Council of American Jewish Museums
         E-News | September 2010
 
In This Issue
Creating the NMAJH
Changes at Spertus
All Over Philadelphia
Bronfman Gallery Director
CAJM is ...
Jewish art and history museums, historic sites, historical and archival societies, Holocaust centers, synagogue museums, Jewish Community Center galleries, children's museums, 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.
 

NMAJH Scholar Team Enriches Conference Program


A highlight of the upcoming CAJM conference in Philadelphia will be a fascinating roundtable discussion among four scholars who participated in shaping the narrative of the core exhibition of the new National Museum of American Jewish History (below l-r:)  Chief Historian Jonathan D. Sarna, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Director of its Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program; Michael Berenbaum, Director of the Sigi Ziering Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Ethics and Professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University, and, earlier in his career, Project Director for development of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Pamela S. Nadell, Inaugural Patrick Clendenen Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University; and Beth S. Wenger, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.  This esteemed group, with decades of experience in academic settings and working with cultural institutions, will share their experiences in the multi-year planning process.  Josh Perelman, Museum Historian and Deputy Director for Programs at the NMAJH, will moderate the conversation, which will address the decisions faced by the advisers and planning team as they worked to build an institution that explores the promise and challenges of freedom through the lens of the American Jewish experience.

 

           Berenbaum    Nadell    Wenger

 
New Era at Spertus

As 5771 commences, the staff and leadership of the Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies look forward to a year of courses, programs, exhibitions, and events that are, in the words of Spertus' new President and CEO, Dr. Hal N. Lewis (l.), "as multifaceted as Jewish life and the Jewish people."  Something else that is "new" in the new year is a restructuring, in which the three major departments of the historicHal Lewis institute, the Asher Library, Spertus College, and Spertus Museum, are now being centrally managed, with an apt tagline: "A Center for Jewish Learning and Culture."  Lewis and the trustees see many advantages to this administrative change, including consolidated fundraising and promotional efforts. A wonderful result for Spertus exhibitthe public and for scholars is that the three collections are now fully integrated.  The fruits are evident in the first installment of what will be a major, eight-part series of exhibits continuing through 2012 and titled "Uncovered and Rediscovered: Stories of Jewish Chicago" (r.), drawing on archival materials, cultural and fine art objects, and audio and visual recordings from all three departments.  Dr. Dean Bell oversees the new cross-institutional programming department, and Ilana Segal is the recently appointed Spertus Curator of Collections.
 
Philadelphia Sites Welcome CAJM Conference

Those attending the 2011 CAJM conference in Philadelphia (February 27-March 1) will visit several outstanding Jewish museums in the vicinity.  Three other exceptional cultural institutions are also on the itinerary.  A Saturday night pre-conference reception will take place at the Rosenbach extRosenbach Museum & Library (l.). Its founders, brothers A.S.W. and Philip Rosenbach, were renowned dealers in books, manuscripts, and fine art, who played a central role in the development of private libraries that later became our country's most important public collections of rare books, such as the Huntington, Widener, and Folger Libraries.  Monday morning workshops will take place at the National Constitution Center (r.),Nat'l Constitution Centerwhich anchors one end of Independence Mall.  Since its opening seven years ago, six million people have visited the Center, which is lauded for its interactive museum experience and its role as a forum for national dialogueChagall image, PMA.  Conferees will view an exciting multimedia performance and select from concurrent workshops on Living News/Interactive Techniques, Engaging Visitors/Building Connections,and Educational Programming/New Learning Technologies.  On Tuesday, at the world-famous Philadelphia Museum of Art,attendees will enjoy a special preview of the exhibition Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle, presented by the museum in conjunction with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. The exhibition illuminates the cross-fertilization that took place between the spirit of modernism and the cultural heritage of Chagall and his fellow �migr�s.  (l., Chagall's Half-Past Three (The Poet))

 

New Face at DC JCC


Dafna Steinberg is the recently appointed Gallery Director at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery of the WashinDafna Steinberggton DC JCC.  A graduate of Hampshire College, the International Center of Photography, and Goldsmiths, University of London, she is a writer, photographer and curator. In 2004, she was included as one of the featured emerging artists/curators in the New York publication Circa2004: Process.  Her written work has appeared in such global publications as Soulculture UK (London) and Ozon magazine (Greece).  Steinberg looks forward to "being part of a community of great and historic Jewish art institutions" - the CAJM network.

 
Sign On to the Website as a CAJM Member

... and visit the rich library on our Member Resources page.  There you'll find helpful information on exhibition development, public programming, fundraising, and promotion, as well as stimulating scholarly articles and coverage of previous years' conferences.  Whether you're looking for advocacy pointers or forms for use in managing traveling exhibitions, start at www.cajm.netPlease write to us at [email protected] if you have any difficulty logging in on the website
.  To become a member, please see the link below.
 
 
CAJM Puts the Spotlight on You
Nathan, Miriam M.
CAJM offers resources for learning all year round on our website and at our annual conference.  CAJM offers information exchange and models professional standardsCAJM advocates on behalf of Jewish museums like the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery of the Washington DC JCC,
where this work is currently displayed (r., from MIRIAM M�RSEL NATHAN:  Memory of a time I did not know ...).
 
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