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2008 Museums for America Grant Announcement

Alabama

U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission - Huntsville,
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $140,800; Matching Amount: $421,690

Contact: Mrs. Irene Willhite
Curator
(256)721-7148; irenew@spacecamp.com

Project Title: "U.S. Space & Rocket Center Exhibit Plan"
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center will develop two exhibits for its newest museum addition, the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. The exhibits, entitled “Second Stage: Into Space” and “Third Stage: To the Moon,” will be part of the gallery located beneath the Saturn V rocket. The exhibits will present concepts of propulsion and aerodynamics, featuring artifacts such as the second and third stages of the Saturn V, a Saturn V wind tunnel model, an interactive kiosk demonstrating air flow around a wind tunnel, and an interactive kiosk allowing guests to build and test a rocket. Through the exhibit artifacts and hands-on inter-actives, guests will gain a deeper understanding of science as a human endeavor and how scientific experimentation evolved into the reality of space exploration.

Alaska

Pratt Museum, Homer Society of Natural History - Homer, AK
Grant category: Building Institutional Capacity
Award Amount: $88,625; Matching Amount: $89,805

Contact: Ms. Heather Beggs
Director
(907)235-8635x33; director@prattmuseum.org

Project Title: "A Community Vision for a Community Museum: Engaging Diverse Constituencies in Capitol Project Planning"
The Pratt Museum, with A Community Vision for A Community Museum, will engage diverse audiences, community members, and stakeholder groups in planning the most significant capital project it has undertaken to date. The museum will gather community feedback to inform renovation planning through a questionnaire. Pratt staff will meet with each of the five Native villages as well as Russian Old Believer families and individuals to gather input for the renovation and feedback on a draft architectural program, and to seek approval for the final plan. Key research, education, and community institutions in the region will also be consulted. The result will be an architectural program widely approved by the Pratt’s community and stakeholders that defines space and site needs.

Museum of the Aleutians - Unalaska, AK
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $75,000; Matching Amount: $166,846

Contact: Ms. Zoya Johnson
Executive Director
(907)581-5150; zoyaj@akwisp.com

Project Title: "Design of the new permanent exhibit " The Aleutian Islands: Crossroads of the North Pacific"."
The Museum of the Aleutians will use its grant to support the design of a new permanent exhibition, “The Aleutian Islands: Crossroads of the North Pacific.” The new displays will interpret the art, culture, and heritage of the Unangan/Aleut people who have inhabited the Aleutian Islands continuously for the past 10,000 years. The displays will offer residents and tourists the knowledge to connect past and present, alerting them to historic evidence in the islands’ geographic names, man-made structures, and natural landscapes. By building new audiences, expanding the museum’s educational programs, attracting new museum members, and increasing opportunities for corporate and foundation support, this project will strengthen the museum's capacity to tell a comprehensive history of the Aleutian Islands.

Arizona

Museum of Northern Arizona - Flagstaff, AZ
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $169,148

Contact: Ms. Elaine Hughes
Collections Manager
(928)774-5211x228; ehughes@mna.mus.az.us

Project Title: "Hiring of Archivist to Gain Physical and Intellectual Control over Museum of North Arizona Archives"
The Museum of Northern Arizona will use its grant to hire an archivist to gain physical and intellectual control over institutional and donated manuscripts, maps, books, photographic prints and negatives, and sound and motion picture recordings. The archival project will help the staff develop written policies and procedures, expand current efforts to stabilize the collection, facilitate the move of the archives into a new collection center, and provide reference and research services and education opportunities to the public. The museum has never had a professional archivist on staff and will strive to make the position permanent. The project will increase accessibility to the collection and help the museum create future plans for the care of the archives.

California

UC Botanical Garden, University of California - Berkeley, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $57,046; Matching Amount: $58,278

Contact: Ms. Katherine Barrett
Associate Director of Eduation, UCBG
(510)643-7576; kdbarret@berkeley.edu

Project Title: "Crops of the World Garden for Low-income Youth"
The University of California Botanical Garden (UCBG) will develop educational materials and interpretive signs for its Crops of the World garden and two school gardens. Staff will work with students, teachers, and parents from two elementary schools in low-income communities to produce educational pamphlets in English and Spanish. Six durable I-Zone signs will be developed for the garden to show how to grow heirloom crops such as cucumbers and tomatoes, and to illustrate practices for sustaining soil fertility through composting and crop rotation. Laminated copies of the signs will be provided for each partner school to post in its nutrition garden. The program will reach elementary school children; teachers, students, and parents at the school garden Family Days; and all UCBG visitors.

UC Davis Arboretum, University of California - Davis, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $149,967; Matching Amount: $174,423

Contact: Emily Griswold
Assistant Director of Horticulture
(530)752-4880; ebgriswold@ucdavis.edu

Project Title: "Interpretive Trail, Exhibits, and Education Programs for Shields Oak Grove"
The University of California, Davis Arboretum will develop exhibits, educational programming, and an interpretive trail to enhance the 11-acre Shields Oak Grove. The Oak Discovery Trail will feature paths, benches, plant labels, interpretive signs, and stops for a cell phone tour. Oak researchers will participate in the arboretum’s Science Café, a series of informal presentations and conversations with UC Davis scientists about current topics of interest. Researchers will have access to online digital maps, a database, and herbarium specimens. UC Davis students, community volunteers, and K–12 students will create a large-scale ceramic mosaic mural for Oak Grove that will picture the fauna and flora of a California oak woodland ecosystem. The project will culminate in Family Oak Day, a community celebration of oaks.

Institute for American Research - Goleta, CA
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $24,712; Matching Amount: $26,992

Contact: Dr. Gary Coombs
Director
(805)964-3540; gcoombs@goletadepot.org

Project Title: "Goleta Depot: The History of an Enduring communtiy Landmark"
The South Coast Railroad Museum will begin a project titled Goleta Depot: The History of an Enduring Community Landmark. The museum will produce an updated and expanded edition of a 100-page history of the Goleta Depot, which has been out of print for over two decades. This book has been, and will continue to be, the seminal document that underlies much of what the museum does. Spanish and English versions of the text will be available, both in print and online. The new book will convey information but also engage its audience by making connections to the everyday lives of its readers. Community members, as well as museum staff and stakeholders, will be encouraged to invest themselves in the project and participate actively in its preparation.

Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology - Hemet, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $114,942; Matching Amount: $116,719

Contact: Dr. Paisley Cato
Curator of Collections Care
(951)791-0033x237; pcato@westerncentermuseum.org

Project Title: "The Simulated Dig Site Project"
IMLS funding will help the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology develop a simulated dig site as a project-based learning experience that will enable participants to develop a deeper understanding of the intrinsic value and fragility of cultural and paleontological resources. Participants will be provided with an experience that simulates the scientific reasoning and technical processes involved with an archaeological or paleontological dig. The site activities will be designed to supplement and enrich state and national curriculum standards for formal education. Additional interpretation, including signage and information on the center’s Web site, will be designed to help casual visitors understand the ethics, science, and processes involved in a dig. Interpretive and curriculum units will be developed, tested, and implemented in a thorough, systematic manner.

Rotchev House Museum, Fort Ross Interpretive Association - Jenner, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $114,049; Matching Amount: $173,218

Contact: Ms. Lyn Kalani
Project Director
(707)847-3437; friaadmin@mcn.org

Project Title: "Rotchev House Museum Exhibit at Fort Ross California"
The Rotchev House Museum will research and design exhibit displays for material objects in the Rotchev House, an 1830s Russian-built national landmark house located at Fort Ross Historic State Park. The exhibits will enhance understanding and appreciation of the little known legacy of the 1812–1841 Russian-American Company settlement at Fort Ross. Researchers have uncovered a fuller picture of daily life at Fort Ross, and the museum will highlight how the Rotchev family’s European intellectualism influenced how they, and the larger colony, worked together to build an enlightened multicultural society that lasted nearly three decades. Interpretive materials for the exhibit will include a walking tour, museum panels and gallery prints, and a video that will also be available on the Web.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County - Los Angeles, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $109,500; Matching Amount: $699,267

Contact: Dr. Carl Selkin
Vice President, Education
(213)763-3533; cselkin@nhm.org

Project Title: "Educational Partnership Initiative"
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will begin an educational partnership initiative. Students will draw on the museum’s collections as a source of information and inspiration for the creation of artistic projects, integrating curriculum in the arts, ecology, science, and social studies. Students will visit the museum and explore a topic from one of the 16 permanent collections. Museum curators and researchers will also contribute, with behind-the-scenes tours and classroom visits. Under the guidance of their teachers and guest artists, students will spend several weeks exploring their museum topics in the classroom, using a range of artistic media such as painting, music, photography, poetry, theater, and dance. Informal partnerships with local schools, arts organizations, and professional arts will make the program available to a wide range of students.

Oakland Museum of California Foundation - Oakland, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $145,582; Matching Amount: $179,178

Contact: Ms. Barbara Henry
Chief Curator of Education
(510)238-3820; bhenry@museumca.org

Project Title: "Picture This: California Perspectives on American History Expansion and Enhancement Project"
The Oakland Museum of California will expand and enhance its current educational Web site, titled “Picture This: California Perspective on American History.” As a pilot project for the digitization of all the Oakland Museum’s collections, the “Picture This” expansion will provide teachers with greater access to the museum’s collections and offer new ways to use them to explore the history of California’s ethnically diverse populations. The Web site will be expanded by adding images, content, and interactive elements, as well as related teacher training materials. The museum will collaborate with educators in developing educational activities, all of which will be tied to history and social science content standards. This project will ensure that the museum's K–12 educational services are relevant and accessible for students and teachers.

Pacific Asia Museum - Pasadena, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $149,763; Matching Amount: $516,368

Contact: Ms. Amelia Chapman
Curator, Education Programs
(626)449-2742x19; a.chapman@pacificasiamuseum.org

Project Title: "Chinese American Community Initiative"
The Pacific Asia Museum will develop a Chinese-American community initiative that will capitalize on the museum’s resources—including its collection of Chinese art and its Chinese-style building and courtyard garden—to attract a broad audience. The initiative is a targeted effort to increase the number of people of Chinese heritage who visit the museum and participate in its programs. The project is multilayered and integrates expanded programming, new Chinese-language materials, outreach, and the development of new partnerships with schools, social service and cultural organizations, media, and businesses based in the Chinese-American community. The programs will be publicized in Chinese communities but will appeal to the general public, thus encouraging interaction between the Chinese-American community and other communities in the area.

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - San Diego, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $245,605

Contact: Ms. Gabrielle Bridgeford
Education Curator
(858)454-3541x142; gbridgeford@mcasd.org

Project Title: "Streaming Dialogues: Teen and Young Adult Programs at MCASD"
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) will undertake new and expanded programs targeting teens and young adults. Streaming Dialogues will include many elements designed by and for young people, including events, Web-based projects such as teen-produced interviews with artists and podcast tours, exhibitions, workshops, and special film programs. The museum believes that youth are an underrepresented demographic in art museums but an ideal audience for contemporary art. Like contemporary artists, they experiment, challenge, question, and explore issues of identity, authority, culture, irony, and social structures. The project will take place primarily at MCASD’s downtown San Diego location. It aims to empower and actively engage future audiences by making the museum an elemental part of young peoples’ lives.

San Diego Society of Natural History - San Diego, CA
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $38,148; Matching Amount: $38,812

Contact: Dr. Mary Hawke
Plant Atlas Director
(619)255-0301; mhawke@sdnhm.org

Project Title: "Increased Access to California's Botanical Heritage"
The San Diego Natural History Museum will begin a project to assign geographic coordinates to existing plant specimen records from San Diego County that are housed in other California herbaria (collections of preserved plant specimens). The museum, having previously completed the geo-referencing of its own collections, will build on this acquired knowledge. The resulting database will be shared online via the Consortium for California Herbaria and the San Diego County Plant Atlas. The project will increase access to botanical specimen data, preserve information about the region’s natural history, and promote public understanding of plant diversity. The intended audience includes educational institutions, land managers, land-use planners, conservation and environmental groups, government resource agencies, private landowners, and interested members of the public.

Zoological Society of San Diego - San Diego, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $185,486

Contact: Ms. Robyn Badger
Project Coordinator
(619)557-3902; rbadger@sandiegozoo.org

Project Title: "Educational Demonstration Wetland at the San Diego Wild Animal Park"
The Zoological Society of San Diego will develop an educational demonstration wetland at its Wild Animal Park to educate visitors of all ages about water conservation and the importance of conserving wetland habitats. In addition to providing an engaging educational experience, the educational demonstration wetland will improve the water quality in the park through natural biological filtration, provide additional wetland habitat for many rare and endangered species, and reduce the park’s consumption of imported water through increased water recycling efforts. A range of youth and adult participants will help with the planting and maintenance of the wetland, including underserved local youth through a partnership with the Escondido Education Compact’s youth career project. The park hopes the experience will motivate visitors to become active stewards of the natural world.

