A short update...

I promise that I'm still here! While I know it's been a while since I've been able to update the blog, I'm still here! I have been working on my masters thesis, which has been time consuming, so I apologize for not updating more often. I hope to get at least one update a week posted for the next few months. Also, if you're interested in contributing to the blog, please let me know! We can put together a user profile so you can post to the site as well. If you don't want to post an article but have something you'd like to say, please feel free to use the "Comments" link to share your thoughts about a particular topic or to share a topic that you want to learn more about. I can always research new topics and try to connect you with someone who might be able to share their knowledge and expertise about what you're interested in learning more about.

As many of you know, this is a challenging time for museums and non-profits. The economy and fundraising concerns have been a top priority in the museum community. Museum boards and managers are having to make very tough decisions regarding budget cuts to face the uncertainty that lays ahead. There is a wealth of information about what AAM is doing in Washington DC to help museums maintain funding. If you're interested in learning more about this, click here to access AAM's website for more information. While these are certainly important issues that need to be discussed, and I will continue to post information on how museums can weather the storm, there are also many other museum issues to discuss as we continue moving forward in the museum community.

One issue that I've currently been looking at is the issue of museums 'going green.' With the Obama Administration, there has been more of a focus on the dangers of climate change and global warming. Creating an awareness of our carbon footprint is something that museums are beginning to take a look at within their mission statements, architecture, and practices. If you'd like to learn more about this topic, there's a great blog called "Sustainable Seattle" (click here to check it out). This blog addresses a wide variety of sustainability concerns in Seattle, but also talks about the role of area museums and what some organizations are doing to address this issue.

Another museum issue that is especially relevant in the Pacific Northwest is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ("NAGPRA"). Because the Pacific Northwest has such a rich Native American heritage, NAGPRA plays a large role in how many of the museums in the area are dealing with their collections. To learn more about this topic, be sure to visit the National NAGPRA website by clicking here to see the "Museums" homepage. There is a great wealth of information as far as how NAGPRA may affect your collection and even some fundraising opportunities to make sure that your museum is able to comply.

In closing, I'm hoping to get more information on this site about these issues and other museum topics. Also, I would like to plan a get together this summer by having a speaker come to discuss a topic that would be of interest to those in the area. If you have any ideas on a possible topic or speaker, please let me know by clicking on the "Comments" section.

Emotional Exhibition Opens at Wing Luke Museum

The Wing Luke Museum has a new exhibition featuring Korean Americans who are making peace with "The Forgotten War". The exhibition is up through May 17th, 2009. Marian Liu of the Seattle Times wrote the following:

"Many Korean Americans don't talk about the Korean War — especially Korean immigrants, who fear that talking about the past will conjure up old pain.

But their silence creates a hole for others.

The newest exhibit about the war at the Wing Luke Museum attempts to fill that hole in. It opens with a quote: "... my life seemed a lot like lots of other kids around me. But there always seemed to be this tension and anxiety, which was sort of blowing through my family like an unhappy wind. And there were silences ... "

The words are projected through two layers of sheer gauze, onto an opaque third sheet, as if to bring ghosts to life.

"It's not spoken of between generations," said Yul-san Liem, 31, a third-generation Korean American. "And it's not something you learn about in school."

Together with her father, Ramsay Liem, Yul-san ran a team of artists, creating a multimedia representation of war experiences with themes such as war memories, legacies and reconciliation. The Wing Luke Museum will have the exhibit up until May 17.

Ramsay Liem, a Boston College professor of psychology, first became aware of this disconnect while working with Korean-American youth who were trying to help Koreans during the 1995 North Korea famine. Talking with them, he realized how little they knew about the Korean War.

The war started in June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea with more than 90,000 troops. The United States — in a war against Communism — joined South Korea, while China and the Soviet Union supported the North. When the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, both sides claimed victory. By the end, 3 million civilians had lost their lives — 10 percent of the population, not including combat losses on both sides. In addition, 10 million Koreans were separated as a result of the dividing line between the North and the South at the 38th parallel.

Ramsay rounded up more than three dozen interviewees to speak about the war. Thirteen of these oral histories are illustrated through audio, visual or interactive art.

"This is really the culmination of my career as a psychologist," said Ramsay, 65. "It enables me to engage in a rather unique way of promoting a process of feelings, and it allows me to get involved in a really critical part of my own history as a Korean American."

