Blue Star Voices

September 3, 2010
New York City, New York

Friends, Family, and Museums

by Sophie Roth-Douquet, Blue Star daughter

Young boy hunkered down on the floor drawing in drawing pad

Charley Roth-Douquet sketches the armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Kathy Roth-Douquet

This summer my family is going on a huge road trip. The theme of our road trip is friends, family, and museums. This blog is about the museums we visited on our road trip. The museum I’m going to tell you about is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has been my favorite museum so far. While visiting some friends in New York we decided to stop by the Met. Once there we made a bee-line to the arms and armor section as a request from my brother Charley. He immediately plopped down and started drawing the armor. My mom and I went around admiring the armor decoration. It was amazing. We also found a piece of armor that was larger than the others, and we discovered it was King Henry VIII’s armor. He was an English king who was known for being rather large.

After a while my mom and I abandoned Charley and went to the American wing next door. We stopped at the atrium and mom showed me some Tiffany glass, which was her favorite. It was then that I got a favorite too. My favorite was an autumn scene with trees with red and gold leaves on either side of the picture and in the distance there were some mountains and a pond in front of it that trickled down into another pond right in front of the viewer.

Then we looked at some of the statues. We saw a statue of Cleopatra with a small snake wrapped around her arm, which at first I mistakened as jewelry, but which we found was the asp that she used to commit suicide. I was suprised to find that asps were so small. We also saw a statue of King Solomon and mom told us a story of when two women came to King Solomon with a baby and both told him the baby was theirs so to solve the problem he said he would cut the baby in half and each would get half. One of the women said that it seemed fair, and the other one said, “No, no she can have the baby.” So King Solomon said that the woman who said that the other one could have the baby was the mother because she cared about the baby.

After we finished looking at the statues we went into a model of an old house. It had lots of old furniture and a lot of beautiful designs. There was also a Frank Lloyd Wright room, which my mom said my dad would really like. After that mom looked at her watch and told us we had to go, but before we left Charley and I made mom promise we could go back the next day.

Sophie Roth-Douquet is twelve years old and the daughter of a Marine Corps officer deployed to Afghanistan. Her mother is Kathy Roth-Douquet, a Blue Star Families co-founder and the Chair of the BSF Board of Directors. The Roth-Douquet family has been visiting Blue Star Museums across the country over the summer. You can read more about Sophie’s perspective as a military child here. This post originally appeared on the Blue Star Families website.

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What’s on View at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee?

September 1, 2010
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

by Shelly M. Sampon, Jewish Museum Milwaukee
(Photos courtesy Jewish Museum Milwaukee)

The Jewish Museum Milwaukee is located on Milwaukee’s East Side in the Edward Durrell Stone-designed Helfaer Community Service Building at 1360 N. Prospect Avenue.  The Holocaust Memorial, commissioned in 1983, is located immediately outside the museum.

The Jewish Museum Milwaukee (JMM) first opened its doors in 2008, but its history began in 1984 with the creation of the Archives/Roots Committee by the Women’s Division of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Twenty years later, in 2004, the program had become the Milwaukee Jewish Historical Society and—through a Community Capital Campaign—was planning the construction of the JMM to be housed in the Helfaer Community Service Building, designed by renowned architect Edward Durell Stone.

The introductory panel in the museum states: 

Jews first arrived in Milwaukee in the 1840s. This museum celebrates the story of those Jews, their descendants, and later immigrants. It chronicles their struggles, achievements, and contributions to the city, the nation, and world. Their chapter in American history is also part of a much older narrative—the story of the Jewish people.

When Marc Chagall designed this tapestry in 1972 especially for the atrium of the building where JMM is located, it was one of only ten Chagall tapestries in the world.

At the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, a program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, the Milwaukee Jewish story comes alive with photographs, artwork, interactive exhibits, documents, and the artifacts of their lives. With its growing collections, the JMM utilizes materials not only to preserve the past, but to use in demonstrations, classes, and scholarly research. Education is a strong focus of the museum, with specified class programs tailored to meet the needs of school and group tours, and a team of docents available to enhance the visitor’s experience. The museum offers exciting and informative programming, such as a Genealogy 101 course, book talks, and the Coming to America lecture series, all of which show how the past connects with our present and the future of Milwaukee’s Jewish community. 