National Japanese American Historical Society - San Francisco, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $24,999; Matching Amount: $25,001

Contact: Ms. Rosalyn Tonai
Executive Director
(415)921-5007x000; rosalyn@njahs.org

Project Title: "Japanese American Cultural Heritage Tourism Initiative"
The Japanese American Historical Society will begin a yearlong planning process for a nationally coordinated program of historic preservation and interpretative activities exploring Japanese-American experiences in American democracy. With the goal of strengthening collaboration among regional organizations, the society will tour traveling exhibits, which will include curriculum packages, panel presentations, film screenings, performing arts presentations, family workshops, and digital storytelling workshops. The project aims to disseminate information about the Japanese-American experience before, during, and after World War II to a broader national audience and increase awareness of the upcoming development of WWII confinement sites by the National Park Service.

Chinese Historical Society of America - San Francisco, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $60,000; Matching Amount: $65,985

Contact: Dr. Anna Naruta
Director of Archives
(415)391-1188; anaruta@chsa.org

Project Title: "Chinese Immigrants and the Challenge to American Immigration Policy"
The Chinese Historical Society of America will use its grant to support the planning of “Chinese Immigrants and the Challenge to American Immigration Policy,” a special exhibition and a series of public programs that tell the history of Chinese immigration to America. Scheduled to open in December 2009, the exhibition will include photographs, films, historical artifacts, maps, documents, and oral histories that reveal the diverse story of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Public programs accompanying the exhibition will engage the broader community in lively panel discussions, family events, and film screenings that will educate and celebrate the Chinese-American communities and commemorate the centennial of the opening of Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - San Fransisco, CA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $149,938; Matching Amount: $710,646

Contact: Dr. Dominic Willsdon
Curator of Education and Pubic Programs
(415)357-4101; dwillsdon@sfmoma.org

Project Title: "Family Arts Participation Initiative"
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will use its grant to expand onsite, online, and community programs, as well as marketing and communications strategies for Bay Area families with young children. SFMOMA aims to broaden, deepen, and diversify participation in its programs by families with children ages 4–11 from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. This represents an increased commitment to maximizing the educational value of modern and contemporary art for families, increasing cultural and visual literacy and fostering a lifelong appreciation of the arts. The project will promote highly satisfying arts experiences that help sustain the benefits of arts participation for individuals, SFMOMA, and society.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden - Santa Barbara, CA
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $143,469; Matching Amount: $198,011

Contact: Ms. Joan Ariel
Director of the Library
(805)682-4726; jariel@sbbg.org

Project Title: "The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Image Database Project"
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) will develop a digital image database for use by staff, volunteers, and the public. Currently, SBBG has tens of thousands of photographs, slides, and born-digital images that have never been cataloged. The collection documents depict SBBG’s 82-year history, California native flora, and planted and natural landscapes. The image resources cannot be properly used because they lack finding aids and are scattered across staff computers and offices. This project will centralize the collection in a digital image database with greater search capabilities. The project advances SBBG’s goals to use technology, educate the public, disseminate research, and ensure that the image collection and associated knowledge are preserved for the future.

UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, University of California - Santa Cruz, CA
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $149,649; Matching Amount: $205,195

Contact: Dr. Daniel Harder
Executive Director, Arboretum
(831)427-2998x101; dkharder@ucsc.edu

Project Title: "Enhanced Stewardship: Collections Data, Seed Repository, and Herbarium"
The arboretum at the University of California, Santa Cruz will use its grant to implement a new collection record database program, BGBase. The new program will be used for all arboretum collections, making them more comprehensive, secure, and accessible for all users. A collections recorder will be hired and a long-term seed storage facility and a small regional herbarium will be established, which will allow the arboretum to better conserve and build collections and participate more fully in conservation efforts. This initiative will improve the arboretum’s ability to support collections care, education, research, and outreach.

Colorado

Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, City and County of Denver - Denver, CO
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $22,197; Matching Amount: $24,416

Contact: Mr. Steve Friesen
Director
(303)526-0744; buffalobill.museum@ci.denver.co.us

Project Title: "Online Photo Research Database"
The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave will create an online photo research database so the public can view images from the museum’s photo archives via the Internet. This project continues ongoing efforts to make the collections more accessible and usable to researchers and historians worldwide. The project will be beneficial to students, authors, researchers, historians, and the media as well as to museum staff, who will be able to respond to image requests in a more timely and cost-effective manner.

Denver Art Museum - Denver, CO
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $218,080

Contact: Melora McDermott-Lewis
Director of Education
(720)913-0056; mmcdermott-lewis@denverartmuseum.org

Project Title: "New Adult Programs at the Denver Art Museum"
The Denver Art Museum will develop five new young adult programs to help young adult visitors have meaningful and personally rewarding experiences with art. “Easy moments of creativity” programs will include do-it-yourself workshops offered on a drop-in basis, and “-ing” offerings, where artist facilitators will help visitors experiment in sketching, creative writing, or acting. “Unexpected content” programs will include “de-tour” podcasts that feature experts outside the realm of art and “guerilla gallery talks,” which will prompt visitors to convene near an artwork, at which point staff facilitators will invite visitors to engage in conversation with one another by looking at the work through unique perspectives. As a final component, messenger bags that contain portable tools will be available to enhance visitors’ experience with the works of art.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science - Denver, CO
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $100,968; Matching Amount: $107,468

Contact: Ms. Jude Southward
Conservation Department Conservator/Chair
(303)370-6496; jude.southward@dmns.org

Project Title: "DMNS FY08 Collections Risk Assessment"
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science will begin a collection stewardship project to complete a risk assessment for all collections in storage. The risk assessment will identify, quantify, and prioritize risks and risk mitigation strategies for its collection of one million objects. The museum’s collection contains objects in the areas of anthropology, earth and space sciences, zoology, and library and archives that represent the American West, including its geology, wildlife, and indigenous peoples. As the museum prepares to construct a new collections storage facility, the risk assessment will ensure the effective use of resources, staff knowledge, and expertise to achieve optimal collections stewardship and public access to the collections.

Children's Museum of Denver - Denver, CO
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $133,000; Matching Amount: $215,715

Contact: Mr. Mike Yankovich
Vice President of the Guest Experience
(303)561-0128; mikey@cmdenver.org

Project Title: "The Children's Museum of Denver's Interactive Bubbles Exhibit"
The Children’s Museum of Denver will design a new public Playscape featuring interactive bubble play. Plans for the exhibit include traditional and nontraditional bubble wand play; it will include large-scale bubble-making machines, a dome-and-fog bubble machine; and multiple tool-and-pan bubble areas. Educational programming related to the exhibit—for both school groups and the general public—will focus on the science of bubbles and will include weekly public programs around bubble paintings, black light bubbles, and the geometry of bubbles. The bubbles Playscape will provide an experience that effectively engages children of all ages, focusing on the museum’s audience of newborns through eight-year-olds.

