The 1931 Project Team Advancement the Future of Skinner: Solving the Challenge of SPACE

The 1931 Project Team Advancement The Future of Skinner: Solving the Challenge of SPACE

Ly (Harriet) Bui Phoebe Cos Kerube Gonzalez Bryan Gosciminski

January 13, 2015 I. Executive summary

The Joseph Allen Skinner Museum of Mount Holyoke College must preserve and raise awareness of the unique collection and methods of display. The current display properly created according to Skinner’s vision and time, is a unique snapshot of museum history that is rare in the modern world. The Skinner Museum strikes a unique balance of local history and global perspective when considering the nature of Skinner’s role in the Pioneer Valley and the global cultural qualities of his collection. The preservation of local history and dissemination the intrinsic cultural and humanist value should be of utmost significance to any institution that values learning and education. To further museum development, our proposal focuses on architectural upgrade to create new places for learning, object storage; and a brand management, marketing, and fundraising plan.

II. Statement of Need

The Skinner Museum needs to update their facilities and promote outreach to the community in order to secure the safety of their collections and maintain a stable audience in the long-term future.

The Need for Hope: An Argument for the Viability of Architectural Upgrade Solutions

Given the current state of affairs it would be easy for the Mount Holyoke administration to write off the Skinner Museum as a sinking ship and abandon the cause fully. It is the opinion of this collection of students and the various surveys throughout the past thirty years that that would be a travesty and to the very detriment of the purpose of any institution that values education and learning. For those who think that there is no possibility of bringing the Skinner Museum back into the community, it pays to consider the history of the Skinner Museum and past grants received. The 1982 surveyor wrote: “Ms. Chernichowski applied for and received grants from the American Association for State and Local History, and Institute of Museum Services, and lastly from the National

1 Endowment for the Humanities--$100,000 over a three-year period to establish a material culture program as a model of cooperation between a museum and a college for educational purposes.” (1982 Museum Assessment Program Report) Given the considerable grant funding, it was reported that: “Over the past six years the Skinner has been brought to life through the material culture program. Dozens of courses as well as numerous individual projects have used the Museum collection thanks to the support of the NEH grant.” (1982 Museum Assessment Program Report) The MAP report goes one step further when it delightedly reports that: “As a result of these efforts, the Skinner Museum has become part of the College in a way it never was earlier… A sizeable number of students now include some experience at the Museum as part of their College career… and even more impressive… a core group of faculty members, trained in traditional disciplines such as English literature, history, psychology are accepting the challenge of acquiring new educational skills through the use of artifacts in teaching.” (1982 Museum Assessment Program Report) What was achieved via the generous 1982 NEH grant is precisely what the AppHuLL project seeks to today (i.e. making the Museum part of the College). It stands to reason that if it was possible in 1982 than it is possible today when the straights are even more dire for the future of the Skinner Museum. The most recent 2010 CAP survey, which was fairly direct in noting the enormously arduous road ahead for the Skinner Museum, gave the following story as inspiration: “The [Gardner] Museum had no climate control, no modern conservation laboratories, limited office area and, as the world knows because of a major theft in 1990, poor security, I saw capable and committed staff members turn the Museum around through their frank appraisal of the situation, strategic planning, and development. In 2009, the Gardner Museum hit is benchmark of raising 100 million dollars towards the costs of a new building.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) Although the surveyor is careful to note that the Skinner is not the Gardener and they are clearly different scenarios with a plethora of variation, it still stands to reason that the if the Gardner could meet the insurmountable odds ahead of it than the Skinner Museum at least deserves a chance to become relevant again. Of all the material concerning the surveys and assessments of the value of the Skinner Museum, the 2010 CAP survey stands out when it declares: “If the Skinner Museum is judged by the standards of the Smithsonian as a collecting institution it will be seen as limited. However, its greatest significance lies in its association with Mr. Skinner as a collector of his particular time, and his lively curiosity, imagination, and passion. As such, it offers both aesthetic experience and a collection of tangible historical objects, a “cabinet of curiosities” enlarged to fill several buildings. In other words: the Skinner Museum is, by far, greater than the sum of its parts.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) Despite its flaws and limitations, the Skinner Museum stands as a tremendous insight into the mind of Joseph Allen Skinner, the unique history of the Pioneer Valley, and a snapshot into the way museums used to be. In its current state the museum serves to benefit very few people, but it is the opinion of this collection of students that if even some of these proposals are realized than

2 the Skinner Museum can go on to serve the Five Colleges and the Holyoke community in a more meaningful way.

III. Project descriptions

Sections III.A and III.B provide a two-pronged approach to creating and maintaining support for the Skinner Museum as it pursues longer-term solutions to its issues of space and accessibility.

A. Marketing, Branding, Public Relations

a. Capturing the Audience

To solve the problem of the target audience’s perception of space, we have solicited various methods to market the museum to each of the key audiences for the Skinner Museum within the Pioneer Valley and to those visiting the museum from outside the county. The Skinner Museum has done a wonderful job working with Mosier Elementary School in South Hadley to create teacher workshops that emphasize the necessity and accessibility of material teaching. They also are in the works of developing online modules that serve to prepare classes for their experience at the Skinner Museum. At present mobile teaching kits with pieces of the Skinner Museum are being developed so that Joseph Allen Skinner’s collection can be brought into classrooms. Furthering outreach programs like these would lead to a greater audience visiting the Skinner Museum in the long-term future, if the museum were in a position to serve a larger number of visitors.

Interactives

We propose a minimal update of exhibit space to capture audience attention internally in the museum using the current space. See Appendix I for more details.

Professors and Classes

In a potential marketing promotional push, the Skinner Museum would benefit from targeting professors in the Five College Consortium. Three Mount Holyoke classes presently are meeting within the Skinner Museum as a requisite for the class; one meeting at the museum occurs generally once a week. However, many professors still do not know about the museum, especially the extent to which it applies over multiple disciplines. If the museum contacted the chairs of departments directly, particularly those with subjects that could be easily linkable to the Skinner collection, and offered the museum directly to these professors as a free teaching tool for the Five Colleges, there may be more motivation in the academic populations to bring their classes to the Skinner Museum. Besides class visits, other possible offerings the museum could suggest would be a space for conferences to visit or an alternate site for department meetings.

A list of potential professors to contact can be found in Appendix II.

