Circuit Rider program through the Connecting to New York's Collections

Over 50 organizations have requested a 

Circuit Rider site visit - 

Have you requested yours yet?

 

Sign Up for a Face-to-Face Assessment of Your Site!  The Circuit Rider program is currently being offered through the Connecting to New York's Collections administered by Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN), which is funded through a generous 'Connecting to Collections' Implementation Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Fall of 2014.

  

What is a Circuit Rider?  Historically, the term referred to the clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations. Our "Circuit Riders" are a team of statewide independent trained professionals in the field of collection management and conservation who will come to you! 

 

How does the CR program benefit my Institution?

The Circuit Rider program is tailored to meet the needs of individual sites and offers an opportunity for site staff and board members to meet personally with the Circuit Rider in an informal, supportive, and consultative setting. Circuit Riders help small collecting institutions develop preliminary strategies for improving collections care by identifying and prioritizing actions you can practicably take to implement improvements. The program will also help provide templates and identify resources you can use to draft basic collections policies, forms, and procedures for adoption and implementation. Information obtained from the Circuit Rider visit may be used as support materials for the American Association of Museum's Collections Stewardship Assessment Program (CSMAP), GHHN's Conservation Treatment Grant,  the Heritage Preservation's Conservation Assessment Program (CAP), and the Museum Assessment Program (CAP). 

  

How does it work?  Contact GHHN to request a site visit. The Circuit Rider will come to your organization for a half-day site visit focusing on a topic that is determined in advance. The site visits are available to historic house museums, historic sites, historical societies, libraries, and archives - any site that has collections. Circuit Riders will discuss various areas of stewardship with you, help identify your specific collections issues, suggest and prioritize basic steps to improve care of your collections, review your existing documents and forms, provide you with templates, and suggest site-specific resources. You can request multiple site visits as long as each visit is on a different collection issue. Best of all, the program is completely FREE to participants until October 2014.

 

 

Sign up today -- It's FREE!

 

Interested? Apply here: http://www.c2cnys.org/circuit-rider-program.html 

or contact us at 914.592.6726 or at director@greaterhudson.org

The Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICE) is now accepting applications

The Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICE) 

Are you a cultural professional looking to become a catalyst in your institution? The Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICE) is now accepting applications for its fourth annual conference held at the Pocantico Center, north of New York City, June 2-5, 2013. The award-winning Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship is an immersion program for mid-career museum, preservation, historic site and other arts and culture professionals designed to introduce business applications and principles of entrepreneurial thinking with the goal of expanding vision and leadership skills. The institute has been recognized with an award of merit by Museumwise for its potential to create great expansion in public engagement through the resources it provides to museum professionals. The Cooperstown Graduate Program, Museumwise: The Museum Association of New York and the New York State Historical Association co-sponsor ICE. This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Please forward to your museum and cultural colleagues this link to the 2013 conference application, which is due by March 1. Any questions can be directed to the ICE Coordinator at icecoord@oneonta.edu

Grants for Museum Advancement

Grants for Museum Advancement
Sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts,
administered by Museumwise: The Museum Association of New York 

The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has provided $78,605 for the FY 2013 Grants for Museum Advancement program. These funds will be portioned between January and June and July and December in accordance with previous year's application percentages. We anticipate awarding approximately 8 Get Ready; 14 Get Set; and 40 Go! grants in 2013. 

For more Info. Click Here

Dyson Foundation buys Children's Museum building for $1.4 million

The Poughkeepsie Journal reported that The Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum sold its North Water Street property to the Dyson Foundation for $1.4 million and has entered into a long-term lease that enables the family-centered nonprofit to maintain its base of operations at the waterfront location.

Leaders from the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum and the Dyson Foundation described the transaction as an innovative partnership that will benefit the Children’s Museum while helping to secure the stability of the Poughkeepsie waterfront, which is facing increased development pressures following the success of the Walkway Over the Hudson and new projects slated for the area. All proceeds from the sale went to retire the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum’s entire mortgage debt on the property.

“We believe this partnership is in the best interests of the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum, our many members, and the nearly 60,000 children and parents that are enlightened by our work each year,” said Tracy Cass MacKenzie, President of the Museum’s Board of Directors. “We anticipate continuing operations at the 75 North Water Street property for a long time.”

