Brooklyn Museum Launches Smart Phone Gallery Tours
Visitors to the Brooklyn Museum with mobile phones with Internet access can now create their own gallery guides to the permanent collections through a first-of-its kind program launched last week. Museum attendees who bring their Web-enabled phones will also be able to suggest works of art to fellow visitors. Based on the visitor’s initial selections, the guide will generate additional recommendations about works to see.
Anyone who wants to will now also be able to create sets of annotated objects, which function as customized tours, through the Museum Web site, www.brooklynmuseum.org. These tours may be shared with friends and featured on the Museum Web site for other visitors. The Brooklyn Museum Web site now contains images and brief information on more than 11,000 objects from its comprehensive holdings, which range from antiquity to the present and
include nearly every culture.
For example, a visitor to the ancient Egyptian galleries containing more than 1,200 objects might focus on the Old Kingdom section, encompassing Dynasties 3 through 6, from 2675 through 2170. There, they might select a limestone group statue depicting a man, his wife, and their small son that was the first major work of Egyptian art ever exhibited in America. Given their interest in this statue, the program then might suggest that the visitor look at three elaborately painted wooden tomb statues depicting a man at various stages of his life and an exquisite alabaster statue of the child King Pepy II seated on the lap of his mother.
Through the aggregation of data provided by visitors and their individual tastes, the guide is designed to grow more intelligent as more visitors use it and more data is supplied. The new customized guide will be free to all visitors and may be used on any Web-enabled mobile phone.
The guide is designed as a mobile Web application, specifically engineered for the small screen of a mobile device. The object data displayed within the application is drawn from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection online and combined with the social element that each visitor contributes while in the gallery during their visit.
Eventually, the data generated by visitors using the guide in-house will be exported back into the collection online to form a recommendation system on the Brooklyn Museum Web site.
This project was developed by Shelley Bernstein, Chief of Technology, with assistance from Jennifer Bantz, Manager Interpretive Materials, Brooklyn Museum. The Web application was engineered in-house by Paul Beaudoin, Programmer, Brooklyn Museum.
Light On New Netherland Exhibit at NYC’s Federal Hall
New Netherland – the Dutch province that stretched from today’s New York State to parts of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut – existed for 55 years and its legacy lives on. Just two years after the founding of the first permanent English colony at Jamestown in 1607, and eleven years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Dutch were in New Netherland. And, although their hold on that part of North America was tenuous and brief, the influence of the Dutch was both impressive and long term.
Light on New Netherland, a traveling exhibit consisting of 26 two-dimensional panels, introduces adults and children to important, but not well-known aspects of this part of the American history and culture. The New Amsterdam History Center (NAHC) has arranged for the exhibit to appear at Manhattan’s Federal Hall National Memorial site. The exhibit will be on display on the main level of Federal Hall from Aug. 5 through Sept. 8. “Light on New Netherland” has appeared at the New York State Museum in Albany as well at several other notable institutions. The Federal Hall National Memorial Site is open Monday through Friday from 9AM to 5PM; it’s located at 26 Wall Street.
Photo: The Extent of New Netherland (from a map published in 1685).
Inside The Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
A new book, Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City
, by Michelle and James Nevius offers 182 short chapters that tell the story of the city from Henry Hudson’s voyage of discovery in 1609 to the present-day rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. At the back, fourteen self-guided tours allow you to use the chapters to create your own explorations of the city.
This fast-paced narrative history unfolds in mini-chapters designed to guide you to obscure and prominent historic places throughout the city. The supplemental maps and step-by-step directions make using the book to explore the city in a new way easy and accessible. The book is broken down into several parts that include New Amsterdam, the Revolutionary Era, and the Birth of New Republic; The Great Port, 1805-1835; The Growth of the Immigrant City, 1836-1865; The City in Transition, 1866-1897; The New Beautiful City, 1898-1919; Boom and Bust, 1920-1945; and the City Since World War Two.
The layout makes reading the book as a traditional history possible and brings to life the city’s fascinating and dramatic past for locals, tourists, and anyone eager to better know the stories and places of New York City history. Also check out the authors’ blog.