Muriel L. MacGregor Trust - Estes Park, CO
Grant category: Building Institutional Capacity
Award Amount: $46,920; Matching Amount: $51,920

Contact: Ms. Emily Barnthouse
(970)586-3749; emily@macgregorranch.org

Project Title: "Emergency Preparedness : Purchase Fire Detection, Suppression and Secu"
The Muriel L. MacGregor Trust will begin an initiative to follow through on recommendations from a risk assessment of the MacGregor Ranch Museum, a high-mountain historic working cattle ranch. The trust will purchase fire detection and suppression equipment and systems to protect outdoor resources and two historic structures that house collections and the education/nature center. A consultant will be hired to oversee the project, which will also include an upgrade of the security system and community-wide training entitled “Disaster Preparedness Response and Recovery Drills.” These measures will reduce identified risks to the people, collections, historic structures, and farm animals inhabiting and using the museum.

Connecticut

Fairfield Museum and History Center - Fairfield, CT
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $95,139; Matching Amount: $103,877

Contact: Ms. Regine Heberlein
Librarian
(203)259-1598; rheberlein@fairfieldhs.org

Project Title: "Fairfield Museum and History Center Joint Online Library Catalog Project"
The Fairfield Museum and History Center will digitize its bibliographic records, which are currently available only through its library card catalog. The records will then be made available through the online catalog of the Fairfield Public Library. This partnership is modeled on one between the Fairfield Public Library and the Pequot Library Association in neighboring Southport. The Fairfield Museum’s project has five components. First, a predigitization check of the master records against the public library’s online catalog will be done to identify duplicate holdings. Next, analog records will be converted to digital format. The system will be tested and corrected, the records will be loaded into the library’s database, and the outcomes will be evaluated and tested.

Mystic Seaport Museum Inc. - Mystic, CT
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $142,801; Matching Amount: $146,735

Contact: Mr. Jonathan Shay
Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation
(860)572-0711x4230; jonathan.shay@mysticseaport.org

Project Title: "Restoring an Icon: The Charles W. Morgan exhibition"
The Mystic Seaport Museum will plan and implement “Restoring an Icon: The Charles W. Morgan,” an exhibition interpreting the three-year restoration of the Charles W. Morgan, an 1841 whale ship and designated National Historic Landmark. The Morgan, the last remaining wooden whale ship, is a cornerstone of the museum’s collection. Project components will include a cell phone audio tour, hands-on interactive elements, and live interpretation to provide in-depth understanding of the Morgan’s structure, history, and restoration. Interpretive signs, diagrams, and photographs will provide schoolchildren, museum visitors, and distance learners with additional context about the restoration activities, the traditional techniques and technologies of wooden boat restoration, and the forces that can cause the deterioration of a wooden ship’s structure.

Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum - Ridgefield, CT
Grant category: Building Institutional Capacity
Award Amount: $75,991; Matching Amount: $75,991

Contact: Ms. Helen Kauder
Deputy Director
(203)438-4519; hkauder@aldrichart.org

Project Title: "Community Reseach Initiatve"
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum will use its grant to implement a comprehensive audience and community survey and evaluation process titled the Community Research Initiative. The project will lay the groundwork for the museum’s next strategic plan and will inform the future direction of the institution, both strategically and programmatically. The museum will hire a consultant to work with the institution over a 16-month period to craft and administer a set of survey instruments and to evaluate the results. Visual artists—one of the museum’s core constituencies—will participate in the program as observers and surveyors. Following their participation, these selected artists will be invited to offer a creative response to the fact-finding and will work with the museum’s curatorial staff to develop future exhibitions and projects.

Delaware

Delaware Art Museum - Wilmington, DE
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $121,133; Matching Amount: $419,316

Contact: Ms. Gail O'Donnell
Director of External Affairs
(302)571-9590x503; godonnell@delart.org

Project Title: "Community Partners Program at the Delaware Art Museum"
The Delaware Art Museum will use its grant to support a Community Partners Program. The program will strengthen and expand existing partnerships between the Museum and diverse community organizations and schools. These partnerships generate a variety of educational K -12 programs in art and the humanities, provide exhibition space for community-based groups and collectives, and help develop innovative opportunities for creative renewal and lifelong learning. Currently, the Museum’s partnership projects include: ARTSCOPE, ARTSMART, ARTSPEAKS, Multi-Cultural Family Days, Glory of Stories, and Outlooks Exhibitions. A wide range of audiences are impacted by these programs including school children and educators, families, and local artists. Partnerships with various community groups strengthen the Museum’s ability to create an environment in which diverse ethnic communities feel “at home” in the Museum.

Winterthur Museum - Winterthur, DE
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $142,240; Matching Amount: $189,179

Contact: Ms. Linda Eaton
Curator of Textiles
(302)888-4658; leaton@winterthur.org

Project Title: "Winterthur Textile and Needlework Cataloguing Project"
The Winterthur Museum will begin a multiyear project to upgrade documentation (accession and catalog records) of its collection of historic textiles and needlework. Virtual access to the objects will be available via the Web site. With upgraded digital images of the collection online through CONTENTdm, a new digital asset management system, the collection will become more accessible to the public and allow information to be linked to textile research sites on the Web. Currently, most of Winterthur’s textile collection is housed in storage areas not readily accessible to the public. By placing its most important pieces online, it will allow the public to conduct more complex research on textiles and needlework.

District of Columbia

National Building Museum - Washington, DC
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $418,302

Contact: Ms. Bryna Lipper
Vice President, Marketing and Communication
(202)272-2448; blipper@nbm.org

Project Title: "Information and Technology Online Service- Phase Three"
The National Building Museum will complete the third and final phase of its information technology and online services initiative. Funding will allow the museum to purchase the hardware, software, and services needed to offer high-quality interactive and multimedia content on its Web site. The Web expansion will disseminate intellectual capital on the subjects of sustainable design, building, and planning to the museum’s virtual audience. Virtual learning will be available to adults and children alike through online discussion forums, mini-documentaries, and interactive children’s education activities. The projected launch of these programs will coincide with its next green-themed exhibition—“Green Communities”—in October 2008.

National Woman's Party/Sewall-Belmont House and Museum - Washington, DC
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $40,461; Matching Amount: $51,158

Contact: Mary van Balgooy
Museum Specialist Consultant
(301)251-6371; mvanbalgooy@verizon.net

Project Title: "Improving Collections Access"
The National Woman’s Party will use its grant to support projects to improve access to its women’s history collection. More than 500 objects that represent a cross-section of its collection will be cataloged and entered into a collections management software program. To ensure that the project meets professional museum standards, an advisory committee will be consulted. The committee will consist of individuals who specialize in researching and managing women’s history collections, including representatives from the Smithsonian National American History Museum, Women’s Rights National Historical Park, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House. The committee will help the National Woman’s Party identify priorities for cataloging artifacts and will help coordinate efforts to make collections related to women's history accessible to a wider public.