Potential letter to be sent to Department Chairs/ Deans:

Dear Professors and Staff of the Five College Community, We write to you today as supporters of your work in the liberal arts. As liberal arts educators, we ask our students to challenge themselves to interpret the world, both past and present, in new directions and to shape their ideas based on these new discoveries. Museums are a cornerstone in interpretation of the past and prediction into the future. Here at the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, an affiliate of Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, we house a collection that is waiting to be translated into academia in new ways by the Five College students and professors of the Pioneer Valley. Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, a trustee of Mount Holyoke College, opened the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum in 1932. The museum is presently housed in the Prescott Congregational Church building that was saved during the installation of the Quabbin Reservoir- and a schoolhouse, also moved and rebuilt. Together they hold an international collection of almost 7,000 objects from minerals, to rare books, all the way to a double-bass. The collection is portrayed in the style of a “cabinet of curiosities”, where the collective story of all the objects together create a unique look at the world. The vast array of stories told by these artifacts can be applied to almost every subject and course material. We are eager to share these stories with you and your students and help you use the amazing resources this local museum has to offer. Please pursue our website, search our collections on the Five College Database, and contact us in the future if we can enrich your classroom experience. Thank you for your time!

Alumnae

We suggest connecting with the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association to offer the Skinner Museum as a site for alumnae events, like reunion outings. During these weekends, classes work to organize fun and interesting things to do on campus. Bringing the Skinner Museum to the alumnae population connects possible donors to the Skinner directly to the museum and invites students of a different age group to experience the collection. In addition to reunions, we suggest you contact the Alumnae Association to send out a call for testimonials from alumnae about the Skinner Museum. These testimonials can be used, with the alums’ permission, for fundraising campaigns and for garnering interest among the college and alumnae community.

Contact information: Reunions: Janet Glick, Director of Classes and Reunions → [email protected]

4 Communications: Taylor Scott, Associate Director of Communications → [email protected]

Students

There are a variety of outlets to connect students both at Mount Holyoke and at the other Five Colleges to the Skinner Museum. Programs are in development at present that seek to integrate the Skinner Museum back into the Mount Holyoke College community (i.e. a “Night at the Museum”). However, as always, further development with this avenue of thought would only seek to benefit the Skinner Museum. It should be considered imperative to contact each of the college’s outing clubs to organize events to the museum. Place posters giving information about the museum in areas on campus that students are likely to see them (dining halls, the library entrance, museum archives, dorms (note: the Archives does this on each dorm floor at the beginning of the year). Reaching out to the Orientation committee to organize a mandatory orientation event each year at the Skinner Museum would create awareness about the museum and educate students about where the museum is located from their first steps on campus.

Contact information: Orientation Director: Kate Wasserman → [email protected] b. Branding Strategies

Situational Analysis

The Joseph Allen Skinner Museum is part of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. However, the it resides separately from the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. The availability of this information is not widely published. As a result, many students and faculty at Mount Holyoke College simply do not know about the existence of the museum unless they stumble upon it by chance or circumstance. In most cases, the Skinner museum is not effectively understood to be situated within the Mount Holyoke or Five College communities. In order to reinforce the museum’s presence in the community, it is essential for the museum to have a strategic brand development and management plan. A brand is defined as features that distinguish a service, and product of an organization with its competitors. These features include but are not limited to name, terms, design, symbols (Ross, 2012). In order to develop a brand, the museum needs to consider the question of what distinguishes the Skinner museum from other museums. Answering this question is an essential part of branding which will set the museum apart from its competitors, clarify what the museum has to offer, and add value to the museum’s service to address the need of the community. As a result, the museum will build stronger relationships with its audience. Branding management will help the museum attract new audiences, strengthen connection with existing audiences, and generate referrals. Furthermore, branding will help the museum gain trust and loyalty through

5 communication, connection, and understanding. Good brand building and managing strategies will help private donors identify with the museum, and provide strong evidence of the impact the museum has on the community.

Brand is not only a tool for fundraising. Developing a broader and more strategic approach towards branding will help the museum “create a greater social impact and tighter organizational cohesion” (Kylander & Stone, 2012). It is all about how the museum leverages its brand.

Position the museum brand

Answering the following questions provide clear direction in how the museum wants to present itself to a targeted group of audience. What is the institution’s business? What does the museum do? Who is the museum’s target market? How is the Skinner museum different? What is the Skinner museum’s promise?

Joseph Skinner Museum is a historic site that delivers an artistic space exhibited with local and global antique artifacts for creative teaching and active learning (Mangum). The museum targets the South Hadley community, Five College students and professors, along with k-12 students and educators throughout the Pioneer Valley, who seek to broaden their perspectives with an innovative educational experience. The Skinner Museum is unique in providing visitors close natural proximity with the actual objects in the museum with minimum barriers, which makes visitors forget about the presence and leads them to an experience of living in the past . Therefore, the Skinner museum promises to bring the past to life, show the world a museum of yesteryear, and provide a transforming experience through the exploration of material culture.

Use images and style to support messaging

In order to deliver the museum’s benefit to its audience, visual messages are as important as words. The logo is a key identification of a brand. There are three basic types of logos: Iconic, wordmark, and combination marks. An iconic logo contains an image called icon. Wordmark commonly incorporates names of the institution. Combination mark includes both icon and texts.

Developing a story

The museum needs a clear and consistent storyline delivered to the audience. Only by doing this can the brand be controlled and become effective. To develop a storyline, the museum can start with a promise that serves its audience’s benefits. There are three types of benefits: functional, economic, and emotional benefits. Functional benefits of the museum may focus the number of people the museum accommodates, disability accessibility, opening hours. Economic benefit for visitors comes in form of admission fee. In the Skinner Museum’s case, the economic benefit is free entrance for a transformative experience. The promise the museum wants to advertise should

6 focus on the emotional needs, as to individual consumers, emotional benefits will be addressed before other benefits. Visitors come to a party to have a good time. They go to restaurant for new excitement of well-prepared food, and emotional bonding with families, and friends. Addressing emotional benefits by using a strategic will influence individual visitors to perceive a positive image about the museum. For example, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art promises to its audience with a slogan: “Where the power of art engages the spirit of the community.” The Skinner Museum needs to communicate a promise that serves its audience’s most relevant concern.

Be clear on how the museum wants to be perceived before moving on to the next step by studying the targeted audience such as students, professors, and the local South Hadley Community. In order to understand them, doing a survey is an effective method to obtain information about the targeted audience’s needs. After the museum is sure on its identity’s promise, the museum may take further steps to communicate it.

