Austin Children's
Museum
in Austin, Texas reacted very quickly to the events of September
11. Almost immediately they sent out a tip sheet to everyone
on their e-mail list, offering suggestions on ways to help children
cope with disaster. Within an hour of hitting the send button,
the museum began receiving appreciative emails back from parents
who were planning to use the information to help their children
deal with and understand the tragedy. After the museum also posted
its tip sheet to a museum-related listserve, several other children's
museums around the country followed Austin's lead and sent similar
tip sheets to their own e-mail lists.
Children's Museum of Maine
in Portland, Maine has added a series of Make & Take projects
to their
regular programming which focus on children of all backgrounds
coming
together. The first project was handprint painting.
They also put a collection jar at the front desk for the Children's
Museum of Manhattan, to benefit that museum's continuing efforts
to provide quality programming and exhibits to the families of
New York City.
In October, with help from young visitors, they'll be planting
bulbs for a
"Hope Garden" in the museum's outdoor space.
Connecticut
The Science Center
of Connecticut, Kidcity
Children's Museum, Lutz
Children's Museum and the Children's
Museum of Southeastern Connecticut offered free admission
the weekend of September 15. "This is a small thing,"
said Tony Millica of the Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut,
"but if people put together a lot of small efforts maybe
that can make a big impact."
Dallas Children's Museum
in Dallas, Texas is writing messages and making friendship bracelets
to be sent to the Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Children's
Museum of Manhattan -- joining many children's museums across
the country who are participating in this effort of support for
New York children and giving their own young visitors an opportunity
to do something meaningful.
Elgin Fire Barn No. 5 Museum
in Elgin, Illinois donated proceeds from its 10th annual Muster
on September 15 to the International Association of Fire Fighters'
New York Firefighters 9-11 Relief Fund. Moments of silence were
held throughout the day and a memorial service was held at noon.
Field Museum
in Chicago, Illinois hosted a series of weekend town meetings
to help people absorb and contemplate the recent tragic events.
The public discussions were the first of their kind in Chicago.
Panelists included museum staff members who are experts on human
conflict and on the Middle East, and an expert on coping with
grief and trauma.
To make the discussions as broadly and easily accessible to
the public as possible, the museum waived general admission on
the dates of the town meetings -- September 15, 16, 22 and 23.
Grand Rapids Children's Museum
in Grand Rapids, Michigan opened its doors, free of charge, Friday
September 14 through Sunday September 16. The museum provided
a handout for parents that offered suggestions on how to discuss
the tragedies with their children and how to handle children's
questions during this time. A donation box for the American Red
Cross Disaster Relief Fund was set up and raised just over $2,100.
Families were encouraged to add to the museum's friendship
chain by decorating boy/girl cutouts any way they wanted. A lot
of the cutout "people" were decorated with patriotic
clothes, and some had prayers and messages written on them directed
to New York and the nation. The chain, still in tact, was later
packed up and sent to the Brooklyn Children's Museum in New York
City.
Great Lakes
Museum of Military History
in Michigan City, Indiana is collecting donations from the citizens
of Michigan City to be used to help the victims of the World
Trade Center, firefighters and police. Donors will be acknowledged
on a special board in the museum's lobby as well as on one at
city hall. The museum will also compile a computer disk of condolences
to the victims of the tragedy which will be sent to the mayor's
office in New York City from the mayor's office in Michigan City.
Cards, notes, drawings and letters of encouragement are also
being collected for forwarding to the area's servicemen and women.
Guild Hall
in East Hampton, New York is a cultural center comprised of an
art museum and an historic theater. While the Hamptons are 2-3
hours away from New York City, many, many people who live there
also have homes in New York or have friends or family there.
Deeply touched by the events of September 11, Guild Hall held
a concert called "Voices for Hope and Healing" on October
8th. The show consisted of music and spoken word by internationally
known celebrities such as actor Mercedes Ruehl and jazz pianist
Elaine Elias, as well as lesser known, but very talented, performers
such as Garland Jeffries and The Lone Sharks. They were joined
by the East Hampton Baptist Choir and Cantor Stein from the Jewish
Center of the Hamptons. The concert was free and the house was
packed (382 seats). Over $8,000 in donations was collected for
the American Red Cross. "It was a wonderful night for the
community," wrote Guild Hall's Claudia Pilato. "And
it really did help us all feel a little better."
Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum
in Boston, Massachusetts responded quickly to the tragedies by
opening its first-floor courtyard and gardens free to the public
for the next three evenings to serve as a place of solace for
Bostonians.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is making art and writing materials available
to visitors to express their thoughts and emotions. These paintings,
writings and drawings will be turned into a hand-bound book that
will be displayed at various public sites in Wisconsin and New
York in order to bring sustenance and hope to those who are suffering,
grieving, and helping -- keeping with the Center's mission to
foster an exchange that will help realize the power of the arts
to inspire and transform our world.