Florida

Coral Springs Museum of Art - Coral Springs, FL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $31,295; Matching Amount: $31,295

Contact: Ms. Barbara O'Keefe
Museum Excutive Director
(954)340-5000; ctbok@coralsprings.org

Project Title: "Coral Springs Museum of Art- APEX (Arts Partner for the Exceptional"
The Coral Springs Museum of Art will initiate an Arts Partnership for the Exceptional (APEX) program. The program will foster an appreciation of the visual arts and encourage the development of the creative process among special needs and disadvantaged adults. Participants will go on a docent-led tour of the current exhibition, followed by a related hands-on art activity in the museum classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to meet a national artist—Jan Kolenda, the museum’s artist-in-residence—and watch her create art with clay. The participants will return to the museum when the exhibit changes; it is hoped that they will become familiar with the arts culture and feel at ease in the museum environment.

University of Florida - Gainesville, FL
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $101,713; Matching Amount: $101,713

Contact: Dr. Rebecca Nagy
Executive Director
(352)392-9826; rnagy@harn.ufl.edu

Project Title: "Digitization of the Harn Museum Collection"
The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art will use its grant to add nearly 2,000 digital images to its collections management system. This project will greatly improve access to collections and make it easier for the staff to answer questions about the collections, plan exhibitions, organize loans, assist educators, and promote events and exhibitions. The project moves the museum a step closer to its goal of providing public access to the Harn collections and publications in digital format. The immediate beneficiaries of the project will be the Harn staff, but it will also benefit faculty and students at the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College, as well as K–12 educators and students throughout Alachua County.

Key West Botanical Garden Society - Key West, FL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $146,814; Matching Amount: $298,809

Contact: Ms. Carolann Sharkey
Chairman and Volunteer
(305)304-3666; sharkeyfun@aol.com

Project Title: "The Outdoor Living Lab Classroom"
The Key West Tropical Forest and Garden will launch a K–5 living science lab—an outdoor, hands-on discovery program designed to align with state benchmarks. A curriculum will also be developed for grades six through eight to serve a wider audience. The project reaches out to the entire school population within a 35-mile radius and helps the garden serve the role of environmental center, as called for in its mission. The program will serve the more than 65 percent at-risk students and many underserved children who live in the surrounding rural areas. The goal is to offer students a safe haven where they can commune with nature and learn to appreciate the natural world that surrounds them.

Zoological Society of Florida - Miami, FL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $103,000; Matching Amount: $110,101

Contact: Mrs. Elisabeth Koncza
Deputy Director and Director of Education
(305)255-5551x121; ekoncza@zsf.org

Project Title: "Queztzal's World"
Miami Metrozoo will create an 18- to 20-minute program called “Quetzal’s World,” which will enhance families’ understanding and appreciation of tropical American wildlife through an educational, interactive theatrical production at the zoo’s 27-acre “Amazon and Beyond” exhibit, opening in 2008. “Quetzal’s World” will be a professionally staged, innovative theatrical presentation that will enhance audiences’ enjoyment of “Amazon and Beyond” and the zoo. Both the exhibit and “Quetzal’s World” will interpret the biodiversity of tropical areas of Central and South America, the countries of origin of many members of the zoo’s predominantly Hispanic community. “Quetzal’s World” will be performed twice daily, targeting children 8–12 years old and their families, and third to sixth grade students and their teachers.

Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa - Tampa, FL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $149,736; Matching Amount: $149,805

Contact: Mr. David Conley
Vice Prsident of Exhibits
(813)987-6340; DConley@mosi.org

Project Title: "Investigating the Amazing You Through Technologies"
The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) will install “Amazing You,” a series of innovative technology exhibits. With help from partners Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, WestCoast Brace and Limb, Laerdal Medical Corporation, Surgical Science, Inc., and the MOSI Health Advisory Board, the museum will design and fabricate exhibits in seven areas: robotic surgery, laparoscopic simulator, myo-electric prostheses, surgery on demand, patient simulators, heart microphone, and screenings. Each exhibit will be interactive and will give the public an opportunity to learn and explore current medical technologies and interact with medical and health professional volunteers. Through exhibit questions, visitors will be empowered to become successful advocates for their own health.

Georgia

Center for Puppetry Arts - Atlanta, GA
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $19,780; Matching Amount: $19,827

Contact: Mr. Jeremy Underwood
Curator of Exhibits
(404)881-5128; jeremyunderwood@puppert.org

Project Title: "Inventory of the Center for Puppetry Arts' Permanent Collection"
The Center for Puppetry Arts museum program will conduct a comprehensive inventory of its permanent collection of nearly 2,000 puppets and related performance objects of historical, cultural, religious, sociopolitical, and artistic significance from countries around the world. This project will entail a wall-to-wall inventory to examine the location and records for each object in the permanent collection. This information will be used to reconcile records in the collection management database system. The project will result in a more accurate and complete catalog of the collection and will enable staff to develop plans for the reorganization of museum storage and exhibition spaces in preparation for the opening of two major exhibitions and an anticipated move to a new facility.

Hawaii

Laupahoehoe Train Museum - Laupahoehoe, HI
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $125,400; Matching Amount: $325,800

Contact: Dr. Douglas Connors
Treasurer
(808)962-6300; dougconnors@yahoo.com

Project Title: "Establishment of livable communities through Laupahoehoe Train Museum"
The Laupahoehoe Train Museum will use its grant to strengthen its educational outreach and community awareness through projects developed around the theme, “Highlighting of Hawaii’s Railroads.” The Museum will hire a project coordinator to focus on programming, which will emphasize the Island’s railroad, plantation and cultural history. The Museum intends to publish a short informational DVD and a book detailing the history of the Hawaii Consolidated Railroad and the creation of the Museum.

Waioli Corporation - Lihue, HI
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $52,783; Matching Amount: $52,783

Contact: Robert Schleck
Director
(808)245-3202; grovefarm@hawaiiantel.net

Project Title: "Digital Equipment and Archiving Project"
Waioli Corporation will begin a digital equipment and archiving project to digitize all its museums’ historical records, which include missionary, sugar plantation, Wilcox family, Kauai Public Health nursing, and Hawaiian government documents. Waioli will purchase a turnkey digital imaging system that can capture the details of the collection, as well as the necessary hardware and software to support the digital archive. Additional computer file servers will support an ongoing digital archive and a computer workstation to access and process oversized files for researchers and staff. Digitization of the collection will facilitate the dissemination of the historic collection to the public.