Many pieces are haunting; others, quite hopeful. One piece is about going to swim practice only to have bullets ricochet into the lake, announcing the outbreak of war. In another, the speaker explains the history of the popular dish "Boodaechigae," a spicy stew made up of a mishmash of foods, including spam, sausage, cheese, kimchee and soup. During the war, the spoiled remains and leftovers collected from the meals of U.S. soldiers were sold to starving Korean civilians. Accompanying the video demonstrating how to make the dish is a rice-paper illustration of three starving children.

For many, said Ramsay, the interview process was both painful and cathartic.

"These were stories they never talked about, but in some cases, it was as if the stories were pouring out," said Ramsay. "They felt a great deal of relief, to be finally speaking about what happened to them and the continued effect of war on their lives."

The Liems — who come from a line of activists working toward the reunification of Korea — hope the exhibit will fill the void left from years of silence. They've incorporated aspects into the exhibit that look toward the future. In one, a puzzle, museum-goers can pick out a puzzle piece and fill it with their own thoughts on the war.

Another installation is a bridge, called "The Bridge of Return." It alludes to an actual bridge — "The Bridge of No Return" — crossing North Korea to South Korea. The Liems' bridge, however, is covered with white fabric tied in knots. In Korean shamanism, untying knots signifies healing. At the museum, people can cross the bridge, untie a knot, write a hardship on it, and then drop the message down the middle of the bridge before reaching the other side.

"Some students write about failing math, but some Palestinians who visited wrote about a wish for peace in Palestine," said Yul-san Liem. "There is the possibility of recovering from multiple divisions. ... It's the power of the collective. When you cross over the bridge, you cross over from pain."

New Photography Exhibit at Henry Art Gallery

If photography is your thing, be sure to check out the Henry Art Gallery's new photography exhibit "Outta My Light". Here's what Michael Upchurch of the Seattle Times had to say about the exhibit:

"Photography, in the digital age, has become a surprisingly simple business for amateurs: point, click, upload on computer ... and send to distant friends or relatives.

But the dozen works in "Outta My Light!" — now on display at the Henry Art Gallery — emphasize that photography can be a lot more complicated than that, depending on the photographer's tools and intentions.

As guest curator Bridget Nowlin points out in her introduction to the exhibit, "Only two components tie all images together in this unique art form: light and time. One does not need a camera, paper, chemicals, or a lens to create a photographic image, but without light, there can be no photography (literally 'light-writing'). ... The same is true for time, for without the time involved in an exposure, there would be no final image."

The show is drawn mostly from the Henry's Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection; the Monsens are longtime Seattle photography enthusiasts who have donated much of their prize collection to the museum. It spans the entire range of the medium's history, from the 1840s to the present.

I had a chance to walk with Rowlin through the exhibit as she pointed out what sparked her interest about the selections she made. The idea, she says, wasn't to do a historical overview, but to examine how photography is "more than one medium." If you're curious about the methods behind photogravure, albumen printing vs. carbon printing, or the hazards of using wet collodion negatives, this exhibit is for you.

Here are a few we looked at:

"Trichomanes Radians (Common Maidenhair Fern)" by Anna Atkins (1843). The steps behind this "photogram" are simplicity itself. Place a plant specimen on paper. Cover it in glass to keep it flat. Then expose it to sunlight. But for how long? "It just depends on the sensitivity of the paper," Nowlin says. "And also it depends on the amount of light. Here in Seattle we have a lot of clouds, so sometimes the exposure can be a couple of minutes long. But if you have a sunny day, it can be a couple of seconds long. Atkins was working in England ... so I imagine it was a little bit longer. These were scientific studies she was doing." The potassium ferricyanide with which the paper was treated gives this pale plant silhouette its blue background color.

"Forêt de Fontainebleau" by William Drooke Harrison (circa 1865). Nowlin chose two prints from the same negative to illustrate a point about albumen prints vs. carbon prints. The image is of a male figure peering into in a sylvan scene — but the albumen print has a yellowing glow to it, while the carbon print is all sharp, shadowy blacks. "This is really a perfect example of the different qualities one can get," Nowlin says. "The artists can choose how they want to express the final print." The carbon print is much more stable. The albumen print would continue to yellow, she says, "if not properly cared for."

"Gathering" by Robert ParkeHarrison and Shana ParkeHarrison (1994). This mixed-media work ("Painting is certainly one component," Nowlin points out) has a lot going on in it. But its starting point was a photograph of Robert ParkeHarrison, in suit and tie, seemingly holding up a wild assemblage of junk — chairs, a handsaw, a rake, a lamp. The husband-and-wife team then worked through "a lot of different processes," Nowlin says, to get from the initial negative to the large-scale end result. The print, mounted on wood paneling, has "a lot of texture to it, and that's from the beeswax that's then put on as the final layer of the work."