Also, to maintaining a strong brand, the promise of Skinner Museum must be credible. Research can be done to ensure the visitors’ experience matches the promise the museum wishes to deliver. And, the promise must be kept as the audience grows.

Developing a creative brief A creative brief delivers the museum’s administrators’ expectation regarding missions, audience, goal and adjective to designers. Designers, then, rely on this information, to develop logos, and artworks that fit the intended criteria, and yield desirable response from the viewers. Following is a brief illustration of a tentative creative brief.

Introduction The purpose of this creative brief is to develop a logo and a brand style guide for the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum. The museum’s service is to address creative teaching practices, and active learning to professors and students from K-12 to undergraduate, and graduate level as well as artists who are in need of innovative outlet. The Skinner Museum features artistic authentic space; close, and personal interaction with antique artifacts that enhance visitors experience of the past.

Project details The museum needs to hire a graphic designer to design a distinct logo that goes on street signs, business card, on clothes, brochures, posters, websites, and social media. A team will need to decide the icons wanted on the logo, and the font treatment. Then a styleguide will be developed to ensure consistency in using and distributing the brand.

Goal and Objectives

7 The logo needs to fit the museum’s value and long-term plan. The logo will become the museum’s signature, which stays in the viewers’ memories. It will deliver a story about the museum that will be retold by generations. As the Skinner Museum is part of Mount Holyoke Campus Art Museum, it will need to stay consistent with the logo of the college. The logo must work on various marketing materials.

Audience This proposal plan targets students in the college community, who seeks to further themselves with historic and artistic knowledge. They are driven to learn, and seek new experiences. Their attitude is to find a creative outlet for learning, and teaching instead of traditional classroom in which students only sit and listen to the lecture. They dissatisfy with the limited setting of the classroom. Their telling behaviors includes: going to party events, school programs, reading posters, spending time in social media. Their rational needs is to expand their knowledge, and improve educational curriculum. Their emotional need is to feel excited, knowledgeable, and intrigued by an artistic experience.

Developing a logo In order to envision the process the museum needs to go through to select icon, fonts, and colors for the logo, our team decide to create a hypothetical logo. The marketing and development team brainstormed and developed criteria for the logo, and agreed the icon to be an image of the church with a font saying the name of the museum: Joseph Allen Skinner Museum. The graphic designer then took these ideas into consideration, and created a draft of an image including the church and the museum.

In the first round of the review, the team discovered spelling mistakes, and word order that needed to be fixed. The draft said: “Joshep” instead of “Joseph”, and “Allen Joshep” instead of “Joseph Allen”. The team also noted that, the black background behind the Joseph Allen words, and the scale of the J letter draws attention away from the “SKINNER” part of the logo. Therefore, they communicated their ideas to the designer. The designer received the feedback, and created several versions of the second draft. Finally, the team picked out logo 3, which delivers the unique building the Skinner Museum has, and evoke a curiosity in the viewer. If the museum is interested in using, and developing the following logo, contact Ly (Harriet) Bui at [email protected] or 209.763.8232

(continued)

logo 1 (draft) logo 2 (draft)

logo 3 (final)

Developing a style guide In order to create a consistent use of the branding across communication vehicles, a style guide will be developed. A style guide is created for professionals who wish to use the logo. It includes guidelines to ensure the use of the brand reflects the museum's value, and promise. A style guide documents meaning, composition, and structure of the logo. It tells the do’s and dont’s with the logo for the brand to be used consistently and properly.

Creating consistent communication and collateral pieces

To create a clear, and memorable message in the audience’s mind, consistency in branding is crucial. In order to keep this consistency, the museum needs to share its brand promise to all members of the Skinner Museum as well as the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. The branding delivery does not only involves designers who creates the logo, but also staff who talks on the phone with people, and deliver emails.

The style guide plays an important role on maintaining consistency of the brand usage throughout various vehicles such as business card, website, and social medias. The style guide ensure the complement of fonts, design, and color of compositions the museum logos are applied to.

Trademarking the brand The museum will need to protect their brand regarding the name of the museum, artworks, and tagline. The brand serves as an effective tool for marketing in the long-term growth of the museum. Good branding creates competitors who want to copy the museum identity. Therefore, trademarking will protect the museum’s brand from being stolen.

The museum will consider whether to obtain federal trademark protection with the US Patent and Trademark Office, which will protect the museum’s brand being recreated in a similar, and confusing manner. The museum will receive an R symbol signifying that the brand is federally registered. Having a registered brand will increase the museum’s value and credibility in its partners’ perspectives, current visitors, and prospective audience.

c. Marketing Through Publicity

Publicity: Self-Publication We suggest that the Skinner Museum create both a new brochure and a poster to advertise the museum within Mount Holyoke College and amongst the Five College and Pioneer Valley communities. These could be used at present to advertise open hours and gallery talks both at the Art Museum and Skinner that are open to the general public. Both publications should include the logo, to build the presence of the branding, as well as a captivating set of photographs, the address of the museum, a list of busses that pass close to the museum (ex. Accessible from Bus 38 (there’s a bus stop across the street from the museum!), 39, Tiger Trolley), a brief statement about the museum, hours, admission and parking. In addition the brochure should include a map of the museum’s location in relation to the South Hadley Village Commons and the college (including the Art Museum) and a paragraph about the museum’s history.

Posters and brochures should be distributed at places like those designated in Appendix III.

Publicity: Local Media

If the Skinner Museum reaches a point where they want more visitors from within the larger community of the region, we suggest they reach out to local media sources like newspapers, tourism bureaus, radio programs and television stations. These sources each target specific groups in the region and by placing the museum in their specific context, the museum could attract new demographics. In addition, these media sources would be good ones to contact if the museum were hosting an event that was open to the public or wanted to announce an addition to the museum.

Contacts for publicity in local media sources can be found in Appendix IV.

