The following listing of collaborative exhibitions, programs and
initiatives has been prepared to accompany "Cooperation or Competing
Visions? Museums and Community Collaborations" a session at the 1997 Annual
Meeting of the American Association of Museums.  Because of the document's
length, it will not be distributed at the session.  We hope the information
is useful and invite everyone to attend:  Tuesday, April 29, 2:00-3:15 p.m.
at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  If you have any
questions, please contact: Catherine M. Lewis, American Studies Program,
University of Iowa, [log in to unmask]


Collaborative Exhibitions, Public Programs, and Initiatives

Part III

* Asian History Project, Peace in Our Time, Crafts in the Community,
Kirklees Sound Archive, The Kirklees Photographic Archive. Kirklees
Metropolitan Council Cultural Services (1994).

The Kirklees Cultural Services is based in Huddersfield and is responsible
for two historic houses, two art galleries and four museums.  Together they
attract about 300,000 visitors a year.  Since 1984, the Council has been
encouraging the idea of local ownership of the sites.  Each museum
concentrates on serving local residents and presenting local history.  They
work in partnership with local community groups, community artists, and
other local authority services to develop cultural events.  Examples
include the Asian History Project at Bagshaw Museum and Peace in Our Time,
which was developed with the Proper Job theater company.  Batley Art
Gallery runs a series of workshops targeted at young people and the Asian
community in particular.  For example, the exhibition, Crafts in the
Community involved a range of artists and community groups, such as those
attending a day-care center for Asian elderly people and local youth
groups.  The cultural services established an oral history archive,
Kirklees Sound Archive, and The Kirklees Photographic Archive in the early
1980s and continues to contribute to them.  Their work reflects the
diversity of Kirklees society including Polish and Afro-Caribbean
communities and has been used to develop both permanent and temporary
exhibitions.

See Kathryn Mathers, Museums, Galleries, and New Audiences (London: Art and
Society, 1996), 29.

Contact:  Catherine Hall, John McPherson, and Helen Robinson, Kirklees
Cultural Services, Cultural Services Headquarters, Red Doles Lane,
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Great Britain, HD2 1YF


* Crown Heights History Project. The Brooklyn Children's Museum, the
Brooklyn Historical Society, and the Society         for the Preservation
of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History (April 1994-August 1995).

Working closely with the local residents of Crown Heights, the three
collaborating institutions created exhibitions, educational programs, and a
short video to document the neighborhood's varied communities:  Caribbeans,
African Americans, and Lubavitch Hasidic Jews.  Jill Vexler and Craig
Wilder, two scholars well-versed in cultural history, were hired as Project
Directors.  The Project also empaneled a Community Advisory Committee to
assist with the planning and implementation phases.  Oral histories,
objects and artifacts were collected from local residents.

Contact:  Carol Ensecki, Deputy Director, Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145
Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213, (718) 735-4402.


* Picture L.A.: Landmarks of a New Generation. Organized by the Getty
Conservation Institute and held at the      Henry P. Rio Bridge Gallery,
Los Angeles City Hall (December 1994-February 1995).

The exhibition consisted of photographs by eight Los Angeles
schoolchildren, ages 12-18.  To quote from the exhibition mailer: "Images
of Los Angeles that provoke a sense of wonder, expand conventional notions
of landmarks, and challenge us to reflect on how we ourselves are marked by
the environment we live in."  The Conservation Institute has now recast the
project in international terms, with children in several international
capitals photographing their local monuments for contribution to physical
exhibitions at local institutions, and a cumulative exhibition over the
World Wide Web.

Contact:  James M. Bower, Getty Information Institute ([log in to unmask])


* Neighborhoods: Keepers of Culture. Chicago Historical Society, series of
four collaborative exhibitions (1995-8).

Began as a neighborhood documentation project funded by the Joyce
Foundation, in 1993, the CHS staff decided to organize a series of
exhibitions that would involve a partnership with four local communities.
Douglas/Grand Boulevard: The Past and the Promise was on view from April
30, 1995-October 1, 1995, Rogers Park/West Ridge: Rhythms of Diversity was
at the CHS from December 10, 1995-September 3, 1996 and on November 10,
1996 the CHS opened Pilsen/Little Village: Our Home, Our Struggle.  The
fourth neighborhood, Near West Side/East Garfield Park (not yet named), is
in the process of being organized.  After their tenure at the CHS, each
exhibition is intended to move into the community it documents.

See Russell Lewis, "Curating With the Community," Museum News (May/June
1994): 41-3

Contacts: Tracye Matthews, Russell Lewis, Susan Samek, Chicago Historical
Society, Clark Street at North Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60614, (312) 642-5035
or Catherine Lewis, 925 Drewry Street, Atlanta, GA 30306,
[log in to unmask]


* Cultural Reporter. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Institution (1995)

While working at the National Museum of American History, Lisa Falk
developed a pilot project called the Cultural Reporter.  CR encourages
students collaborate with their community (that includes cultural
institutions) to investigate, document, analyze and present issue of
cultural interaction and preservation within their communities.  The
resulting curriculum was published by Tom Snyder Productions in Watertown,
MA 1-800-342-0236.

