Council of American Jewish Museums
In This Issue
Documenting the Conference
Transitions
Future Leaders
CAJM at AAM
Business Partners
What We Do
Through training of museum
staff and volunteers, infor-mation exchange, and advocacy on behalf of Jewish
Jewish museums, CAJM strengthens the Jewish-museum field in North America.
Visit us all over ...

 Touring
(Conference tour)
 
or visit us on the web at

If you let us know ...

Warhol, 48 Jews

... we will let others know

(From 48 Jews: What It Means to be  Jewish at Jewish Museum of Florida)

There's always something beautiful, meaningful or eye-opening going on at
Jewish museums.  Please be
sure to share your museum's news and events!

CAJM means ...
     
Jewish art and history
museums, historic sites, historical and archival
societies, Holocaust centers, children's museums, synagogue museums, community centers, and university galleries ... the
professionals and
volunteers who work in them ... the children, adults and families who visit them ... the patrons who support them ... the organization that keeps them vital.
What You Will Find
... on CAJM's website:  What you can see at CAJM museums and galleries across the United States and Canada, news on colleagues' activities and accomplish-ments, a roster of Jewish
museums around the world, a
collections showcase featuring objects from the holdings of more than 85 member institutions, traveling exhibitions available for rental, a library and links to more than one hundred online resources ... and lots more reasons to visit, join and support Jewish museums.
Meet new colleagues
& grow your skills:
 Become a Member
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Skirball
February-March E-News | 2010
A Few Words from the ConPalm treesference
On the CAJM website, you will now find an assortment of materials from our recent gathering in Los Angeles:  textual excerpts from presentations, audio recordings of a sampling of conference sessions, and a photo gallery and speakers' transcripts (these two features accessible to members only).  You will be able to revisit some programs - or find out what you may have missed.
Transition in Leadership 

With a new year, we welcome a new slate of Steering Committee officers and members, confirmed by affirmation at last month's conference.  Judy Margles, Director of the Oregon Jewish Museum, assumes the role of CAJM Chair, succeeding Gabriel GoldsteinFour SC members, who continues as Immediate Past Chair for an additional term.  Other officers are Melissa Martens of the Museum of Jewish Heritage/A Living Memorial to the Holocaust as Vice-Chair; Avi Decter of the Jewish Museum of Maryland as Treasurer; and independent consultant Lynette Allen as Secretary.  Joining the Committee's ranks for the first times are four colleagues representing a geographic spectrum, as well as several museum types (art, culture, synagogue, and Holocaust museums) in the CAJM network:  Alla Efimova, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Judah L. Magnes Museum (Berkeley, CA); Tal Gozani, Associate Curator at the Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles, CA); Sue Braham Koletsky, Director of The Temple Museum of Religious Art Scott, Gabe, Alla, Dorionat The Temple-Tifereth Israel (Cleveland, OH); and Scott Miller, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, DC).  Lou Levine of the Museum of Jewish Heritage begins his second term.  We express our sincere gratitude to four colleagues who have completed their terms, and we applaud their extraordinary dedication and service to the organization: Gabrielle Tsabag, Jayne Guberman, Lori Starr, and former Chair Macy B. Hart. (Top, L-R: Gabe, Macy, Judy, and Gaby; below: Scott, Gabe, and Alla, with Dorion )

Hail Fellows, Well Met

One of the most important professional development opportunities that CAJM offers is its Fellows program, which provides competitive fellowships to new professionals within the Jewish museum field so that they caCecile (r) and friendsn attend the annual conference.  This year's cohort included recent graduates of museum studies and Jewish studies programs, individuals joining our field from other areas of the museum world, and a new Jewish museum director.  All benefited from the near total immersion experience that is the four-day conference, with its substantive workshops and plenaries, ample, eye-opening excursions, and (live!) social networking. The Fellows, in turn, brought fresh perspectives to the proceedings, as they will to subsequent professional interactions.   Fellows Sheri Adler, David Chack, Leslie Fried, Stella Liberman, Alyson Luck, Cecile Puretz (above right), Melissa Schnur, Rachel Travis, Megan Whitman, and Jacob Wisse join us in thanking the benefactors of the Fellows program this year: Carol Brennglass Spinner and Virginia Bayer and Robert Hirt.

CAJM Sessions at AAM
CAJM is not the only organization that considered Los Angeles an ideal site for a conference this year.  The American Association of Museum convenes there from May 23-May 26, and Jewish museum professionals will be well represented.  In addition to the CAJM business breakfast, scheduled for Monday, May 24 at 7:30 am, CAJM is sponsoring two sessions that will be of interest to our members and other attendees.  Erik Ledbetter, AAM's Director for International Programs; Corine Wegener, Associate Curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art; and W. Richard West, Founding Director of the National Museum of the American Indian, will join Gabriel Goldstein of Yeshiva University MuIraqi Jewishseum for "It's Mine/It's Ours:  Personal and Communal Ownership of Cultural Property," a discussion of the complex issues associated with the transfer of artifacts within the Jewish community of Iraq, the Native American community, and elsewhere.  Judith Margles will chair the session "Managing Controversy," in which she will be joined by Kinshasha Holman Conwill, National Museum of African American History; Tim DuRoche, Portland Center Stage;  Chris Komai, Japanese American National Museum; and Carole Zawatsky, San Francisco JCC.  Conveniently, both sessions are scheduled for the same day:  Sunday, May 23rd.  There will also be special events at two CAJM institutions, the Museum of Tolerance and the Skirball Cultural Center.  (Above, objects from Jewish Iraq, courtesy the American Sephardi Federation)
Business Partners
Businesses allied with the museum field can now support CAJM and its varied activities through membership and/or by participating in the Vendor Forum Vendorsat our Annual Conference. Inaugural Business Partner Members are Available Light, ETI, Gallagher & Associates, J. Greenstein & Company, Harvest Moon Studio, Lexington, Mousetrappe, and Marty Sklar creative.  We are grateful for their assistance and participation. (Above, participants in Vendor Forum.)