine, and implement the museum’s strategic plan. She works with the Buffalo AKG’s Leadership Team and Management Team to ensure alignment of departmental and individual goals and objectives with the broader institutional plan, which includes coordinating IDEA processes, programs, and initiatives in collaboration with other Leadership Team members, ensuring the integration and measurability of IDEA in all aspects of museum operations alongside institutional goals, and making changes and updates as needed to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal employment laws and regulations and best practices for museums. Harden joined the MANY Board of Directors this past January. We spoke to her to learn more about her journey into the museum field, what motivates her, and more. | | | | | Interesting in Serving on our Board of Directors? The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is pleased to announce an open call for positions on its Board of Directors for the Board Class of 2025-2027 and invites applications for those interested in serving. Candidates should be museum professionals who work in New York museums, museum service industries, or for related academic programs; leaders in their museum discipline and in their commitment to advancing the field; and can demonstrate a relationship with the Museum Association of New York. Applications open Monday, July 1. | | | | | | | MANY is committed to salary transparency. 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 | | | Starting Monday, July 8 the MANY Job Board is getting a refresh! We're excited to announce that MANY's new job board will include new features for employers and job seekers, including more search options by job type (curatorial, education, visitor services, etc.), keyword, or location. All job posts require a salary range and unpaid internships will not be posted. | | | | | | | Led by museum professionals from across New York State and beyond, join us online in this webinar series. Webinars are free; advance registration required. Virtual programs are made possible thanks to support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. | Friday, July 12 12 - 1:30 PM EST The Sing Sing Prison Museum: Unlocking Conscience To start a museum in the post-pandemic, post-George Floyd, post-museum “awakening” is a remarkable challenge in innovation, one embraced by the Sing Sing Prison Museum. The SSPM is charged with telling the stories of crime, punishment, and rehabilitation at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. To elevate the conversation about the 200-year history of this still operating facility, as well as address a web of social, cultural, and economic factors as they impact individuals, all while telling dark and hard histories, we went searching for best practice. We also landed on the central theme of designing to promote empathy and raise consciousness about injustice and justice. | | | | | | | Friday, July 26 12 - 1:30 PM EST Uncovering and Celebrating Stories Yet Untold: Digging Into LGBTQIA+ Stories Hiding in Plain Sight in Collections, Historic Sites, and Galleries LGBTQIA+ lives are frequently underrepresented in our museum collections and interpretation, as well as in registries of historic sites. Once we have determined to preserve and share more queer stories, where do we start? This webinar will explore diverse examples of stories that have been uncovered, and how we are documenting them and sharing with visitors. | | | | | | | | Friday, August 23 12 - 1:30 PM EST Old Collection, New Pride: Fresh Takes to Diversify Programming Gain fresh inspiration to invigorate family-friendly, inclusive programming from two niche museums that found novel and creative ways to connect the unique stories in their collections and archives to community events that are especially LGBTQ-welcoming. Find out how The Whaling Museum uses historic content in its archives to connect to family programming with drag performers. Explore how the Corning Museum of Glass is deepening its inclusivity for and with broader audiences through its work with community circles. Staff will share their triumphs, challenges, strategies for addressing pushback, and lessons learned from the process of expanding their public programming. Leave with practical inspiration to use your collection as a gateway to celebrate gender diversity. | | | | | | | | Friday, September 6 12 - 1:30 PM EST Voicing Our Own Value: The New Museum Labor Movement In recent years, museums across the country have seen a new wave of unionization efforts As museum staff have begun to recognize the importance of organizing, these efforts often involve contradictions between new expectations and the “way things have always been done” at our institutions. Can unions provide new energy for cultural organizations rather than pose a threat? Can living wages and protections against toxic workplaces coexist within a vibrant and sustainable museum economic model? | | | | | | | | | “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" Next Stop –National Women's Hall of Fame
| | | The National Women's Hall of Fame located in the Historic Seneca Knitting Mill in Seneca Falls, NY will host the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition from July 12 to August 23. | The exhibition and start of the “A New Agora for New York” program series will be unveiled with a July 12 ribbon cutting and ceremony to open the Hall’s second-floor exhibition space, open to the public for the first time. The most recent phase of restoration and renovation work at the Seneca Knitting Mill included the addition of an elevator and an internal stairwell to provide access to the upper floors. As additional funding is secured, the Hall will embark on work to complete the third and fourth floors of the Mill. “The opening of this exhibition is the perfect way to celebrate the Hall’s new exhibition space with exhibits that speak to the heart of the Hall’s work to tell stories that are too often overlooked or left out of American history,” said Museum & Community Relations Manager, Nellie Ludemann. “The Seneca Falls Convention was the first formal gathering held to discuss the social and civil rights of American women, and it’s considered the beginning of the women’s rights movement. We are thrilled to uphold this legacy by bringing the Agora project to Seneca Falls. Through our humanities discussion series, we hope to provide a space where community members can reflect on the remarkable achievements of American women and their profound contributions to American democracy.” said Agora Project Fellow Ren Lee. | | | | | | | “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It’s based on an exhibition by the National Museum of American History. MoMS is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and State Humanities Councils nationwide. Voices and Votes has been made possible in New York State by the Museum Association of New York. Support for MoMS in New York State has been provided by the United States Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. To learn more visit museumonmainstreet.org, sites.si.edu, or nysmuseums.org. | | | | | | | New York State Council on the Arts
