Blog and Newsletter

The Association of Maine Archives and Museums publishes quarterly print newsletter that is sent out to members in February, May, August, and November. We also maintain the blog on this page for members to share their announcements more immediately.

Quarterly Print Newsletter

Submissions: If you are a member interested in submitting articles, dispatches, opportunities, and/or photos to the print newsletter, please review these guideline and deadlines.

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Read now: Click here to view the current and past issues of the print newsletter (members-only; log in first).

News Blog

Members and non-members of MAM may post news of interest to the field using the blog below. To post an event, see the event listings. To post a job or internship opportunity, see the job/internship board. MAM reserves the right to edit or reject postings as it deems appropriate. This service is free to members; non-members are charged $20.

Posts to this news blog are automatically shared to the MAM Facebook page to get even more exposure!

MEMBERS: Log in, then click "Add Post." If you have trouble logging in, email info@mainemuseums.org.

NON-MEMBERS: To submit your bulletin board post, please email info@mainemuseums.org.

  • 13 Jan 2014 4:57 PM | Anonymous member
    The application period for the 2014 Harold T. Pinkett Minority Student
    Award is now open!

    The Pinkett Award was established in 1993 and recognizes and
    acknowledges minority graduate students, such as those of African,
    Asian, Latino or Native American descent, who, through scholastic and
    personal achievement, manifest an interest in becoming professional
    archivists and active members of the Society of American Archivists.
    The recipients of the award will receive full complimentary
    registration to the SAA Annual Meeting and related expenses for hotel
    and travel for attending the Joint Annual Meeting of CoSA, NAGARA, and SAA in Washington, D.C. in August 2014.
    In addition, each recipient receives a complimentary one-year membership in SAA.

    Eligibility: The Pinkett is awarded to minority students, with
    preference given to full-time students possessing a minimum scholastic
    grade point average of 3.5 while enrolled in a graduate program
    focusing on archival management during the academic year proceeding
    the date on which the award is given.

    For more details or to download the application form please visit:
    http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-pinkett

    The deadline to apply is February 28, 2014.
  • 13 Jan 2014 4:25 PM | Anonymous member
    This is a message for all of Maine's cultural institutions from the Cultural Emergency Resource Coalition (CERC: Maine).  Maine Archives and Museums  has partnered with CERC (Maine) to provide Maine's collecting institutions with valuable information about disaster preparedness and response.

    If your organization suffered damage in the recent ice storm, please read the following message from the Maine Emergency Management Agency:
     

    The Maine Emergency Management Agency is reminding anyone whose home or business suffered damages from the December Ice Storm that 2-1-1 Maine is still collecting information about those damages and would like to hear from them.

    On New Year's Day, Governor Paul LePage requested all those who had damages or losses from the ice storm to report to 211 (dial 2-1-1, toll free). As the Governor stated in that announcement:

    “This is not an application for assistance. We need to know how many people have been impacted, and where they are, in order to assess what kinds of assistance might be available. We’re asking people to report to 211 so that we know the extent of damages and losses. The 211 call specialists also have health and safety information available, and may be able to refer you to some kinds of help right away."

    Although reports are still coming in to 211, more data is still needed to determine if the State might be eligible for any additional assistance programs.

    It is especially important to report major damages such as burst pipes, damaged heating and electrical systems, or roof and structure damage from falling limbs and ice. All reported information helps to assess the overall impact from the ice storm. Damages can be reported to 211 even if it appears insurance will cover some or all of the cost.

    MEMA advises:

    • List and document the damages with as much detail as you can.
    • Dial 2-1-1 (toll free) to report your damages. Remember, this is a survey only, you cannot apply for any assistance through 211.
    • Keep records and receipts of any repairs you have done.
    • Call your insurance agent to see if the damage is covered

    Only one report per household is needed, so if you have provided your information you do not need to call again. Those calling 211 should be prepared to give:

    1. Name of Individual/Family Affected
    2. County
    3. Town
    4. Address of Property Affected
    5. Your Current Address if different
    6. Telephone number to be reached at
    7. Nature of issues or damages
    8. For Business owners, approximate dollars, days or other approximate measure of revenue lost. (the call specialist may ask some additional questions specific to SBA assistance criteria)

    MEMA will be working with other state and federal agencies and volunteer groups to evaluate the survey data. 