Executive Director Kathie Bernstein knows the JMM has an important role in Milwaukee’s Jewish community, and doesn’t take this responsibility lightly: “Our goal is to engage people at all levels and ages. We are privileged to share the Milwaukee Jewish experience with our Jewish community and with the broader Milwaukee community, state of Wisconsin, and beyond.”

Exhibits developed for the Ettinger Changing Exhibit Gallery allow the Museum to address the constantly evolving continuum of the Jewish experience. Growing Up Milwaukee: Camping explores the holistic camping experience and its impact on the formation of the Jewish community.

The Museum recently opened a new exhibit entitled Growing up Milwaukee: Camping, which will run through November 28. It includes photos, memorabilia, and artifacts that recall the Wisconsin summer camping experience, and will also present two special events in connection with the exhibit, bringing summer camp alumni together to reminisce and reconnect. Program Coordinator Molly Dubin is confident the exhibit will bring back great memories. “So many children and families in the Jewish community of Milwaukee have fond and profound memories connected to summer camp, regardless of which camp they attended. The shared recollection of experiences that impacted their Jewish identity was always imparted with fervor and appreciation, and I think this exhibit reflects that.”

Through hard work and creativity, the Jewish Museum Milwaukee has flourished and provided educational, insightful, and thought-provoking exhibits and programs that invite the community to engage in meaningful cultural dialogue. “Our Museum and its exhibitions are an important way to establish Jewish relationships with different communities. We want to promote the public’s awareness and stimulate interest in all aspects of our culture,” said Executive Director Kathie Bernstein.

Summer isn’t quite over yet and neither is Blue Star Museums! There’s still time to visit one of the more than 900 participating  venues. Visit the Blue Star Museums web page for a complete list.

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Five Questions with Northeastern Nevada Museum

The Northeastern Nevada Museum is located at 1515 Idaho Street in Elko, Nevada.  Photo courtesy Northeastern Nevada Museum

Whether you’re an art aficionado, a fan of flora and fauna, or you just heart history, the Northeastern Nevada Museum is the place for you. Located in Elko, Nevada, the museum offers exhibits, such as a two-million-year-old mastodon and a group show by four local women artists, as well as public events, including a classic film festival and an annual barn tour. We spoke with Museum Director Claudia Wines to learn more.

NEA: Please tell me a little bit about the Northeastern Nevada Museum and what makes it unique.

CLAUDIA WINES: Exhibits in the 40,000 square-foot Northeastern Nevada Museum feature local and natural history, local cultures, worldwide wildlife in natural settings, and both permanent and rotating art. Research facilities include 40,000 photos, area newspapers from 1872, public records, and a 1,000-volume library. There is also a gift shop and 90-seat theater.

NEA: What’s your favorite part of the museum and why?

WINES: I like the history exhibits, and also the art shows. They are always new and interesting.

NEA: What’s on exhibit now?

WINES: Our collection of original Will James western art, a tribute to Will James by local artist Larry Bute, and an exhibit from the Nevada Arts Council called Great Basin Exteriors, featuring the work of Adam Jahiel, Nolan Preece, and Daniel Cheek.

NEA:What do you hope visitors to the Northeastern Nevada Museum will take away from the experience?

WINES: They always tell us that they are amazed that there is such a wonderful museum in a town as small as Elko, and we hope they will continue to feel this way.

NEA: Aside from the Northeastern Nevada Museum, what’s your favorite museum to visit and why?

WINES: The Nevada State Museum in Carson City, Nevada.

There’s still time to take advantage of Blue Star Museums—visit the web page to find a participating museum near you.

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Blue Star Voices

August 27, 2010
New York City, New York

Blue Star Families Hits BlogHer, NYC, and the Museum of Modern Art

Text and photos by Stephanie Himel-Nelson

Bloggers examine Pages of Ode à l’Oubli, a cloth book by Louise Bourgeois, installed in  MoMA’s Mind and Matter exhibit.

Last week, bloggers from all over the country and beyond gathered in New York for the annual BlogHer convention. So, of course, Blue Star Families (BSF) was there!

This was my third BlogHer. I attended in 2007 and 2008, but I skipped the conference last year to get in a quick romantic vacation with my husband without the kids! (Who can turn that down?) So I was excited to see the panels, see some of my bloggy friends, and meet new bloggers. This year I spoke on a panel on behalf of Blue Star Families—Creating Tangible Social Change: How to Move People to Action. (More on that in another post!) But one of the events I most eagerly anticipated was the Blue Star Museums event planned at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)!