Greater Hudson Heriitage Announces Conservation Grant Awards
Greater Hudson Heritage Network (formerly Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies & Museums) has awarded nearly $120,000 in conservation treatment grants to 27 organizations, located in 18 counties of New York, in association with the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). These 2009 awards bring the total granted by this statewide program to over $1 million since the Conservation Treatment Grant program began in 2000. The grant funds will provide treatment by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing, preserving, and making accessible to the public an array of unique objects in collections of New York’s museums, historical and cultural organizations of all sizes.
2009 grants will support treatment of ancient Greek kylizes and contemporary bronze sculpture, printed earthenware, silk and woven textiles, and oil paintings—such as an 18th c. Cuzco School Madonna and Child, 19th c. portraits, and 20th c. landscapes with their carved, gilt frames; a 28 ft. wall mural, an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Curtain, and Frank Stella’s Big Gur. Diverse objects such as artist Thomas Cole’s Top Hat, a Leather Fire Hose, panoramic photograph of Gloversville, The Caudebec Inn 1920’s Hotel Register, a plaster bull sculpture maquette, carriages, coaches, a newsprint sign and a Native American clam basket are among the artifacts stewarded by collecting and exhibiting institutions from Rochester to Rhinebeck receiving conservation treatment support through the 2009 grant program.
Grants are awarded for prioritized, urgently needed conservation of objects that, once treated, will impact public interpretive programs, exhibitions and education. Non-profit organizations with stewardship responsibility for cultural collections, (but without in-house conservation staff) were eligible applicants; state or federally owned collections are ineligible for support. Grant funding can treat paintings, works on paper, textiles, furniture, sculpture, ethnographic, historical and decorative objects, and may also support accompanying professional treatment of frames, supports, stands and mounts if integral to the final public presentation of the object, after conservation.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network works to provide support for conservation treatments that are executed on the highest professional level. The field of conservation is continually changing, with pioneering research and dissemination of findings on innovative materials and techniques. Although there are many paths into the field of conservation, we acknowledge practitioners who have demonstrated high levels of proficiency and advanced knowledge, adherence to the ethics and standards of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC), and are recognized for their expertise in the museum field.
An evaluation of the first five years of the Conservation Treatment Grant Program reported that these grants led to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including heightened appreciation of the collections, and increased public awareness of the institution’s role as steward, and has proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients reported that Conservation Treatment funding prompted fuller use of collections (for exhibition, web content and loan), enhanced interpretive capability, and expanded opportunities to educate the public about art, history, humanities, the science of conservation, and museum work.
41 grant applications were received at Greater Hudson from institutions in 23 counties of New York State, requesting an aggregate of nearly $192,000 in grant support. 27 awards totaling approximately $120,000 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators and museum professionals. Individual 2009 Conservation Treatment Grants range from $555 to $7,500.
Of the 27 funded institutions, 63% have annual budgets under $360,000 (15% with operating budgets of less than $50,000), and 37% have budgets greater than $400,000 (15% of those have budgets of $400-$750,000; 15% are in the $1.8 million – $4.5 million range, and 7% operate at over $17 million). Organizational annual operating budgets of 2009’s grant recipients span a stunning range from $3,400 to $18.7 million.
Information on the statewide Conservation Treatment Grant Program, including grant guidelines and an archive of past grant awards, visit www.greaterhudson.org, or contact Greater Hudson Heritage Network Executive Director Tema Harnik: 914.592.6726; director@greaterhudson.org.
Congratulations to these 2009 Conservation Treatment Grant Recipients:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery/ Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo (Erie County).
$ 2775 for conservation treatment of a 1960 bronze sculpture Man Walking (Version 1,) by Alberto Giacometti, and 1957 oil painting, George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole, but It Got Too Cold, by Joan Mitrchell; work to be done by conservators Stefan Dedecek and Robert Lodge of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
John D. Barrow Art Gallery, Skaneateles (Onondaga County).
$ 7500 for treatment of the oil painting Trees with Sunset by John D. Barrow, and its frame. treatment to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators Ltd.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Cedar Grove), Catskill (Greene County)
$ 2930 for conservation treatment of Thomas Cole’s Black Silk Top Hat, and its original box; work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation LLC.
Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook (Columbia County).
$ 2967 for conservation of a pair of early 19th c. printed objects: an earthenware pitcher and a cotton textile featuring the Declaration of Independence; to be treated by objects conservator Monica Berry, and textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Depauville Free Library, Depauville (Jefferson County)
$ 7487 for treatment of an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Drape; work to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Riverdale (Bronx County)
$ 5035 for conservation treatment and stabilization of a 19th c. European velvet embroidered appliqué Torah ark valance; work to be done by textile conservator Judith Eisenberg.
FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson (Columbia County)
$ 4764 for conservation of an early 19th c. copper riveted leather fire hose; to be treated by objects conservator Abigail Mack.
Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., Oyster Bay (Nassau County)
$ 2800 for conservation of an oil portrait of William Fondey of Albany, by an unknown artist; work to be done by conservator paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Fulton County Historical Society, Gloversville (Fulton County)
$ 555 for conservation of a c. 1920 panoramic photograph of downtown Gloversville and its frame; treatment to be done by paper conservator Ellen Riggs Tillapaugh.
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College Foundation, Flushing (Queens County)
$ 4430 for treatment of the 18th c. Peruvian Cuzco School oil on panel painted Madonna and Child, work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Greater Patchogue Historical Society, Patchogue (Suffolk County)
$ 7500 for conservation of a 28Ft painted mural, Scene Along the Patchogue River by Robert Zoeller; work to be done by paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Goshen (Orange County)
$ 2440 for treatment of Richard McMahon’s silk Driving Jacket; work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Historic Cherry Hill, Albany (Albany County)
$ 4856 for conservation of two winter landscape paintings by Walter Launt Palmer: Vorheesville Creek and Cedars; work to be done by paintings conservator Matthew Cushman, Willamstown Art Conservation Center.
Judd Foundation, New York (New York County)
$ 7500 for conservation of the 1967 painting Big Gur by Frank Stella; work to be done by paintings conservator Luca Bonetti, Luca Bonetti, Corp.
King Manor Association of L.I., Inc., Jamaica (Queens County)
$ 4074 for conservation treatment of the 19th c. oil portrait of Eliza Grace King Halsey, her cerise Kashmir shawl and her ribbon fragment of a sash worn by General Lafayette on his last visit to America; work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc., and textile conservator Mary Kaldany, Textile Conservation Workshop.
Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook (Suffolk County).
$ 3055 towards the structural conservation treatment of 6 carriages and coaches; work to be done by objects conservator Valerie Reich Hunt.
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester (Monroe County)
$ 7500 for the conservation of two ancient Greek Kylixes, an African Senufo helmet mask and a Native American Puget Sound Clam Basket; treatments to be done by objects conservator Barbara Moore.
Museum of Jewish Heritage-a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York (New York County)
$ 6475 for conservation of a 1935 newprint sign “Avoid Jewish Businesses!” ; treatment to be done by paper conservator Caroline Rieger, Rieger Art Conservation..
Neversink Valley Area Museum, Cuddebackville (Orange County).
$ 2296 for conservation of the Caudebec Inn Hotel Register, 1908-1913; treatment to be done by paper conservator Michele Phillips, The Paper Lab, LLC.
New-York Historical Society, New York (New York County)
$ 6600 for conservation of the c. 1858 oil painting Morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Va, by William Sonntag and its original frame; treatment to be done by paintings conservator Kenneth S. Moser, and Eduardo Larrea, Larrea Studio, Inc.
Niagara County Historical Society, Lockport (Niagara County).
$ 2400 for treatment of the 1822 engraved Van Rensselaer Geological Profile Extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie, highlighting the Erie Canal; work to be done by paper conservator Tracy Dulniak, Great Lakes conservation of NY, LLC.
Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, Syracuse (Onondaga County).
$ 3951 for conservation treatment of the original Roccoco Revival frame for the painted Portrait of Moses Dewitt Burnet (c.1841), attributed to Charles Loring Elliott; work to be done by painting and frame conservator John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Seneca Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls (Seneca County)
$ 4207 for conservation of the 1827 oil portrait of Wilhelmus Mynderse painted by Thomas Wentworth; treatment to be done by paintings conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd. Frame conservation to be done by Gregory Johnson, Heirloom Picture Framing.
Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown (Suffolk County)
$ 3537 for the conservation of the plaster maquette of the Smithtown Bull Statue of Whisper, created by sculptor Charles Carey Rumsey; treatment to be done by objects conservator I. Joseph Chiarello
Southold Historical Society, Southold (Suffolk County).
$ 3775 for conservation of two period carved frames for works by Edward Bell and Irving R. Wiles; work to be done by Rhonda Feinman, Custom Frames, Inc..