Greater Hudson Heritage Network: Executive Director Job

JOB OPENING: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREATER HUDSON HERITAGE NETWORK

THE ORGANIZATION: Greater Hudson Heritage Network, a 501(c)3 non-profit membership organization, provides services to the museum and cultural heritage community designed to advance professional standards and practices, build the capacity of organizations to meet their missions, and create a network of effective, skilled stewards of regional history and culture. GHHN provides regional and statewide programming in partnership with private foundations, state and federal agencies. GHHN is committed to management through best practices and highest ethical standards. Greater Hudson is located in Westchester County, NY, and has an annual operating budget of c. $300,000.

POSITION OPENING: The Executive Director provides leadership, vision and direction for the organization. S/he reports to and works with the Board of Trustees to articulate strategies that will advance GHHN’s mission, growth and financial stability. The Executive Director implements policy approved by the Board, manages operations and programs, and supervises a small staff. S/he represents Greater Hudson Heritage Network as an advocate for museum professionalism to funders, members, participants, partners and associated constituents, and fosters partnerships that support innovative organizational growth and financial sustainability for the field.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Candidate should have:

-- 4-5 years successful non-profit management experience with proven leadership in organizational development, strategic thinking, and fund raising

-- Familiarity with the issues facing the museum and history field in the Hudson Valley National Heritage Area, in New York State, and nationally

-- Skills to recognize and build on marketing and communications trends, partnerships and leadership opportunities in the field

-- Strong connections with individual professionals, historical and cultural organizations in the region

-- A proven ability to maintain existing and to establish new relationships with individuals, members, funding agencies, elected officials and collaborative partner organizations

-- The ability to integrate evolving technologies and communication advances into daily operations in ways that enhance the capabilities of the organization

--Exceptional oral and written communication skills

-- B.A. in a relevant field required, Master’s degree preferred

This is a full-time position with limited benefits. Regular work week with occasional weekends or evenings as required. Some travel is required for regional conferences, workshops, etc.

Salary and benefits: $35,000-$40,000
Position to be filled by September 1st, 2010

Please respond by e-mailing a letter of interest and an attached resume to the GHHN Search Committee at info@greaterhudson.org, no later than June 1st, 2010.

Greater Hudson Heritage Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Historical Society to Open a Children’s Museum

The NY Times reported about one history museum's new approach and plan to engage audiences and increase visitation. Great example of new ways of thinking and an entrepreneurial approach. As the article relates:

When thinking of ways to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon, studying history is not high on the list for most families. Now, in a bid to make history more vivid, alluring and accessible for the Wii generation, an interactive “museum within a museum,” focusing on the lives of young New Yorkers, will open in November 2011 on the lower level of the New-York Historical Society, museum officials said.

The DiMenna Children’s History Museum, as it will be known, is part of the $60 million renovation of the historical society building on Central Park West, Louise Mirrer, the president and chief executive officer of the museum, said this week. The roughly 4,000-square-foot museum has been designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture & Design Partnership with a $5 million donation from Joseph A. and Diana DiMenna.

The new museum will focus on the stories of children, from famous figures like Alexander Hamilton, who came to New York as a teenage orphan to attend college, to the boys and girls who hawked newspapers on city streets 100 years ago.

“In schools, history tends to be about figures once they have matured and become important,” Ms. Mirrer said. “But if we want history to become alive for children, what better way to teach them than showing them children from other periods? We want to be on the permanent agenda of children and families in New York.” Read more here.

Museums and Lawmakers Mull Sales of Art

The NY Times reported on a recent meeting around recent legislation barring museums from selling off parts of its collection to pay the bills. The recession has forced some institutions to do that — or at least consider it — and members of the New York State Legislature have been trying to draft a bill that would regulate such deaccessioning of artworks and artifacts.

On Thursday representatives from museums in the New York City area came together to debate the issue in a State Assembly Hearing Room in Lower Manhattan — a round-table meeting billed as the first discussion of deaccessioning among state policymakers and museum professionals in a public setting.

Specifically, the meeting was called to give those professionals a chance to weigh in on, and ask questions about, proposed legislation drafted by Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky — in collaboration with the New York State Board of Regents and the Museum Association of New York — that would prohibit museums from using proceeds from the sale of artworks “for traditional and customary operating expenses” (as opposed to new acquisitions, a purpose that is generally considered acceptable).

Introduced to the assembly in March, the bill was prompted by concern that the recession is pushing museums to consider extreme measures. The discussion has noted a number of recent cases, including the National Academy Museum’s sale in 2008 of two Hudson River School paintings to cover operating costs and Brandeis University’s announcement last year that it would close its Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Mass., and sell the collection because of its declining endowment, a plan that the university has since reconsidered. Read more here.