Website The Skinner Museum would benefit greatly from establishing a more individual website that branches off the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum website. A more in-depth website would create the distinction that the Skinner Museum is a different museum from the Art Museum, which it clearly is. Use of the logo in this context would be especially useful. Tools that could be added to the website could be a donation page, contact page, featured artifact, web series material and connections to other sites that talk about Wunderkammer and collecting habits in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

Social Media Social media is a rapidly growing form of communication that museums often ignore to their own detriment. Increasing the Skinner Museum’s influence on social media will affect how many people are finding out about events, sharing common interests related to the Museum especially among the younger generations. This would be an ideal medium to connect to the college student communities both on Mount Holyoke’s campus and beyond, as students often look at their their friends’ pages and word on events spread fast. We suggest reactivating the page and potentially creating a social media intern position or, perhaps, have it be a crucial aspect of one of the internships based off of the museum studies,

Facebook The current Facebook page shows the potential of this form of social media for the museum, based on previous activities in previous years. The page currently has 136 followers and has a consistent period of posting between when the page was opened in October 2011 and October 2013. In the last year and a half, the page has remained stagnant. The museum would benefit from starting to post again. To make the posting regular, the posts could be on the same day (ex. every Thursday morning) weekly. This would create a pattern people could expect for viewing the posts. A style of posting, similar to the ones now, include object photographs with descriptions that continue the curiosity of the museum into the outer world. Facebook would also

11 be a great platform to release a web series about the museum. To create greater audience interaction, the museum could pose questions with these posts, establishing conversations about the stories in the collection.

Example post:

January 10th, 2015 8:48am

Check out our rare book collection! These books are currently being digitally catalogued and we’ve found so many treasures! Interesting finds include a hand bound hymnal, a zoology textbook and a book on fruit preservation… What is the strangest book you’ve read and where did you find it?

Tumblr With more of a blog focus, a Skinner Museum tumblr page would be a secondary form of social media. A tumblr would allow individual objects and stories to reach a much broader audience, educating from a far. This is not the best way to attract local tourists directly to the museum, but is one way of solving the problem of sharing the museum more broadly with a small staff available. Tumblr posts could include photos and stories as well as a way for people to share their visit to the Skinner Museum with the world. These posts could also be more broad by sharing articles about museum breakthroughs or connecting visually the collection with other “cabinets of curiosities”. There are currently four posts on other tumblr pages relating to the Skinner Museum. Example:

A Church in the Collection~Joseph A. Skinner bought this early 19th- century Congregational Church to house his growing collection in the early 1930s. The church was originally located in Prescott, Massachusetts, one of the towns that was flooded in the 1930s to create the Quabbin Reservoir. Today the Quabbin Reservoir provides much of the greater Boston area with its drinking water! #skinnermuseumstories #collectionconnection #westernmassatlantis

12 TripAdvisor A Skinner Museum page was already created on TripAdvisor and someone has written a raving review of the Museum in August 2014. The museum should act on this page as it is a source that many tourists refer to when arriving in an area. Currently when one types in ‘things to do in South Hadley’, the Skinner Museum on TripAdvisor shows up. There is little work that the museum needs to add to this page, simply a photo should be chosen to represent the museum and basic information about the museum should be added.

Fundraising Although Mount Holyoke College and various trusts are the basis for the Skinner Museum’s financial survival, the museum could benefit from reaching out to individual donors or grants to fund certain projects, specifically larger ones in the long-term.

Individual Donors Individual donors are valuable to reach out to as they are a specific group, because they become emotionally and financially invested in the museum by donating their own funds. Donors, as a group, are not only those that contribute large amounts of money, but also people that may visit that donate smaller amounts. There are a couple of strategies to make a donation to the museum enticing to both of these demographics:

● Create a donation brochure that can sit on Mr. Skinner’s desk or at the front desk by the door. A catch phrase like “Become Part of the Skinner Story” at the top invites people to take a closer look while also not blatantly asking for money. ○ A strategy many museums use for donation brochures is make donation amounts based on what they can be used for in the museum. People like to know how their money will be used and this presentation tool gives them a good idea and makes them feel more useful and their donation more needed. ■ ex. ▢ $25 Purchase of 5 new acid-free storage boxes ▢ $100 Cost of one school program from Mosier Elementary

● Add a donation page to the website, where people can donate directly to the Skinner Museum online. ● Have special events that are only available at the museum for donors, like guest speakers or a gala once a year

Grants Grants are the best way to gain large amounts of money for prominent projects, like building new structures, conservation or hiring new staff. The grants listed in Appendix V vary in the types of funding they provide, but all are still funded by national or private groups as of January 2015.

13 Marketing/ Branding Budget $2,000 → Approximate cost of a branding package (including logo, identity collateral, freelance, graphic designer, business cards, brochures, redesigning the website

B. Project description: Architectural Upgrade

Statement of Need

The Skinner Museum, although surviving, is far from flourishing or completing its goal of “support[ing] creative teaching and active learning for faculty and students of Mount Holyoke College and the general public.” The church has, according to the most recent architectural survey, been deemed as needing a slew of renovations and improvements (water issues, humidity, air quality, pests, insulation, electrical systems, climate control, UV filters, and collection cleaning). Without serious reform in the near future, the museum, which seeks to protect and cultivate the collection, may harm or destroy parts of its collection. The Schoolhouse, used for storage, has fallen into a state of disuse and fails to aid the facility in meeting the noble goals of the mission statement. The Museum, although on the Mount Holyoke College property, has seemingly ceased to part the College and the community which is necessary for the facility to complete what its own mission statement has set out to do. Source consulted: Executive Summary of the 2010 CAP Survey

Problems and Solutions - A Summary

The Skinner Museum has had three major surveys from various associations and programs over the past thirty years. Thorough analysis of the material led to the basic labeling of problems, solutions, and additional input of the AppHuLL program. The major problems being the degradation of the collection, the irrelevance of the Museum to the community (both actual and that of the College), and need to develop further internship opportunities that would further serve to bring the Museum back into the hearts and minds of the community. The solutions that seemed the most fitting and fiscally tangible are listed respectively to the problems they solve: a new carriage house (modern in function, original in style), minor renovations to the Schoolhouse to transform it into a laboratory/workshop, and further development of the internship program.

Solutions Overview

1. Modify the Schoolhouse so that it is possible for it to be more of an asset (rather than just idle storage) to the Skinner Museum. Reorganization and redistribution could serve to free up the space as a potential laboratory and space for workshops. Either of these choices would further

14 integrate the Museum (and its intrinsic historical value and story) into the College and community.

2. Set forth plans to rebuild the Carriage House using modern facilities that are conducive to the preservation and conservation of the more vulnerable pieces of the Skinner Collection whilst maintaining the spirit and aura of Skinner’s “Cabinet of Curiosities.”

