An introduction to the U. S. Army Women’s Museum in Virginia. It’s celebratory and vague (you can easily swap the word “women” with “African Americans,” “Virginians,” or even “Latvians,” and not change the patriotic message very much) but who knew such a place existed.
Author Archives: Max van Balgooy
Highlights from the Virginia Association of Museums conference
Last week the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) held its annual conference at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, and I was fortunate to be asked to speak at their historic house forum. It was my first time at their conference and I was so impressed by the quality of the sessions and the camaraderie of the participants. I wasn’t able to stop by every session, but I wanted to provide some highlights from a few I did attend.
The Nexus of Art and Science. Rebecca Kamen, professor of art at Northern Virginia Community College, talked about the ability of art to interpret historic scientific and medical collections found in museums and libraries. Rachel Carson’s The Sense of Wonder (1965) prompted her to work with such diverse institutions as the American Philosophical Society, Chemistry Museum, and the National Institutes of Health. A recent work, “Divining Nature: An Elemental Garden,” explores the orbital rotations of elements in the periodic table through sculptures. I’ve seen lots of examples of science being explained in new ways, but I’ve only encountered a few glimpses of it being done with history–anyone have any suggestions?
Using Social Media to Conduct Historical Research. Lynn Rainville, a professor at Sweet Briar College, discussed how she used Facebook, Tumblr, and other social media to study Continue reading
Video: Denver History Minute
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This Denver History Minute produced by Denver 8 TV and Havey Production follows the political history of women in Colorado during the 20th century. It covers a lot of information in a short period (actually 1:30).
Video: Interpreting a woman suffrage photo
The Local History Specialist of the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado interprets a 1915 photo of women seated in an open car advocating for the woman’s right to vote. The content is a bit overwhelming for me (its needs some themes and fewer discrete facts) but it provides an example of interpreting collections through video. It’s part of the “Framing Community, Exposing Identity” series to interpret “iconic images capturing life at the foot of Pikes Peak.”
NEA Survey Reveals Patterns in Historic Site Visitation
On Monday, March 11, I’ll be a plenary speaker at the Virginia Association of Museums conference to discuss the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing historic house museums. It will be followed by a forum with historic site managers, tourism experts, preservationists, and community leaders on the needs and opportunities for historic sites in Virginia, such as a statewide association for historic house museums. It’s great timing for this topic: Governor McDonnell declared 2013 as the Year of the Virginia Historic Home in recognition of the bicentennial of the Executive Mansion and Virginia’s more than 100 historic homes, most of which are open to the public as museums and historic sites.
Whenever I’m asked to give a presentation or write an article, it’s an opportunity to do some research and reading to gains some new or deeper perspectives on the issue. For the VAM presentation, I’ve been looking closely at the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts. For decades, NEA has interviewed thousands of people across the United States to learn about their involvement in music, art, theater, festivals, reading, and dance. NEA conducted the last survey in 2008 and published a series of analytical reports in 2009-2011.
Looking back over 30 years, the survey confirms that attendance closely correlates with Continue reading
Video: Sufferin’ ’til Suffrage
Friday’s video break goes nostalgic with a 1976 Schoolhouse Rock musical segment on woman suffrage with lyrics performed by Essra Mohawk, who performed with the Mothers of Invention and the Jerry Garcia Band. Rock on!
It’s women’s history month, but boy, good videos on the topic are rare. Is opportunity knocking?
Video: Connecting the Threads
This 38:00 freshly produced documentary follows the transformation of an historic clothing factory in Lebanon, NH into an art center. Directed by Ken Turino of Historic New England and produced in collaboration with AVA Gallery and Community Access Television of Upper Valley, it features interviews, oral histories, and historic images.
Small Museums Association Conference Impressions
Last week I was a plenary speaker at the Small Museums Association conference, where I talked about ways to rethink mission, vision, and strategy to have greater impact with the 200 people in attendance. Although the conference has been held annually in Ocean City, Maryland for nearly 30 years, it was my first experience and I was incredibly impressed.
Created in 1984 by Lesley van der Lee, executive director of the Montgomery County Historical Society, the conference provides a series of workshops and educational sessions over three days all targeted towards small museums, so the content emphasizes practical approaches for organizations with limited resources. Secondly, the conference is developed, organized, promoted, and managed entirely by volunteers. SMA doesn’t have a staff and it doesn’t seem to have membership in the usual sense–it’s primarily the annual conference. To serve on the board, you have to rise up through the ranks by first working on one of the conference committees (try that with your board!). Finally, meals and receptions are included in the registration fee and lodging is just $68 a night (February is the low season for hotels at the beach).
If you’re based in the Mid-Atlantic region, consider attending the conference next February. Because of the nature of small museums today and the low costs, the conference attracts a wide range of ages and the program committee develops a nice mix of sessions, exhibitors, and speakers (Linda Norris was the other plenary speaker) so you receive good value. For museum studies students, it’s a welcoming introduction to the issues, people, and organizations that represent the majority of museums in the United States.
On an aside, I heard from Heritage Preservation that Conservation Assessment Program grants won’t be announced until the federal budget is passed.
Video: The City Concealed
This video by Thirteen introduces Weeksville, an African American community founded in the 19th century in Brooklyn. Today, it is an historic site that interprets the history, re-discovery, and preservation of this special neighborhood as a “multidimensional museum”.
Rethinking the Mission Statement
This week I’m attending the Small Museums Association‘s 29th annual conference in Ocean City, Maryland, where I’ll be giving a plenary address this morning on, “Mild-Mannered Superheroes Rarely Make a Difference.” As you might have guessed, it’s a mash-up of a quotation by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and the conference theme on superheros. I hope to encourage attendees to rethink their mission, vision, and strategy to become more relevant and engaging in their communities. Unfortunately, most museum mission statements are mild-mannered, with the usual phrase of “collect, preserve, and interpret” stuck behind the name of the organization.
Funding agencies, museum accreditation, and strategic plans require a mission statement, so many organizations create a least offensive version that can be approved by the board. The result is that mission statements are often so vague that they’re ignored, have little to no influence on day-to-day activities, and are viewed as empty public relations gestures that provokes cynicism. No doubt they’ve found that having a mission statement doesn’t have much impact, but a recent study shows that the right kind of mission statement can significantly improve financial success and organizational performance.
In “Looking at the Value of Mission Statements: A Meta-Analysis of Continue reading