Southworth Library Association, Dryden (Tompkins County)
$ 2905 for treatment of the 1804 oil portrait of Jeremiah Dwhight by AJ Purdy, and its frame; work to be done by conservators Susan Blakney and John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Wilderstein Preservation, Rhinebeck (Dutchess County).
$ 5380 for conservation of the portrait of Mrs. Robert Sands and its frame; treatment to be done by conservators Thomas Branchick and Hugh Glover of Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
This Week’s Top New York History News
NYS Library’s September Noontime Programs
In September, the New York State Library will offer three noontime author talks and book signings. On Wednesday, September 9th, Mark Jodoin will discuss his book “Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada
,” which tells the stories of ten young men and women who were forced to flee north, into what became Ontario and Quebec, because they remained loyal to the British government. On Wednesday, September 16, Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan will discuss her new book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
,” one of the first books written on Irish servant girls. And on Wednesday, September 23, Michael Esposito, author of “Troy’s Little Italy (Images of America)
,” will talk about the Italian immigrants who settled in Troy, beginning in the late 1880s, and the community they created there. All programs run from 12:15 to 1:15 and are free and open to the public.
Sept. 9: Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada
In 1778, New York State patriots forced colonists loyal to the British government to flee north into what became Ontario and Quebec. Many of the defiant young British Americans soon returned south as soldiers, spies and scouts to fight for their multigenerational farms along the Mohawk River, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Eventually defeated, they were banished from their ancestral homelands forever. Mark Jodoin, author of the book Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada offers an enlightened look back at ten young men and women who were forced north into what became Ontario and Quebec, sharing the struggles that these Loyalists faced during our nation’s founding.
Sept. 16: The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
“Bridget” was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth century. She was widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young Irish girl who wreaked havoc working as a servant in middle-class American homes. Many contemporary Irish-American families can find one or more of these Irish Bridgets in their background. Come hear Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan discuss her new book, “The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930.” This is the first book to be written on Irish servant girls. This program will be held in the Huxley Theater on the first floor of the Cultural Education Center.
Sept. 23: Troy’s Little Italy
Italian immigrants began arriving in Troy in large numbers in the late 1880s, escaping the abject poverty of their homeland. They settled among Irish immigrants who had arrived fifty years earlier in Troy’s first and eighth wards just south of the central business district, an area bustling with activity. The neighborhood contained blocks of two and three story brick buildings, a mix of row houses and free standing homes. Within a few years, these Italian immigrants began opening small businesses, particularly on Fourth Street, the neighborhood’s “Main Street,” and it was typical of the mixed residential and commercial communities in many American cities. Michael Esposito will discuss the neighborhood and its people from his new book “Troy’s Little Italy.”
Locals Elected to Adirondack Architectural Heritage Board
For your information comes the following press release issued by the Adirondack Architectural Heritage on the recent election of their Board of Directors:
On June 13, 2009, Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) held its annual meeting at the Boathouse Theater in Schroon Lake, during which time the following individuals were elected to serve their first three-year term on AARCH’s Board of Directors: Willem Monster (Northampton), and Albert Price (Piseco Lake); Jane Mackintosh (Queensbury), and Howard Lowe (Plattsburgh), were elected to serve their second three-year term; William Johnston (Westport), Jay Higgins (Lake Placid), and Phebe Thorne (Keene Valley), were elected to the AARCH Advisory Council. And, at the July AARCH Board meeting, Stewart de Camp (Thendara) was elected to serve on the AARCH Board for a first three-year term.
Adirondack Architectural Heritage is the private, non-profit, historic preservation organization for New York State’s Adirondack Park. AARCH was formed in 1990 with a mission to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the Adirondack’s unique and diverse architectural heritage. For more information on membership and our complete program schedule contact AARCH at (518) 834-9328 or visit our website at www.aarch.org.
A New Book Highlights Brooklyn’s Evergreens Cemetery
Organized in 1849 as a non-sectarian cemetery Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn (it actually borders Brooklyn and Queens) and covers 225 acres and is the resting place of over a half million people.
This remarkable cemetery of rolling hills and gently sloping meadows features several thousand trees and flowering shrubs in a park like setting and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also the subject of an outstanding new book, Green Oasis in Brooklyn: The Evergreens Cemetery 1849-2008
by noted historian John Rousmaniere. [Read more…] about A New Book Highlights Brooklyn’s Evergreens Cemetery