Illinois

Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $148,722; Matching Amount: $694,163

Contact: Ms. Agnes Kovacs
Mnager-School, Group, and Teacher Programs
(708)688-8223; agkovacs@brookfieldzoo.org

Project Title: "Levels of Engagement"
The Chicago Zoological Society will introduce Levels of Engagement, a learner-centered education framework for achieving conservation outcomes and developing conservation leaders. The society recognizes the need for improved science education, and Levels of Engagement provides professional development opportunities for Chicago Public School teachers through programs that range from curriculum units and one-day workshops to science courses with credit toward endorsement and a master’s degree in science content and process. The program targets all educators in the Chicago Public School system to improve teachers’ competency and confidence in teaching science. The program will support the society’s mission to inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature.

University Museum, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, IL
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $149,962; Matching Amount: $237,369

Contact: Ms. Lorilee Huffman
Curator of Collections
(618)453-5388; curator@siu.edu

Project Title: "21st Century Collection Management Iniatitive: Implementing Collection Standards"
The University Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, will implement the collection standards phase of its 21st century collection management initiative. In 2006, the museum completed a seven-year effort to enter manual records for its objects. The assessment of these records identified the need to address database standardization and record integration to ensure that computerized records are accurate. This important step must be completed before the museum can proceed with digital imaging, which will allow the collection to be shared online. To provide a foundation for digitization, the staff will work with digitization focus groups to help develop three model educational online collection portfolios and to obtain input for writing digitization and collection plans.

Orpheum Children's Science Museum - Champaign, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $88,258; Matching Amount: $92,087

Contact: Ms. Carolyn Knepp
Executive Director
(217)352-5895; orpheumkids@gmail.com

Project Title: "Orpheum Children's Science Museum LEAP for the Kids"
The Orpheum Children’s Science Museum will implement a Learning Environment Awareness Program (LEAP) geared toward middle-school-aged children and administered by the museum’s education department. It will begin by adapting preexisting curricula to craft a series of programs—including hands-on activities and assessment measures—and will continue with the development of an infrastructure to sustain and expand LEAP. The project will allow the museum to expand outreach to a wider age group, building on its focus on environmental education and aligning with its mission to actively engage children of all ages with the science of the world around them.

Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, IL
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $182,329

Contact: Mr. Samuel Quigley
VP for Collection Management, Imaging , & IT
(312)443-4772; squigley@artic.edu

Project Title: "Rapid Imaging Project"
The Art Institute of Chicago will continue its Rapid Imaging Project (RIP), an important component of a massive digitization program recently initiated at the museum that allows for the rapid production of images for digital publication. This phase of the project focuses on approximately 31,500 small to moderate-sized two-dimensional art objects. The RIP will make images of the objects accessible to the public on the museum’s Web site, including works that are seldom, if ever, displayed because of their light sensitivity or fragility. This effort will create a vast resource of images, which can be used in print publications; digital slide presentations; interpretative material for student, teacher, and family programs; and visitor information kiosks located throughout the museum.

Shedd Aquarium Society - Chicago, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $136,302; Matching Amount: $136,302

Contact: Mr. Daryl Rizzo
Director of Floor Programs
(312)692-3170; drizzo@sheddaquarium.org

Project Title: "From Knowing to Feeling: A New Model for Interpretive Staff Professional Development and Program Design"
The Shedd Aquarium will implement a new model of interpretive engagement in its galleries and exhibits. This model (currently in use at the St. Louis Zoo) goes beyond the traditional delivery of scientific information in gallery education programs by employing the concept of affective transformation, a theory of engagement that asserts that specific kinds of emotional experiences with nature are necessary to cause a significant shift in attitudes about conservation. Affective transformation triggers will be incorporated into programming in the Oceanarium—the aquarium’s marine mammal pavilion—to elicit an emotional connection with animals. The goal is to touch hearts, minds, and souls to inspire visitors to make a difference.

National Museum of Mexican Art - Chicago, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $74,000; Matching Amount: $90,150

Contact: Cesareo Moreno
Visual Arts Director, Curator
(312)433-3915; cesareo@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org

Project Title: "The African Presence on Tour"
The National Museum of Mexican Art will bring two exhibitions—“The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present” and “Who Are We Now? Roots, Resistance, and Recognition”—and a traveling civic dialogue series to three institutions: the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Museo Alameda in San Antonio, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, DC. Funding will support visits to each of the host institutions to install, implement, and remove the exhibits, as well as a two-day culminating event in Chicago. The project will foster civic dialogue between Mexicans and African-Americans while educating the general public about an important yet overlooked aspect of history.

Chicago Historical Society - Chicago, IL
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $246,726

Contact: Kathleen Plourd
Andrew W. Mellon Director of Collections
3127992060; plourd@chicagohistory.org

Project Title: "Preservation of the Hedrich-Blessing Photography Collection, 1970-79"
The Chicago History Museum will use its grant to process, preserve, and make accessible a major collection of architectural photos taken from 1970 through 1979 by the Chicago-based firm Hedrich-Blessing Photography. Architecture is recognized as an important aspect of the city’s history and is an enduring topic of local, national, and international interest for scholars, tourists, and the general public. The Hedrich-Blessing collection documents the transformation of Chicago’s built environment. The images will be cataloged and made available electronically, and rehoused for better preservation and access. The project will enable the collection to be used more effectively by a wide variety of individuals and institutions.

Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Horticultural Society - Glencoe, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $2,035,391

Contact: Ms. Patsy Benveniste
Vice President, Community Programs
(847)835-6945; pbenveni@chicagobotanic.org

Project Title: "Windy City Harvest"
The Chicago Botanic Garden will use its grant to launch Windy City Harvest, a unique social enterprise and partnership with two Chicago nonprofit institutions: North Lawndale Employment Network and the Chicago Christian Industrial League. The enterprise is planned for a 15-acre site in North Lawndale, one of Chicago’s most underutilized neighborhoods. The primary goal is to develop a center for training ex-offenders and hard-to-employ persons for living-wage jobs through a transitional jobs program. Other goals include producing and selling locally grown organic produce at a variety of markets and ultimately establishing a “green” campus for local residents. Participants will establish employment histories and acquire skills and experiences that will translate into employment opportunities in the food service, horticulture, and floriculture industries.

Morton Arboretum - Lisle, IL
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $222,034

Contact: Dr. Andrew Hipp
Plant Systematist & Herbarium Curator
(630)725-2094; ahipp@mortonarb.org

Project Title: "Integrated Plant Collections Database"
To improve the usefulness of its living plant and herbarium collections, the Morton Arboretum is developing an integrated plant collections database. The database will link all plants data in the two collections, improving the accuracy of plant names and establishing institutional consistency in plant nomenclature. Furthermore, the database will create a unified framework in which to store all current and future data related to the arboretum’s plant collections, including links between data tables, tools for curating the plant collections, and links to images and other resources. The project will include staff and volunteer training to use the database. Enhanced information on the arboretum’s living plant and herbarium collections will be available to a wide audience through a public Web interface.