3. Although an internship is required by Mt. Holyoke’s newly founded NEXUS minor, and we are pleased to hear that both summer and j-term internships have funded for the next 2 years, further internship and work study development among the Five Colleges would further the Museum’s position in the minds of College and community members. As an additional bonus, the nature of free labor and free experience serves to benefit both the Museum and the students involved. More interns would also serve to alleviate the enormous workload of a sole curator. The nature of a student assistant cultivates the mission statement of the Museum, gives an immense array of experiences and opportunities to the student, and costs relatively little compared to a part-time assistance.

In tandem with the practical use all these changes to the Skinner Museum, the building and development of new facilities for the Museum will be enormously symbolic and display and reinvigorate a new interest that could serve to make the Skinner Museum part of the campus and the community.

Degradation and the Nature of the Skinner Museum

The men and women that wrote the surveys regarding the Skinner Museum used their array of experience to address the primary issue --that being-- the Museum itself was not designed with modern methods of preservation in mind. The most recent 2010 survey claimed that: “The buildings were given a new lease on life, with a very different role from that for which they were originally intended. To some extent the role of ‘museum’ is contradictory in that the church and the schoolhouse do not provide the type of environment which serves a collection of artifacts, if those are to be preserved.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) The museum, given no change from current circumstance, has the potential to damage the more sensitive aspects of the collection. The CAP survey was fairly adamant on the point that steps should be taken immediately to better preserve the collection and furthered this notion when writing: “At this time, it may be useful to consider steps that could be taken in the short-term to address the environmental issues directly surrounding the objects, and the issue of removing more historic and artistic objects form the Museum proper. Existing cases and frames could be converted into microclimate cases where need, vulnerable objects could

15 be rehoused in these microclimate cases…” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) Although removal of more sensitive aspects of the collection is more than reasonable given the circumstances, such action would surely add to the diminishment of the collection and set a dangerous precedent. On the other hand the same survey specifically mentioned that: “The buildings themselves are the largest objects in the collection and as such warrant preservation as do the objects within them. Both the church and the schoolhouse are ‘textbook’ examples of central New England Greek Revival architecture and revival building.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey)

Skinner’s buildings, according to the CAP survey, are perhaps some of the most important and impressive pieces of the collection and if the collection is to be adequately preserved than they must remain a part of it. However, if allowed to do so in their current form they will only serve to destroy what they house. The CAP survey goes on to further the predicament by saying that: “The conundrum lies in the needed on the one hand to upgrade the Museum buildings to bring them up to professional standards, and on the other the lack financial means to support that work.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey)

1. The Carriage House

The need to keep the original building, the buildings inability to protect the collection, and the fiscal inability (at this time) of renovating the entire Church has led Team Advancement to believe that the only viable solution to the problem is to rebuild the Carriage House. The Carriage House (heated, microclimate cases, plumbing, proper ventilation) is a relatively cheap solution to the degradation problem and does not damage the authenticity of the Skinner grounds. The 1982 survey pointed out that: “The most valuable items in the collection, four paintings by the American primitive painter Erastus Salisbury Field, have been removed to the Art Museum for safe keeping. While this step is entirely appropriate for reasons of safety and accessibility, it sets a precedent for further nibbling away at the edges.” (1982 Museum Assessment Program Report) Pair this observation with more recent developments (i.e the dismantling of the carriage house, the decommissioning of the Schoolhouse, the bird collection going to Yale, and further parts of the collection going to the Art Museum) and one can see a general tone of ebb and degradation to the Skinner Museum. A new Carriage House is a necessary step in maintaining the integrity of the Museum as a viable institution of preservation and learning. In addition the CAP Survey’s outright suggested that the Museum ought to: “[C]reate a study area/conservation space using the white Carriage House. This would require rebuilding the Carriage House with a foundation and modern interior facilities. The Skinner Museum will repay this commitment by the College many times over if it is done well.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey)

16 Following the advice of the CAP survey (which exists in the first place because of Mount Holyoke College Art Museum’s concerns with the Skinner Museum) would serve to foster positive relations between the Mount Holyoke Administration and the Skinner Museum.

2. Lack of Relevance in the Community: Schoolhouse

Although the Carriage House is the most ideal solution (short of a complete Church renovation) it is clear that it may not be the most fiscally possible at the time. A smaller and more accessible solution would be the renovation of the Schoolhouse which, according to the 2010 survey, has problems concerning the “West side window box, gutter work, Slate repair, soil erosion and pruning.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) All of which, although arduous, are not rectifiable given enough time and labor. The labor, of course, can be taken from the Five Colleges as it is fantastic work experience for students and serves to make the Museum more relevant and part of the community. The 1982 Report recommended that: “the College should evaluate the use of the Museum as a laboratory for students.” (1982 Museum Assessment Program Report), whilst the most recent survey mirrored the more than 30 year old message, noting that: “What is missing is the “laboratory” where different techniques of telling the story of the collection or a particular piece or idea can be explored.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey) It is the opinion of Team Advancement that, with relatively little cost to the Museum and the Five Colleges, the Schoolhouse could be made into the laboratory/workshop that both the surveyors felt the Museum needed to further its purpose as an academic and learning institution. This solution not only helps to reverse the ebb (discussed earlier regarding the degradation and shrinking nature of the collection), but provides a tangible location for the Museum to made relevant in both the Five College and Holyoke community again.

Ex. 1. Sweet Home 3D Software: Mock-up of proposed schoolhouse renovation

Ex. 2. Sweet Home 3D Software: Mock-up of proposed schoolhouse renovation

Ex. 3. Sweet Home 3D Software: Mock-up of proposed schoolhouse renovation

Schoolhouse Material Budget

1. Basement windows need replacing, in the assessment it is listed as a repair, however to save on energy/heating costs and future maintenance it would be ideal to replace them with modern, energy efficient windows that contain ultraviolet blocking glass. These windows are also double hung and made of wood (that can be stained) to keep with the style of the building. Each window can be purchased at Home Depot for $241.00. In

