News From Museumwise

Museumwise News

e-newsletter of Museumwise

Spring/Summer 2010

11 Ford Avenue, Oneonta, NY 13820 www.museumwise.org 1-800-895-1648 info@museumwise.org

In This Issue

Security Training Workshop

Cultural Data Project

Join Us

Since 1971, Museumwise has been connecting people in museums and historical organizations across NY - providing a full range of training, networking, and collaborative project programs to support New York's museum field.

It is our vision to be a model service organization, the accomplishments of which are reflected in the success of our constituents. We invite you to take this opportunity to join your colleagues - www.museumwise.org

Grants for Museum Advancement

2010 Grant Opportunities

Have you discovered Get Set (Plus)?

A pilot program designed to encourage creative, out-of-the-box thinking about your museum. The grant is a collaboration between the New York State Council on the Arts and New York Council for the Humanities to be administered by Museumwise.

Get Set (Plus)! provides funding to engage a local humanities scholar and/or artist in conversation with your staff and board. This is an opportunity to introduce a unique perspective to your museum, helping you develop new relationships within your community and spark ideas for new programming and audience development.

Click here for more information on the Get Set (Plus)!

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Applications are now being accepted for 2010 Get Ready, Get Set and Go grants.

Visit our website for more information:
www.museumwise.org

UHA is supported in part by

Museumwise is on Facebook

A Note from the Director

What an exciting spring we had! It's been non-stop since we last met in Albany for the Museums in Conversation conference.

Surely our biggest news is the announcement of our new name - Upstate History Alliance is now Museumwise! Be sure to read on for the details. I'm delighted to report that our new website will launch later this week! This new site will feature an accessible resource section with a growing collection of sample materials and links to pertinent articles, an opportunity for members to promote their upcoming events and direct access to our programs and services.

We will be hitting the road this summer in support of six regional Museumwise Meet-ups. Summertime provides a great opportunity to get out, get together and catch up. We look forward to hearing what you've been up to!

Best regards for a lovely summer,

~Catherine Gilbert

Save the Date

Museums in Conversation 2011

The 2011 Museums in Conversation Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo, April 3-5th!

For more information visit our conference website. Interested in participating? Watch your inboxes this fall for the 2011 Call for Participation.

Museums in Conversation is the fresh new title for the Museumwise/MANY Annual Conference. Each year we bring together a diverse array of individuals from all types and sizes of museums, historical societies, and similar cultural organizations.

Next years conference will be held in Buffalo, where art, history, science and children's museums bring vitality and a sense of inspiration to Western New York.

Many thanks to our local partners for their hospitable welcome to New York's Museum Community.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Amherst Museum
Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
Buffalo Museum of Science
Burchfield Penney Art Center
Darwin Martin House
Erie County Historical Federation
Explore & More Children's Museum
Hadley Exhibits
History Center of Niagara County
Thomas Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
WNYAHA

UHA is Museumwise

As of April 2010, Upstate History Alliance is Museumwise!

Our commitment to serving our mission remains true ~ by providing resources, training and expertise to New York's heritage organizations and museums, Museumwise strengthens their capacity to better serve their communities and meet their institutional missions. Our new name better reflects our rich history of sharing expertise and resources with museum and heritage organizations throughout New York State.

The board and staff of the Upstate History Alliance spent 6-months endeavoring on an Identity Alignment process which grows directly from our 2009-2011 Strategic Plan. In choosing to engage in this project, we focused upon our mission statement and agreed that the goal of this process was to present a brand that accurately reflects the breadth and scope of the organization. We engaged the services of Paperkite Creative Communications to guide us in defining a new name and graphics package. We thankfully acknowledge Paperkite's generous donation of 50% of the project cost.

So who are we?

We are museum professionals - both paid and unpaid from 52 of 62 counties in New York.
We are a conduit for best practices, professional development and solution finding among museum and historic site proprietors.
We support and foster a sense of community among small to mid-sized museums in NY to celebrate their successes, conquer the obstacles and rekindle the professional passion which drew us into the field.
We are Museumwise.

