Hi Carol and all, What a 21st century idea! This would certainly be a capacity-building opportunity for small museums. Unfortunately, in Nebraska the vast majority of small museums do not have the resources to take advantage of this opportunity. The majority are run by volunteers with next to no budget. The idea of this kind of technology is probably beyond most of the volunteers as well. On the positive side there are a few museums whose directors are of an age that they would have grown up with technology and would be interested in this opportunity. We aren't saying there would be no response from Nebraska's small museums, but probably very little. I'll add to that by saying that as time passes more and more museum volunteers will have grown up with technology so the appreciation of the opportunity will likely grow over time. Nebraska would not support small museum payment of a licensing fee and construction costs. They would be able to apply for a humanities grant to cover the costs, but very few of our small museums have the resources to even be interested in applying for grants. We would propose the state council paying a small annual licensing fee to cover participation by any of our state's small museums and possibly libraries since they often have exhibition space too. 1. Do you want to be involved in promoting these kits within your state? YES 2. Do you see this as an opportunity for accompanying humanities public programs and to reach more communities? SOMEWHAT 3. Do you worry that these exhibits would compete against MoMS traveling exhibitions? NO 4. We anticipate the exhibition fee to license this content for the host museums would be about $500 per venue, plus construction costs. Does this seem reasonable for the size and budgets of typical MoMS venues? NO (see comment above) 5. Should we be thinking about a way for MoMS to develop exhibitions like this for councils to travel statewide? Or, do you like this model that results in non-traveling venue specific exhibitions that require less council support and staff time? QUESTION 1 -- possibly, but would likely be instead of MoMS traveling exhibitions. QUESTION 2 -- yes Mary Yager Associate Director 215 Centennial Mall South, Ste 330 Lincoln, NE 68508 402-474-2131 ext 103 FAX 402-474-4852 www.humanitiesnebraska.org On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 11:33 AM, Harsh, Carol <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi all, > > > > In an effort to find cost-effective ways to provide services to our small > museum partners, the MoMS team has been thinking for quite some time about > what we can do with content from past MoMS exhibitions. We would love to > get your reaction to the idea of MoMS Exhibition Starter Kits. We need your > input about what role state humanities councils could play in this endeavor. > > > > Drawing on content from past MoMS exhibitions, these skeletal, > build-it-yourself exhibitions would be designed for small museums. MoMS > would provide the curatorial framework for the exhibition and host museums > would be invited to add additional content--such as historical images, art > and artifacts, video clips, and quotes from oral histories—that feature > their local history and culture. The end result would be a unique > exhibition developed in partnership with the Smithsonian that features > collections and stories in an exhibition framework that gives national > context to a local story. > > > > The MoMS Exhibition Starter Kits would be a digital suite of items and > instructions for developing exhibition and include such things as: > > · Digital files for curated text panels with a national scope > > · Sample photographs to supplement local collections > > · Digital audio-visual content relevant to the exhibition theme > (hardware would be provided by the host museum) > > · Graphic package of design elements (such as logos, paint colors, > build-it-yourself instructions) > > · Sample quotes for printing on vinyl for wall applications > > · Exhibition teacher guides > > · Suggestions for local research, story collection and suggested > list of artifacts to include > > · Bibliography for books for adults, young readers, and children > > · Filmograhy, educational resources, and program ideas to > complement the exhibition > > > > By using MoMS Exhibition Starter Kits, host museums would have the > opportunity to keep the exhibitions up for an extended period of time and > plan to host other build-it yourself exhibitions in a rotating basis, in > addition, of course, to hosting MoMS traveling exhibitions. > > > > First, we would love to hear your reaction to this idea and how you > believe host museums could or would use such a resource. > > > > Secondly, we want to explore with you how state humanities councils could > be involved. If it is decided that we move forward with these MoMS Starter > Kits, > > 1. Do you want to be involved in promoting these kits within your > state? > 2. Do you see this as an opportunity for accompanying humanities > public programs and to reach more communities? > 3. Do you worry that these exhibits would compete against MoMS > traveling exhibitions? > 4. We anticipate the exhibition fee to license this content for the > host museums would be about $500 per venue, plus construction costs. Does > this seem reasonable for the size and budgets of typical MoMS venues? > 5. Should we be thinking about a way for MoMS to develop exhibitions > like this for councils to travel statewide? Or, do you like this model that > results in non-traveling venue specific exhibitions that require less > council support and staff time? > > > > We look forward to hearing your good ideas and counsel as we think this > out. Responding on the listserv will allow a good exchange of ideas. > However, if you prefer to reach out to us directly you can certainly > respond to me at [log in to unmask] (please cc Selwyn Ramp at [log in to unmask]). > > > > With warm regards, > > > > > > Carol G. Harsh > > Director, Museum on Main Street and Special Projects > > Smithsonian Institution, SITES > > P.O. Box 37012 MRC 941 > > Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 > > > > Deliveries > > 470 L’Enfant Plaza, SW > > Suite 7103 > > Washington, D.C. 20024 > > > > Tel: 202-633-5333 <(202)%20633-5333> > > Fax: 202-633-5344 <(202)%20633-5344> > > www.museumonmainstreet.org > > > > >