Some great BlogHers were in attendance, including military family members and supporters of the arts and the military. Guests included Kate Marsh Lord from The Shopping Mama, Maggie Christ from Magpie Musings, Cynthia Samuels from Don’t Gel Too Soon, Devra Renner of Parentopia, Lisa Douglas from Crazy Adventures in Parenting, and Sarah Butz from MainLine Moms. Sarah’s sister Ann Marie from Household 6 Diva participated via Skype from Germany. Rounding out the group was Julie Pippert, BSF’s Blue Star Museums program manager and author of Using My Words, and me, Stephanie Himel-Nelson, BSF’s communications director and author of Lawyer Mama.

Some future bloggers were in attendance too! Here’s MainLine Moms’ Sarah Butz with her little one.

First of all, I have to mention that the Museum of Modern Art is one of the best users of social media that I’ve seen in the world of the arts. They effectively utilize Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and they even have a MoMA iPhone app with mobile tours and event schedules. (Yes, MoMA, you had me at iPhone app.)

For this group of bloggers and early adopters of all things social media, this was the museum to see. And the chance for a glimpse behind the scenes at what makes the MoMA social media machine move was just as tantalizing as the up close look at some of the MoMA exhibits.

Victor Samra, MoMA’s Digital Media Marketing Director and the man behind @MuseumModernArt, started out with a fascinating new media presentation on how MoMA uses social media to interact with museum goers. He shared some of MoMA’s most successful social media campaigns, including “Monkey at MoMA,” a series of photos done by a museum fan that grew out of the MoMA’s group photo pool on Flickr, and “30 Seconds at MoMA,” a series of YouTube videos from museum goers and MoMA staff. (Here’s my favorite video from the series.)

The visiting bloggers learned about social media at MoMA.

After the social media run down, Rebecca Stokes, MoMA’s director of campaign and development communications for the Department of Development and Membership (Whew! That was a mouthful!), led us down to the exhibits for a tour of Mind and Matter: Alternative Abstractions, 1940s to present and Pictures by Women: A History of Photography. We were joined by curators from each of the exhibits for the private tour.

Both of the exhibits were amazing examples of the power and creativity of women. However, I’m a photographer, so the Pictures by Women exhibit immediately grabbed my attention. Watching the progression of women in photography was truly watching the progression of photography since its inception. We had a personal tour as women turned from more traditional portraits to political and social commentary and image manipulation.

In the Mind and Matter exhibit, I found Pages of Ode à l’Oubli, a cloth book by Louise Bourgeois, fascinating. The title means “Ode to Forgetfulness,” and the textiles (seen in the photo at the top of this blog post) are from Bourgeouis’ trousseau. The textiles were created from the clothing and linens she used and wore throughout her life. If you are what you wear, why not show what you are and what you were in such a tactile art form? As a woman and a mother, I couldn’t think of a more fitting example of the merger of art and life.

Thank you to the Museum of Modern Art for supporting military families and participating in the Blue Star Museums program. Special thanks to MoMA’s Becky Stokes, Victor Samra, and MoMA’s Director of Communications Margaret Doyle for hosting BSF at the museum. We all had a wonderful time and I know I can’t wait to go back with my new iPhone MOMA app!

This post originally appeared (in a slightly different form) on the Blue Star Families blog.

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Five Questions with the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art

August 25, 2010
Great Falls, Montana

The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art is located at 1400 First Avenue North in Great Falls, Montana. Photo courtesy Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art.

Popularly known as The Square, the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, Montana, is one of the city’s leading cultural centers. With a particular focus on Montana and regional artists, The Square hosts a number of exhibits each year, including ones that showcase gems from its permanent collection. Even the museum’s building, which is on the National Historic Register, is a work of art. Built in the Richardsonian style, it is constructed of sandstone mined south of Great Falls. The campus features outdoor sculptures as well as a butterfly garden. The Square also boasts a healthy calendar of community events, such as hands-on craft workshops, an annual garden walk, and free after-school art classes. We spoke with Kim Thiel-Schaaf, the museum’s director of operations and grant development, about this cultural treasure in the Treasure State.

NEA: Please tell us a little bit about the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art and what makes it unique.