  • 12 Jan 2014 10:12 AM | Anonymous member
    FIRST: It's February 24-25 in Washington, D.C., and you can go!  Members of the American Alliance of Museums (including staff of member institutions) can register for FREE.

    SECOND: MAM is working on creating a statewide Economic Impact Statement to present at Museums Advocacy Day, and you can help by responding to our annual Institutional Member Survey!  Find out more here or go directly to the survey link: www.surveymonkey.com/s/2013SurveyEIS

    THIRD: Featured on the American Alliance of Museums info sheet on Museums Advocacy Day is our very own Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko of the Abbe Museum and Raney Bench of the Seal Cove Auto Museum, having a chat with Senator Susan Collins at last year's Museums Advocacy Day.  Nice to see you guys!  Click here to check it out and find out more about Museums Advocacy Day.


    SO WHAT IS MUSEUMS ADVOCACY DAY EXACTLY?
    Museum supporters from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C. to bring a unified message to Congress about why museums are essential and how federal policies affect museums. Participants include museum directors, staff, volunteers, students, board members, and business owners. Do you feel that museums are fully appreciated by policymakers? Are you concerned about political challenges to nonprofits? We’ll make our case for federal funding, federal education policy, charitable giving incentives, and recognition of the economic impact and job creation of museums. The America Alliance of Museums makes it easy by providing comprehensive policy briefings and scheduling your meetings on Capitol Hill. For more information and to register (Alliance members register for free), visit www.aam-us.org/advocacy/museums-advocacy-day.


  • 10 Jan 2014 4:47 PM | Anonymous member

    Gift to the BCMA Includes Over 300 Works from the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection

     

    BRUNSWICK, Maine--Today the Bowdoin College Museum of Art announced its acquisition of 320 works of art from the celebrated collection of Dorothy and Herbert (Herb) Vogelundefineda gift that will dramatically enhance the Museum’s contemporary art holdings.  Comprising works by nearly 70 artists, such as Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, Edda Renouf, Julian Schnabel, James Siena, Pat Steir, and Richard Tuttle, Dorothy Vogel’s gift to the BCMA ranks among the largest contributions of objects from the Vogel Collection since their major gift to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in 1992.  In addition to works by prominent modern and contemporary artists, the gift includes many works with which the Vogels lived personally for many years and rare examples of paintings by Dorothy and Herb Vogel themselves.  The Vogel Collection gift is among the most significant contributions to the BCMA in its more than 200-year history.

     

    “Having encountered the Vogel Collection ourselves as graduate students for the first time in the mid-1990s when an exhibition of selections from it was shown at the University of Texas at Austin, we recognize the enormous power of exposure to art to shape the sensibilities and even the lives of students,” said Frank Goodyear, Co-Director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

     

    “There is nothing more important for campus museums than to challenge and inspire their audiences with ambitious artwork, and we feel strongly that the opportunity to see the works from the Vogel Collection here at Bowdoin, where students and the public can have a sustained experience with such material, has transformative potential,” continued Anne Collins Goodyear, Co-Director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

     

    The gifted collection features the work of iconic artists and will enable the museum to represent the evolving history of minimal, post-minimal and conceptual art practice.  Works on paper comprise the majority of the gift, in addition to photography by Richard Long, ceramics by Michael Lucero, and sculpture by Merrill Wagner.  Encompassing works dating from the mid-20thcentury to the early-21st century, the gift to Bowdoin will present the full history of the Vogel’s collectingundefinedfrom Herb Vogel’s early acquisition of paintings by Giuseppe Napoli and Hank Virgona, to work acquired jointly by the pair during the past decade, such as drawings by Richard Tuttle and Lucio Pozzi. Works from the collection are now on view at the BCMA, with paintings by Pat Steir and works on paper by Edda Renouf included in Regarding the Forces of Nature, an installation focusing on the work of major women artists presented by the museum until February 9, 2014.

     

    “This donation represents a true highlight in the giving of our collection,” said Dorothy Vogel.  “I take pleasure knowing that artworks included here, by leading American artists, have the capacity to inspire many generations of audiences, from students to locals, to a broad range of international visitors.”

