2009 Online Museum and Preservation Classes from NSCC
The Northern States Conservation Center announced that 67 online museum and preservation classes will run in 2009, beginning on Jan. 5.

New 2009 courses include:

• Museum Microclimates
• Education in Museums
• Scripting the Exhibition
• Care of Furniture and Wooden Artifacts
• Keeping Small Animals on Exhibit
• Making Museum Quality Mannequins
• Care of Leather
• Condition Assessments
• Care of Basketry
• Gallery Guides
• Collection Management Databases

The complete list of classes can be printed at http://www.collectioncare.org/flyers/museumclasses_org_2009_class_calendar.pdf. Information on new classes will be posted in the next three weeks.

For more information visit http://www.museumclasses.org/.

Return to Top

Please confim event specifics with sponsoring organization, especially if traveling any distance.

Holiday Bazaar at the Warrick County Museum
This event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 23, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Warrick County Museum located at 217 S. First St. in Boonville.

Participating vendors include Arbonne, Avon, Butterfly World-Wide, Discovery Toys, Home Interiors, Lea Sophia Jewelry, Longaberger Baskets, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Pampered Chef, Party Lite Candles, Premier Designs Jewelry, Princess House Crystal, Sensaria Natural Body Care, Sentsy Wickless Candles, Stampin' Up, Tastefully Simple, The Body Shop, Thiry-One Gifts, Tupperware, Usborne Books and Janet Winders' Grandma's Arms Book and Blanket.

The museum will have raffle items and participating vendors will have door prizes.  There will also be a grand door prize. Proceeds will be used for museum operating expenses. 

For more information contact Gwen at (812) 897-3954.

 Return to Top

Alderson Internship Grant Program
Recognizing the demand for students to gain real-working experience and to help smaller history museums and sites with their staffing needs, AASLH offers the Alderson Internship Grant Program.

AASLH will provide funds at a 3:1 level. That means that AASLH will match $3 to every $1 (up to $3,000). This unique AASLH opportunity allows AASLH members to hire an intern that otherwise they may not be able to afford.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be an Institutional Member of AASLH.
• Applicants must have an annual operating budget under $500,000.

For information visit http://www.aaslh.org/alderson.htm.

The application deadline is Dec. 15. For more information or a hard copy of the application, contact Bethany Hawkins in the AASLH office at hawkins@aaslh.org or (615) 320-3203.

 Return to Top

2009 Conservation Assessment Program Deadline Extended
Funding is still available for the 2009 Conservation Assessment Program. Given the difficult economy, some museums may need additional time to focus on their application so the CAP postmark deadline has been extended to Monday, Dec. 15, 2008.

CAP provides small to mid-sized museums of all types, from art museums to historical museums to zoos, with a general conservation assessment of their collections, environmental conditions and facilities.

If your museum is facing challenging financial times, participating in CAP can help:

• Prioritize collections care tasks so you can allocate resources wisely
• Document your needs so that you can make a stronger case to funders
• Provide advice on additional sources of support for conservation and preservation

Starting this year, CAP program participants may start their assessments within a month of applying, making it possible for museums to get feedback on their collections and historic structures without delay.

Forms for applying to CAP are available at http://www.heritagepreservation.org/. For more information, call (202) 233-0800 or e-mail cap@heritagepreservation.org.

CAP is administered by Heritage Preservation through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

 Return to Top

Holidays in the Heartland
This series of displays will be exhibited through Jan. 3, 2009, at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center.

This series coincides with the winter holidays and features a mix of photos, props, traditional holiday decorations and original items. These themed displays picture Hoosiers playing outside in the snow and preparing holiday goodies. They showcase Indiana’s Santas, a wide array of old holiday greeting cards and pay homage to the Christmas tree.

IHS collections provide rich resources to create these scenes. Jean Shepherd’s movie A Christmas Story provides fodder to create a vignette and photo op for our visitors to Lacy Gallery. The remainder of the building will be decorated with beautiful Christmas trees and colorful holiday attire.

The event is free to the public.

 Return to Top

 Return to Top

Extension of Athens to Warhol Art Exhibit at the Scott County Heritage Center and Museum in Scottsburg
The museum will be extending the Athens to Warhol art exhibit until Dec. 20.  The exhibit is provided courtesy of local collector Rob Cathcart and contains works of art ranging from ancient Greece up through Andy Warhol and other contemporary artists.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. 

For additional information please contact Executive Director Jeremy Risen or Assistant Director Jeannie Abbot at the museum at (812) 752-1050.

 Return to Top

The Faces of Lincoln: Creating the Image and Idealizing the Image at the New Castle-Henry County Public Library
The Faces of Lincoln traveling exhibit is comprised of three independent parts, each an exhibit unto itself. In January 2003, the Indiana Historical Society acquired the Jack Smith and Daniel R. Weinberg Lincoln collections. Combined with other IHS holdings, these materials create one of the premier Lincoln print collections in the nation. The Faces of Lincoln exhibit is based on the Indiana Historical Society’s extensive collection and initially traveled the state on the Indiana History Train in October of 2004 and 2005.