Fall Roundtable "De-Accessioning and Museums"

Long Island Museum Association Fall Roundtable "De-Accessioning and Museums"
Date: September 21st, 2009

Registration begins at 9:00 and sessions will run until 12:30. The roundtable is free for LIMA members and costs $15 for non-members. To register, send your name, institution, address, telephone number and email address to LIMA, P.O. Box 1063, Huntington, NY 11743 or call (516) 224-5840 no later than Sept. 8, 2009. Cheques should be made payable to LIMA.

Location: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Berkner Hall (Bldg. # 488), Columbia Street Upton, NY

GREATER HUDSON HERITAGE NETWORK'S Annual Meeting

Save The Date
Friday, October 2, 2009

Annual Meeting and Luncheon
Historic Sites Futures Forum
Awards Towards Excellence and Cultural Heritage Award Presentations
At Overlook LodgeBear Mountain, NY10 am – 3 pm

Contact Greater Hudson for additional sponsorship, exhibitor, advertising, membership & registration information
Visit: www.greaterhudson.org
Email: info@greaterhudson.org
Tel: 914.592.6726

Economic Downturn Forces Groups to Get Creative

The NY Times reported arts groups, hit hard by the economic downturn, are seeking strength in numbers by forming alliances, pooling resources, networking and accommodating one another’s diminished circumstances.

The efforts, which sometimes bring together dissimilar groups, don’t always go smoothly. But by and large, the atmosphere is one of growing cooperation that works to artists’ benefit — and the public’s.

“There’s more of a willingness to work together because there’s a unique cause right now, and the cause is the fact there are economic issues,” said Stephen Sansone, president of the Untermyer Performing Arts Council in Yonkers and executive director of the Yonkers Downtown/Waterfront Business Improvement District.

Since May 1, four museums in Westchester County (the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, the Katonah Museum of Art and Purchase College’s Neuberger Museum of Art) and two in Fairfield County, Connecticut (the Bruce Museum in Greenwich and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield) have allowed any of their members to be admitted to all six. The same goes for visitors who buy a same-day pass.

The plan — advertised as an alliance — has been slow to catch on, with only a handful of museum visitors taking advantage of it in a typical week. Still, arts groups say it is the first pact of its kind in memory among museums in Connecticut and New York, and its very existence is evidence of greater cooperation.

“It’s symbolic of our efforts to be creative in a very tough time,” said Peter C. Sutton, executive director of the Bruce, who, noting that his museum’s endowment was down 20 percent over the past year and its corporate support depleted, hosted the meeting in March at which the plan was formulated.

“Almost all nonprofits have suffered some loss in their endowments and had to institute economizing efforts, as we have,” he said, “and this is a good way for people to make the most of their local museums.”

Another kind of joint effort — one enjoying greater participation this year, its sixth — is Art Along the Hudson, a cooperative media campaign to promote the visual and performing arts in seven cities lining the river. Read more here about this and other efforts.

NYS Cultural Data Project: New Tool for the Arts

The New York State Council on the Arts has joined to help launch the New York State Cultural Data Project (New York State CDP), a powerful management tool for arts and cultural organizations. This unique system will, at no cost, allow arts managers and artistic leaders to understand and analyze their organization’s financial performance through easy-to-run reports. By participating in the New York State CDP, you will be part of a successful and growing project that will allow researchers and the arts community as a whole to better articulate and provide evidence for the sector’s assets and needs, as well as its contributions to the state and the country. By completing the online form annually, you will also be able to generate reports to be submitted to grantmakers with the click of a button.

NYSCA believes that CDP could be of service to the field, particularly based on their experience with Cultural Blueprints. During the nine sessions held to date across the state, a common need for more robust research, advocacy and policy discussions with and about the cultural sector emerged. They believe that CDP has the potential to be a valuable tool in addressing these issues. Overall, they would like to engage the field in a conversation both about what those needs are and how CDP can help address them.

About CDP
An online system for reporting historical organizational and financial data, CDP will be offered at no charge to arts and cultural organizations (and entities/individuals with a fiscal conduit) across the state. Once an organization’s data has been entered into this 11 part, web-based form on an annual basis, the organization is able to:

• Streamline grant applications to participating funders: Once data is entered into CDP, it doesn't need to be reentered when applying to the funders listed at the bottom of this email.
• Generate one of 77 on-demand reports: Organizations can produce the data they have inputted for their own reporting and fundraising purposes, including presentations to board members, funders, staff and other audiences.
• Ensure that your organization is included in major advocacy efforts: Aggregate data from CDP is available to all advocates, researchers and interested parties to help make the case for the arts in New York State.