KIM THIEL-SCHAAF: Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art is housed inside the historic Paris Gibson Square building, which is an imposing Richardsonian structure built in 1896 and listed on the National Historic Register. The building is named after Great Falls’ founding father, Paris Gibson. The building was originally the high school and then became a junior high school until it closed in 1975. In 1977 a group of volunteers re-opened the building as a cultural center that originally housed a number of groups such as the Historical Society, Genealogy Society, and the Museum. Since that time, all but the Museum of Art have moved on to other spaces in the community. Every week we have visitors who come to the building to reminisce about their school days in the building in addition to visitors to the gallery spaces. The Square, as we are lovingly known to area residents, has  a mission that encompasses the collection and display of contemporary, modern and self-taught/outsider art; engaging arts education for all ages and abilities; and the preservation of the historic building. In fact, The Square is the permanent home of the outsider art exhibition Lee Steen – A Montana Original, the only significant public display of Lee’s work, which are stick figure sculptures made of found materials.

NEA: What’s your favorite part of the museum and why?

THIEL-SCHAAF: For me the thing I love the most are The Square’s multifaceted points of entry for every visitor. Whether you came to enjoy an exhibition or to take a pottery class and everything in between there is something here for everyone. And thanks to the generous support of Farmer’s Union Insurance, a Montana company, we are able to offer free admission to the museum. We also have a number of programs that are free to the participants because we believe strongly that physical, mental, or economic challenges should not be a barrier to participating in the arts. The Square holds as a core belief that “Art is for Everyone,” and we strive every day to live that value.

Installation view of Behind the Vault Door: Selections from the Permanent Collection, on view through September 4th. Photo by Bob Durden

NEA: What’s on exhibit now?

THIEL-SCHAAF: Behind the Vault Door—an exhibition of artworks from The Square’s permanent collection aon display through September 4—is the beginning of a renewed focus that will feature rotating exhibitions of works from that collection. Deborah Ford: Cartography & The Cultural Terrain  is a photographic exhibition on view through October 24. The Devine Imagine: Concrete Sculptures by Dr. Charles Smith is on semi-permanent display through May 2011 and is another fine example of self-taught (outsider) art. Of interest to Blue Star Families may be the moving and poignant Three Thousand & Counting, which is a contemporary art installation by Jean Price that commemorates the human cost of the Iraq War. And set to open in September are Theodore Waddell—Selections from the Permanent Collection, which are drawings and paintings of remote sections of the Missouri River in Montana, Mary Kelly: Rivers Remembered – Rivers Imagined, which features the Bozeman, Montana artist’s aqueous media on paper and board, and Susan Thomas—Sublime Image, a new mixed media work by this Great Falls-based artist. I invite you to visit our web site to learn more about these exhibitions and our educational offerings, and then plan a visit soon. You won’t be disappointed.

NEA: What do you hope visitors to The Square will take away from the experience?

THIEL-SCHAAF: I hope that every visitor to The Square is encouraged to explore creativity further—both their own and that of others—and form connections with contemporary art. If they reside in the local area, I hope they consider participating in the plethora of art classes and workshops for all ages from Pre-School Open Studio, Free After School Program, Clay Day at The Square, to Senior Classes. Here at The Square art truly is for everyone.

NEA: Aside from the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, what’s your own favorite museum to visit and why?

THIEL-SCHAAF: I am not sure I have a favorite, but I enjoy visiting all of the wonderful museums that call Great Falls home during the annual Sunday Art Sampler each spring. The Great Falls Museums Consortium hosts the free event on a Sunday in early spring which allows area residents to visit and renew their appreciation for the fine arts institutions we have here, such as the C. M. Russell Gallery, The Children’s Museum of Montana, The History Museum, The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, and, of course, The Square.

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What’s on View at the American Windpower Center & Museum?

August 23, 2010
Lubbock, Texas

The “Eclipse” is one of many historic windmills at the American Wind Power Center and Museum, located at 1701 Canyon Lake Drive in Lubbock, Texas. Photo courtesy American Wind Power Center

More than 100 historic windmills—some with wheels 25 feet in diameter—are displayed inside the large exhibit hall of the American Wind Power Center and Museum,  sited on 28 acres in Lubbock, Texas. These windmills cover the entire history of the American water-pumping windmill, from the 1860s to current production.  They have been carefully restored to their original colors, cast iron, and woodwork, and are conveniently placed for all visitors to study and enjoy. Outside there are more than 50 historic mills, including the Flowerdew Hundred Post Mill, which dates back to 17th-century, colonial Virginia. The impressive Vestas V47 Turbine generates the electricity for the museum, fully taking the historic scope of the museum from the 1600’s into the 21st century.

