New Start (of Sorts)

I first began this blog last winter for a class on regional material culture. I'd like to think that my posts through the winter and into the spring were thoughtful and somewhat interesting. However, as I was busy over the summer and into the fall, the posts got much shorter & more focused on recent museum news, with very little analysis or interpretation.

Good news, though! I'm taking another class with the same professor, focusing this time around on historic house museums. She's asked us to again keep a journal of some kind. So, I'm using the new class as an excellent excuse/reason/vehicle to recommit myself to this blog. Look forward to deeper, more contemplative posts over the next few months!

This Week's Museum News

• No 'Lucy' Exhibition for Cost-Cutting Museum

• Smithsonian Will Open Early for Inauguration Visitors

• Museums Look Inward for Their Own Bailouts

• This letter is follow up on the response to the National Academy's Museum's current financial troubles: What a Collection is Worth
  

Belated Museum News

As usual, from the New York Times.

• Museum Director is Briton of the Year (I particularly like the first line of this short article, which reads, "In the looking-glass world across the Atlantic, where cultural, not political, figures win person-of-the-year accolades . . . "

• Vanderbilt Museum is Fighting for its Life

• Seeing the Beauty in 5,000 Bugs on the Wall

• Branded a Pariah, the National Academy is Struggling to Survive, along with these two letters responding to the article.
  

Nothing to See Here

No post this week or next, due to the holidays. Be back soon!

This Week's Museum News

A selection of this week's museum news (primarily art museums), from the New York Times.

• LA Museum Proposes to Save Another

• The World of Art Museum Toilets, Revealed

• Brooklyn Museum's Costume Treasures Going to the Met

• Whitney Chooses Biennial Curators
  

The Black Atlantic

I just finished writing a historiographical paper on the "Black Atlantic," a.k.a. the community of Africans who traveled throughout the Atlantic world in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. These men and women were sailors, slaves, abolitionists, writers, and others. Their contributions to the economic, sociopolitical, and intellectual world of the Atlantic have become the focus of the recent work of historians.

The idea of the Black Atlantic has also inspired artists, as I found out in my research. Here is an exhibition review from 2005 that looked at a "Black Atlantic" themed art exhibit (from whence came the above image). The exhibit was held at the Haus der Kulkturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) in Berlin. It's an interesting look at how four German artists used the framing device of the Black Atlantic and interpreted it in new ways.

Local Focus

Last week, I promised to focus on smaller museums after writing a bit about the re-opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. So, to that end, I decided to write a bit about my new hometown, Portsmouth.

Portsmouth is a city with a fascinating history & there are many organizations in town to tell that history. Here are the results of a Google search for "portsmouth nh museums." In some ways, the fact that there are so many museums & historical organizations in town can be tricky. All of these institutions rely on the same population for membership & fund-raising, for example.

However, in many ways, the benefits of the diversity and wealth of historical organizations in this city outweigh the downsides. For example, staff at many of the organizations are planning a city-wide exhibit on textiles for 2009. This collaborative effort will make it possible for some of the best pieces throughout the city to be displayed. More importantly, the educational and programming supplements to the physical exhibits will showcase some of the interesting research that is being done in Portsmouth.

From a more practical perspective, the cross-marketing of the year-long event will benefit all of the organizations involved, from the smallest historic house museum to the largest institutions. If you work for a smaller museum in a city rich with other historical institutions (I'm thinking of places like Salem, Gloucester, Portland, Providence, etc.), it's worth looking into the possibilities opened up by collaborative work. And be sure to come to Portsmouth to check out the upcoming "NeedleArts" exhibits and let us know what you think!