Also featured: iconic work by Margaret Bourke-White, Imogen Cunningham and Seattle up-and-comer Isaac Layman."

Viewing Information:
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays and Fridays-Sundays
11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle
$6-$10, free Thursdays (206-543-2280 or www.henryart.org).

Art Heist on Mercer Island

Mercer Island Police are seeking help in the Oct. 25 theft of seven pieces of art, valued at about $70,000, from a home in the 4600 block of East Mercer Way.

The artwork consists of five paintings, a photograph and a piece of glasswork that were on consignment from a local art dealer, said the police department.

Photos of the stolen artwork can be seen at http://www.ci.mercer-island.wa.us/ and clicking on the art theft news item.

Police said the theft took place on a Saturday afternoon between 2 and 3:45 p.m. while the owner was away for a short time.

Police said the Mercer Island home was newly constructed and "had previously been shown to over 120 people to highlight the architecture and art." No suspects have been identified. The police said that physical evidence was recovered at the scene and has been forwarded to Washington State Patrol Crime lab and the King County Sheriff's Office Latent Fingerprint Lab.

Anyone with information regarding the theft is asked to contact Det. Todd Roggenkamp, Mercer Island Police Department, 206-275-7926.

Feel Like Your Museum has Done Something Really Creative?

AAM's Brooking Paper on Creativity in Museums recognizes innovative accomplishments that produce new ways of thinking and seeing within the museum field. Papers can describe examples of creativity in any aspect of museum operations, from collections, programs and exhibitions to finance, marketing and administration—or anything in between. If you can imagine your peers saying, "What a great idea—I've never heard of anybody doing that!" it's a sign you're headed in the right direction.

The first-prize paper will be published in Museum magazine, and its author will receive $1,000 plus $500 toward travel expenses to the 2009 AAM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 30–May 4. Two honorable mentions will also be awarded. We will publish all three winning papers on the AAM website in May.

Museum professionals and volunteers worldwide may enter. Papers should be approximately 2,500 words; previously published pieces will not be accepted. Deadline is Feb. 2. E-mail submissions and questions to brooking@aam-us.org.

A few suggestions and guidelines:

• Visit AAM's website and check out winning papers from previous years for a better sense of basic aspects of the competition.

• Be sure to convey the impact of the project.

• Format: Submit a Word document—double-spaced, Times New Roman 11-point font, with page numbers—that includes your name, title, institution and contact information at the end.

Funding is provided through the generosity of Dolores Brooking, retired professor of arts administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and former director of education at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas.

EMP Opportunities at the AAM Annual Meeting

Mark your calendars for Emerging Museum Professionals (EMPs) Day Friday, May 1, during AAM’s annual meeting. Attend special sessions designed for EMPs and the specific questions that arise early in a museum career. One such session, Trials, Tribulations and Experimentation in My Career, helps EMPs learn how past failures and successes shaped the career paths of other professionals. Also, discover four key skill factors to successful integration of EMPs into the museum field with Emerging Museum Professional 101: Entering a Brave New World and Making it Your Own.

Look for the EMP logo next to session descriptions indicating important programs for EMPs. Visit AAM’s annual meeting website for more information and to register. Check the EMP website in January for fellowship application details.

Upcoming Grant Deadlines

I hope that all of you had a great holiday season! It has been a long time since I've been able to post, and I've been holding on to some articles and other great information, so I hope it isn't too overwhelming!

First of all, here are some upcoming grant deadlines:

January 15th - IMLS - Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
February 1 - IMLS - National Leadership Grants
February 1 - National Academies - Research Associateship
February 3 - NEH - We the People Challenge Grants
February 15th - IMLS - National Medal for Museum and Library Service

NPR Series on Museums

Click here for information about a series NPR is doing on museums in the 21st century, including the challenges and opportunities that museums are facing. Should be interesting!

Call for Nominations: AAM EdCom Executive Board 2009

Call for Nominations: EdCom Executive Board 2009

The Standing Professional Committee on Education (EdCom) is looking for nominations to its Executive Board for the 2009-2011 term. This year, seven board positions – four officers and three member-at-large—will expire with the completion of the 2009 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. The requirements for being an Executive Board member and a complete description of each officer's duties are described at www.edcom.org, under "About EdCom, Policy and Procedures." Elected officers begin their term in May 2009 following the AAM Annual Meeting.