Contact:  Lisa Falk ([log in to unmask])


* Brent People and The Community Gallery. Grange Museum of Community
History, Brent, Great Britain (1995).

The Grange Museum has experimented with two collaborative projects.  Brent
People focuses on sixty years of Brent's history, with particular emphasis
on the arrival of immigrants during this period.  In the planning of the
exhibition, the museum staff asked various groups to contribute comments
and suggestions.  The Community Gallery is a way to build relationships
with local black, Irish, Indian, Jewish, and Muslim groups.  It offers
these communities the opportunity to develop their own exhibitions on
topics of their choice.  It gives them as much independence as possible,
and assumes a supportive role itself, supplying funds and the expertise
necessary to produce high quality, professional exhibitions.  Visitors'
criticisms about the under-representation of particular groups in Brent
People provoked the museum to invite other groups to make exhibitions
themselves.  The current display, Front Rooms, A Caribbean Perspective, was
produced by a group of Caribbean "30-something" adults.

See Kathryn Mathers, Museums, Galleries, and New Audiences (London: Art and
Society, 1996),  22.

Contact: Finbarr Whooley and Nick Lane, Grange Museum of Community History,
Neasden Roundabout, Neasden Lane, Neasden, London, Great Britain, NW10 IQB.


* Hidden Children. Historical Society of Rockland County (July 9-November
12, 1995).  Traveled to The Rockland    Center for Holocaust Studies, also
venues in Florida, Kansas City, and Ohio.

This "cooperative" exhibition was a first in many ways, including the first
joint project between the Society and Center; the first traveling exhibit
by those involved, and the first time the Hidden Children were acknowledged
as Holocaust Survivors by both the Center and in an exhibit.  It was also
the first time some of the Hidden Children told their stories to anyone,
including their families!  The exhibition is composed of 30 panels total,
some of general history and 17 of first-person accounts of survival as told
by the Hidden Children.  The Historical Society of Rockland County provided
some seed money, as did the Center, but the Hidden Children raised most of
the money through their fundraising efforts.  Everyone involved edited the
texts.  The exhibition received a 10th Annual Historical Services Award for
Excellence, presented by Lower Hudson Conference of Museums and Historical
Agencies (LHC).  This exhibition was used as a case study  as a case study
when I presented a session for LHC's Handling History Seminar on "Planning
Collaborative Exhibitions" the following year (1996).  Melanie Solomon was
the curator/project director.  The exhibition committee was composed of
staff from the Historical Society of Rockland County (director, curator,
education director, public relations person) and two trustees from the
Society.  The director and two trustees (the trustees were also members of
the Hidden Children group) from the Center for Holocaust Studies, as well
as several representatives from the Hidden Children group were also active
participants.  The exhibition was designed by an outside design team.

Contact:  Melanie Solomon, Curator of History, The Springfield Library and
Museums Association, Springfield, MA, [log in to unmask]


* 2000 Glasgow Lives. Open Museum, Glasgow (1996-present).

2000 Glasgow Lives is a collaborative project between the Open Museum,
local libraries and the people of Glasgow.  It's aim is to tell the history
of Glasgow through the lives of the  people who live there.  The idea is to
have 4 different exhibitions touring the city's libraries in the year 2000.
The exhibitions will draw on the Glasgow Museums collections, oral
histories, objects and photographs donated or lent by individuals for the
exhibition. The exhibitions will be both object and multi-media based.
Visitors will have the ability to consult oral histories and/or add your
own at computer terminals.  The Open Museum has a staff of only 5 people so
they rely heavily on community involvement.  Volunteers and local community
groups are trained to take oral histories for the project and their input
is sought for the themes of the exhibitions.  The project also aims to tell
the stories of all levels of society in Glasgow:  drug addicts, repeat
offenders, prostitutes, taxi drivers, the elderly, students, artists,
professionals, etc. The idea is to document the history of the city and her
people, and also to record people's hopes for the future.

Contact: Nat Edwards, Senior Curator, Open Museum, Haggs Castle, 100 Saint
Andrews Drive Pollockshields, Glasgow G41 4RB Scotland
[log in to unmask] or Nancy Russell, intern, Open Museum
([log in to unmask]).


* Agayuliyrarput : Our Way of Making Prayer : The  Living Tradition of
Yu'pik Masks. Anchorage Museum of  History and Art (1996-present).