Complementing the many windmills is a large collection of photographs, drawings, and models in the Windmiller’s Art Gallery. The museum’s holdings also include other rare windmill artifacts, such as the Elmerand Melvyn Miller Windmill Weight Collection and the 80 John exhibit, which illustrates the fortitude and foresight of the early Black Texas Ranchers. Three times per year, the center also hosts the Windsmith Academy, a comprehensive two-day curriculum that covers the basic tenets of wind power generation and offers students the opportunity to climb the center’s 50-meter Vestas wind turbine tower.

Detail from Legacy of the Wind by LaGina Fairbetter. Photo courtesy American Wind Power Center

One of the most recent installations in the museum is LaGina Fairbetter’s Legacy of the Wind, a two-wall mural depicting the history of the windmill in the U.S.  As noted on ArtDaily.org, Fairbetter’s mural “depicts the utilization of wind power in America from the 1700’s, when Dutch style windmills were built along the East Coast, to the present with wind turbines being erected across the United States. . . .The artist worked with the Museum’s Director, Coy Harris, to develop a comprehensive windmill story reflecting the relations of humans, the environment, and technology in using the wind to help do work. The variety of windmills painted in the mural were selected from the museum’s large collection of historic windmills. [The] painting is comprised of five merged rural, urban, and landscape scenes. Her panorama changes with time as the viewer sees the work from right to left.”

Summer’s not over quite yet. There are still two more weeks to take advantage of Blue Star Museums. Visit the Blue Star Museums web page to browse the list of more than 900 participating museums.

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What’s on View at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art?

August 19, 2010
Memphis, Tennessee 

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is located at 1934 Poplar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. ©Kevin Barre Photography

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is Tennessee’s oldest fine arts museum. Opened to the public in 1916, today the museum complex comprises 29 galleries, two art classrooms, a print study room, a research library, and a state-of-the-art auditorium. The museum’s 8,500-piece collection is expansive, with works by Thomas Gainsborough, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Thomas Hart Benton, Robert Motherwell, to name a view. Its holdings also include work from ancient America and the Mediterranean and the Renaissance and Baroque periods, as well as sculpture and decorative arts, and an award-winning survey of African Art.

Museum Director Cameron Kitchin noted that nearly 100 years later, the museum remains firmly committed to its community. “Thanks to 95 years of community engagement in Memphis, the Brooks takes an enthusiastic leadership role in building an aspirational future for our city. Inspiration and great accomplishments from antiquity to the present are all in evidence here at the Brooks. By bringing to life the objects and ideas in our collections, we connect people to one another across cultures, time, and geography.”

Jimi Hendrix and Wilson Pickett, Prelude Club, Atlantic Records release party (May 5, 1966), William “PoPsie” Randolph. Photo courtesy of Michael Randolph, Executor to the Estate of William “PoPsie” Randolph

On view at the Brooks through September 26 is Who Shot Rock & Roll, which the Commercial Appeal called “the most significant music photo exhibit ever assembled.” The six-section exhibit focuses on rock and roll photographers, “acknowledging their creative and collaborative role in the history of rock music.” Images include behind-the-scenes portraits of a young Elvis Presley by Alfred Wertheimer, William “PoPsie” Randolph’s photo of Jimi Hendrix backing up Wilson Pickett, and an iconic photo of Tina Turner by Henry Diltz. Photos from the museum’s own collection also figure in the exhibit (which was organized by the Brooklyn Museum with guest curator Gail Buckland), including a young Aretha Franklin standing outside the Lorraine Motel with Sam Cooke.

Reading by the Brook (1879),Winslow Homer. Image courtesy Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Also offered at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is a full calendar of community activities, including live music in the galleries, a weekly film series, and artist lectures. Family-friendly activities include Storytime: An Ear for Art and Creation Station, both of which encourage younger art aficionados to create their own works of art after touring special exhibits or the permanent collection. Families can also enhance their visits to the museum with audio guides and interactive family fun guides.

What better way to pass the dog days of August than with a visit to a museum . . . or two or three? Visit the Blue Star Museums page to find a participating museum near you.