The following positions are subject to election:

- Vice Chair, Programs, (incumbent-held seat)
- Vice Chair, Membership, (incumbent-held seat)
- Vice Chair, Communications, (vacant)
- Treasurer, (incumbent-held seat)
- Member-at-large (incumbent-held seat)
- Member-at-large (vacant)
- Member-at-large (vacant)

EdCom welcomes and encourages your involvement with the volunteer leadership of the nation's museum education community. We encourage self-nominations. Nominees may run to compete for vacancy or against incumbent. Please complete the following information and e-mail, fax or mail the form by *January 2nd *to:

Nathan Richie
Chair, EdCom Nomination Committee
American Association of Museums
Director of Exhibits and Programs
McCormick Freedom Museum
435 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 754
Chicago, IL 60611

312-222-3211
FAX: 312-222-3209
nrichie@freedommuseum.us



____ I am nominating myself

____ I am nomination someone else. The person who is submitting another
person's name should fill out the following:

Board Position: _______________________________________

Name/Title: _________________________________________


Institution: ___________________________________________


Name of Nominee: _____________________________________


Title/Position: _________________________________________


Institution: __________________________________________


Address: __________________________________________

______________________________________________________


Work Telephone: _________________ Fax: _______________


Home Telephone: ________________


e-mail address: _________________________


Please attach the resume for the person being nominated and a one-page response to the following question:

1) What experience, skills, and concerns would you bring to the National EdCom Board should you become an elected officer?

Wallace Foundation Awards $7.7M to Local Arts Groups

This article was found on the Seattle Times website (click here to go to the direct link), but I'm posting the article here as well.

Wallace Foundation Awards $7.7M to Local Arts Groups
By: Misha Berson

"A hefty new grant from the Wallace Foundation will expose many Seattle public schoolchildren to the wonders of Bach and Mozart, courtesy of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. Another grant will let fans of international dance and theater watch innovative performers from around the world, through the Web site of Seattle's On the Boards.

The Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and On the Boards are two of nine local cultural groups getting a major boost in their audience-development and outreach efforts, thanks to a $7.7 million grant program announced today by the Wallace Foundation, a New York-based arts and culture philanthropy. The local groups' grant amounts range from $500,000 to $750,000.

The effort is part of the nationwide Wallace Excellence Awards, which uses a "city-based" approach to broaden the audiences and visibility of visual- and performing-arts groups. Past city recipients include Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, with arts institutions in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., also receiving Wallace funds this year.

Many of the Seattle grantees will use the audience-development money, allotted over a four-year period, to devise interactive technology and media schemes targeted at children and young adults.

In addition, the Washington State Arts Commission will be awarded $1.6 million by Wallace to "coordinate a skill-development series of workshops and forums for leaders of arts organizations," said Kris Tucker, the commission's executive director. The state agency will redistribute some of its grant to smaller Puget Sound-area arts organizations.

On the Boards artistic director Lane Czaplinski said his organization's grant of $750,000 will support OtBTV, a pilot program offering full-length, high-definition experimental performances online, with the aim of increasing OTB's live audience.

"This is an opportunity to learn and explore the viability and ramifications of watching performance online," said Czaplinski. "We think it's going to be a powerful tool to communicate with young people who are used to processing their world this way."

At the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, a $500,000 grant will go toward fostering a more traditional, one-on-one approach to bringing music to culturally underserved Seattle children, said Dan Petersen, the orchestra's executive director.

"We're expanding our partnership with the Seattle Public Schools," Petersen said. The goal is to work with 6,000 to 10,000 new students, through performances and participatory programs, over the next four years.

"In elementary schools," he continued, "we can reach out to African-American and Latino populations, who are underrepresented in the orchestra world."

Other Seattle recipients of the Wallace Excellence Award grants:

• Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame: $585,000 to expand youth-driven programming.

• One Reel: $560,000 to bring young adults into contact with theater, music and circus arts.

• Pacific Northwest Ballet: $750,000 for Web-site redesign and expansion.

• Seattle Art Museum: $750,000 for social networking and "gateway" activities, among other things.

• SIFF (formerly Cinema Seattle): $750,000 for an interactive community-outreach project.

• Seattle Opera: $750,000 to use new technology to make opera more accessible for young patrons.

• Seattle Repertory Theatre: $750,000 for new three-play packages aimed at under-40 professionals and schoolteachers."

