Newsletter April / May / June 2018

AMA 2018 Councilexecutive committee

Ryan Blocker | presidentAlabama Department of Archives & History

Kari Barley | vice presidentPioneer Museum of Alabama

Kendall Chew | secretaryAlabama Humanities Foundation

Dena Thurmond | treasurerMary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts

district representativesJulie Patton | district 1Guntersville Museum

Kristen Holmes | district 2The Evelyn Burrow Museum

Kathie Thurman | district 3The Tuscaloosa Museum of Art

Lindsay Elliott | district 4Vulcan Park and Museum

Mike Walczak | district 5Governor's Mansion

Ashlea Singleton | district 6Washington County Museum

at-large representativesBill Allen | place 1University of Alabama Museums

TBD | place 2

Rebecca Duke | place 3Dr. J.C. Francis Medical Museum

www.alabamamuseums.org

Alabama Museums Association | Post Office Box 2866 | Birmingham AL 35202-3802

I want to take a moment to thank everyone for attending the conference last month in Tuscaloosa. Attendees were able to explore growing technologies in the museum field, as well as ways to use and care for collections. I hope everyone came away with helpful information that can be applied at your museum.

I would especially like to thank the AMA council, local planning committee, and the local museums for their hard work and commitment to making the conference a success. Many thanks also go to the presenters and speakers, for without them, the conference would not have been possible.

The AMA council is always looking for ways to assist our members. With that in mind, we will be using the comments and suggestions from the conference surveys to help us develop next year’s programming and annual meeting. If you have suggestions for conference topics or summer workshops, please do not hesitate to contact your local representative.

All the Best,Ryan BlockerAMA President

In MemoriamAlabama artist Frank Fleming died on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham following a brief illness. Fleming, born and raised in northern Alabama, turned his love of nature into amazing pieces of fantastical sculpture and was internationally renowned. His work is in collections and has been exhibited in museums throughout Alabama.

Making Alabama

Making Alabama. A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit opened in the Old Supreme Court Library in Montgomery on March 5. This multi-media and multi-paneled exhibit displays 200 years of Alabama history and beyond.

Following the March 30 end of its run at the Library the exhibit will be on tour for 19 months, traveling to all 67 of Alabama’s counties. Four exhibits have been built, and they will travel the state concurrently so that all counties will be able to experience this historic event in that time period. In addition, host communities are assembling their own historical exhibits and collateral programming and activities to showcase their own history and put their signature on this event. The first four tour stops are in the counties of St. Clair, Wilcox, Lee and at the Evelyn Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Cullman County.

The exhibition is organized by the Alabama Humanities Foundation, whose staff has decades of experience through its partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit. See all Making Alabama exhibition details, including the traveling exhibit tour schedule at makingalabama.org.

The Huntsville Museum of Art has unveiled its recent acquisition, Luigi Lucioni's Ethel Waters. Waters was an American singer and actress who is remembered for her jazz and blues performances on the Broadway stage and in concert. She purchased this

finished portrait from the artist in 1939 for $500 and eventually gifted it to close friends where it remained in their private collection. It was first displayed on loan in HMA in 2016. hsvmuseum.org

The National Park Service has awarded $12.6 million among 51 projects in 24 states to preserve civil rights sights through their African American Civil Rights Grants. Recipients in Alabama include:

The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) is set to receive two grants. The first grant of $365,720 will be used to develop a master plan and to complete phase I rehabilitation for the historic Moore Building located on South Court Street in Montgomery. Once rehabbed, the Moore Building will provide educational and interpretive programming space for the Freedom Rides Museum, a historic site operated by the AHC. The Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum, a non-profit developed to support the museum, will provide funds as part of the match for the grant. The AHC will also receive a $50,000 grant to develop a new, interactive exhibit at the Freedom Rides Museum. The completed exhibit will open in 2021 during the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. ahc.alabama.gov

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church is receiving $500,000 for its third phase of a preservation, repair and restoration project. 16thstreetbaptist.org

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is receiving $44,918 for an archives preservation and digitization project. bcri.org

The University of North Alabama will use its $45,364 for the Civil Rights Struggle in the Shoals project. una.edu

The Wiregrass Museum of Art (WMA) has been accepted to the 2018 Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program with the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. The CAP program provides small and mid-sized museums with partial funding toward a general conservation assessment. The assessment is a study of all of the institution's collections, buildings, and building systems, as well as its policies and procedures relating to collections care.

