From: "Seymour, Janet I" <DYKEMAJI@uwec.edu> Subject: FW: More than 40 museums to participate in Wisconsin Museums Week Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:58:07 +0000 Message-ID: <8FACD6FAA2A852459A94CEFB7C8F98700CACD905@EX2010-MBX1.uwec.edu>
For MORE INFORMATION
Wisconsin Federation of Museums (WFM)
Bridgitt Zielke: (920) 452-6276
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2011
Seventh Annual Wisconsin Museums Week
and International Museum Day
Madison - On or around International Museum Day which occurs on Wednesday,
May 18, 2011, thousands of museums on all continents will be celebrating, a
nd will be creative in organizing discovery tours by day or night, atypical
visits, workshops and conferences for all kinds of visitors.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) created International Museum Da
y in 1977 to encourage awareness about the role of museums in the developme
nt of society. Momentum has been rising unabated ever since. In 2010, Int
ernational Museum Day garnered record-breaking participation with almost 20
,000 museums hosting events in more than 90 countries.
The theme for 2011 is "Museums and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story." Muse
ums store memory and tell stories. They have numerous objects in their col
lections that are basic to the memory of the communities we live in. These
objects are the expressions of our natural and cultural heritage. Many of
them are fragile, some endangered and they need special care and conservat
ion. Wisconsin Museums Week and International Museum Day will be an occasi
on for visitors to discover and rediscover individual and collective memory
.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Wisconsin Federation of Museums will
be celebrating International Museum Day by sponsoring Wisconsin Museums Wee
k from May 14 - 22, a nine-day affair surrounding International Museum Day,
May 18.
To celebrate this week, Wisconsin museums will host contests, workshops, co
nferences, performances and special tours. As opposed to the standard tour
, museum itineraries are embracing awareness-raising, educational, thematic
, historical or chronological tours, with spice and passion, based on colle
ctions and sharing expertise
More than 40 Wisconsin museums will be taking part in this celebration. So
me of the many Wisconsin Museums Week events and activities in 2011 include
:
From May 20 to 22, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc will celebrat
e Wisconsin Museums Week by hosting its 35th Annual Midwestern Model Ships
& Boats Contest and Display. Modelers from around the country and Canada w
ill fill the Riverview Room and the museum's temporary boat pond with model
s representing historic and modern ships and boats of all kinds. The event
also includes a symposium.
The Civil War Museum in Kenosha will celebrate Wisconsin Museums Week by ho
sting a Maritime Weekend. The museum will have free adult and family activ
ities focusing on the Navy, Coast Guard and boats on Saturday, May 21 from
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday, May 22 from 1 to 4 p.m.
The New London Public Museum is marking Museums Week by joining with the Ne
w London Historical Society, Iola Historical Society, Seymour Community His
torical Society, Oshkosh Public Museum and Waupaca Historical Society to sh
owcase artifacts from a three county radius in a New London Public Museum e
xhibit titled "Best of the Best 2011." The display features immigrant trun
ks from the Iola Historical Society, tools used by the man who invented ham
burgers from Seymour Community Historical Society, buttons and tools from F
reemont's Pearl Button works, various items from the Waupaca Historical Soc
iety, toy trains from the New London Historical Society and unique archival
items from the Oshkosh Public Museum. The exhibit will be on display unti
l May 28.
The John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan is hosting a House of Mind
open studio with choreographer Pat Graney on Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Visitors to the Center will take part in the creation of the gal
lery-size installation House of Mind during the open studio. House of Mind
likens memory to the rooms of a house and explores the formation, accumula
tion, loss, and destruction of memory. Participants will work side by side
with Graney completing components of the rooms in preparation for the Hous
e of Mind opening in June.
As part of the celebration, the Waukesha County Museum in Waukesha is offer
ing a World War II bus trip on Saturday, May 21 in conjunction with their c
urrent exhibit "Memories of World War II." Bus trip participants will have
the opportunity to take a guided tour of the museum's World War II exhibit
and then board a bus for a trip to Madison for tours of the Capitol buildi
ng and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
On Saturday, May 21, Old World Wisconsin is hosting "Rituals of Spring." V
isitors will join in readying the farmsteads for the growing season. Guest
s will see draft horses plow the croplands and learn about the importance o
f sorghum as you observe its planting. Visitors will also watch as wool goe
s from fleece to fiber, as they see stock dogs herding sheep, the sheep bei
ng hand sheared, and wool being carded, spun and dyed.
In celebration of Wisconsin Museums Week and in conjunction with its curren
t exhibit of Marc Chagall hand painted etchings, the Jewish Museum Milwauke
e will be hosting a lecture which focuses on the illumination window creati
ons of Marc Chagall on Monday, May 16 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Participants wil
l learn about the illumination window creations of artist Marc Chagall and
the artists' work housed at the famed Chagall Museum in Nice, France with a
rt historian and gallery owner, David Barnett.
As part of the Museums Week celebration the Grant County Historical Society
will unveil two new displays at its Cunningham Museum in Lancaster. A rep
lica of a Victorian wedding dress passed down by one of the founding famili
es and a reproduction of a Civil War uniform worn by one of the six African
American men from Pleasant Ridge who fought for the Union in the Civil War
will be displayed. The Cunningham Museum will be open on Tuesday, May 17
and Thursday, May 19 from 1 to 4 p.m.
On International Museum Day, Wednesday, May 18, the four sites of the Vern
on County Historical Society in Viroqua - the Vernon County Museum, the She
rry-Butt House, the Foreaker School, and the old St. Mary's Church - will b
e open fro extended hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In observance of Wisconsin Museums Week, the Madison Children's Museum is o
ffering free admission for Wisconsin museum employees, docents and voluntee
rs from May 14 - 22. In addition, there are several special programs sched
uled throughout the week including a Solar Oven Cooking Demonstration, whic
h will take place on the rooftop of the museum from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday
, May 14. Participants will learn how to use the power of the sun to cook
delicious and nutritious food.
See www.wisconsinmuseums.org<http://www.wisconsinmuseums.org/> for a comple
te listing of events and activities for Wisconsin museums celebrating Wisco
nsin Museums Week 2011.
About the Wisconsin Federation of Museums
The Wisconsin Federation of Museums (WFM) is an independent, not-for-profit
statewide organization dedicated to the promotion of Wisconsin museums and
the museum profession.
Wisconsin is home to many wonderful museums that offer exhibitions and acti
vities for both children and adults. A list of WFM members, comprising man
y of the finest Wisconsin museums, can be found at www.wisconsinmuseums.org
<http://www.wisconsinmuseums.org/>
The dual mission of the WFM is to increase and disseminate knowledge pertin
ent to the profession and to encourage cooperation among museums in the sta
te. WFM supports members through educational workshops, an annual meeting
and Wisconsin Museums Week.