Creating the Image:
This section investigates the ways that photographers, printmakers and cartoonists tried to influence public opinion about Lincoln by altering his appearance and by placing him in make-believe situations.

Idealizing the Image:
Lincoln’s assassination instantly elevated him from man to myth. The nation was thrown into mourning and his face became a symbol of sacrifice and saintly public service. African Americans revered him as the “great emancipator” and voted the party of Lincoln for many decades. Schoolchildren studied him as an example of honesty, service to nation and sacrifice for right. His birthday, along with George Washington’s, became a national holiday a time to celebrate the virtues associated with his name. Lincoln’s image came to represent American ideals. The federal government used Lincoln’s face on money, and others employed his name to make money for their commercial enterprises by trading on the virtues associated with Lincoln’s name and image. Today, it is difficult to separate the man from the myth.

These traveling exhibits are on loan from the Indiana Historical Society. For more information about the IHS traveling exhibit program, go to www.indianahistory.org/LHS and click on "Traveling Exhibition."

 Return to Top

Regional:

Education Department Internships in Waukesha, Wis.
The Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum is offering two part-time, paid internship positions in its Education Department for the spring semester of 2009.  The WCHSM Education Department presents Waukesha County's history to visitors of all ages through on-site education programs, special events, spring and summer camps, Discovery Boxes and outreach programs. The Education Intern will work directly with the WCHSM Director of Education in all aspects of the museum's education programming, including working behind the scenes and with the public and volunteers.

The Education Intern may perform or contribute to any of the following:

• Tours and Visitor Services
  • Prepare, implement and evaluate existing museum tour programs for Scout, school and adult groups
  • Develop new tour programs, which the intern may add to his/her future portfolio
  • Develop pre- and post-visit lesson plans and teacher's guides to exhibits
  • Evaluate and revise existing family guides
  • Develop a general museum guide
    
    
• Events
  
  • Schedule, develop and implement programming to coincide with traveling exhibits
  • Develop, implement and evaluate Scout programs to be held on Saturdays throughout semester
  • Develop and implement spring and summer camp themes, programming and schedule
    
    
• Outreach
  
  • Evaluate and revise Discovery Boxes' themes, content and related materials
  • Develop a teacher's guide to the WCHSM Education Department
  • Develop Scout Out History newsletter
  • Write bi-weekly articles on WCHSM historical markers and objects from collection for "Waukesha Now" inserts in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
  • Write articles on Education Department programs for local newspapers and the TimeLine, WCHSM's monthly newsletter
  • Design promotional materials for Education Department programs

Interns may also receive experience working with WCHSM's archival and three-dimensional collections by assisting the Archivist and Curator of Collections with research and collections management.

The successful WCHSM Education Internship applicant will be creative, self-motivated, able to perform important but seemingly menial tasks cheerfully, and able to foster a sense of connection with WCHSM's interpretive themes. Most importantly, he or she will be passionate about engaging museum audiences with their own local history and performing original local history research. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited academic program as an upper-class technical college student, undergraduate senior or graduate student. The successful candidates submit their advisors' contact information and copies of any academic requirements and paperwork before the internships begin. At the completion of the internships, the Education Interns will submit summations and evaluations of the internship experiences as well as any materials submitted to their academic institutions.

The Education Internships require the completion of a minimum of 150 hours within three months for each intern. For this period, each intern will receive a $750 stipend.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, three references and a program or writing sample by Dec. 2 to:
Elisabeth Engel
Curator of Collections and internship coordinator
Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum
101 W. Main St.
Waukesha, WI, 53186
E-mail: eengel@wchsm.org

  Return to Top

First Fundraising Strategies for Startup Organizations Webinar
The recording of this webinar with Tom O’Brien is available from The Foundation Center.

In this session Tom O'Brien presents ways that organizations can bring in their first dollars and begin to fundraise for their future.

You'll learn how to:

• Identify early donor prospects to present your "elevator speech" or case statement
• Self-assess the readiness of your organization to fundraise
• Recognize key factors to consider when pursuing charitable contributions, earned income and government funding
• Review the advantages and challenges of each potential funding source

To view the webinar and download handouts, visit http://foundationcenter.org/events/archive/ny_startup_series/startup_5.html.

 Return to Top

Sony Commercial Trinitron Color Video Monitors
There are two identical monitors available on a first-come, first-served basis. You may take one or both.

Details:

• PVM – 3230.
• 33” screen (standard diagonal measurement).
• Monitors are each 22 inches deep, 32 inches wide and 26 inches high.
• Many input types, requires speakers. These are monitors only.
• Large and heavy with carrying case.

Must be picked up (will not be mailed) by Dec. 19.

For more information or to arrange a pick-up, contact Jeff Harris at jharris@indianahistory.org or (317) 232-4591.

 Return to Top

Do you know someone who might want to receive Communique Online? Anyone may join the mailing list by e-mailing col@indianahistory.org.

If your historical organizations, genealogical society or museum has changed its address or phone number in the past six months, please send the updated information to Coordinator, Local History Services, at the above e-mail, or Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46202.