FY 2025 Grant Guidelines Now Available The four opportunities this year include: Support for Organizations, Support for Artists, Support for Targeted Opportunities, and Support for Regrants and Services. Please note that the Capital Opportunity will launch in fall 2024. All materials needed to begin the application process are now available on our website. NYSCA’s FY2025 application portal will open on Wednesday, June 5, 2024 and close on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, at 4PM. The NYSCA staff is always available to answer any questions. https://arts.ny.gov/contact. Learn more | | | Market New York, Round 13 –Tourism Grant Program Funding Available: up to $15 million Market New York is a grant program established to strengthen tourism and attract visitors to New York State by promoting destinations, attractions and special events. Funding is available for tourism marketing initiatives, capital/construction projects and the recruitment and/or execution of special events, including meetings, conferences, conventions, festivals, agritourism/craft beverage events, athletic competitions and consumer and industry trade shows. The Market New York program and each funded proposal will work to support the longterm strategic plans for economic growth as put forth by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs). For the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year, up to $15 million is to be available through Market New York. Funding is available for eligible projects that will create an economic impact by increasing tourism throughout the state. Grant funding will be allocated among the ten (10) REDC regions, based on each REDC’s five-year strategic plan that sets out a comprehensive vision for economic development and specific strategies to implement that vision. REDC strategic plan information can be found at: http://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/. There are two categories of funding available under Market New York, each with varying requirements. Up to $15 million is available for the following project categories: 1) Regional Tourism Marketing (Working Capital) – up to $7 million (Only minimum grant requests of $50,000 or more will be considered, not including grantee match); and 2) Tourism Capital (Construction/Renovation/Capital Costs) - up to $8 million (Only minimum grant requests of $150,000 or more will be considered, not including grantee match). Learn more Round 14 of the CFA closes on July 31, 2024 at 4 PM EST | | | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior History of Equal Rights, FY 2024 Grant Opportunity
The National Park Service (NPS) is proud to announce the History of Equal Rights Grant Program (HER) which preserves sites related to the struggle of all Americans to achieve the ideal of equal rights. HER Grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), administered by the NPS, and fund a broad range of physical preservation work and pre-preservation planning activities for historic sites that are listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. Congress has appropriated $5 million for the HER Grant Program for fiscal year 2024. Eligible costs include: architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and physical preservation to structures. Grants will be awarded through a competitive process and do not require non-Federal funding match.
Learn more Applications will be due August 20, 2024. | | | | | Serve as a NYSCA Panelist! Each year, more than 150 artists, nonprofit leaders, and arts and culture administrators from all over New York State serve as NYSCA panelists, making our grantmaking possible. With their individual experiences and perspectives, they are responsible for reviewing each grant application and are essential to the evaluation process.
Are you ready to serve? If selected, you can serve for up to three years, meeting virtually in late summer/early fall to review applications. Your service is essential for a fair and unbiased evaluation process to support the arts.
Click here to nominate yourself or a peer before July 22, 2024 to be considered.
| | | Nominations Now Open for 2025 IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Services Nominations are now open for the highest honor awarded to museums and libraries—the Institute of Museum and Library Service’s (IMLS) National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Since 1994, the award has been given to 222 institutions that exemplified extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service. The National Medal recognizes outstanding libraries and museums of any type and size. To be honored, the institution must deeply impact its community by: - fostering a lifelong passion for learning for all people, nourishing curiosity and imagination from early childhood through adulthood, for people of all abilities and needs;
- providing access to information through advancing digital capacity, focusing on digital inclusion and access to digital and informational resources, including e-books and materials to help address workforce development and public health;
- enriching the lives of community members by being trusted community spaces for convening, connection, and conversation; enlightenment and shared thoughts and opinions; and preserving natural and cultural heritage and community memory; and
- catalyzing community connections, collaborations and/or coalitions to advance community goals.
Anyone, including the organization’s employees, board members, community members, and elected officials, may nominate a museum or library for this honor. An organization that is nominated either by an outside nominator or by self-nomination must complete the Nomination Form to be considered. Components of the nomination form include organizational information, an overview and narrative, and letters of support. Nominations are open until September 6.
Learn more | | | The Institute of Museum and Library Services seeks volunteers to participate in their National Museum Survey.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) seeks volunteers to participate in interviews about the upcoming first-ever nationally representative survey of museums, the National Museum Survey. What you need to know: IMLS’ contractors ICF and Ebony need 24 museum leaders and administrators to help ensure that the NMS’ questions are easily understood and answerable. IMLS needs a wide range of perspectives — interviewees from museums of all types and sizes are welcome! Researchers will work to schedule one-hour virtual interviews at times that are convenient to you in July and August. Your interview will be confidential. The information you share will not be shared with IMLS grant makers and will not affect any current or future relationship with IMLS.
Learn more | | | Museum Social Impact in Practice Toolkit and Data Report Now Available We are pleased to announce that the toolkit and data report for MOMSI were published in the summer of 2023, and that in the fall of that year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Utah Arts & Museums a Museum Leadership Grant to continue the work of studying museum social impact in practice. That grant, and the ongoing efforts of Museum Social Impact in Practice (MSIIP), have found a new home at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). With the support of Utah Arts & Museums, AAM is excited to announce that applications are open for the new Museum Social Impact Community of Practice! Learn more Applications close July 15, 2024. | | | Documentary Heritage & Preservation Services for New York
Planning & Assessment Services Planning & Assessment Services pair accepted organizations with DHPSNY staff to discuss current practices and set recommendations and goals specific to your capacity and needs. Final reports can be utilized to obtain funding, increase the accessibility and use of your collections, and more. Visit dhpsny.org to learn more about each of our services and determine which is right for your organization's needs. Learn more Next submission deadline is July 12. | | | | | | | 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. Share your news by emailing meves@nysmuseums.org | | | | | |