This exhibition was a collaboration between a guest curator/cultural
anthropologist and a selected group of culture bearers and village
officials (the administrator for the Yukon Mayors' Association).  The
exhibition opened in a small form at the tri-annual Dance Festival, this
year at Toksook Bay in January 1996.  An expanded opened at the winter
festival in Bethel, Alaska.  In May 1996 it opened at the Anchorage Museum
of History and Art.  The exhibition in Anchorage contained about 150 masks
from seven major institutions, with other interpretative materials, both
old and contemporary.  The exhibition will open in February or March at
National Museum of American Indians in New York, then to the National
Museum of Natural History and the Seattle Art Museum before returning to
Alaska.  The catalogue, by the same title, published by the University of
Washington Press, along with a smaller publication provide Yu'pik-English
translations of the stories gathered during the work on the exhibit.

Contact: Patricia B. Wolf, Director, Anchorage Museum of History and
Art (907) 343-6174, Diane Brenner, Anchorage Museum Archivist
(907) 343-6189, or Ann Fienup-Riordan (guest curator).


* Learning About Our Past: The Story of the Mille Lacs Band of the Ojibwe.
Mille Lacs Indian Museum (opened May 1996).

Learning About Our Past is a permanent exhibition installed at the Mille
Lacs Indian Museum, a historic site managed by the Minnesota Historical
Society and staffed by members of the Mille Lacs Band.  The exhibition
focuses on the Band's history over the last two centuries and incorporates
artifacts, oral history excerpts, video, and live interpreters to deliver
the central message:  The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has retained its
culture, its traditions, and its home for over two centuries, often against
great odds.

Contacts:  Kate Roberts, Exhibit Curator, (612) 297-8839 or Joycelyn
Shingobe Wedll, Mille Lacs Site Manager, (612) 532-3632.


* Unpacking on the Prairie: Jewish Women in the Upper Midwest. Minnesota
Historical Society (October 1996-        October 1997).

Unpacking on the Prairie is an exhibition created in collaboration with the
Minnesota Historical Society and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper
Midwest.  The exhibition relates the experiences of Jewish women who
settled in the Upper Midwest from the 1880s to the present.  The exhibition
shows what kinds of artifacts were important to bring to a new home and how
life changed once they settled in the region.  One recurrent theme is the
ability of Jewish women to maintain their traditions while adapting desired
aspects of the majority culture.  The exhibition relies upon quotes,
diaries, objects, photographs, and interactive multi-media to interpret the
lives of these women.

Contact:  Mary Weiland, Associate Exhibit Curator, (612) 297-8285 or Linda
Schloff, Director, Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, (612)
641-2407.


* Take a Stand. Manhattan, Kansas (December 1996-present).

Take a Stand is a collaboration involving the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas
State University, the Wonderworkshop Children's Museum, the Riley County
Historical Museum and the Manhattan Public Libraries.  This consortium
plans to collaborate several times a year, and if the recent performance of
"Stories of the Underground Railroad" play for 150 community members was
any indication, the program will not end soon.  The group plans to convene
again for an exhibition of the Santa Fe Indian Studio School in May with a
unit on Native Americans.  Other institutions are invited to join.  The
project is directed toward youths and their families of the Manhattan, KS,
area, with the goal of providing positive role models and a forum for
conversations about the issues affecting youth's lives.  By integrating
art, science, literature and the humanities, Take A Stand hopes to engender
constructive problem solving and give participants a creative way to
express their own opinions.

Contact: Kathrine Walker, Education Coordinator, Beach Museum of Art-Kansas
State University, 701 Beach Lane, Manhattan, KS 66506, (913) 532-7718,
([log in to unmask])


* Q is for Quilts. Minnesota Historical Society (opens November 1997).

The Minnesota Historical Society is collaborating with the Minnesota Quilt
Project and Minnesota Quilters on Q is for Quilts, a new exhibition
scheduled to open in 1997 at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.  Q
is for Quilts is one of the 26 mini-exhibitions that make up Minnesota A to
Z, the History Center's anchor exhibit.  Community members are invited to
contact the Historical Society if they have quilt stories to share.

Contact:  Loris Connolly, Associate Exhibit Curator, Minnesota Historical
Society, 345 Kellogg Boulevard West, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906, (612)
297-7955.


* Salmon Stakes: People, Nature and Technology. Museum of History and
Industry in Seattle (scheduled to open late 1997).

