NMAJH E-newsletter
June 10, 2009
Enews June 2009
Welcome to the electronic newsletter of the National Museum of American Jewish History. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of exhibitions, programs and other activities of the NMAJH, the only Museum in the country exclusively presenting educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore and celebrate the history of the Jews in America.
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The Walls Are Going Up
The west wall of the new Museum, which faces Independence Mall is currently being installed piece by piece. Visitors will be able to stand in between these walls and the outer glass walls (seen on the rendering on the masthead of this E-Newsletter) and will be able to look out onto the Mall. The white walls that can be seen in the picture (above) will eventually be covered with terracotta paneling.
While work on the exterior walls continues, interior walls are being put into place creating office spaces, educational spaces, and a conference rooms.
Also in place is the Museum's entryway (right). Now painted robin's egg blue, it will eventually be covered by stainless steel and glass.
The new National Museum of American Jewish History will be the first and only major museum dedicated to chronicling the American Jewish experience. Through intriguing exhibits, rare artifacts and interactive displays, the Museum will mark the trials and triumphs of American Jews through every phase of the country's history. It will explore the challenges of identity and assimilation they faced and will celebrate the contributions they made to every facet of American life. And since other immigrant ethnic groups have faced similar challenges, the Museum will ultimately be a place for all Americans to explore, offering an experience that is thought-provoking and informative.
The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. To date, $120 million has been raised for the campaign. The new Museum is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010. For information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement, at 215.923.3811 x 133.
Museum Leads Panel In D.C. For Jewish American Heritage Month
The National Archives recently invited Gwen Goodman, the Museum's executive director emerita, to lead a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. on "Exhibiting the American Jewish Experience" as part of the Archive's celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. The panel also included Robert Young, of Polshek Partnership Architects, who designed the NMAJH; Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, who chairs the Museum's advisory committee of historians; and Todd Kinser, of Gallagher & Associates, who are creating the new Museum's exhibits.
During the program, Goodman led the panelists in a discussion of the many elements that go into creating a new Museum, including exhibitions, education, technology, security, research and media. Goodman estimated the number of people working on the project exceeds 1,000.
In her opening remarks, Goodman cited one of the many considerations that must be taken into account when designing a new museum: young audiences. "Museums of the 21st century are no longer warehouses for great collections that were most often visited by the elite of society," she noted. "We are dealing with a society in which people under the age of 35 have been brought up with computers and spend a great deal of time gaming. They are always connected to some device, they multitask. They have little knowledge of history."
In the course of the evening's discussion, it became clear that the Museum, with the support of 1,000 people, will achieve the goal of reaching young people in the core exhibition being created "that is the finest in the United States dealing with Jewish heritage and culture."
Exhibition Asks Visitors If Antisemitism Exists In American Society
In its current exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning, the Museum asks if antisemitism exists and gets provocative answers as a result. "Absolutely! Growing up in Long Island N.Y. we were oblivious to it, but when I lived in Stockton, Calif. in the late 70s there were 300 Jewish families in a city of 100,000," wrote a recent Museum visitor from Merrick, N.Y., in response to the question, "Does antisemitism exist in the United States?" asked in the Museum's exhibition.
The visitor added that people made ignorant and stereotypical comments toward him, and that he believes he was held back from advancing at work because of his Judaism. Another visitor from Bellbrook, Ohio disagreed, saying that there is no more antisemitism than any other prejudice. "I can't honestly say I've suffered any outright loss from antisemitism." This hotly debated question about antisemitism and others like it concerning the American Jewish community are at the root of the exhibition Shaping Space, Making Meaning.
The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to learn how a museum creates a major exhibition and at the same time allows them to offer feedback through interactive experiences to the design team working on the new Museum. Other interactive elements in the exhibition include touch screens to engage visitors in a conversation about the Museum's major themes of freedom, immigration, and religious tolerance, and a short quiz to help the Museum learn about its audiences' knowledge of American Jewish history.
The answers to questions in the exhibition give the NMAJH's exhibition design team a sense of opinions among visitors, and indicate whether there are certain trends that can be discerned. In addition to the interactive elements, Shaping Space, Making Meaning has design sketches, computer-generated images, video and text that offer an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life.
The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum under construction and scheduled to open in 2010.
Museum Gives a Hat's Off To Fathers With Shop Discount
The Museum Shop is offering a ten percent discount to visitors who purchase a featured hat (pictured) for Father's Day. The hats display designs such as "Chai 5" (left), "He'Brew" (below), and "Pop Pop." Each hat is sold for $18.
Along with these Jewish-themed hats, the Museum Shop sells other Judaica perfect for the holiday including books such as Great Jewish Men, also at a ten percent discount, and money clips with the words "gelt" and "mensch" on them.
Visit the Museum Shop to purchase these items or visit the online shop to find more Father's Day gifts at www.judaicashop.net. For more information email Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262.
The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-
5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
American Jewish Fiction Guide Offered to Museum E-Newsletter Subscribers
The Museum is teaming up with the Jewish Publication Society to offer E-Newsletter subscribers ten free copies of American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, the newest volume of the JPS Guide series.
Roth, Mailer, Kellerman, Chabon, Ozick, Heller, and dozens of other celebrated and lesser-known writers are included with their most notable works. Each entry includes a book summary with historical context, background on the author and suggestions for further reading.
Lambert led the redesign and relaunch of JBooks.com, an online book review magazine, in 2003, and served as its editor until 2004. He now contributes book reviews and essays to the Forward, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the two national daily newspapers in Canada, The Jerusalem Post and Nextbook.org.
To receive a copy of American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, be one of the first 10 people to contact JPS at Lschlesinger@jewishpub.org. Please put NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber in the subject line and include your name and address in the body.