Riding Out the Storm: A Message from the AAM President

The economic forecasts for 2009 do not give much optimism for the year ahead. It looks like we will face ongoing turbulence in the financial markets, budget shortfalls for state and local governments and many more Americans struggling to make ends meet. On the museum side, navigating this uncertainty is equally as difficult. But you do not have to weather this storm alone.

To help you through these hard times, AAM has resources to help:

• On the Web: “Finding Calm in Crisis: A Museum Survival Guide.” AAM has assembled resources to help with financial projections and provide guidance on retrenchment, downsizing and coping with the tough economic times ahead. We will be updating it regularly with new information to help you keep up with the changing landscape.
• AAM Webinar: “Museums Rising to the Financial Challenge.” On March 18 and 19 this four-part webinar series will explore issues crucial to museums in these challenging times: retrenchment, fundraising, managing human resources and communications strategies.
  
• 2009 Annual Meeting: As the museum community gathers in Philadelphia, we will offer multiple sessions that tackle issues related to the current financial crisis.

There is also opportunity in the coming year. In 2009, a new Congress and a new Administration will begin working on a wide range of issues, including funding for museum programs and the reauthorization of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. There could not be a more critical time for us to make our case on Capitol Hill. With so much at stake, we need to effectively communicate the value of museums to our elected officials. I ask you to join me for Museums Advocacy Day from Feb. 23-24 when we will make our voices heard.

It is the passionate commitment of professionals like you that will see our nation’s museums through this current economic crisis. We know that we don’t have all the answers. Expect us to tap your creativity over the coming months as we face this challenge together.

Sincerely,
Ford W. Bell, DVM
AAM President

20th Annual Muse Awards Competition

Information from AAM regarding the "20th Annual Muse Awards Competition". AAM Media and Technology Committee give this award to recognize outstanding achievement in museum media. The information is as follows:

"The 2008 Muse Awards competition received nearly 200 applications from a wide variety of museums in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Entries included audio, cell phone and interactive handheld tours, interactive kiosks and multimedia installations, podcasts, blogs, games, websites, online collection and image databases, videos and e-mail marketing campaigns. This year we are expecting another exciting round of projects that reflect innovation in the museum media community.

We will accept online applications from museums and producers on the AAM Media and Technology website from Dec. 1, 2008, to Jan. 31, 2009. The cost is $25 per entry.

Visit www.mediaandtechnology.org to enter your project. If you have any questions, please contact us via muse@mediaandtechnology.org."

Thanks for Making our First Event a Success!

I would like to thank everyone that came out on Thursday for our first Seattle EMP event! We had a great turnout of about 15-20 people who braved a very cold and rainy night to join the group. I had a great time meeting all of you and learning more about you!

After getting your feedback on Thursday, it seems it would be best to have these events quarterly, which would put our next gathering sometime in February or March. I've created a topic thread on our Facebook group page as a place to put any comments or suggestions you might have for our next event. You can also leave your feedback here on the blog as a comment.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to make it! To those of you that were unable to make it this time, your presence was missed and we hope to see you at the next one!

First Seattle / Washington EMP Event - November 6th!

I'm very excited to welcome everyone to the first Washington Emerging Museum Professionals event! The details are as follows:

Date: November 6, 2008
Time: 5:00-8:00PM
Place: Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Revolution Bar & Grill (upstairs section)
325 5th Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

This event is a great opportunity to make connections and meet others in the museum field whom you may not know. I also invite you to bring along any guests you may feel would also enjoy the opportunity to meet fellow museum professionals. I hope you are able to join us, as it would be great to meet all of you in person!

The bar will be offering Happy Hour pricing on drinks. Also, this event coincides with an "All Access Night" at the museum, meaning admission to both the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame is free from 5:00 PM - 8:00PM, so you will be able to check out the museum, if you would like to do so during the evening. To find out what exhibitions are currently running at the museum, please visit www.empsfm.org.

Hope to see you there!

Presidential Candidate Positions on the Arts

Click here to be directed to the Americans for the Arts Action Fund website where you get can a quick summary on the positions of both presidential candidates on the Arts.

Here's a little information on the Americans for the Arts Action Fund: "Americans for the Arts Action Fund is the bipartisan advocacy arm of Americans for the Arts, engaging citizens in ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to appreciate, value, and participate in the arts. Arts Action Fund members are citizen activists who are committed to helping make certain that arts-friendly public policies are adopted at every level of government and in the private sector. ArtsVote2008, a program of the Arts Action Fund, was created to secure bold, new policy proposals in support of the arts and arts education in America from candidates in the 2008 presidential campaign."