Organizations can participate and benefit from the system regardless of whether they are a recipient of support from any of the participating funders. Additionally, there is a full-time Help Desk/hotline available to guide organizations in entering and understanding the data.

Get the most from the New York State CDP.
Attend a free demonstration and discussion.
Register for a demonstration and discussion by visiting www.nysculturaldata.org and clicking on "Attend a Demonstration and Discussion."

June 15 - 19, 2009, New York City

Brooklyn
June 15, 9:30 am
Mark Morris Dance Center

Manhattan
June 15, 4:30 pm
Gracie Mansion

Staten Island
June 16, 9:30 am
St. George Theatre

Brooklyn
June 16, 2:00 pm
Billie Holiday Theatre

Bronx
June 17, 9:30 am
Pregones Theater

Manhattan
June 17, 2:00 pm
Studio Museum in Harlem*

Long Island
June 18, 9:30 am
Huntington Arts Council

Long Island
June 18, 2:00 pm
East End Arts Council

Queens
June 19, 9:30 am
Flushing Town Hall

Manhattan
June 19, 2:00 pm
The New 42nd Street Studios

The American Association of Museum Federal News Update

President Releases FY10 Budget Details
On May 8, President Obama released the spending details of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2010. The proposal calls for nearly $17 billion in cuts and reductions to 121 programs and supports reinstitution of pay-as-you-go (known as "PAYGO") budget rules, which require any new spending increases to be offset by revenue increases or spending cuts.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Office of Museum Services (OMS) - which supports our nation's 17,500+ museums through a variety of competitive grant programs - is essentially level funded at the FY09 level of $35 million. Certain museums, however - which, by federal statute, are funded as quasi-government entities - fared well, with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum receiving $49 million, the National Gallery of Art receiving $165.2 million and the Smithsonian Institution funded at $759 million.

The President's detailed budget plan also contains a measure - first proposed in February - to limit the deductibility of charitable gifts for those in the upper income levels.

Budget Highlights:

• IMLS Office of Museum Services: $35 million (no increase)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): $171.3 million (a $6.3 million increase over FY09, plus $10 million to move the currently independent National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program to the NEH).
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): $161 million (a $6 million increase over FY09)
• Arts in Education Programs at the Department of Education: $38.16 million (no increase)
• National Science Foundation educational programs: $857.8 million (a $12.5 million increase over FY09). These funds support informal learning experiences designed to increase interest and engagement in the understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
• National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund: $77.6 million (an $8.1 million increase), including $20 million for Save America's Treasures.

NYC Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts Program Free to Attend

Entrepreneurial Ventures for the Arts, supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, is set for Thursday, June 25th in NYC. The training will be presented by Doug Sauer, CEO, NYCON & David Watson, Esq, Sr. VP, of Legal Accountability & Compliance Services, NYCON.

In increasingly challenging fundraising times it is more important than ever for arts organizations to consider Entrepreneurial Ventures that can generate revenue. This type of endeavor takes calculated risk based on sound facts and adherence to rules and regulations around these types of activities for nonprofits. But entrepreneurial ventures have proven successful for many nonprofits. This full-day session can help you figure out if this type of activity is right for your organization.

This specialized training will address the interests and markets of arts organizations in exploring alternative revenue generating activities. This training course is a highly interactive immersion into the world of innovation and revenue generation. Participants will learn how to develop and practically apply "real world" elements of entrepreneurial ventures to their organization, including strategies on developing board understanding and support for such ventures. At the conclusion of the program, participants will have access to follow up support and information as they explore venture development.