19 relation to the first floor windows, the hardware needs to be renovated. Window sash locks can be purchased from The Home Depot for $4.19 each (10 locks needed). Additional work to the windows include replacing the sash on some of them, these can be purchased for $11.89 each (for a 28 in. piece) from The Home Depot. 2. The slate roof also needs to be repaired, however for the most part is in good condition. A bundle which includes 21 slate shingles can be purchased from Home Depot for $29.00. Three bundles are needed when covering a 100 sq. ft. area. Flashings may also need to be installed in some areas, in keeping with the period the building was built in and for maximum duration, copper flashings are recommended. A roll measuring 8 in. by 20 ft. can be purchased from The Home Depot for $39.50. Insulation of the roof is also imperative since it is lacking in insulation and can be done much more quickly and affordably, which will have a quicker return rate, in terms of noticeable energy reduction and heat loss. This can be done with using R-38 valued insulation that can be purchased in pallets that contain 8 bags, each measuring 23-3/4 in. by 48 in. from The Home Depot for $994.71. About 3 pallets would be needed to cover the roof area of 1,300 sq. ft. 3. As a solution to the soil erosion issue, landscaping and the installation of various plants can reduce the problems caused by this. Currently some plants are too close to the building which may need to be moved to a further location around the premises. For pricing estimates on landscaping, consult a professional. 4. Gutters need to be updated due to poor drainage and flow of water which should be away from the foundation of the building. Packages that include the hardware and 25 ft. of gutters (5 pieces, each measuring 5 ft.) can be purchased at the Home Depot for $105.00 each. About 4 packages would need to be purchased for the area required. Two draining systems for the gutters which would include (each): a drop outlet (purchased from The Home Depot for $8.79), downspout (purchased from The Home Depot for $13.37), a downspout extension to divert water away from the foundation (purchased from The Home Depot for $8.87) and a splash block (purchased from The Home Depot for $6.28). 5. The brick chimney needs to be completely rebuilt, for pricing estimates see a professional. 6. The interior trim on the doors and windows needs to be repainted. This is an easy, aesthetic fix that can be done with white, interior paint that can be purchased from The Home Depot for $118-$140 (depending on brand) for 5 gallons. 7. Plumbing would need to be looked at in terms of updating pipes/fixtures and further work would need to be done to install an additional bathroom that would also be handicap accessible. For pricing estimates see a professional plumber. To improve accessibility, a handrail can be purchased for $20.48 from The Home Depot, additionally an elevated toilet can be purchased for $297.99. 8. In relation to heating, the system is functional but needs to be updated for easy access and use. A previous recommendation for geothermal heating should be considered. A

20 professional mechanical engineer and/or HVAC technician should be consulted for pricing estimates and alternative solutions. 9. Ventilation of the building is poor and could be solved with the possibility of installing an energy efficient heating system. In relation to humidity, another solution could be to purchase dehumidifiers which will improve the preservation of the collection. A heavy duty dehumidifier can be purchased for $1,299.00 from The Home Depot. 10. In keeping with the period of the structure, the flooring is wood and is stained. It is ideal in terms of the vision of the museum and a possible option for improvement can be to polyurethane the floors with a clear gloss. A 5 gallon bucket can be purchased from The Home Depot for $97.00. 11. Electricity to the building needs to be updated to provide a higher supply of energy. For pricing estimates consult an electrician and/or electrical engineer. 12. Lighting in the building is outdated and minimal. A possible solution would be track lighting, which would not rely upon cords attached to outlets and would provide enough lighting without hurting the original design. A 3-light, linear track lighting kit can be purchased from The Home Depot for $59.97 13. An ADA wheelchair ramp would also need to be installed to make the building accessible to all. A general price estimate based on eight cost profiles determines the average cost being $1,750.1

Note: Does not include labor and/or installation costs. Ideally, this could be obtained from internship or related programs through the five college community.

3. Internships Mount Holyoke has identified the need for Skinner Museum interns via the requirement for the NEXUS minor and the Skinner Museum has informed us that both summer and j-term internships are in development and expected to begin shortly. It is the opinion of Team Advancement that the internship program be furthered throughout the Five Colleges and beyond students who are interested in museum sciences. As identified earlier, it has become more than clear that the Skinner Museum is going to need a fair amount of labor to make this proposal tangible and what better resource is there to explore than college students. It would be fantastic to see students (even those not studying museum sciences) become involved in the renovation and work the the Skinner Museum requires. The Five Colleges have a massive resource in the fact that there are a great deal of students who will work for experience and undergraduates, graduates, work studies should all be used to maintain the Museum for its current predicaments and future problems. The CAP survey noted that: “If one takes 7000 as the number of objects and divides it by 20, the result is 350. That is the number of objects that should be routinely cleaned every year… This is why I have

1 http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/environmental-safety/build-a-disability-ramp/. Accessed 13 January 2015.

21 put engaging the services of a conservator- even on a part-time basis- at the forefront of my recommendations.” (2010 Collections Assessment Program Survey Even for the most basic maintenance and standards of preservation, new blood must be brought into the Skinner Museum. Although a part-time employee may not be in the budget, it is entirely plausible that students fill the shoes of the CAP survey recommendation and more. The surveyors from twenty years ago mirrored the message of the 2010 survey when they suggested that the administration ought to: “Organize a summer work project with conservation graduate students that would specifically focus on cleaning storage areas and properly housing artifacts in long-term storage with archival materials.” (1992 General Conservation Survey) and:“Investigate the possibility of graduate level conservation interns coming to the museum for the summer and undertaking a rehousing project of objects in storage or numbering all of the objects directly on the substrate surfaces.” (1992 General Conservation Survey) Circumstances have changed since 1992 and, in some ways, they have grown more dire and pressing for the future of the Skinner Museum. It is the opinion of Team Advancement that the only viable solution for these problems is to develop extensive internship/work study programs not only from the Mount Holyoke student base, but the entire Five College community.

Budget Overview - Fostering internship opportunities will be relatively little cost to the Five Colleges and considering the minimal renovations needed for the Schoolhouse (labor can be utilized via schools programs as advised in the 1992 General Conservation Survey). The Schoolhouse budget can be varied and ranged considering what the Museum feels is a priority and what is not ( a more substantial break down is noted above). The most expensive aspect of this proposal is, by far, the recommendation that a whole new carriage house (with modern museum standards) be built to cease the degradation of the most sensitive parts of the collection. Considering the massive cost of remodeling the Church, building a new carriage house would be relatively small (somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 vs. potentially millions) and speak volumes to reverse the ebb of the Skinner collection. The figure concerning the carriage house is based off a private example (30x40 feet, two stories, electricity, one floor heated, plumbing, proper ventilation, insulation)

22 V. Organization Information

Museum

The Skinner Museum features more than 6,000 objects representing a lifetime of collecting by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph Allen Skinner (1867-1946). This fascinating early 20th-century cabinet of curiosities contains objects from around the world and across time.

After moving an 1846 Congregational Church from the Quabbin town of Prescott, Skinner converted the building into a Museum and opened to the public in 1932. Becoming part of the Mount Holyoke campus in 1946, the Museum is today administered by the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. This one-of-a-kind collection is preserved as an educational resource for the campus and the community, as Skinner intended.