The WMA has also received a $2,500 award from the Support the Arts License Tag Fund, given by the Alabama Arts License Tag Grant Program.* The money will be used to support their youth education programming. wiregrassmuseum.org

The Alabama Humanities Foundation welcomes two new Bicentennial outreach coordinators to its staff. Nakia Browner of Birmingham, and Stephanie Jackson of Mobile will focus on Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit and Alabama History Day. alabamahumanities.org

Amanda Solley has been named executive director of the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile. She has also served as their curator of education, co-director of eevelopment & communications, and most recently director of exhibitions and programs. alabamacontemporary.org

Jennifer Watts has been appointed the director of museum programs at Vulcan Park and Museum. She was previously director of the Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama located at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park in McCalla. Lindsay Elliot has been promoted to collections manager following five years as museum specialist at Vulcan. visitvulcan.org | tannehill.org

A new Auburn University research publication chronicles John James Audubon's last journey and final artistic enterprise with "Audubon's Last Wilderness Journey: The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America." The book includes an essay about the process of making these hand-colored lithographic by Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art curator of exhibitions and collections, Dennis Harper. A companion exhibition is on view at the JCSM through May 6, 2018. jcsm.auburn.edu/exhibitions/quadrupeds

AMA Classifieds

The Alabama Museums Association has updated their Disaster Preparedness and Response resources on their website. Review the lists now! alabamamuseums.org/members/resources.php

Don't forget! Post your bicentennial event on the Alabama Bicentennial Commission’s digital events calendar, viewable online at www.alabama200.org/events-calendar.

To submit your event, follow the green “Submit Event” button in the top right of the calendar and complete the following form. Only events with pictures will be included on the calendar.

Though all events held in Alabama are welcome, we encourage organizers to formally theme their events as bicentennial events by submitting an ALABAMA 200 endorsement application, which will give access to logos, press release templates, poster templates, and space on all ALABAMA 200 calendars. You can find the endorsement application at their website above.

Beginning this summer, The Fitzgerald Museum will open to guests its two-bedroom apartment where Scott and Montgomery native Zelda lived from 1931 to 1932. Located in the Historic Cloverdale neighborhood of Montgomery, the stay includes a complimentary tour of the museum, located in the downstairs

portion of the historic Craftsman style home. Booking begins June 1 through Airbnb. For more information about research, writer's residency or other inquiries, contact thefitzgeraldmuseum@gmail.com. thefitzgeraldmuseum.org

The 2018 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) is in Jackson, Mississippi on October 8-10. semcdirect.net

*About the Alabama Arts License Tag Grant Program

The Alabama Arts License Tag Grant Program is to promote the arts in Alabama, especially arts education, including fine arts, dance, folk arts, drama, and music. A six-person volunteer committee governs the program. Committee members serve on a voluntary basis and one member is appointed by each of the following organizations or individuals: the Alabama State Council on the Arts, The Alabama Alliance for Arts Education, the State Department of Education, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Revenue for the Alabama Arts License Tag Grant Program is generated by the sale of specially designed Support the Arts license plates, available to Alabama residents where license plates are sold and at any county probate office throughout the state. arts.alabama.gov/licensetag.aspx

Enjoy the newly unveiled Kiwanis Centennial Park and Kiwanis Vulcan Trail at Vulcan Park and Museum. These are the first two phases of the $5.8 million project that was the Kiwanis Club's gift to the Birmingham community in celebration of its 100th anniversary. The Trail is a two-mile jogging and biking path and the Park transformed the north side of Vulcan Park into a municipal park and event space with a plaza, fountain and steps to provide a connection between the city's downtown and the museum. The final phase will be installing a multicolored light show on the statue each night and is expected to be completed later this year. visitvulcan.com

The Association of Academic Museums and Galleries will meet in Miami, Florida for their annual conference from June 21-24. aamg-us.org

In case you missed it, the 2018 AMA Council

is listed on the first page!

Celebrate our state.

It’s not every day that a state celebrates two centuries of statehood. Be a part of

our statewide initiatives that focus on educating all

students about Alabama’s history and involve them in

the bicentennial celebration.

Be a Part of Our Bicentennial Schools!— Request an ALABAMA 200 flag and fly it at your school.

— Apply to receive a $2,000 grant for a community project and be designated an Alabama Bicentennial School.

— Engage in a community project for a chance to be recognized as an Alabama Bicentennial School of Excellence and participate in the official bicentennial commemoration on December 14, 2019.

Educate & CelebrateAlabama’s 200th Birthday

Visit Alabama200.org and find out how you can incorporate Alabama’s bicentennial into your curriculum. To inquire about becoming a Bicentennial School, contact Erik.Haeuser@archives.alabama.gov or call 334.353.9152

®

#AL200 #ALABAMA200