Date: Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Time: 9am to 4:00pm (included lunch!)
Cost: FREE!
Location: NYCON NYC Regional Office
305 7th Avenue at 7th
11th Floor
NY, NY 10001

Register Here

Troubled Times Present an Opportunity to Focus

The recent news that The Metropolitan Museum of Art is eliminating 74 jobs from its merchandising staff is probably not a surprise to many. With the downturn in the economy, spending on the Met's gift shop wares obviously was impacted significantly. The Met's success in retail based on their amazing collections has long been touted as a model for others in the museum sector. What kind of signal does this send to other museums as they search for sources of revenue to replace declines in every area? Is this a natural readjusting of museum operations that had ballooned based on the consumerism bubble that popped recently? With this news, museums need to rethink their mix of revenue generating activities. Tourism and merchandising will always be fundamental activities, but for now, a much smaller piece of the puzzle. Now museums need to look to other activities that may not have been areas of focus. What are these other areas? Possible suggestions could be: community building and engagement; collaboration with other nonprofits (which are all being impacted); or focusing more efforts online. Share your own suggestions. This is a time of opportunity, to refocus, and strive to do what nonprofits do best.

Museum Legislative Update

The following info is provided by the American Association of Museums.

Congress Finalizes FY09 Funding Levels
On Wednesday, March 11, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 1105, finalizing the funding levels for federal agencies for the fiscal year 2009, which began October 1, 2008. The $410 billion measure represents the culmination of more than a year of work on 9 annual spending bills that fund nearly all areas of the government. Several of these spending bills were held up by political wrangling and in the fall, Congress passed a temporary measure to level fund most of the government until this bill could be finalized.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services' (IMLS) Office of Museum Services - which supports our nation's 17,500 museums through a variety of competitive grant programs - will get a $3.7 million increase over FY08 levels.

Here are the levels that will go into effect for the remainder of the fiscal year 2009:
IMLS' Office of Museum Services: $35 million, a $3.7 million increase over the previous year.

• National Endowment for the Humanities: $155 million, a $10 million increase over the previous year.
• National Endowment for the Arts: $155 million, a $10 million increase over the previous year.
• Arts in Education programs at the Department of Education: $38.16 million, a $660,000 increase over the previous year.
• Teaching American History grants at the Department of Education: $118.9 million, a $1 million increase over the previous year.
• National Science Foundation educational programs: $845.26 million. These funds support informal learning experiences designed to increase interest and engagement in the understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
• National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund: $69.5 million, including $20 million for Save America's Treasures. These funds support the preservation of nationally significant sites, structures, and artifacts.

You can read the complete text of the bill HERE.

House Votes to Protect Historic Battlefields
On March 3, the House passed two bills to protect historic battlefields. The Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act (H.R. 146), introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), would establish a battlefield acquisition grant program for the acquisition and protection of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 548), introduced by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), would assist citizens, public and private institutions, and governments at all levels in planning, interpreting and protecting sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States. Both bills passed the House by an overwhelming margin.

Museum Advocacy Update

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS sent out a recent Advocacy Update that related:

Early this morning (Friday), the U.S. Congress unveiled the Conference Report for H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, setting the stage for final passage by the House and Senate, expected to occur in the next few days.

Museums, zoos, and aquariums had initially been barred from competing for any funds in the Senate-passed bill. Zoos and aquariums were barred from funds in both versions. In reconciling the two pieces of legislation, Congress is set to adopt the following language:
"SEC. 1604. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used by any State or local government, or any private entity for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool."

"Museum supporters should be very pleased that we were able to mobilize a massive field-wide effort to prevent a funding ban on museums in this bill," said AAM President Ford W. Bell. "However, the fact that Congress - and specifically the U.S. Senate in its February 6 vote - initially saw fit to exclude museums from funding shows that we have a lot of work to do in making the case for museums." He added: "It is also disheartening that zoos and aquariums will be prohibited from competing for most economic stimulus funds made available through this bill. Zoos and aquariums have tremendous public benefit for environmental education and wildlife conservation, and contribute greatly to our nation's economy by spurring tourism."

Museums employ more than a half-million Americans, spend an estimated $14.5 billion annually, and rank among the top three family vacation destinations. Visitors to cultural and heritage destinations stay 53% longer and spend 36% more money than other kinds of tourists.

The bill also includes the following funding:

• National Endowment for the Arts - $50 million to preserve jobs in the non-profit arts sector.
• Smithsonian Institution - $25 million for repair and revitalization of existing facilities.
• National Park Service - $146 million for critical repair and rehabilitation projects, $589 million for energy efficient retrofits, the preservation and repair of historical resources within the National Park System, and other critical infrastructure projects, and $15 million for historic preservation projects at historically black colleges and universities.
• National Science Foundation - $100 million for improving instruction in math, science, and engineering.
• Community Development Fund - $1 billion to bolster critical community services and infrastructure needs, to be administered by local governments.

You can read the entire 496-page conference report HERE.