The capstone of this project will be a completely redesigned website which will allow our members better access to our vast array resources and easier interaction with one another. The new website will launch momentarily!

Many thanks to our members, board and friends who joined us in launching the new name at the Opening Reception of the 2010 Museums in Conversation Conference. This has been a thoughtful, challenging and immensely rewarding project and I am delighted with the outcome.

2010 Museum Institute at Sagamore

Get Connected,

Share your wisdom,

Be Inspired!

Why? Once upon a time, your toddler-self was consumed with this question - feverishly casting about to discover all you could about your extraordinary world. Perhaps that curiosity laid the path to your first museum visit and lo and behold years later you find yourself pursuing that same inquisitiveness working professionally within a museum. The question is, are you still asking why? Why does this museum exist? Why do we do what we do? Why should anyone care? A clearly articulated (and evocative) answer to these questions can provide the underpinnings for a mindful museum.

The 2010 Museum Institute at Sagamore will focus on Vision, Mission, Money. We look forward to exploring the following topics:

Identity Alignment - tapping into your organizational DNA
Assessing mission and vision
Development - working with donors in challenging times
Membership assessing your value - measuring your strengths
Administration - organizational management & finance
Project management
Community Impact - comparing the museum/community relations to buying local
Collaboration - building effective collaborations & resource sharing opportunities
Conservation - effectively using collection care & preservation to generate core audiences and public support
Social media - developing your voice, unifying your message for successful network building
Case studies - following mission to derive relevance & sustainability

The Institute is a reflective, intensive, four day retreat at Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks that gives New York State museum professionals the opportunity to learn, reflect, and work with their colleagues from across the state.

The 2010 Institute will take place September 21-24, 2010. Acceptance to the Institute is by application only - keep an eye on your inboxes, applications will arrive shortly.

Member Kudos - Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum

Congratulations to Museumwise member Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum, recipient of the 2010 Erie Canalway Heritage Award of Excellence.

The Heritage Award honors significant places of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and recognizes excellence in advancing the goals of the Erie Canalway Preservation and Management Plan. A five-person independent jury selected award recipients based on a written application and site visit, which included meetings with officials at each site, as well as community leaders, municipal representatives, and other stakeholders.

Heritage award recipients will be recognized at an award ceremony on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 9:30 am at Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum in Chittenango. The ceremony will precede the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission annual meeting at 10:30 am.

For more information about the award and photographs of this year's recipient, visit www.eriecanalway.org.

DHP - Free Workshop

Digitizing Your Historical Photos Workshop
Presented by Pamela Cooley, New York State Archives

Join Museumwise for a FREE half-day workshop at the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith.

Digitizing historical photographs can be a great way to share your history with a wider audience and save wear and tear on the original. This workshop will address what you can digitize and who you should do it, present the scanning process and the creation of the metadata for the scanned item, and discuss how you can use digitized photographs in exhibits and on-line.

Where & When

Hanford Mills Museum 73 County Highway 12, East Meredith, NY 13757
Wednesday June 30, 2010
9:30am - 1:00pm workshop
Pack a lunch and stay for a FREE afternoon tour of Hanford Mills Museum!

To register, call (800.895.1648) or email Museumwise Program Coordinator Stephanie Lehner with your Name, organizational affiliation and full contact information (address, phone, email).

Registrations must be received by June 23, 2010 - seating is limited

Museumwise Summer Meet-ups

How often do we say "we should get together this summer" well, here's the opportunity! Join us for a bit of networking with your regional colleagues, and to learn about Museumwise and the services we offer in a casual setting.

