From: "Maxwell, Eileen" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: IMLS Announces 1999 Professional Service Program Awards
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 21:37:48 -0400


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      Press Contacts:  202-606-8339

September 24, 1999
Eileen Maxwell:  [log in to unmask]
Mamie Bittner: [log in to unmask]


FEDERAL GRANTS PROVIDE RESOURCES FOR SMALL MUSEUMS

Washington, DC-Today Beverly Sheppard,
Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS),
awarded 12 grants to museum associations that will help hundreds of small
museums improve their professional practices.  In addition, these awards
will help build museum networks to participate in cultural tourism
activities.

Ms. Sheppard said, "With this year's
Professional Service Program awards IMLS continues its commitment to small
museums. Seventy-five percent of museums in the United States identify
themselves as small, and most look to museum associations for guidance.  By
helping museum associations provide effective tools and resources to their
members, IMLS helps small museums achieve their goals to increase their
stability and meet the needs of their communities."

These grants support museum organization
projects that improve the ability of their members to serve the public -
through workshops, publications, and cultural tourism partnerships.
Professional museum organizations at the national, regional, state, or local
level are eligible to apply.  Applications were evaluated by peer review.

Projects funded in 1999 include:  a Michigan
association that will develop statewide thematic itineraries for tourists in
the state;  a Boston center that will create a website that will give
museums across the country 24-hour access to conservation information; a
Pennsylvania organization that will help small and mid-sized museums use new
technologies to develop websites and interactive exhibits; and a Texas
association that will develop a video to get the state's museums involved in
cultural tourism.  (See the attached for a complete list of awards and
descriptions of the projects.)

About the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) - IMLS is an independent federal agency that fosters
leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the
nation's 8,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. Created by the Museum and
Library Services Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, IMLS has an annual budget of
$190 million. For more information, including grant applications, contact:
Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20506, (202) 606-8536, or http://www.imls.gov.


Association of Youth Museums  (AYM) $27,230,
Washington, DC

The AYM will publish Collective Vision II: The Companion Edition, a visual
complement to their comprehensive collection of essays Collective Vision:
Starting and Sustaining a Children's Museum.  Collective Vision II will
contain a 48 page-illustrated book and companion CD-ROM that will bolster
the impact and usefulness of the original written work through illustrations
of best practices in children's museums of all sizes and locations across
the country.


Central Arizona Museum Association (CAMA)  $27,300
Phoenix, AZ

CAMA has designed a program called SMART (Small Museums of Arizona:
Resources Training) which will provide professional development seminars for
small and rural museums in Arizona.  In cooperation with the Museum
Association of Arizona, six workshops will be held over a two-year period on
topics ranging from volunteer management, fundraising, marketing,
collections care/conservation, education/interpretation, and exhibits.


Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts  (CCAHA) $25,000
Philadelphia, PA

CCAHA will use the $25,000 funds to conduct a national conference in
cooperation with the National Park Service on the management and
preservation of architectural records.  There will be lectures, tours and
hands-on demonstrations to address the theoretical and practical issues
surrounding these records.  Ultimately, this conference seeks to improve
preservation and access to documentation of the built environment in the
nations' in museums, archives, libraries and historical agencies.


Florida Art Museum Directors Association (FAMDA)  $50,000
Vero Beach, FL

FAMDA in cooperation with the National Conference of State Museum
Associations will use this award to create a centralized database of state
museum associations (SMAs) and museum information.  FAMDA will also further
develop the current SMA net web site to allow on-line modification to ensure
up-to-date information, and create a template web site for state museum
associations to adapt in order to provide a presence for all SMAs.


Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies and Museums (LHC) $15,000
Elmsford, NY

LHC in cooperation with the National Park Service will present a three-day
hands-on collections care workshop for staff of historic house museums.
Using the Vanderbilt Mansion as a case study, conservators will focus the
workshop on the unique methods of cleaning and maintenance of walls, wood
surfaces and textiles coverings specific to historic house museums.


Michigan Museums Association (MMA) $49,475
Lansing, MI

MMA will use the award to develop statewide theme-based itineraries for
cultural tourists in the state.  Some suggested topics are tours designed
around the Underground Railroad and automotive culture in the state of
Michigan.  These itineraries will be available to the public on a new web
site that will be developed by MMA.   MMA will then conduct a statewide
conference on cultural tourism in order to help museums use these
theme-based itineraries and also forge tourism collaborations with the
tourism industry.


Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)  $43,750
Boston, MA

NEDCC, in cooperation with the other 13 regional conservation centers in the
country, will work together to create a joint website which will allow
museums 24-hour access to the technical conservation expertise of all the
centers.  The website will include a searchable bibliography of all
conservation publications of the centers to guide museums in their search
for more detailed information.  It will also include a core selection of
updateable technical collections care leaflets reproduced in full text to
answer some of museums most  asked conservation questions.


Ohio Museums Association (OMA)  $25,319
Columbus, OH

The Ohio Museums Association in cooperation with the Ohio Association of
Historical Societies and Museums and several other Ohio cultural agencies,
will develop a resource guide for Ohio museums to help them more fully
participate in cultural tourism cultivated for the upcoming Ohio State
Bicentennial celebration.  In encouraging participation of museums in this
celebration, OMA aims to enhance the visibility and visitation in Ohio
museums both for the event, and into the future.


Pennsylvania Federation of Museums and Historical Organizations  $29,965
Harrisburg, PA

This project will present an introduction to computer-based technologies
such as websites and interactive exhibits using workshops, conference
sessions, and other established formats for professionals in small to
mid-sized museums.  Participant organizations will learn about these new
technologies in order to make informed decisions, and choose from the
available technological options to best maximize their resources.


Texas Association of Museums (TAM)  $30,000
Austin, TX

TAM in collaboration with the Texas Travel Industry, the Texas Historical
Commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts, will create and distribute
a 7-10 minute video about cultural tourism in the state of Texas.  This
video will both serve as an instructional tool to help museums understand
the benefits and methods of cultural tourism, as well as aid in getting
museums more involved in the process and industry of cultural tourism on the
state level.


Vermont Museum & Gallery Alliance (VMGA)  $18,600
Woodstock, VT

The award is focused on Vermont's small and rural museums to create a
one-year sequential program of general surveys, on-site training, with
follow-up by conservation and curatorial interns.  This curriculum aims not
only to provide professional development to staff, but also to aid in the
creation of a coordinated collections care programs within these museums.


Virginia Association of Museums (VAM)  $17,158
Richmond, VA

VAM, in cooperation with the Museum Trustee Association and the Library of
Virginia, will conduct a series of training workshops for board members of
small museums.  These workshops and the resulting training manual will
address the issues of board members roles and responsibilities, organization
of a board meeting, staff and board relationships, legal issues, public
accountability, and fiduciary responsibility.

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