Council of American Jewish Museums
         E-News | October 2011 
 
In This Issue
Visiting Detroit's DIA
Staff Transitions
CAJM 2012 Accomodations
AEJM in London
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.
 

INSIDER VIEW OF DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS     

2012 CAJM Annual Conference registration brochures are in the mail!  The gathering, to be held February 26-28, will conclude in a spectacular setting with inspiration from a visionary leader.  Tuesday lunch and afternoon Bealsessions will take place at the world-renowned Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).  Although the museum is customarily closed on that day, staff will welcome CAJM members and lead a variety of specialized tours so that conference-goers may see the widely-acclaimed and innovative reinstallation of DIA's permanent collection. Graham Beal (r.), DIA's Director, President and CEO since 1999 (and previously Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) will also speak at our closing plenary. Beal ovDIAersaw the museum's recent renovation and expansion, and he has built strong relationships with some of the world's most highly-regarded institutions, having co-organized major international exhibitions. A native of Great Britain, he has been a Trustee of the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors and served on the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions.

 

NEW ROLES FOR KASSOF AND CARDIN   

KassofAnita Kassof (l.), long-time senior staff member of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, has been appointed Deputy Director at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, a position held previously by Ivy Barsky, the new Gwen Goodman Museum Director and COO of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. During Kassof's eleven-year tenure, she was Assistant and then Associate Director at the JMM, where she shared management responsibility for all museum departments and activities. Notably, she served as curator or co-curator for Lives Lost, Lives Found: Baltimore's German Jewish Refugees, 1933-1945; Voices of Lombard Street: A Century of Change in East Baltimore; and The Synagogue Speaks.  She has authored several publications, including Lights & Shadows and The Synagogue Speaks, a children's book based on the exhibition of the same name.  Prior to her service in Baltimore, Kassof was the Associate Curator at the UnDeborah Cited States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she helped to develop the museum's collections policy and to build the permanent collection.   Deborah Cardin (r.) has subsequently been promoted to Assistant Director at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.  The institution's Education Director for ten years, she is also our CAJM 2012 conference co-chair.  Congratulations to both Anita and Deborah.  Please remember there are two great ways to post or seek positions in the Jewish museum field: the Career Opportunities page of the CAJM website (available to members only) - and, of course, networking at the annual CAJM conference

 

 

ELEGANT AND AFFORDABLE CONFERENCE HOTEL

During the 2012 conference, participants will lodge in a deluxe boutique hotel, specially priced for CAJM at a much-reduced room rate of $155. Located in the charming Detroit suburb of BIrmingham, The Townsend Hotel is known for its European-style elegance, exquisitely appointed guest rooms, and exceptional service. It's not surprising that The Townsend is a Forbes 4-Star and AAA 4-Diamond hotel, and has been named one of the top 500 hotels in the world by Travel & Leisure.  Although the CAJMTownsend 2 deadline for booking is not Townsend 1until February 2, you may want to make your reservation now, in order to take advantage of one of the limited number of luxury suites available at the same $155 conference rate.  Visit our website or consult the conference registration brochure for details on telephone and online reservation processes, and to find the CAJM reduced-rate code.  See you in the fitness center - or at afternoon tea.

 

EUROPEAN JEWISH MUSEUMS MEET IN LONDON 

Next month the Association of European Jewish Museums will assemble for its annual conference, this time in the U.K., providing a chanceJML for participants to spend time at the newly expanded and refurbished Jewish Museum London (JML).  A �10 million redevelopment project, completed last year and designed by architects Long & Kentish, combined the museum's original Camden building and a former piano factory.  The JML was able to assemble collections previously held in two locations and to introduce new exhibitions. Among the highlights of the upcoming AEJM conference will be a keynote address by the esteemed Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and trips to the Ben Uri Gallery, British Library, Freud Museum, and to see the Czech Scrolls at the Westminster Synagogue.  Visit the AEJM website for further information. 


CAJM Puts the Spotlight on You

CAJM offers resources for learning all year round on our website and at our annual conference; models professional standards; offers opportunities for information exchange; and Plotkinworks on behalf of Jewish museums and museums with Jewish content, like the Rabbi Albert and Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona, whose composite Tunisian synagogue is shown at right. And see what other Jewish museums are presenting around North America by visiting CAJM's At Our Museums page, the central address for you and the public to find out what's happening at our member institutions.
 
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