We have 6 regional events scheduled at member venues across the state. Here's a quick list of where we will be and when:

Western - Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, Monday, June 7th
Capital - Peebles Island State Park, Thursday, July 8th
Finger Lakes - Landmark Society of Western NY at the Ellwagner Estate, Monday, August 9th
Northern - Adirondack Museum, Monday, September 20th
Central - Emerson Gallery at Hamilton, Thursday, September 30th
Southern Tier - Corning Museum of Glass, date TBD

The receptions are free and open to the public so by all means bring a colleague! Preregistration is requested, call (800.895.1648) or email info@museumwise.org with your name, organizational affiliation and full contact information (address, phone, email) to register today! Be sure to indicate which session you will be attending.

Listserv Migration

In our efforts to make our web presence as useful and relevant as possible, Museumwise is migrating from our current listserv to a new discussion forum on Google Groups. We apologize for any inconvenience the move may cause, but we hope our members will find the benefits of the new format will be worth the few minutes it takes to transfer your account.

This new format allows expanded functionality, much greater control over how you receive e-mails from the list, as well as providing access to a searchable database of discussion topics.

Members currently subscribed to the UHA Listserv will receive an invitation to join the new Museumwise Google Group on Monday, June 21st. If you are a member not currently subscribed to the UHA Listserv, but would like to join the group, please email Stephanie.

Museumwise Summer Intern

Each year we welcome a summer intern to serve as our Program Assistant. I am pleased to announce that Mary Olson has accepted the position. Mary recently received her MA in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. I'd be more than happy to recommend her to anyone looking for new talent. The following is a brief note of introduction from Mary.

Hello everyone, my name is Mary Olson and I am working at Museumwise part time this summer. As a recent graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, I decided to stay in the area for the summer and see what Upstate New York is like when it is actually sunny outside. Having just started, I am trying to get acclimated to the organization and I am picking up where Erin Andrews left off last year - compiling educational material that can act as a reference for member institutions. I have been researching everything from deaccession policies to social media and I cannot wait to post all these resources on the new website so that members can see what other great institutions are doing. I will be working through the end of summer on a variety of projects to better serve members and enhance Museumwise's current offerings.

You may reach Mary at intern@museumwise.org

Security Training Workshops

Lessons from a Theft: Bringing Security Tools and Knowledge to
New York's Historical Records Community

Sponsored by the New York State Archives, funded by National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

Regional workshop dates & locations:

9/13/2010 - Canandaigua, NY - Ontario County Safety Training Center
9/14/2010 - West Seneca, NY - Erie 1 BOCES
10/4/2010 - Utica, NY - Utica Public Library
10/5/2010 - Binghamton, NY - Roberson Museum and Science Center

3/7/2011 - New Paltz, NY - Historic Huguenot Street
4/11/2011 - Glens Falls, NY - Crandall Public Library
4/12/2011 - Massena, NY - Town of Massena

Workshops for New York City and Long Island, are in planning, tentatively slated for February or March of 2011.

The workshops will be full day (9-4). Registrations may be directed to Brittany at Bturner@mail.nysed.gov. Her telephone is 518-473-0130. NB: early registration is encouraged and appreciated; only 25 seats will be available.

New York State Cultural Data Project

The New York State Cultural Data Project (New York State CDP) is a powerful online management tool designed to strengthen arts and cultural organizations. Arts and cultural organizations enter financial, programmatic and operational data into a standardized online form and can then use the CDP to produce a variety of reports designed to help increase management capacity, identify strengths and challenges and inform decision-making. They can also generate reports to be included as part of the application processes to participating grantmakers.

Get the most from the New York State CDP - Attend a free demonstration and discussion

In these 90-minute demonstration and discussion sessions we will give you an overview of the New York State CDP and everything you need to get started using it. Join a demonstration and discussion from your home or office. Attend a training ONLINE via webinar!

Webinar

June 29, 2010
2:30 - 4:00 pm

Webinar
July 7, 2010
10:30 am - noon

Just a reminder, in FY 2011, NYSCA will begin accepting CDP Funder Reports as a part of the application process. In FY 2012 (calendar year 2011), NYSCA will require all applicants to submit CDP Funder Reports.

2010 Museumwise Silent Auction