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Number 105 NEWSLETTER September 2007 LHC partners with NYS Office of Cultural Education,
NYSCA, MANY and UHA in Federal Planning Grant Awarded by IMLS for Statewide Survey of Preservation Needs
Lower Hudson Conference presents a learning program of symposia and workshops engaging house museum and historical society staff, boards and consulting professionals in addressing issues, standards of practice, and fresh thinking on interpretation, handling and stewardship of historic house collections, buildings and their sites.
The Historic House Museum Practicum series is supported by a grant from the 21st Century Museum Professionals program of The Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), an independent federal agency. Each year LHC's Historic House Museum Practicum programs will focus on a critical aspect of this complex, interdisciplinary field: 2007: The Context, or public presentation and interpretation in light of mission, documentation, and 21st century audiences; click here for program information 2008: The Content, or collections, and their physical care and lighting in the historic house environment; click here for program information 2009: The Container, or historic building envelope, its surrounding landscape and site. click here for program information
Lower Hudson Conference serves member cultural organizations, their staffs, boards and communities in celebrated counties of the greater Hudson Valley and metropolitan region, from the Battery to Albany, offering technical assistance resources and professional development opportunities to advance the work of historians, historic house museums, heritage centers, archives and libraries in the designated Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. Cultural Heritage Keepers are multifaceted and multicultural. They are curators, public historians, archivists, architects, audience developers, educators, filmmakers, genealogy researchers, preservationists, archaeologists, interpreters, conservators, trustees and all manner of consultants! Our member organizations and individuals collect, preserve, study, interpret and create public access to the region's story at a diversity of sites in urban, suburban and rural settings that span the 17th – 21st centuries. Connect with colleagues through our Greater Hudson Heritage Network and participate in public and professional explorations of this uncommon region. Join in the pursuit of quality collections care, documentation, museum management and public interpretation, bringing history and culture to life in the minds of the regional community.
21st Century Historic House Museums Museum professionals in historic house museums encounter the same problems as their colleagues in other museums, but with a few additional twists. The collections run the gamut: fine paintings and iron ploughs, delicate textiles and redware platters, an exquisite bed fit for a king and a three-legged stool meant for a beggar. Historic environments require fresh thinking for accessible exhibition and storage of these objects in 21st century light and shade. The largest item in the collection, the house itself, is in constant use. Designed to preserve the private lives of families, large numbers of people now tromp through spaces meant for only a few. The integrity of the historic structure must be preserved, but at the same time modern heating, lighting, a/s, and fire suppression systems must be sensitively installed to protect the building and its contents while remaining invisible to the eye. The surrounding landscape needs to invite the public in, but it must be hardy enough to withstand untold numbers of feet. Site plantings should be authentic, revealing an aesthetic appropriate to an earlier era, but one that is easily maintained with minimal grounds staff. All the decisions made with regard to the collections, the historic structures, and the landscape must be firmly grounded in the story or stories that the historic house museum wishes to tell. That story must remain true to the history of the house and its occupants, but it must also respond to the questions and issues that confront their 21st century audience. Taken together, the story, the contents, the buildings and the landscape must inspire, intrigue, inform and influence their contemporary visitors. And, historic house museums must do all this with minimal staff, the majority of whom must be generalists, not specialists. LHC's 3-year Practicum aims to identify, demonstrate and integrate the diverse aspects of historic house museum work, engaging and training paid & volunteer museum professionals to evaluate the effectiveness of their stewardship and public presentation through an annual symposium followed by practical workshops. Each year opens a door on a critical area of concern: 2007- The Context or public presentation of the house museum; 2008- The Content or collections in the historic house environment, and 2009- The Container- the house itself and the surrounding site and landscape. GRANT-WISE REMINDERS, APPLICATIONS and OPPORTUNITIES to PURSUE CAP is designed to help small to mid-sized museums of all types, from art museums to zoos, obtain a general assessment of the condition of their collections, environment and historic buildings. Following an on-site assessment by a conservation professional, the museum receives a written report recommending priorities to improve collections care. This report assists museums in educating staff and board members on preservation practices, creating long-range and emergency plans, and raising funds to improve the care of their collections. The FY 2008 CAP applications will be mailed on Friday, October 5, 2007, to museums on the CAP mailing list and will be available on Heritage Preservation's website at www.heritagepreservation.org. The postmark deadline for applications is December 1, 2007. Heritage Preservation's CAP is