For Immediate Release November 28, 2000 Press Contacts: 202-606-8339 Eileen Maxwell: [log in to unmask] Mamie Bittner: [log in to unmask] Three Outstanding Museums to be Honored with Award at White House Washington, DC- On December 20, three museums, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak, Alaska, and the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in Beckley, West Virginia will join only 19 others nationwide that have received the prestigious Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Award for Museum Service presented by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The award winners are as diverse as the cultural landscape of the country: small and large, urban and rural, art, history and science. They have one thing in common: they have each found innovative ways to make serving the community central to their mission. They use their collections, programs and exhibitions to address real community needs: economic, educational or environmental. "This national honor is a tribute to the power of museums to engage children, families, and communities, in towns and in cities all across America," noted the First Lady. "Since the award's inception in 1994, the National Museum Services Board has played a critical role in developing criteria and reviewing nominations." noted Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Chairperson of the National Museum Services Board. "I am proud of all the recipients, and particularly congratulate the museums we honor this year. They are shining examples of what is possible as we enter the 21st Century." "This award is the only national recognition of the extraordinary public service role museums play in our communities," said Beverly Sheppard, IMLS Acting Director. "Each of these museums has an inspiring story to tell." The Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York enjoys an international reputation for its outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art. But the museum is not content to rest on its laurels. Through innovative programming and community partnerships the Gallery is promoting economic development in the region and also heightening its service for inner-city children and families in Buffalo: The Gallery has specifically sought to ensure that minority and low-income students and their families are benefiting from its collections. ARTStart, currently in its fifth year, provides art programs for approximately 4,000 inner-city school children at ten community sites throughout Buffalo. ARTStart encourages self-awareness and self-confidence in "at risk" youth through two components, Art Attack! and Looking and Learning. Art Attack! offers neighborhood after-school workshops and summer sessions with hands-on instruction, and field trips to the museum. Looking and Learning brings every third grade student in Buffalo Public Schools to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for a guided tour. Teachers are provided with pre- and post-visit materials to prepare their classes for the tour and to follow-up with their students after the visit. Over the years ARTStart has been funded through the generous support of seven companies and two foundations. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery spearheaded The Summer of Monet campaign, a major collaborative effort that capitalized on the influx of tourists to Buffalo for the Gallery's special exhibition, Monet at Giverny: Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan. The Gallery brought together leaders from area businesses, foundations, tourism agencies, and New York State. Through a cultural events brochure and an advertising campaign promoting hotel/cultural packages, 70 not-for-profit cultural organizations showcased their activities in Erie and Niagara Counties. A survey and analysis of the campaign estimated the economic impact on the City of Buffalo at $11.3 million from visitors outside the area. "The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is honored by this tribute from the Institute of Museum and Library Services," said Gallery Director Douglas G. Schultz. "Their recognition that our outreach programs and partnerships have had an impact on Buffalo and Western New York's cultural community is extremely gratifying." Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository Located on the mountainous coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska, accessible only by plane or boat, the Museum is dedicated to serving the Alutiit, a Native Alaskan people. The Alutiit, whose culture dates back more than 7,500 years, are Kodiak's original residents. In 1987, the Kodiak Area Native Association's (KANA) Culture and Heritage program resolved that the exploration and celebration of Alutiiq heritage was essential to the health of Alutiiq communities. In 1993, the dream of developing a state-of-the-art repository and regional research facility to promote awareness of Alutiiq history, language, and arts was realized when KANA received a $1.5 million grant from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. The Museum is governed by the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation which represents eight tribal organizations. The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository enriches their communities through innovative educational programs: Kodiak is home to some of Alaska's richest archaeological resources. For the Alutiit, Kodiak's archaeological record is a store of cultural information available from no other source. Community Archaeology, an annual investigation of prehistoric archaeological sites, engages the entire Kodiak community in the exploration of Native heritage and the preservation of threatened archaeological sites. Museum archaeologists, staff, and trained volunteers excavate, catalog, and share the results at local presentations, statewide professional meetings, and gallery displays. Since the summer of 1997, 180 participants have given 5,000 hours of their time to the project. Today, fewer than 500 speak fluent Alutiiq, one of six Eskimo languages. A central goal of the Alutiiq Museum has been to revitalize the language. In 1998, the Alutiiq Museum teamed with their local public radio station (KMXT) to create the Alutiiq Word of the Week, a program of cultural lessons that share Alutiiq language and traditions through weekly radio broadcasts. The enormous popularity of the program is evidenced by its growth. It now includes a weekly column in the Kodiak Daily Mirror, a paperback volume of the first 52 lessons, downloadable audio lessons on the Museum's website <http://www.alutiiqmuseum.com/wordsofweektext/48sealion.htm>, and weekly fax and email broadcasts. The Alutiiq Word of the Week program reaches thousands of households across Alaska, the United States, and every school in the Kodiak Archipelago. A major challenge in serving the greater Kodiak community has been finding ways to link the Alutiiq Museum with the nine remote villages in its region. In 1997 the Museum teamed up with the Kodiak Island Borough School District (KIBSD) to produce an annual art show of student work at the public school in each village. Students submit works with a Native Alaskan theme, complete loan