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Five Questions with Conner Prairie Interactive History Park

August 17, 2010
Fishers, Indiana

1859 Balloon Voyage is one of Conner Prairie’s newest attractions.

Whether you want to take a ride in a giant balloon or practice your tomahawk-throwing skills, there’s something for everyone at  Indiana’s Conner Prairie Interactive History Park. Don’t believe me? Just keep reading for the inside scoop from Conner Prairie Chief Operating Officer Ken Bubp.

NEA: Please tell us a little bit about Conner Prairie Interactive History Park and what makes it unique.

KEN BUBP: Conner Prairie is an interactive history park, 17 miles north of downtown Indianapolis. At Conner Prairie, families of today engage, explore, and discover what it was like to live and play in Indiana’s past. Every visit is a unique adventure that provides an authentic look into the history that shapes us today. We are unique in that we deploy a lot of staff on a daily basis in order to engage guests by following their curiosity and interests. We do this by offering a wide variety of ways for guests to connect with history— from first person characters who help guests imagine their lives in another time period, such as1836 Prairietown to our Science Lab where guests can explore science through the lens of history.  For example, the Science Lab, where activities change monthly, recently had a focus on simple machines: pulleys, levers, gears, and wheels. Guests experimented with these simple machines to investigate for themselves how Hoosiers of the past used them to make life easier and work more efficiently.

NEA: What’s your favorite part of Conner Prairie and why?

BUBP: My favorite part is the Animal Encounters barn, where our exceptional staff introduce guests to a wide range of animals—up close and personal. By all accounts, this is something the full range of our guests love, from the youngest children to grandma and grandpa. I love this area because you can see the instant joy and wonder as a two-year-old holds a baby chick for the first time, or as the fourth-grade student learns more about the rare (and sometimes strange looking!) breeds of farm animals we preserve. Their eyes light up. It is a real and meaningful way we can help connect guests with their past. And it is memorable!

Making new friends in the Animal Encounters exhibit.

NEA: What’s on exhibit now?

BUBP: On a daily basis, there are four themed areas for guests to explore. In 1836 Prairietown, costumed staff engage guests through conversation and activities focused on life in that time. See the blacksmith working iron at the forge, help with farm chores, or take a lesson in the school house. The William Conner Homestead and Animal Encounters Barn feature affords guests the opportunity to tour William Conner’s original 1823 brick home, to meet animals up close, and to dip a candle. At the 1816 Lenape Indian Camp, we feature the lives of the Delaware, or Lenape, Indians, including a visit to a trading post, a chance to practice traditional Lenape skills, and the opportunity to throw a tomahawk. The 1859 Balloon Voyage is our newest exhibit area—and the first of its kind in the country—where guests explore the historic balloon voyage of John Wise. An interactive exhibit allows guests to experiment with the science and technology of the history of ballooning. Guests can then climb aboard a tethered helium-filled balloon, which carries them more than 350 feet above the landscape, and see the world as John Wise did 150 years ago!
On top of all of this, we offer the Science Lab Craft Corner, where guests make their own historic crafts; and Discovery Station, a play and learning area where our youngest guests can explore trains, gardens, and a kid-sized historic grocery store.

NEA: What do you hope visitors to Conner Prairie Interactive History Park will take away from the experience?

BUBP: Conner Prairie Interactive History Park is one of those rare places where fun and excitement go hand-in-hand with learning and exploration. We are most gratified when our guests share comments with us about how much fun they had, saying, “I never knew learning could be this fun!” We know people have precious little leisure time available in their packed lives, so we strive to be a place where families can come together and enjoy, learn, and share experiences. That’s why we are particularly pleased with our track record of five straight years of attendance and membership growth. It is gratifying that more and more people are choosing to visit Conner Prairie each year.

A Conner Prairie guest interacts with a Prairietown carpenter.

NEA: Aside from Conner Prairie History Park, what’s your own favorite museum to visit and why?

BUBP: My answer to this has certainly changed over time. At my current point in life, I have a three-and-a-half year old at home who loves carousels and train rides. There is an interesting small museum in the town where I live (Noblesville, Indiana) called the Indiana Transportation Museum. A few months ago little Julia got to take her first train ride, and she was delighted. We like that museum because of the unique sorts of experiences it provides. That said, she really does love visiting Conner Prairie because of the animals and the 1859 Balloon Voyage.

All photos courtesy Conner Prairie History Park

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What’s On View at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center?