     

    Herb and Dorothy Vogel began collecting art in the early 1960s and created one of the world’s most notable collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art. The Vogels made a major gift from their collection to the National Gallery of Art in 1992. Sixteen years later, they launched The Dorothy and Herbert Collection: Fifty Works to Fifty States, in concert with the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Through this undertaking, the Vogels distributed fifty works to one institution in each of the fifty states. Their extraordinary accomplishments as collectors and benefactors have been celebrated in two films by Megumi Sasaki, Herb and Dorothy (2008) and Herb and Dorothy 50 x 50 (2013) as well as in innumerable publications, including articles and interviews.

     

    About the Bowdoin College Museum of Art

     

    The collections of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art are among the most comprehensive of any college museum in the United States. Collecting commenced over 200 years ago with a major gift from the College’s founder James Bowdoin and his family that included Gilbert Stuart’s magnificent portraits of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

     

    The Museum is housed in the landmark Walker Art Building, designed in 1894 by Charles Follen McKim. Located on the historic quadrangle of Bowdoin College, the building is graced by murals by John La Farge, Kenyon Cox, Elihu Vedder, and Abbott Thayer. A $20.8 million renovation and expansion in 2007 provided a stunning setting for objects as diverse as monumental Assyrian reliefs from Nimrud, Iraq, European old master paintings, and works by American modernists. The Museum is the centerpiece of Bowdoin’s vibrant arts and culture community and offers a wealth of academic and educational programs. The Museum is also a prominent summer venue for major exhibitions such as Edward Hopper’s Maine (2011), William Wegman: Hello Nature (2012), and Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea (2013).

     

    Fully accessible, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art is open to the public free of charge from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday; 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

     

  • 07 Jan 2014 12:41 PM | Anonymous member
    Picture of Health: Museums, Wellness & Healthy Communities  

    96th Annual NEMA Conference
    Boston/Cambridge
    November 19 - 21, 2014

     

    Museums play an important role in the wellness of their audiences and communities. For years they've been havens for mental health, places for pause and pondering. But today museums are even more active venues for health, offering programs for Alzheimer patients and children with autism, promoting fitness through yoga classes, nutrition guidance, and First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative.

     

    Charles River, Boston, Credit- Tim Grafft MOTT.jpgJoin us for the 96th Annual NEMA Conference in Boston/Cambridge, the world hub of health care innovation, for a stimulating examination of how museums can contribute to community wellness and transformative well-being. The conference program will include dialogue between the medical community and museum field on ways our professions can collaborate on a common mission: to help individuals find health and wholeness.

     

    You are invited to contribute to the dialogue with a conference session proposal. Here is some food for thought as you develop your ideas.

    • Museums contribute to the emotional and intellectual well-being of their visitors by offering life-long learning opportunities as well as spaces for quiet contemplation and reflection.
    • Museum content engages individuals in deep, sometimes ineffable ways, assisting a meaningful, purpose-filled life.
    • How can the medical community better use museums as a prescription for physical and mental healing?
    • Museum spaces are increasingly used for active fitness programs like yoga, pilates, and walking.
    • What research can affirm the connection between museums and health?
    • How can museums better collaborate with the health, medical, wellness, and social care sectors?
    • Can museums afford to care about the health of their communities? Can they afford not to?

    jumping_schoolkids.jpgIn addition to theme-related sessions, we also welcome sessions exploring issues of technology, future leadership, and public accountability in museums. Sessions on professional development topics forindividuals such as networking, personal growth, and public speaking are also welcome. NEMA strives to offer sessions on topics including museum governance, administration, visitor services, volunteer management, human resources, education, exhibitions, curatorial and conservation, registration, membership, development, and marketing. In content and in format, all sessions should stimulate discussion, raise new ideas, debate solutions, and spark imagination. Join us and share your experience!

    A great conference begins with great NEMA members! Consider joining us in Boston/Cambridge as a session chair or presenter. To submit a proposal click here. Proposals must be received by February 3, 2014  

  • 07 Jan 2014 11:37 AM | Anonymous member

    WINSLOW HOMER STUDIO TICKETS GO ON SALE 
    FOR SPRING TOUR SEASON

    New student price is announced

     

    WHS-Piazza (Portland, Maine) Tickets go on sale to the public for Winslow Homer Studio tours on Monday, January 6. The spring tour season starts April 7 and runs through June 22. Visitors will experience the extraordinary opportunity of “walking in Homer’s footsteps” and seeing the same dramatic views of the sea that influenced Homer’s artistic vision. Tickets are $55 and $30 for PMA members and tours are 2.5 hours. New for 2014 is a $25 student price (with valid I.D.) Group tours are also available. Reservations are required and all tours leave from the Portland Museum of Art; please call (207) 775-6148. For more information and for hotel packages, visit www.portlandmuseum.org.