Reporting Organization

The Five Colleges, Inc./ Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Bridging Initiative in the Public and Applied Humanities featured a select group of highly-motivated and curiosity-driven students to become Applied Humanities Learning Lab (AppHuLL) Fellows and embark upon a five-day voyage of self-discovery, problem solving, and forward action. This free j-term intensive revolved around a community project with the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum of Mount Holyoke College. Working in teams and with guidance from graduate student mentors, AppHuLL Fellows will bring their humanities skills — in literature, history, theatre, art history, dance, film, digital media, or other scholarly, artistic, creative, or humanist expressions — to bear upon a real-world, meaningful project for the museum. Along the way, fellows will embody their role as future public humanists. To help ground students in this role, the j-term intensive included career exploration and skill-building exercises, presentations from working public humanists, networking practice, trips to area museums, and other hands-on exercises designed to help students find their path forward.

VI. Conclusion

In order to continue the goals of solving the special challenges facing the Skinner Museum, we propose the museum use a two-pronged approach by advancing the architectural structure of the building and using marketing and branding strategies to draw a larger audience to the museum and increase fundraising. By creating space for the Skinner to share its contents, Western Massachusetts will have better access and interest in uncovering the stories within the museum.

23 Works Cited

Kylander, Natalie; Stone, Christopher. “The Role of Brand in the Nonprofit Sector.” Ssireview, Spring 2012. Web. 15 January. 2015.

Mangum, Barbara. “Collections Assessment Program Survey - Joseph Allen Skinner Museum - Mount Holyoke College.” 30 November. 2010. Web. 15 January 2015.

Ross, Lorrie Thomas. “Brand Building Basics.” Lynda. 29 August. 2012. Web. 15 January 2015.

Appendix I

Problem: Exhibits are very one-dimensional, focusing fully on sight. People that learn through other senses and experiences or are unable to see do not get to experience of the Skinner Museum at the same scale.

Solution: There are many low-technology practices that could be used in the exhibit space to engage the visitor in more interactive formats. These include:

● Having a jar of magnifying glasses on the table walking in for visitors to borrow as they walk around the museum. This meshes with the themes of curiosity and discovery that the museum has to offer. These also could be used for I-Spy activities with children. ● Play music as people are walking in the entrance from Skinner’s era. Music would heighten the feeling like you’re walking into the past. ● Have sensory boxes on a table with objects that represent objects in the collection. These could include a seashell (tactile), a box of nails (tactile, tells story of taking church apart and back together), coconut extract (smell). Glue these to bottom of the box! You could have a space for people to make their predictions about what’s in the box, before lifting up a flap and finding out what’s inside and where to find that object in the museum. ○ How to make a sensory box: take a small plastic bin. Glue objects at bottom so no one can take them out. With an exacto knife cut a hole in the center. Take a tube sock and cut the toe off. Place one end of the sock in the opening (stapled) and stuff sock into box and it’s finished! ● Make a sample butterchurn or yarn swift for people to try out. Put a sign on it that says ‘Try Me’.

24 ● Have a coat and cane for children to try on to “become” Joseph Allen Skinner. A dress- up coat rack would allow people to wear something wild when they walk into the museum and feeds to the idea of people being spectacles in the exhibits. The Theatre Department has a sale of fabulous costume pieces every fall where they try to get rid of costumes from previous productions. They might be willing to give some to the museum, if asked.

More high-technology ideas:

● Create a QR code walking tour of the Skinner Museum. The QR codes could be put around the museum at specific parts that are on the tour. When people come to these parts they can scan for more information, a video about an object (like one of the webseries videos, etc.). ● Make a cell phone tour/ QR code tour of the neighborhood of the Skinner Museum and how they relate to the story of Joseph Allen Skinner and his museum. The tour should be accessible both on slips of paper at the museum and on the website for people to use even the museum is not open. ● Make an audio tour that is accessible on the website that people could access when they come to the museum. ● Make a visual guide that is accessible by phone or website for docents to use for supplementary materials when giving tours of the museum.

Appendix II

Contacts information for Five College Departments to Approach:

Five College Certificate Courses

● Mwangi wa Githinji- Head of African Studies Program → [email protected] ● Paula Debnar- Head of Classics and Italian Dept. → [email protected] ● Asha Nadkarni, Sujani Reddy and Iyko Day- Co-Chairs of Asian/Pacific/ American Studies Program → [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] ● Wilson Valentin-Escobar- Chair of Latin American, Caribbean and Latina/o Studies → [email protected] ● Lisa Brooks- Chair of Native American and Indigenous Studies → [email protected] ● Christian Gundermann- Co-Chair of Queer and Sexuality Studies → [email protected]

Mount Holyoke College

● Preston Smith-Africana Studies → [email protected] ● Kenneth Tucker-Chair of Anthropology and Sociology → [email protected] ● Rosemary Ryan -Senior Administrative Assistant for Architectural Studies→ [email protected] ● Paul Staiti-Chair of Art History Dept. → [email protected] ● Joseph Smith -Chair of Art Studio Dept. → [email protected] ● Jonathan Lipman -Chair of Asian Studies Program → [email protected] ● Wei Chen- Co-Chair Biochemistry Dept. → [email protected] ● Craig Woodard- Chair of Biology Dept. → [email protected] ● Maria Gomez- Chair of Chemistry Dept. → [email protected] ● Darby Dyar-Chair of Astronomy Dept. → [email protected] ● Karen Remmler- Chair of Critical Social Thought → [email protected] ● Eleanor Townsley- NEXUS Director → [email protected] ● Rose Marie Flachs- Chair of Dance Dept. → [email protected] ● R. Harold Garrett-Goodyear- Chair of Medieval Studies Dept. → [email protected] ● Amy Martin- Chair of English Dept. → [email protected] ● Robin Blaetz- Chair of Film Studies Dept. → [email protected] ● Steve Dunn- Chair of Geology and Geography Dept. → [email protected] ● Holly Hanson- Chair of History Dept. → [email protected] ● Jeremy King- Chair of International Relations Dept. → [email protected] ● Dorothy Mosby-Chair of Latin American Studies Dept. → [email protected] ● Larry Schipull-Chair of Music Dept. → [email protected] ● Amina Steinfels- Chair of Religion Dept. → [email protected] ● Susan Daniels- Chair of Theatre Dept. → [email protected]

