Contents:
- Inspiring Conversations: MHC and its Traveling Exhibit Program
- Kicking off The Way We Worked
- BookTalk: The Way We Worked
- Picturing America Exhibit at the Bolduc House Museum
- The Civil War in Missouri Exhibit
- Route 66 Outdoor Mural Exhibits: How They Worked in Cuba MO
- Storm Country: The Anthology Launches to Assist Joplin School Libraries
- New Council Members Elected to MHC
Inspiring Conversations: MHC and its Traveling Exhibit Programs
There are a wide variety of ways in which we share information and stories: books and articles, lectures and discussions, living history performances and demonstrations, traditional storytelling, and exhibits, just to name a few. Not surprisingly, as I have spent over 35 years working in the museum field, I am particularly interested in exhibits as a means for people to communicate with each other. That, in part, is why I am very pleased that the Missouri Humanities Council has several traveling history exhibit programs that it offers, including the Museums on Main Street presentations that are provided through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.
Kicking Off The Way We Worked
The Missouri Humanities Council’s latest “Museum on Main Street” traveling exhibition, The Way We Worked, is now up and running.
In preparation for the show to hit the road, a workshop for representatives of the host sites was provided by MHC at its Brentwood, MO offices in September. MHC staff members Clarice Britton and Anna Wingron, along with Robbie Davis from the Smithsonian Institution “Museum on Main Street” Program, helped the workshop participants learn to assemble and disassemble the exhibit.
BookTalk: The Way We Worked
The Smithsonian’s The Way We Worked exhibit provides Missourians in six towns with a unique opportunity to explore the theme of work and its impact on our culture. To engage even the youngest citizens, MHC has created a unique book discussion program for parents introducing them to children’s books that delve into the themes presented in the exhibit. BookTalk: The Way We Worked helps adults discover engaging ways to think and talk about books and stories with children. Led by gifted storyteller Steve Otto, participants will meet fascinating characters and delve into their stories in the two-hour discussion programs. Participants will read and discuss five children’s books and then take the books home to share with their children.
Picturing America Exhibit on display at the Bolduc House Museum
The Bolduc House Museum in downtown Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, interprets an eighteenth century French colonial site in the first town in our state. So, when the Humanities Council suggested that we host the traveling exhibit, Picturing America, we had to decide whether and how it fits our mission first. The exhibit is a series of 40 iconic American images arranged on large laminated posters. The images span our nation’s history from before colonial contact to the era of Civil Rights. Because the images do not specifically connect with our mission, except for John Audubon’s painting of a pink flamingo, we chose to use the exhibit to build our mailing list and as an outreach to local schools and homeschoolers. We decided to promote and install the exhibit in our two art galleries in time for the January 2011 Fourth Friday Ste. Genevieve Art Walk.
Our New Traveling Exhibit Partnership: The Civil War in Missouri
In the current economic environment, new humanities initiatives become much more practical when collaboration is involved. One very good example of this is a joint effort of the Missouri Humanities Council and the Missouri History Museum to provide a special traveling exhibit developed by the museum, The Civil War in Missouri, to communities across Missouri in 2012-2015. This traveling exhibit will be a smaller, portable version of the Missouri History Museum’s major civil war exhibition by the same name, which opens in St. Louis on November 12, 2011. The tour of the portable version will kick off in May, 2012.
Route 66 Outdoor Mural Exhibits: How They Worked in Cuba MO
Cuba, Missouri, designated “Route 66 Mural City,” by the Missouri legislature, is often described as a town where art meets history. While some of the outdoor murals have national importance, others more closely reflect Cuba’s workers and the local economy.
Storm Country: The Anthology Launches to Assist Joplin School Libraries
Storm Country, an anthology published to benefit Joplin School libraries that were damaged or destroyed by an E-5 tornado in May, was recently released and is now available for purchase at http://stormcountry.wordpress.com. The book is a joint project of the Missouri Writers’ Guild and its Joplin Writers Guild chapter, Mozark Press in Sedalia, and the Missouri Humanities Council.
New Council Members Elected to MHC
The Missouri Humanities Council is pleased to announce ten new members have been chosen to serve on the Council’s board of trustees. We want to offer our congratulations and welcome Mary Berry (Maysville), Debbie Depew (Sullivan), Gerald Early (Webster Groves), Kathlyn Fares (Hawk Point), Kathleen Nigro (Chesterfield), Jerome Offord (Jefferson City), Pamela Riggs (Marshall), Lorraine Sandstorm (Seymour), Alan Warne (Kansas City) and David Carl Wilson (St. Louis).
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