The Museum has just received word that it has been awarded the Connecting to Collections Bookshelf resources. This is a core set of conservation books and online resources designed to help museums preserve the condition of their collections. The Bookshelf was awarded to the Museum by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as part of the third and final round of a competitive application process. IMLS has thus far donated 1,800 Bookshelf sets to museums, libraries and archives throughout the nation.

The bookshelf is comprised of a core collection which includes such works as Marie Malaro's A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections and Preservation Management for Libraries, Archives and Museums, edited by G.E. Gorman and Sydney J. Shep. The Museum will also receive resources concerning the care of prints and drawings, the archival care and management of photography collections, the ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, and emergency preparedness, among other topics.

The IMLS Bookshelf is a component of Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a conservation initiative IMLS launched in 2006. IMLS began this initiative in response to a 2005 study entitled A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections. That study highlighted the conservation needs of America's collections, especially those held by smaller institutions.

The Museum is looking forward to receiving these resources, and we are sure they will prove valuable for collections care and management in the future.

Labels: Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, artifact

Next week is the week we say goodbye to one of our own, our beloved moveable wall! This wall has seen much use since its initial construction. We have repainted and used it depending on the needs of current exhibits. Some times it was a barrier and other times a divider and our most popular use: an interactive.

For Utopian Visions, an exhibit featuring four Arab women artists, the wall was used as a space for visitors to leave comments about what utopia meant to them. Now that the exhibit is over and the artwork has been packed and shipped back to places like the Schomburg Center and M.Y. Art Prospects in New York and as far as Cairo, Egypt, the gallery space is empty and awaits another exhibit. We had a little dilemma, our future exhibit will not utilize this wall and we really are short on storage. So, we offered the wall for recycling and reuse and The Public Art Committee in Canton, MI has honored us with accepting to take this wall for storage and use in some of their future projects.

Below are some images of the huge transformation that the wall underwent throughout the exhibit's duration.

Please check the Canton Public Art Committee's activities for upcoming information on events that will feature this wall:
http://leisure.canton-mi.org/newsroom/2009_gen_press.asp?id=5408
Also, for more information about Utopian Visions, go to the Arab American National Museum's website, under Past Exhibits, at http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/Past-Exhibits.id.25.htm









And please if you have similar stories, do share them with us, we would love to hear about recycling and other interactive ideas museums are using!

Labels: Artists, interactive, recycle, storage, Temp Exhibits, wall

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) and it parent organization, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), are appalled to learn of the horrific act of violence that was committed at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. We stand in solidarity with the museum and condemn this act of hate. Our hearts go out to the museum's staff and the family of the courageous guard Stephen Johns who gave his life in service to the museum.

Both the U.S. Holocaust Memorial and the AANM strive to foster a better understanding of the communities we serve. Our institutions work to provide a safe and inclusive environment conducive to learning and reflection. This act of violence serves as a catalyst for us to strengthen our resolve. It is a reminder that, while we have made great strides forward as a society, there is much more work to be done to foster peace and better understanding.

Labels: Museums

One of the exhibits the curatorial team is currently working on is called, Connecting Communities. It uses the voices of immigrants from four geographical regions (South Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Arab world), who came to three Detroit neighborhoods (Dearborn, Southwest Detroit, and Hamtramck). We used local university students to interview our 10 immigrants, and we've been collecting census data, artifacts and a myriad of other things to help illustrate the connections between immigrants and citizens born in the U.S.

Labels: Connecting Communities, culture, Detroit, Temporary Exhibits

This beautiful abaya is a recent gift to our collection from Chuck Alawan. It was made for him in 1930 as a baby gift by his father's relatives in Damascus. The abaya is made of hand embroidered silk. A floral border surrounds the edges. On the back of the abaya is the most wonderful design, combining elements from the old and new worlds: the American and Syrian flags, camels, cedar trees, and the recipient's name, "Khalil Alawan" embroidered in Arabic script.

Mr. Alawan remembers being photographed wearing the abaya as a young child, while sitting on a pony.