Good morning.

Thank you all for your enthusiastic responses.  We really appreciate your
insights and thoughtful comments. I was interested to see that some of your
ideas mirrored ideas that we have been tossing around, too.

Please keep 'em coming. I am convinced that this sort of brainstorm will
help MoMS stay on target and be the best that it can be.

Carol





Carol Harsh
Co-Director
Museum on Main Street
Smithsonian Institution, SITES
(202)357-1760
(202)465-5267 (cell)
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>>> [log in to unmask] 05/05 7:16 PM >>>
Carol:

This sounds really exciting and I appreciate the MOMS staff for the chance
to brainstorm new ideas.

Let me ask some of our rural museum folks in Kansas and see if they have
any suggestions as to what they might like to see, or any hints as to what
might "sell" in their communities.

I'll be in touch.

Julie

Julie Mulvihill
Director of Programs
Kansas Humanities Council


> Hi all,
>
> As you know MoMS is launching the tour of Between Fences in September
2005
> and New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music in March 2007.  The
> MoMS
> staff is starting to think beyond these two exhibitions to yet another
new
> MoMS exhibition that will begin traveling in 2009.
>
> We would love to hear from you regarding exhibitions that you have seen,
> or
> possibly that your council helped to develop, that you feel could be
> adapted
> to make a great MoMS exhibition.
>
> A good MoMS exhibition is one that has a national focus but that
inspires
> locally developed programs that are focused on local history and
culture.
> The exhibition needs to be thematic in approach and draw upon a variety
of
> humanities disciplines. It needs to be limited security so that we can
> travel it to small museums and libraries, and therefore can't involve
rare
> collections or artifacts. The topic needs to have a broad appeal, and
> preferably inspire a passionate reaction at the local level as we have
> seen
> with barns and food.
>
> Please send your comments and suggestions to me by June 1. Robbie and I
> will follow up with curators and explore the viability of the topics.
In
> addition to any ideas we get from you, we are currently developing a
> handful
> of other exhibition proposals on a variety of topics.
>
> Our plan is to distribute a slate of exhibition proposals to you on
August
> 1, 2005, and ask you to rank and rate them as to which ones might make a
> good MoMS exhibition tour in your state.  Surveys will need to be
returned
> to us by mid September so that we can make the final determination and
> announce the decision at the Federation's National Humanities
Conference.
>
> Please remember that a lot of factors come into play in determining
which
> exhibition ideas are appropriate for MoMS.  We value your input and
> appreciate your understanding that the MoMS team is working hard to make
> sure that only the best and most viable exhibition topics are presented
to
> you for your consideration.
>
> I am looking forward to your good ideas!
>
> Carol
>
> Carol Harsh
> Co-Director
> Museum on Main Street
> Smithsonian Institution, SITES
> (202)357-1760
> (202)465-5267 (cell)
> [log in to unmask]
>