Early American Museum - Mahomet, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $116,500; Matching Amount: $133,984

Contact: Dr. Barbara Oehlschlaeger-Garvey
Museum Curator of History
(217)586-2612; bgarvey@ccfpd.org

Project Title: "Abraham Lincoln: Large Presence in a Small Town"
The Early American Museum will create an exhibit entitled “Abraham Lincoln: Large Presence in a Small Town.” The exhibit, which will be displayed at the Champaign County courthouse in Urbana, will consist of an interactive, theatrical depiction of a courtroom as it would have appeared when Abraham Lincoln practiced law on the 8th Judicial Circuit from 1841 to 1859. Lincoln tried civil and criminal cases, and even served as a judge. Figures and holographic projections of Lincoln and his Champaign County contemporaries—along with artifacts, archival material, audio effects, and a “you be the jury” scenario—will engage visitors. Interpretive panels—including photographs, maps, and text—will place Lincoln in the context of the county, the courthouse, and legal history.

Children’s Discovery Museum, Town of Normal - Normal, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $147,267; Matching Amount: $158,505

Contact: Ms. Shari Buckellew
Museum Manager
(309)433-3447; sbuckellew@normal.org

Project Title: "Imagination Theatre Project"
The Children’s Discovery Museum will use its grant to design, construct, and install “Imagination Theatre.” The exhibit will include a performing arts stage, puppet theater, and operable technical board for dramatic play experiences. Visitors will be given drama and cultural story starters that incorporate thematic cultural or historical characters, and there will be storytelling and science experiments to broaden the impact of the exhibit beyond the arts. Programming will include arts-based day and summer camps, in-depth workshops, family fun events, and monthly hands-on classes. The exhibit aims to enhance imagination and creativity, cognitive development, and basic reading and writing skills. The experience will provide children with enhanced self-awareness, self-esteem, and a better understanding of themselves and others.

Discovery Center Museum - Rockford, IL
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $135,250; Matching Amount: $249,479

Contact: Mrs. Sarah Wolf
Executive Director
(815)963-6769; sarahw@discoverycentermuseum.org

Project Title: "Fit Families Initiative"
Discovery Center Museum will use its grant to support the Fit Families initiative, a partnership with the YMCA, Head Start, University of Illinois School of Medicine, the 21st Century After School Achievement Program, and the Rockford Public Library System to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to combat childhood obesity. The initiative is an opportunity for families and students to adopt healthy behaviors, and the museum hopes to reach a diverse audience, focusing on low-income households. The initiative will offer a series of healthy living education programs that are free, convenient, and presented in settings that families already visit and trust, such as schools and libraries.

Indiana

Indiana Historical Society - Indianapolis, IN
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $74,950; Matching Amount: $95,519

Contact: Dr. Stephen Cox
Executive Vice President
(317)232-1876; scox@indianahistory.org

Project Title: "The Indiana History Train"
The Indiana Historical Society will use its grant to support the Indiana History Train, a partnership between the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Rail Road Company. This mobile museum consists of three refurbished 65-foot Amtrak freight cars that will visit Indiana communities. It features “Faces of the Civil War,” an interpretive exhibit based on the society's Indiana Civil War collection and accompanying programming and activities. The Indiana History Train makes the society’s collections accessible to people all across the state, including geographically isolated or underserved audiences. The History Train combines the iconic allure and nostalgia of the American railroad with interpretive lessons of Indiana's rich past, allowing people to "come aboard" and discover the enduring meanings of their shared history.

Iowa

James & Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts, City of Cedar Falls - Cedar Falls, IA
Grant category: Building Institutional Capacity
Award Amount: $9,287; Matching Amount: $12,642

Contact: Ms. Mary Huber
Director
(319)268-5500; mary.huber@cfu.net

Project Title: "Children's Book Illustration Gallery Phase I:"
The Cultural Division of the City of Cedar Falls, home of Hearst Center for the Arts, will use its grant to help the Hearst Center staff prepare for a large expansion of the building space that is expected in 2011. The new building will feature a children’s book illustration gallery, larger collection storage and management areas, and a studio learning lab. This project will improve programs and operational procedures, and will define goals and objectives for new illustration exhibits and events. Staff members will attend museum conferences and identify and visit larger organizations to study their illustration collections, review administrative structures and practices, and evaluate and analyze events and exhibitions in order to identify and adapt best practices for the center and its audience.

National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library - Cedar Rapids, IA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $116,699; Matching Amount: $117,414

Contact: David Muhlena
Library Director
(319)362-8500; dmuhlena@ncsml.org

Project Title: "Recording Voices and Documenting Memories of Czech- and Slovak -Americans"
The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library will use its grant to support Recording Voices and Documenting Memories of Czech- and Slovak-Americans, a national oral history project designed to capture the personal stories, family sagas, and community history of 20th century political émigrés and descendents of early immigrants. Outcomes of the project will include 150 interviews, as well as photographs, community histories, archival materials, and a Web site that features biographies, indexed interviews, and photographs. The primary source materials will be used to develop a permanent exhibition about the Czech- and Slovak-American immigrant experience. The project will serve a national audience, engaging them in preserving their own history and culture and retaining personal and family stories to provide lessons for the future.

Iowa Children's Museum - Coralville, IA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $98,881; Matching Amount: $123,369

Contact: Ms. Deb Dunkhase
Executive Director
(319)625-6255x210; ddunkhase@theicm.org

Project Title: "Take Flight! An Exhibit About the Science of Aviation"
The Iowa Children’s Museum will use its grant to build an interactive exhibit about the science of aviation. The program is designed to improve the scientific literacy of children 8–12 years old and allow all visitors to participate in experiential learning that is also fun. “Take Flight!” will allow the community to join scientists and explorers, past and present, as they examine flight in both natural and man-made worlds. Visitors will explore Newton’s laws of physics and the fundamental concepts of force as they design, construct, and test model airplanes; investigate the aerodynamics of gliders, helicopters, and birds; and experience flying a plane through the use of flight simulators.