agreements with the museum, and write short statements about each work. KIBSD promotes the show in the schools and ships the artwork to the Alutiiq Museum. The Museum mounts and advertises the exhibit, collects donations of art supplies from local businesses for prizes, juries the show, produces a catalogue that is distributed to each school, and creates a page for the show on the Museum's website <http://www.alutiiqmuseum.com/RSAS.htm>. The exhibit encourages young artists to explore, maintain, and interpret the creative traditions of their ancestors. Through the collaboration, the Museum has expanded its rural audience, formed working relationships with teachers, and established itself as a source for young people to explore Native culture. "We are proud to be recognized for these achievements and hope that our collaborative programming will serve as a model for other organizations seeking to promote cultural awareness," said Sven Haakanson, Jr., Executive Director of the Museum. "Since the Museum's founding, the Alutiit of Kodiak have begun to truly recognize the power of their heritage. It is the Museum's honor to be selected for this award, as it recognizes the importance of heritage exploration and honors our goals of sharing, promoting, and teaching the Alutiiq culture. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our community, Alutiiq traditions will continue to shine brightly." Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia The Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia is situated in the rugged mountains of Beckley in an area that is rural, poor, and isolated. The Youth Museum serves children from eleven rural counties with a total population of 300,000. The Youth Museum works closely with regional school boards, local businesses, and other area agencies to ensure that culture, art, and a sense of history and identity are part of the growth and development of the children of southern West Virginia. The Museum's programs use education, art, and creativity as significant resources for preventing failure and providing positive opportunities for at-risk youth: For such a small state, West Virginia has produced an extraordinary number of talented writers. Conversely, according to a U.S. Department of Education study, 17 percent of West Virginia adults have significant difficulty with literacy tasks related to everyday life. A goal of the Youth Museum is to make West Virginians aware of their rich heritage of native authors while increasing their literacy skills. In partnership with county and state reading specialists, librarians, teachers, writers, students and a West Virginia scholar, the Youth Museum developed Page After Page, an exhibition focusing on West Virginian authors of children's literature. Authors sent copies of their works and poignant letters on what being a West Virginia writer meant to them. So far, Page After Page has been presented in five towns and viewed by over 15,000 West Virginians. Gallery guides and teaching supplements augment the experience. Page After Page challenges and stimulates young readers while instilling a sense of pride in their strong literary heritage. In 1998, the Raleigh County Board of Education asked the Youth Museum to help develop a pilot Transition to School project for 103 special needs preschoolers. Museum staff members worked with professional preschool staff to create two free sessions per semester at the Museum for the special needs children and their families. Educational materials and hands-on museum activities were designed for special needs children. Evaluations by school counselors and special education teachers were so well received that the Transition to School project continued throughout 1999 funded by the West Virginia State Board of Education. The Youth Museum's Transition to School program provided the area's special needs preschoolers and their families educational and social opportunities that they would not otherwise enjoy. Many of the families have become regular visitors to the Museum for afternoons of fun, learning, and sharing with their new friends. Recognizing that education, art, and creativity are significant resources for preventing failure and increasing positive opportunity, the Youth Museum developed an Artist-in-Residence Program for the area school districts. The Youth Museum partners professional artists with more than 30 schools. The artists visit the classrooms and work directly with the students. A curriculum of the artist's talents is sent to teachers before the visit as well as prepared classroom activities. The program has introduced thousands to the thrill of live theater, native arts-and-crafts, dance, storytelling, and traditional Appalachian music. The Youth Museum's Artist-in-Residence School Program has been duplicated in school districts throughout West Virginia and has served over 20,000 children. "We work very hard, with a very small staff and it is gratifying when that effort is recognized," said Youth Museum Director Sandi Parker. "It is validation that one small museum and its activities can make a difference. The Youth Museum is proud to receive this award on behalf of our community and our collaborating partners." The National Award for Museum Service The National Award for Museum Service was established in 1994 to recognize a national trend among museums. Today's museums are taking significant steps to make the communities they serve as central to their mission as their collections and exhibitions have always been. All types of museums, from anthropological to zoological, fine art to folk art, urban and rural, large and small are nominated for the National Award for Museum Service. Nominations are evaluated by the National Museum Services Board, an advisory panel of presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed members. As the policy advisory body of the federal IMLS, the Board makes recommendations to the Director. The National Award for Museum Service nomination deadline for 2001 is January 8, 2001. The postmark deadline for application materials is February 15, 2001. Nomination procedures and form can be found at: http://www.imls.gov/grants/museum/mus_nams.asp The Institute of Museum and Library Services IMLS is an independent Federal agency that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's museums and libraries. Created by the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, IMLS administers the Library Services and Technology Act and the Museum Services Act. IMLS has an annual budget of approximately $190 million. IMLS receives policy advice from two Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed entities: the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the National Museum Services Board. For more information contact: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20506, (202) 606-8536, or visit www.imls.gov. Eileen Maxwell Public Affairs Specialist Institute of Museum and Library Services 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 510 Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8339 202-606-8591 (fax) [log in to unmask] ========================================================Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).