supported through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). To be added to the CAP application mailing list, or for more information, please contact CAP staff at cap@heritagepreservation.org, or call 202-233-0800. Grants for Projects Preserving African-American Arts & Culture The Edler G. Hawkins Foundation, Inc . supports nonprofit arts organizations working to preserve African American arts & culture through youth education and community outreach projects. $1500 - $10,000 grants are available. Information can be found on the foundation website: www.eghf.org. The National Trust for Historic Preservation , northeast office announces a one-time grant for nonprofits and public agencies involved with saving places of importance to African-American history. $1000 - $5000 grants are available for planning, education and outreach projects through the Trust's African-American Preservation Fund. www.nthp.org. Sponsorships Offered to Bolster French & Indian War Promotion Across New York State A total of $35,000 in sponsorships is available to organizations that promote public interest in the French and Indian War within New York State. The NYS French & Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration Commission is a consortium of history experts and representatives of state and regional tourism agencies. Through 2010 the commission is promoting a series of battle reenactments at several sites across the state while also reaching out to students from K-12 in order to create awareness of the war's historical importance. Dickinson Sponsorships offer support specifically for non-signature events, with up to $4000 available per event., and are offered to those operating federal, state and local NYS historic sites, local governments and historians; tribal governments; schools (public and private); colleges and universities; chartered history institutions and not-for-profit entities situated in New York State. For application information, visit: fiw250@iloveny.com. Applications must be received by the Commission before September 30, 2007. Federal Formula Grant Coalition LHC joins with the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and the American Association for State & Local History (AASLH) to work towards "leveling" the museum vs library support field. In 2006 the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) funded $210.5 million to libraries, while museums received only $36.5 million. The difference is discerned in the federal formula grants given from IMLS directly to the states for library support. Service organizations representing museums at the state, regional and national level have joined forces to seek reauthorizing legislation for IMLS in 2009 that includes federal formula grants for museums. Join us in this strategic advocacy effort. The coalition is administered by AASLH and information is available at www.aaslh.org/documents/FAQ1.doc, or aslh.org/federalformulagrant/aaslharticles.htm. Rescue Public Murals is a national project aimed at saving public murals in the U.S. It has begun to collect information on outdoor murals that are deteriorating throughout the country. Based at Heritage Preservation in Washington, DC, the project will draw public attention to the murals, document their artistic and historic strengths, and secure the expertise and support needed to save them. Information about murals may be submitted to www.rescuePublicMurals.org. Recommendations re: murals that are in peril will help the project to form local committees to work with Heritage Preservation and professional conservators to assess the condition of murals, raise awareness about their status, and gather funds for their preservation. This year Rescue Public Murals will select 10 deteriorating murals for assessment by a conservator, the artist who created the mural, and community supporters. Project director is Kristen O. Laise (klaise@heritagepreservation.org).
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The three-year program aims to identify, demonstrate and integrate diverse aspects of historic house museum work
common to urban, rural and suburban communities, by training paid and volunteer personnel to evaluate the effectiveness of their stewardship, planning and public presentation in the professional quest to make house
museums, their settings, stories and collections valid and valued in the 21st century.
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NEWSLETTER Number 106 Spring, 2008 Lower Hudson Conference serves member cultural organizations, their staffs, boards and communities in celebrated counties of the greater Hudson Valley and metropolitan region, from the Battery to Albany, offering technical assistance resources and professional development opportunities to advance the work of museums, historians, historic houses, heritage centers, archives and local history libraries. Cultural Heritage Keepers are multifaceted and multicultural member individuals. They are curators, public historians, archivists, architects, audience and funding developers, educators, filmmakers, genealogy researchers, local history librarians, trustees, site managers, preservationists, archaeologists, interpreters, conservators, researchers, volunteers, and all manner of consultants! Member museum and historical organizations collect, preserve, study, interpret and create public access to the region's story at a diversity of sites in urban, suburban and rural settings spanning the 17th – 21st centuries. Connect with colleagues through our Greater Hudson Heritage Network and participate in public and professional explorations of an uncommon region. Join in the pursuit of quality collections care, documentation, museum management, historic preservation and public interpretation-- bringing history to life in the minds of the greater community. ___________________________________________________________________
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