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum - Decorah, IA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $122,934; Matching Amount: $122,938

Contact: Tova Brandt
Curator
(563)382-9681x238; tbrandt@vesterheim.org

Project Title: "Engaging a National Audience Through Expanded Collections Access"
The Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum will use its grant to invest in technology and staffing resources to engage a national audience by creating wider access to the museum’s collections. The museum will hire a collections access manager to facilitate onsite access for researchers, students, artists, and other visitors. An expanded computer network will provide the capacity for visitors, staff, and educational program participants to integrate collections access into the museum experience. Thousands of artifacts will be digitally photographed for research purposes, and three virtual galleries will launch on the Web site, including rosemaling (Norwegian decorative painting), weaving, and woodworking exhibits. The collections-based Web content will allow Vesterheim to transcend the barriers of geography and share its collection with a national and international audience.

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Dubuque County Historical Society -
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $142,166; Matching Amount: $143,546

Contact: Mr. Jerry Enzler
Executive Director
(563)557-9545; jenzler@rivermuseum.com

Project Title: "Rivers to the Sea"
The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium will develop the “Rivers to the Sea” exhibit and education program. Working in partnership with the J. L. Scott Marine Education Center and other collaborators, the project will increase awareness of the role of water in the lives of visitors and the interconnectedness of streams and rivers and the oceans to which they flow. The museum has embarked on a multiyear program to address this topic through exhibits, programs, and outreach activities. The museum has conducted audience assessments and has worked with scholars, partnering museums and aquaria, and consultants.

Kansas

Fort Larned National Historic Site - Larned, KS
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $129,238; Matching Amount: $174,240

Contact: Ms. Afton Eye
Museum Curator
(620)285-2054; curator@santafetrailcenter.org

Project Title: "Those Who Saw: Sharing the Experiences of Converging Cultures Along the Santa Fe Trail and the Development of Pawnee County"
The Fort Larned Historical Society, Inc., in partnership with Pawnee County, will implement a multifaceted digitization project: Those Who Saw: Sharing the Experiences of Converging Cultures Along the Santa Fe Trail and the Development of Pawnee County. The project will bring together historical photographs and documents from both organizations. It will include organizing and training staff, digitizing catalog records, processing and creating descriptive aids for backlogged and new archival donations, selecting and digitizing 4,000–5,000 historic photographs and documents, designing a Web portal, and creating metadata for scanned files. The project will increase the society’s ability to grow and serve its community by improving intellectual control, and will increase public awareness and access to the collections.

Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $149,751; Matching Amount: $149,755

Contact: Ms. Saralyn Hardy
Director
(785)864-4710; jenneu@ku.edu

Project Title: "Engaging 21st Century Learners: A Multidisciplinary Art-Museum Model"
The Spencer Museum of Art (SMA) will develop a collaborative, art-museum-centered communication model designed to address the multiple learning styles of its audience. The goals of the initiative are to introduce actual and virtual technologies to connect with new audiences, to collaborate with diverse community participants, to create multiple model teaching and learning styles across disciplines, to use two environment-themed art/science SMA exhibitions for model content areas, to train Kansas University preservice teachers to incorporate these techniques into future curricula, and to develop a multiformat teacher training resource. The project will help develop new relationships and audiences, break down stereotypes about art museums, and create a lasting impact by training teachers to bring the next generation of learners to the museum.

Franklin County Historical Society - Ottawa, KS
Grant category: Collections Stewardship
Award Amount: $60,750; Matching Amount: $83,084

Contact: Ms. Deborah Barker
Director
(785)242-1232; history@old.depot.museum

Project Title: "Collection Cataloguing Completion"
The Franklin County Historical Society will catalog 7,000 items from its collection, which includes manuscripts and archives, architectural details, furniture, equipment and tools, textiles, ephemera and memorabilia, photographs, and publications. The collection is used for historical research, exhibition development, educational programming, community outreach, and genealogy inquiries. To assist with cataloging, a computer and scanner will be acquired, and staff will receive training on the cataloging software. Throughout the process, a preliminary assessment of the conservation needs of each item will be entered into the file, allowing the staff to identify and prioritize the items most in need of conservation attention.

Salina Art Center - Salina, KS
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $281,390

Contact: Ms. Heather Ferrell
Associate Curator of Art
(785)827-1431; hferrell@salinaartcenter.org

Project Title: "Artist Initiative"
The Salina Art Center will use its grant to support Artist Initiative, an integrated cycle of programs designed to provide the community and surrounding region with extended opportunities for in-depth engagement with artists. Artist Initiative was envisioned, developed, and implemented as a dynamic institutional advancement that serves the center’s mission to create exchanges among art, artists, and audiences that reveal life. The three components of the program are Artist in Residence, which brings three artists each year for a 6- to 12-week residence; Artist Exchange, a mentoring program for local and regional artists to teach and learn together; and Artist at Work, a series of professional development opportunities for local and regional artists, facilitated by visiting artists.

Louisiana

Louisiana Children's Museum - New Orleans, LA
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $150,000; Matching Amount: $308,476

Contact: Mrs. Katie Rafferty
Education/Exhibit Director
(504)586-0725; krafferty@lcm.org

Project Title: "New Orleans: Proud to Call It Home"
The Louisiana Children’s Museum will use its grant to support an interactive exhibit and accompanying programming entitled “New Orleans: Proud to Call It Home.” The project incorporates elements of urban planning, architectural design, and construction. It includes a permanent exhibit, an outreach exhibit, and two dedicated staff members. The exhibit will offer open-ended experiences to teach families about the vocabulary of architecture, engineering, green design, and weather and climate. All participants will learn about current tenets of building “smarter, stronger, safer and greener” with the vast amount of rebuilding throughout the city. A new Learning Pathway curriculum that aligns with Louisiana state grade level expectations, complementary programs, and a take-home activity booklet will further expand the content.

Maine

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens - Boothbay, ME
Grant category: Building Institutional Capacity
Award Amount: $149,550; Matching Amount: $211,603

Contact: Ms. Maureen Heffernan
Executive Director
(207)633-6433x102; mheffernan@mainegardens.org

Project Title: "Building Capacity for the Curation of Living Plant Collections at the Coast Maine Botanical Gardens"
The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG) will use its grant to hire a curator of living plants and to consolidate collections management and conservation under this new curatorship. Additionally, external advisors and a project evaluator will work to purchase the equipment needed for plant surveys and mapping. CMBG recognizes that the creation of a curatorial department, headed by a full-time curator, is an institutional investment that will significantly extend the garden’s capacity to maintain and grow its living plants collection. This investment will also extend CMBG’s capacity for horticultural research and will ensure an expert source of content information for educational programs in plant science, horticulture, and ornamental gardening.

L. C. Bates Museum, Good Will–Hinckley Homes - Hinckley, ME
Grant category: Engaging Communities
Award Amount: $46,053; Matching Amount: $52,977

Contact: Ms. Deborah Staber
Director/Curator
(207)238-4250; lcbates@gwh.org

Project Title: "Enhancing Science Education Through Co