Salmon Stakes is the a series of new exhibitions based on telling stories
about objects in the museum extensive collection of photographs (500,000) and
objects (80,000) relating to the people of Seattle, Puget Sound and the Pacific
Northwest.  The first object is a machine that was invented in Seattle
and revolutionized the salmon canning industry in 1902.  The "Iron Chink",
was invented to gut and clean salmon, which had been a skilled job occupied
by primarily Chinese workers. The Chinese workforce was shrinking in
numbers and aging due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  The conceptual
framework for Salmon Stakes is organized around central themes of ecology,
economy and communities.  Visitors will experience a history exhibition
that explores these themes through tactile, hands-on opportunities, and
multisensory experiences.
The collaboration involves layers of committees.  The museum first
developed a History Advisory Council of 14 independent and academic
historians from local universities, newspapers, and archives.  They have
met four times to review research and suggest ideas and contacts in the
community.  The museum staff also met with a group of educators who have
been helpful as a sounding board gauging the importance of this project to
their classroom work.  The most important group the Wing Luke Asian Museum,
a community-based museum representing all Asian groups in Seattle and the
Pacific Northwest.  Ron Chew, the director, has participated in the History
Advisory Council and has been very important in providing access to
Asian-Americans who worked in Northwest salmon canneries.  As a result of
this unique resource, the exhibition will explore issues of organizing
Asian immigrants (Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos), but also inter-ethnic
conflicts between cannery workers who lived in segregated bunkhouses.  A
videographer on the staff of the Wing Luke Museum will help the museum's
exhibit designer create a very innovative object theater presentation (i.e.
sound and light show of historical film, photos, artifacts, and
contemporary voices) that will orient visitors to Salmon Stakes.

Contact: Sheryl Stiefel, Chief Curator and Deputy Director at the Museum of
History and Industry in Seattle, (206) 324-1685 x17 or [log in to unmask]


* Native American, European, and African Cultures in Mississippi,
1500-1800. Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History (scheduled to open in
1997).

This exhibition, scheduled to open in 1997, has been organized in
collaboration with Native American, African American, and European
constituencies in Mississippi.

Contact:  Dr. Patricia Galloway (Project Director), Special Projects
Officer, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, 100 S. State
Street, Jackson, MS  39201, (601) 359-6863, (601) 359-6975,
[log in to unmask]


* How Does a Village Raise a Child. Missouri Historical Society (to be
completed by Spring 1998).

This project will focus on how the African American community in St. Louis
deals with issues pertaining to raising children.  This will be a
contemporary study of St. Louis' African American neighborhoods.  The MHS
staff will look at what has been-or remains to be-the important formal and
informal institutions within these neighborhoods for the development of
children.  The stories will be told by residents.  The MHS is currently
working with two advisory committees to help with the research phase of
this project.  They are helping the staff locate individuals for oral
history interviews and have became active in the planning process to make
sure that the presentation of the community's history is balanced.

Contact:  Jacqueline Dace, Missouri Historical Society, P.O. Box 11940, St.
Louis, MO 63112-0040, (314) 746-4562, fax (314) 746-4548


* People and Place in 20th-Century St. Louis, The Place I'm In: The
Evolution of A  Neighborhood, Voices From Our Community.. Missouri
Historical Society (in process).

This is a research study of the St. Louis Metropolitan Region from
1920-1990.  Upon completion the research will include demographic,
geographic, and oral history interviews.  The MHS has selected twelve sites
in the St. Louis region as a focus for a detailed study.  The study seeks
to determine how St. Louis has changed during a lifetime.  The staff is
currently conducting interviews in the second neighborhood, Hyde Park.
They work with a number of neighborhood organizations, churches, and civic
groups in order to develop inside contacts.  Additionally, they have made
arrangements with local libraries and community centers for space to
conduct interviews if the residents prefer not to meet at their home.
Recognizing the importance of giving back to the community, the MHS staff
worked with a theater company (HISTORYonics) to put together a play that
was performed in the first two neighborhoods of the study.  In addition,
the MHS will distribute copies of the transcripts to local branch
libraries.  As an offshoot of this project, Jacqueline Dace is working with
a community center to teach children (12-18) how to conduct oral history
interviews.  The children interview neighborhood residents to find out how
they have impacted their community.  This project is called Voices From Our
Community.

Contact:  Eric Sandweiss or Jacqueline Dace, Missouri Historical Society,
P.O. Box 11940, St. Louis, MO 63112-0040, (314) 746-4562, (fax) (314)
746-4548


* Museum Team. Brooklyn Children's Museum.  (ongoing)

While the BCM serves children of all ages, its major focus is school-aged
children in the five boroughs of New York City.  Museum Team, an outreach
program for underserved neighborhood youths, has been active in addressing
the needs of children ages 7-18 in the communities of Crown Heights and
Bedford Stuyvesant.  The program's four-tiered structure (Kids' Crew,
Volunteers-in-Training, Museum Team Volunteers, and Teen Interns) allows
young people to build upon their experiences as they gain opportunities for
increased responsibilities and employment.  The BCM is one of the few
museums in the country to invite children to participate in programs
without an adult.  Representatives from each tier meet twice a month to
serve as advisors to the BCM and Museum Team program.

Contact:  Carol Ensecki, Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Broolyn Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11213




Catherine M. Lewis