August 11, 2010
Brattleboro, Vermont

by Susan Calabria, Education Coordinator, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center is located at 10 Vernon Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. Photo courtesy of museum

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1972, with a mission to present art and ideas in ways that inspire, educate, and engage people of all ages. Compelling new exhibits by regional and internationally acclaimed artists are shown each season. Located in the former Union Station, BMAC is a non-collecting museum with six galleries. Our exhibits change three times a year. 

The museum is often described by visitors as “a gem.” Situated at the south end of the town’s historic Main Street, we participate along with at least 35 other venues in “Gallery Walk,” the first Friday evening of every month. Complementing the changing exhibits of contemporary art, BMAC offers unique programming and events for all ages, including film screenings, lectures and artist presentations, annual LEGO contests, Domino Toppling events, A Cappella Concerts, and other special events and outreach. Our extensive education program regularly serves more than 700 students of all ages, including 15 Head Start sites. 

Detail from In Transit (From Hand to Hand, Pillar to Post) by Laura Baring-Gould, one of the artists featured in Reshaping Reality. Image courtesy Laura Baring-Gould Studio

One of our current exhibits is Reshaping Reality. Curated by Carol Seitchik—and on view through October 24—Reshaping Reality features the work of 11 artists associated with the Boston Sculptors Gallery. It is about elevating the ordinary to the level of art—recycling and articulating materials into layers of meaning, whether social, political, or cultural in theme. The exhibit consists of objects, installations, and multimedia installations that transform the image—and the viewer’s understanding—of the everyday familiar.

A cooperative gallery, Boston Sculptors was founded in 1992. Its roster currently includes 34 artists who have exhibited individually and as a group throughout the United States and abroad. Artists featured in Reshaping Reality are Laura Baring-Gould, Benjamin S. Cariens, Rosalyn Driscoll, Laura Evans, Christopher Frost, Peter DeCamp Haines, Michelle Lougee, Nancy Selvage, Jessica Straus, Leslie Wilcox, and Andy Zimmermann.

You can visit the BMAC website to learn more current exhibitions and upcoming activities.

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Five Questions with Portland Children’s Museum

August 9, 2010
Portland, Oregon

It’s story time twice a day—at 11am and 2pm—in Treehouse Adventure, one of the many hands-on exhibits at the Portland Children’s Museum. Photo courtesy of the museum

When is a museum not just a museum? When it’s also a kid-sized Pet Hospital, Grasshopper Grocery, and Wonder Corner, just to name a few of the exhibits at the Portland Children’s Museum. Here’s more about this unique Oregon museum from Marketing and Communications Director Shannon Grosswiler.

NEA: Please tell us about the Portland Children’s Museum and what makes it unique.

SHANNON GROSSWILER: We are the seventh-oldest museum in the country. We have three hands-on arts studios, an artist in the classroom program, a public charter school for K-5th grade, and we are also home to the Center for Children’s Learning, the research and documentation arm of the Museum.

NEA: What’s your favorite part of the museum and why?

GROSSWILER: I love The Pet Hospital that just opened last month. It is adorable and features all the things a vet clinic would have, as well as a super cute Bark Park complete with a red fire hydrant!

Head on over to the interactive Building Bridges exhibit to panel a wall, connect plumbing fixtures, or climb into the secret crawl space! Photo courtesy of the museum

NEA: What’s on exhibit at the museum now?

GROSWILER: Our exhibit Kids Build: Project 2010 has just been a huge hit. We have a huge monster recycling garage where older kids can use glue guns and hammers to create amazing projects with raw materials, a huge fort-building area complete with giant Lincoln Log-type blocks, tons of pillows, blankets and more. We have a river running through the exhibit with headboards of beds as bridges and slides, plus an elaborate recycling and sorting area.

NEA: What do you hope visitors to the Portland Children’s Museum will take away from the experience?

GROSWILER: That kids can create their own fun in a place meant  just for them using their imaginations and a great environment, BUT parents can make the experience magical when they participate, ask great questions, and show an interest in what their child learns through playful inquiry!

NEA: Aside from the Portland Children’s Museum, what’s your own favorite museum to visit and why?

GROSWILER: Musee d’ Orsay in Paris. Does anyone need a reason to love Paris and the Impressionists?

Portland Children’s Museum is located at 4015 SW Canyon Road, just across from the Oregon Zoo. Visit the museum’s website to learn more!

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