     

    One of the most significant locations in the history of American art, the Winslow Homer Studio, located at Prouts Neck, Maine, is where the great American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) lived and painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death. A National Historic Landmark, the Studio is owned and operated by the Portland Museum of Art.

     

    (Image credit: Winslow Homer Studio.©trentbellphotography)

  • 06 Jan 2014 9:57 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    The National Endowment for the Humanities has a traveling exhibition program called NEH On the Road. Currently, they are touring the exhibit "Spirited: Prohibition in America" which explores the history of Prohibition, from the early temperance movement through the passage and repeal of the 18th Amendment. It is being offered on loan to small and mid-sized museums and historical societies across the country. The traveling exhibits are typically no larger than 2,000 square feet and include low-security objects. Each museum receives the exhibit for 7 weeks, and NEH provides a grant of $1,000 to support public programs around the exhibition themes. 

    Spirited begins its national tour in June 2014 and is already almost fully booked – but there is one open slot, June 16 – August 11, 2017. If your museum or historical society is interested in hosting this exhibit, please contact Kathy Dowell, director of Arts and Humanities Programming at the Mid America Arts Alliance, which administers the NEH On the Road program. She can be reached at: (816) 421-1388 ext. 220  or email her at kathy@maaa.org.  

    NEH On the Road has never been in Maine, so they encourage applications for this and future exhibits.  You can find more information about Spirited and the NEH On the Road program here: http://www.nehontheroad.org.
  • 06 Jan 2014 9:51 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    Caught off guard by the extended holiday break season this year?   Need a few extra days to get back into the work groove?  

    The Archives Leadership Institute will now be accepting applications until Wednesday, January 15, 2014.

    Details about the application process and the ALI@Luther program can be found at www.archivesleadershipinstitute.org.  

    If you have been considering applying, but have questions, please look at the FAQs page or contact Sasha Griffin at coordinator@archivesleadershipinstitute.org.

    The Archives Leadership Institute (ALI) at Luther College is a dynamic program that provides advanced leadership training and mentorship for 25 innovative archival leaders, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the profession in practice, theory and attitude.  

    Participants selected as the 2014 Cohort will be notified by the end of February.

    The Archives Leadership Institute has been funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) since 2008 and was held at the University of Wisconsin Madison until 2012.  Luther College has been selected to develop and host ALI for years 2013, 2014, and 2015.



  • 20 Dec 2013 3:18 PM | Anonymous member
    Project Description:

    The Society for American Archivists Diversity Committee is gathering case studies that illustrate diversity in the archival record and/or unique efforts to collect and document a variety of individuals, groups, and organizations. Consistent with the goals embedded in SAA's Strategic Plan, these case studies will be made available online on SAA’s website so that archivists, other information professionals, teachers, and communities can use them as resources and references. These case studies will help in carrying forward goals and activities embedded in SAA’s Strategic Plan.

    We are looking for submissions from archivists, cultural heritage communities, and other informaiton professionals that illustrate:

    • The broadest possible range of individuals, socio-economic groups, governance, and corporate entities in society;
    • Diversity of viewpoints on social, political, and intellectual issues, as represented both in archival records and among members of the profession;
    • Diversity in ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation;
    • Groups and segments of communities that have not been well-documented for a variety of reasons and thus have few extant records;
    • A variety of formats (for the previously mentioned groups) that are not being preserved.

    Submission Instructions:

    For more information, or to submit a Case Study on Diversifying the Archival Record, complete the form here: http://www2.archivists.org/groups/diversity-committee/diversifying-the-archival-record-a-call-for-case-studies


  • 10 Dec 2013 4:01 PM | Anonymous member
    Yarmouth Historical Society seeks part-time administrative support for fundraising including membership, annual fund, sponsored programs and fundraising events.  18 hours per week. No phone calls please. Send an email requesting full job description to info@yarmouthmehistory.org or go to www.yarmouthmehistory.org, click About Us and see job description. Apply with cover letter and resume to info@yarmouthmehistory.org by December 20, 2013.

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