Dear MoMS community,

It is with great pleasure that we announce that the next MoMS exhibition will be Spark: Places of Innovation and Creativity. Results from the survey last Fall indicated very strong interest from both host communities and our state humanities council partners. We are putting together a team of scholars and designers to develop the exhibition and related digital and educational resources for an opening in May/June, 2023. Our curator will be Dr. Art Mollela, Curator Emeritus, National Museum of American History and founder of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.

From its founding the Smithsonian has been a beacon of innovation in the sciences, arts, and humanities and it is fitting that through our MoMS partnership we will continue to inspire Americans to move beyond the present, to seek innovative solutions to complex problems, and to shape their own future.

Spark will examine the relationship between place and creativity and tell the story of small towns where innovation flourishes. As a limited security, bi-lingual, 600 square foot exhibition, Spark is intended to be a fresh look at the innovative human spirit that is the hallmark of the American character. There is no real recipe for success. However, research shows that pride of place is an important element. Places of innovation often have a networked community of charismatic leaders who actively work across sectors and disciplines to build a diverse, sustainable, and prosperous community. These communities make the most of natural and manmade resources and provide shared spaces for the exchange of ideas. Their collective story is one of an optimistic spirit, flexibility, game-changing ideas, and a willingness to try and fail and try again. The MoMS team will crowd source communities to identify four to six towns to feature in the exhibition and many others to showcase in layers of augmented content.


Spark will be the centerpiece of a public engagement initiative. Our goal would be to develop the MoMS exhibition in such a way that will inspire host communities to work with local stakeholders, young and old, to explore how their own community is or could be a place of innovation and creativity. Educational outreach materials and an educational classroom poster set will be used to inspire students to be a "spark" to investigate where they live and develop multi-generational projects that deepen their involvement in the community. This work would be done in preparation for hosting the MoMS exhibition and be the core content for their local exhibition and related programming when the MoMS exhibition arrives.

If you would like to discuss these ideas further or if your council is interested in hosting Spark, please let me know. As we finalize the project scope and budget it would be helpful to know how our council partners envision participation in this project.  We plan to send contracts later this summer when we have an exhibition outline.  But, for now, we would like to start an interest list beginning in May/June, 2023.

I can be reached at 202-465-5267 or by email, [log in to unmask]

With warm regards,

Carol

Carol Harsh, Director
Museum on Main Street and Community Engagement
SITES