Hi Mary,

I had a similar experience to Illinois when Barn Again toured Maine a couple
of years ago. Our local public TV system produces a weekly half-hour program
called "Made in Maine" which airs statewide and does short segments on Maine
businesses and products. It's very popular and well-produced. I made sure
they knew about the tour, and they were interested enough to send people to
look things over. They ended up filming a whole program centered on the
exhibit and its message, with several related features woven in about people
who repair barns for a living and people who renovate them for other uses.
It was an amazing addition to the tour and didn't cost us a penny!

Best wishes,

Trudy Hickey
Grants Manager/Office Manager
Maine Humanities Council
674 Brighton Avenue
Portland, ME  04102
207-773-5051
www.mainehumanities.org

---------------------------------------
On 1/4/08 3:10 PM, "Chris Vallillo" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Mary,
> 
> In Illinois, we were able to get a regional public TV (WSEC TV Springfield)
> interested in New Harmonies and they did a 1/2 hr show on the exhibit
> including interview and some live performance.  It was part of an ongoing
> series they produce called "Illinois Stories" which aired statewide.  Most
> public TV stations have something along these lines and they are always
> looking for good content.  Any of the MOMS exhibits should be worthy of
> their consideration.  It's another example of where the name "Smithsonian
> Institution" can open the doors.
> 
> I've requested (but have yet to receive) a copy of the show.  Depending on
> your agreement with the station, it might be possible to put it up on a web
> site for ongoing viewing.  Some bigger stations (WTTW in Chicago for
> example) maintain a portion of their web site that has segments of their
> shows and they might do that as well.  Then you could just link to their
> site from yours.
> 
> As for collaborating with the Arts Council, in Illinois, all public
> broadcasting money from the state is distributed through the Arts Council
> and no separate collaboration was necessary.  Working in conjunction with
> the Smithsonian MOMS exhibit will look good on their funding requests (TV's)
> in the future too! I'd simply research appropriate program in your state,
> approach the producers and pitch the idea.
> 
> In our case there was a very fast turn around time; about 3 weeks from
> taping to airing.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Chris Vallillo
> Illinois State Scholar
> Smithsonian Institution New Harmonies Exhibition
> 309-833-4838
> www.chrisvallillo.com
> 
> 
>