___________________________________
The Walls Are Going Up
The west wall of the new Museum, which faces Independence Mall is currently being installed piece by piece. Visitors will be able to stand in between these walls and the outer glass walls (seen on the rendering on the masthead of this E-Newsletter) and will be able to look out onto the Mall. The white walls that can be seen in the picture (above) will eventually be covered with terracotta paneling. While work on the exterior walls continues, interior walls are being put into place creating office spaces, educational spaces, and a conference rooms.
Also in place is the Museum's entryway (right). Now painted robin's egg blue, it will eventually be covered by stainless steel and glass.
The new National Museum of American Jewish History will be the first and only major museum dedicated to chronicling the American Jewish experience. Through intriguing exhibits, rare artifacts and interactive displays, the Museum will mark the trials and triumphs of American Jews through every phase of the country's history. It will explore the challenges of identity and assimilation they faced and will celebrate the contributions they made to every facet of American life. And since other immigrant ethnic groups have faced similar challenges, the Museum will ultimately be a place for all Americans to explore, offering an experience that is thought-provoking and informative.The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. To date, $120 million has been raised for the campaign. The new Museum is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010. For information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement, at 215.923.3811 x 133.
Museum Leads Panel In D.C. For Jewish American Heritage Month
The National Archives recently invited Gwen Goodman, the Museum's executive director emerita, to lead a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. on "Exhibiting the American Jewish Experience" as part of the Archive's celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. The panel also included Robert Young, of Polshek Partnership Architects, who designed the NMAJH; Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, who chairs the Museum's advisory committee of historians; and Todd Kinser, of Gallagher & Associates, who are creating the new Museum's exhibits. During the program, Goodman led the panelists in a discussion of the many elements that go into creating a new Museum, including exhibitions, education, technology, security, research and media. Goodman estimated the number of people working on the project exceeds 1,000.In her opening remarks, Goodman cited one of the many considerations that must be taken into account when designing a new museum: young audiences. "Museums of the 21st century are no longer warehouses for great collections that were most often visited by the elite of society," she noted. "We are dealing with a society in which people under the age of 35 have been brought up with computers and spend a great deal of time gaming. They are always connected to some device, they multitask. They have little knowledge of history."
In the course of the evening's discussion, it became clear that the Museum, with the support of 1,000 people, will achieve the goal of reaching young people in the core exhibition being created "that is the finest in the United States dealing with Jewish heritage and culture."
Exhibition Asks Visitors If Antisemitism Exists In American Society
In its current exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning, the Museum asks if antisemitism exists and gets provocative answers as a result. "Absolutely! Growing up in Long Island N.Y. we were oblivious to it, but when I lived in Stockton, Calif. in the late 70s there were 300 Jewish families in a city of 100,000," wrote a recent Museum visitor from Merrick, N.Y., in response to the question, "Does antisemitism exist in the United States?" asked in the Museum's exhibition. The visitor added that people made ignorant and stereotypical comments toward him, and that he believes he was held back from advancing at work because of his Judaism. Another visitor from Bellbrook, Ohio disagreed, saying that there is no more antisemitism than any other prejudice. "I can't honestly say I've suffered any outright loss from antisemitism." This hotly debated question about antisemitism and others like it concerning the American Jewish community are at the root of the exhibition Shaping Space, Making Meaning.
The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to learn how a museum creates a major exhibition and at the same time allows them to offer feedback through interactive experiences to the design team working on the new Museum. Other interactive elements in the exhibition include touch screens to engage visitors in a conversation about the Museum's major themes of freedom, immigration, and religious tolerance, and a short quiz to help the Museum learn about its audiences' knowledge of American Jewish history.
The answers to questions in the exhibition give the NMAJH's exhibition design team a sense of opinions among visitors, and indicate whether there are certain trends that can be discerned. In addition to the interactive elements, Shaping Space, Making Meaning has design sketches, computer-generated images, video and text that offer an insider's look at the process of developing a landmark exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life.
The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum under construction and scheduled to open in 2010.
Museum Gives a Hat's Off To Fathers With Shop Discount
The Museum Shop is offering a ten percent discount to visitors who purchase a featured hat (pictured) for Father's Day. The hats display designs such as "Chai 5" (left), "He'Brew" (below), and "Pop Pop." Each hat is sold for $18.Along with these Jewish-themed hats, the Museum Shop sells other Judaica perfect for the holiday including books such as Great Jewish Men, also at a ten percent discount, and money clips with the words "gelt" and "mensch" on them.
Visit the Museum Shop to purchase these items or visit the online shop to find more Father's Day gifts at www.judaicashop.net. For more information email Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262. The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-
5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
American Jewish Fiction Guide Offered to Museum E-Newsletter Subscribers
The Museum is teaming up with the Jewish Publication Society to offer E-Newsletter subscribers ten free copies of American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, the newest volume of the JPS Guide series.The 125 works of fiction selected for this book include a wide range of classic American Jewish novels and story collections, from 1867 to the present, selected by the author, Josh Lambert in consultation with a panel of literary scholars and book industry professionals.
Roth, Mailer, Kellerman, Chabon, Ozick, Heller, and dozens of other celebrated and lesser-known writers are included with their most notable works. Each entry includes a book summary with historical context, background on the author and suggestions for further reading.
Lambert led the redesign and relaunch of JBooks.com, an online book review magazine, in 2003, and served as its editor until 2004. He now contributes book reviews and essays to the Forward, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the two national daily newspapers in Canada, The Jerusalem Post and Nextbook.org.
To receive a copy of American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, be one of the first 10 people to contact JPS at Lschlesinger@jewishpub.org. Please put NMAJH E-Newsletter subscriber in the subject line and include your name and address in the body.