Kansas State Historical Society
has begun a Kansas Book of Remembrance to serve as a lasting
monument to those who died on September 11 and to enable Kansans
to have an outlet through which to express their thoughts and
emotions at this time. Citizens of the state are encouraged to
share their thoughts, feelings, and reactions about the events
in any way they'd like -- through drawings, prayers, poems, reflections,
letters, or other written means. The documents will become a
part of the society's permanent collections, preserved for future
generations.
Liberty Science Center
Located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey -- directly
across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan -- the Liberty Science
Center played important roles for the community on September
11 and since. It has assisted by providing a site for medical
personnel, stranded commuters, the news media, police communications,
and meeting space for displaced corporations. For New Jersey's
Family Assistance Center nearby in Liberty State Park, it provided
volunteers to help prepare the site, is processing all security
passes for Assistance Center staffing, and has a team of bilingual
staff ready to assist with interpretation.
Lower East Side Tenement
Museum
located just 20 blocks from the World Trade Center, offered solace
and refuge on the day of the disaster. As thousands of people
staggered up Allen Street from the Financial District, the museum
opened its offices and tenement building to minister to dazed
and dusty survivors. Providing water, food, and bathrooms, the
staff made sandwiches, applied bandages and ice packs, helped
people clean up and contact their loved ones, listened when people
needed to talk, and offered hands and hugs to anyone in need.
Afterward, many of the staff walked miles home only to find out
that some of their own friends or neighbors were among the injured,
dead or missing.
In the near future the museum will be instituting a number
of pragmatic and programmatic responses -- positive steps the
museum will take to foster understanding and ethnic tolerance
in the wake of the tragedies.
Memorial Art Gallery
of the University of Rochester
in Rochester, New York will be open free of charge on six Tuesdays
beginning September 25. Instead of admission, the gallery will
collect voluntary contributions to the September 11th Fund, a
joint venture of the United Way and the New York Community Trust.
All six free days will feature free noontime programs. "At
this most difficult time," said Director Grant Holcomb,
"we wanted to offer the Gallery
as a community site for reflection and comfort."
Milwaukee Art Museum
Beginning on Friday September 14 -- opening day of both a new
exhibition, "Chihuly Over Venice," and the remaining
interiors of its 140,000-foot expansion -- the museum waived
admission charges for three days. Condolence books for visitors
to sign and collection boxes to raise money for the families
of rescue team members who lost their lives in NYC were set up.
In those three days the museum had over 12,000 visitors, there
were lines for the condolence books (they've since put out four
more), and $22,000 in relief donations were collected. Other
Milwaukee institutions followed suit. The museum has continued
to make the books and collection boxes available to visitors.
Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston, Massachusetts is opening the museum free to the public
from Friday, September 14 through Sunday, September 30. The museum's
galleries and three gardens will be open for visitors who wish
to find a place of peace and reflection during this painful time
for Bostonians and the world at large.
"Great works of art remind us of the enduring value of
all that is best in the human spirit," said Malcolm Rogers,
Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum. "We open the
MFA's doors in hopes that these works of art, some of them born
out of suffering and grief, can provide solace and comfort at
this time."
Museum of the City of New York
in New York City has a memorial installation in its first floor
rotunda featuring the work "New York Morning," painted
in October 2000 by renowned New York artist Tom Christopher.
This painting depicts the Brooklyn Bridge and the Twin Towers
at sunrise.
Also in the rotunda, there is a journal in which visitors
may enter their personal thoughts, memories, and condolences,
giving them an opportunity to join their voice with others affected
by this tragedy. Young visitors are welcome to express themselves
artistically with drawing and coloring materials in the Museum's
front garden and first floor as part of the installation, with
museum staff on hand to assist. The entrance to the Museum has
been draped in black, in tribute to those lost and missing.
Museum of the Confederacy
in Richmond, Virginia has set up a donation box in the museum's
front lobby. In the past this box has been used for donations
toward the museum, but the money now collected will go to the
disaster relief efforts.
National Building Museum
in Washington, D.C. had 3,000 visitors at this year's Festival
of the Building
Arts, held on September 15 -- just four days after the Pentagon
and World Trade Center tragedies. The festival is a day-long
event featuring demonstrations by thatchwork and stained glass
artisans as well as numerous activities for children where they
can "ply" some of the building trades. It was very
moving to see the children building box skyscrapers for the Box
City and constructing tall buildings with nuts and bolts in Tool
Sculpture. Many parents noted that the event allowed a positive
place for their children to express their feelings about the
tragedies.
New Mexico Association
of Museums
is calling upon all museums across the state to participate in
"Triumph of the Spirit" -- a program aimed at deepening
the understanding of what it means to be an American. The kick-off
date for the initiative is December 7 and cultural institutions
across the state are being asked to eliminate admission fees
for Sunday, December 9.
Museums are asked to design programming that can involve all
members of the community as a way to appreciate New Mexico's
multi-faceted heritage and provide paths to creativity and compassion.
