21st Century Museum Professionals

September 2009 Grant Announcement

California  |  District of Columbia  |  Tennessee  |  Utah

California

University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science - Berkeley, CA
Award Amount: $313,843; Grantee Match: $313,843

Contact: Ms. Catherine Halversen
Project Director
510-642-5008; chalver@berkeley.edu

Project Title: "Museum Educators Reflecting on Practice"
The Lawrence Hall of Science will implement a two-phased professional development program for science museum educators to discuss, reflect on, and practice the knowledge and skills underlying their work to support scientific literacy among museum patrons. The project will test the “Reflecting on Practice Curriculum” and the “Leading Reflection Program,” both designed to engage practitioners in extensive ongoing study of science pedagogy in museums, and reflective video techniques and tools to observe practice. After building the capacity of mid-career educators in reflective techniques and coaching skills, these educators will implement the curriculum at their own sites to provide professional development for early career educators, directly impacting six museums and over 45 educators at various stages of career development. The program and curriculum will be available to the field at the conclusion of the project.

University of California, Davis Arboretum - Davis, CA
Award Amount: $301,583; Grantee Match: $380,670

Contact: Dr. Steven Greco
Associate Professor
530-754-5983; segreco@ucdavis.edu

Project Title: "GIS Training for Museum Professionals"
The UC Davis Arboretum will develop, test, implement, and evaluate a multi-faceted geographic information system (GIS) training program for museum professionals in collaboration with more than 160 gardens and zoos participating in the Alliance for Public Gardens GIS. Training in the use of GIS will allow a broad mix of staff to more efficiently plan, track, manage, and report on their projects and responsibilities. This system will facilitate curation, conservation, facilities management, education, and research by allowing easy access, manipulation, and flexible display of information about living collections, exhibits, and site features. Project activities will include an online guide to GIS for beginners, training workshops, training videos and podcasts, a training Web site, and a social networking site for participants. A community volunteer training program will also be piloted that can be replicated in botanical gardens and zoos across the nation.

California Indian Museum and Cultural Center - Santa Rosa, CA
Award Amount: $119,050; Grantee Match: $121,848

Contact: Ms. Nicole Lim
Executive Director
707-579-3004; nikkimyers@aol.com

Project Title: "Protecting Our Legacies"
The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center will partner with the National Indian Justice Center to create and pilot an online training program to build the consultation and coordination skills of tribal museum professionals. Because tribal museums operate under the auspices of sovereign tribal nations, skills in government-to-government communications with other entities are essential for effective planning, management and operations. Project leaders will work with an advisory committee to identify best practices in tribal consultation to guide the development of the online training program: “Protecting Our Legacies: Liaison Skills for Tribal Museum Personnel.” The course will be piloted at two test sites in California with extensive evaluation designed to validate its effectiveness. The course will then be disseminated statewide, potentially providing over 30 tribal museums with the essential skills necessary for consultation and coordination protocols that consider local resources and concerns.

District of Columbia

Association of Children's Museums - Washington, DC
Award Amount: $143,833; Grantee Match: $158,938

Contact: Ms. Janet Elman
Executive Director
202-898-1080 ext. 14; jelman@childrensmuseums.org

Project Title: "Key Indicators and Ratios Benchmarking Calculator"
The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) will develop a benchmarking calculator, a user-friendly tool for children’s museums professionals to produce on-demand reports of key performance indicators and ratios. ACM will work with an advisory committee and other partners to develop the calculator, train children’s museum professionals on its use in examining data to measure institutional performance against comparative groups of museums, and evaluate its impact on the field. The tool will initially be available to 318 children’s museums, and the project will serve as a prototype for a larger national effort to standardize data collection and reporting across the museum field. The detailed data analysis and interpretation provided by the benchmarking calculator will equip museum professionals to strengthen operations with a goal of building capacity and achieving institutional sustainability.

National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers - Washington, DC
Award Amount: $260,498; Grantee Match: $287,568

Contact: Ms. Bambi Kraus
Executive Director
202-628-8476; bambi@nathpo.org

Project Title: "National Native Museum Training Program"
The National Native Museum Training Program will provide a variety of training and leadership opportunities for tribal museum professionals. The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) will develop and present two technical skills workshops on exhibition development and collections management; two director’s seminars on sustainability and leadership; and six online museum skills classes on the care of photographs, museum store management, pesticides and contaminants, collections databases, museum security, and establishing a tribal museum. Following the completion of the training offerings, NATHPO will publish a compendium of case studies highlighting successful tribal museum practices gleaned from the workshops and seminars. The project will impact the knowledge and skills of both current and future tribal museum professionals.

Tennessee

American Association for State And Local History - Nashville, TN
Award Amount: $407,810; Grantee Match: $412,373

Contact: Ms. Cherie Cook
Senior Program Manager
615-320-3203; cook@aaslh.org

Project Title: "ExCEL: Expanding Capacity, Excellence, and Learning in America's History Organizations"
Building on the creation and piloting of a “standards toolkit” for history museums, the American Association for State and Local History will launch a cohesive national program to implement the achievement of best practices in the areas of mission, vision, and governance; audience; interpretation; stewardship of collections; stewardship of historic structures and landscapes; and management. “ExCEL: Expanding Capacity, Excellence, and Leadership in History Organizations” will target small and mid-sized historical societies and museums with tools and resources to improve their abilities to care for collections and provide leadership within communities. Grant funding will support the creation of an online standards community and clearinghouse of resources, as well as webinars supporting the six standards areas. The project will also create curricula for state museum associations and other field service providers to support onsite courses and train-the-trainer sessions for regional museums.

Utah

Utah Humanities Council - Salt Lake City, UT
Award Amount: $233,383; Grantee Match: $240,062

Contact: Mr. Brandon Johnson
Director of Grants and Historical Programs
801-359-9670; johnson@utahhumanities.org

Project Title: "Museum Interpretation Initiative: Telling Our Stories"
The Utah Humanities Council will partner with the Utah Museums Association (UMA) to transform the state’s small and remote museums from isolated repositories of objects on display to venues that tell the story of their unique collections. “Museum Interpretation Initiative: Telling Our Stories” will improve the curatorial, interpretive, and educational abilities of museum professionals through training opportunities focused on historical research, exhibit development, and docent practices. An estimated 475 museum professionals will be reached through presentations at the UMA’s annual conferences over a three-year period, and a series of three additional workshops will provide intensive training for 100 professionals from 50 museums. The project hopes to build a lasting network of cohorts through multiple opportunities for sharing skills and ideas.