They may choose to honor the memory of all those who died in
the September 11 attacks, to provide a venue for celebrating
life amidst the insanity of the times, or to raise funds for
the relief efforts.
A few of the suggested activities include: public art projects;
establishing a "Wall of Heroes" on which to place pictures
and stories about New Mexico's citizens in uniform; cultural
festivals; reminiscences, journaling workshops, and radio programs
as a way to share immigrant stories; and partnering with faith
communities to design programs related to tolerance.
New York Historical Society
in New York City has undertaken the History Responds Project
to collect, preserve, document, contextualize, and make accessible
an archive of objects and documents from September 11 (and its
aftermath) that will be available for study and contemplation
at the Historical Society and on the Internet. A three-year series
of exhibitions, public programs, teacher training workshops,
and World Wide Web initiatives will interpret these new collections,
along with the Society's existing archives, to help New Yorkers
understand the events surrounding September 11.
One of the project's first exhibitions, September 11 by Magnum
Photographers, running from November 20, 2001 - February 25,
2002, displayed a selection of photo essays taken by renowned
photographers of the NYC-based Magnum Agency on September 11
and in the harrowing days that followed. A portion of both ticket
admission and sales of the accompanying book were donated to
the New York Times 9-11 Neediest Cases Fund.
Northern Indiana
Center for History
in South Bend, Indiana, is collecting responses and items from
the community to be preserved for posterity in the museum's archives
and to be part of a commemorative exhibition on the one-year
anniversary of the attack. Individuals may write messages in
a special comment book placed in the lobby or contact the museum
by email. The museum's invitation to share has been covered by
local media, written in letter form to local community organizations
and placed on a special section of the museum's web site.
Philadelphia Museum
of Art
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is offering free admission on Friday
evenings in October. "Just as a museum can be a place for
great excitement and discovery, it can also be a welcoming place
for contemplation, solace, and inspiration during a troubled
time," said Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director and Chief Executive
Officer of the museum. Jazz performances and gallery tours will
be part of the free Friday evening offerings.
Phoenix Family
Museum
in Phoenix, Arizona sent out a mailing via e-mail on the day
of the attack with tips to help children cope with disaster.
A special
section was also added to the museum's website. The information
was distributed to several local schools and the tips were also
picked up by several corporations for use on their intranets.
Rosenbach Museum
and Library
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has opened a special exhibition
called "Words Matter: Answers to Crisis from the Marianne
Moore Collection and Philadelphia Poets."
"Since September 11 we have all struggled to find the
right words," wrote Jennifer Schnabel, Rosenbach's public
relations manager. "Words Matter draws on the Rosenbach's
Marianne Moore Collection and the work of local poets from The
Kelly Writer's House at the University of Pennsylvania to show
how artists respond to crisis. The interactive exhibition also
features a reflection table where visitors are encouraged to
respond to the exhibition by writing their own words that matter."
Running from November 11 until the end of the year, the exhibition
is being presented as part of a series entitled "A Nation
Challenged: Museums Respond," supported by the Philadelphia
History Exhibitions Initiative, a program funded by the Pew Charitable
Trusts and administered by the Independence Visitor Center Corporation.
Sam
Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman opened
the museum free of charge the week of September 15 - 23 in honor
of the victims of the attacks. Through September 28, the museum
is accepting donations of gloves, water, flashlights, batteries,
non-perishable snacks and other materials needed by rescue workers
at the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites, to be collected
by Feed the Children.
Smithsonian Institution
Comments are being collected in comment books placed at the museums'
information desks as well as on a special Book
of Reflections page on the Smithsonian website. These personal
histories will be preserved among the National Treasures held
in trust by the Smithsonian Institution.
South Street Seaport
Museum
The museum, which in 1967 was the catalyst for the revitalization
of lower Manhattan, was fortunate to have been spared major damage
to its facilities on September 11. With electricity and vital
services restored, the museum reopened on September 22. For the
near future, visitors will be admitted to the museum's ships
and galleries for free.
"The museum stands by ready to welcome those in need
of respite to our beautiful waterfront, to our beautiful galleries
where a full schedule of exciting exhibits is planned and to
our historic waterfront district whose streets and buildings
are a healing reminder of a gentler time," wrote Peter Neill,
museum president, in a message on the museum's website.
Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
in Hartford, Connecticut is providing a special tour, "Making
Meaning: Art
and the Human Experience," which highlights works in the
collection that help
provide meaning and hope in light of the recent tragedies.
Winterthur
Although it is located in Delaware, three hours from Manhattan
and more than two hours from Washington D.C., Winterthur was
directly affected by the September 11 tragedies -- three of its
staffers lost family members in the attacks.
At Winterthur's annual United Way fundraisers in October,
all cash proceeds from the annual bake sale, book sale, hot dog
lunch and spaghetti dinner/auction will be donated to the United
Way's September 11th Fund.