Amherst College

● Karen Sanchez-Eppler - Chair of American Studies Dept. → [email protected] ● Jerry Himmelstein- Chair of Anthropology and Sociology Dept. → [email protected] ● Louise Beckett- Art and Art History Dept. Coordinator → [email protected] ● Timothy Van Compernolle- Chair of Asian Languages and Civilizations → [email protected] ● Geoffrey Sanborn- Chair of English → [email protected] ● Amelie Hastie- Chair of Film and Media Studies → [email protected] ● Peter Crowley- Chair of Geology Dept. → [email protected] ● Trent Maxey- Chair of History → [email protected]

26 ● Andrew Dole - Chair of Religion Dept. → [email protected]

Smith College

● Elliot Fratkin- Chair of Anthropology Dept. → [email protected] ● Brigitte Buettner-Chair of Art History Dept. → [email protected] ● Sabina Knight- Director of Comparative Literature → [email protected] ● Kimberly Kono- Chair of East Asian Languages and Culture → [email protected] ● Ernest Benz- Chair of East Asian Studies → [email protected] ● Susan Etheredge- Chair of Education Dept. → [email protected] ● Cornelia Pearsall- Chair of English Language and Literature Dept. → [email protected] ● Donna Kortes- Office Assistant for Geology Dept. → [email protected] ● Richard Lim- Chair of History Dept. → [email protected] ● Suleiman Ali Mourad- Director of Medieval Studies Dept. → [email protected] ● Margaret Sarkissian- Director of Music → [email protected] ● Vera Shevzov- Director of Religion → [email protected] ● Rick Fantasia- Director of Sociology → [email protected]

Hampshire College

● Jeffrey Wallen- Dean of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies → [email protected] ● Pamela K. Stone- Director of Culture, Brain and Development Program → [email protected] ● Djola Branner- Dean of Interdisciplinary Arts → [email protected] ● Jason Tor- Dean of Natural Sciences → [email protected]

University of Massachusetts Amherst

● John Bracey, Jr.- Chair of Afro-American Studies → [email protected] ● Thomas Leatherman- Chair of Anthropology Dept. → [email protected] ● Elizabeth Keitel- Chair of Classics Dept. → [email protected] ● Jenny Spencer- Chair of English Dept. → [email protected] ● Julie Brigham-Grette- Head of Geosciences Dept. → [email protected] ● Joye Bowman- Chair of History Dept. → [email protected] ● Janice Irvine- Chair of Sociology Dept. → [email protected]

27 Appendix III

The following places would be ideal sites for a Skinner Museum POSTER:

● Mount Holyoke Archives ● Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association ● Office of Admission ● Kendall Gymnasium (especially at guest entrance where people are coming for indoor events) ● Main Library at each of the 5 Colleges ● Forbes Public Library ● Amherst Public Library ● Granby Public Library ● South Hadley Public Library ● Gaylord Library in South Hadley ● South Hadley Historical Society ● The History Department Office at each of the 5 Colleges ● The Anthropology Department Office at each of the 5 Colleges ● The Campus Center at each of the 5 Colleges ● Bulletin Boards in Amherst Center

The following places would be ideal places for a Skinner Museum BROCHURE:

Hotels

● Americas Best Value Inn Holyoke, 671 Northampton Street, Holyoke, MA 01040 ● Clarion Hotel & Conference Center Northampton, 1 Atwood Drive, Northampton, MA 01060 ● Quality Inn & Suites Northampton,117 Conz Street, Northampton, MA 01060 ● Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Northampton,115A Conz Street, Northampton, MA 01060 ● Hampton Inn Chicopee, 600 Memorial Drive, Chicopee, MA 01020 ● Hampton Inn Hadley,24 Bay Road, Hadley, MA 01035 ● Residence Inn by Marriott Chicopee,500 Memorial Drive, I-90, Exit 5, Chicopee, MA 01020 ● Days Inn Chicopee,450 Memorial Drive, Chicopee, MA 01020 ● Homewood Suites by Hilton Holyoke,375 Whitney Avenue, Holyoke, MA 01040 ● Comfort Inn Hadley, 237 Russell Street, Hadley, MA 01035

28 ● D. Hotel & Suites, 1 Country Club Road, Holyoke, MA 01040 ● Granby Motel, 5 West State Street, Granby, MA

● Daniel Stebbins House Bed & Breakfast → Email: [email protected] ● Grandmary’s Bed & Breakfast → Email: [email protected] ● Willits Hallowell Center at Mount Holyoke College → Phone 413-538-2217

Other Museums

● The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art ● Historic Deerfield ● Beneski Museum of Natural History ● Mead Art Museum at Amherst College ● Hampshire College Art Gallery ● Emily Dickinson Museum ● Yiddish Book Center ● Smith College Art Museum ● University Museum of Contemporary Art ● Mount Holyoke College Art Museum ● Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, Massachusetts) ● Amherst History Museum ● Museum of Our Industrial Heritage (Greenfield, Massachusetts) ● Wistariahurst Museum ● The Berkshire Museum ● South Hadley Historical Society-The Old Firehouse Museum ● Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle ● Josiah Day House Museum ● Sturbridge Village

Transportation Venues

● Springfield Train Station, 66 Lyman Street, Springfield, MA 01103 ● Springfield Bus Station, 1776 Main St Ste 1, Springfield, MA 01103 ● Amherst Train and Bus Station, 13 Railroad Street, Amherst, MA ● Bradley Airport, Schoephoester Road, Windsor Locks, CT 06096 ● Holyoke Train Station (soon opening-2015)

Community Centers

● Dunbar YMCA, 33 Oak Street Springfield, MA 01109 (413) 788.6143 ● Greenleaf Community Center, 1188 Parker Street Springfield, MA 01129 (413) 787- 6448 ● Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center,3 Rutland Street Springfield, MA 01109 (413) 746-3655 Commercial Establishments

● Atkins Farm, 1150 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 253-9528 ● Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075 (413) 534-7307 ● Tailgate Picnic Deli & Market, Village Commons, 7 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075 (413) 532-7597 Thirsty Mind Cafe, Village Commons, 23 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075 (413) 538- 9309

Appendix IV

Publicity in Local Media

Newspapers

● The Town Reminder (printed weekly for South Hadley), 38 College Street, Suite B, So. Hadley, MA 01075 → Editor Kristin L. Will | Phone 413-536-5333 ● The Amherst Bulletin (printed weekly for Amherst), 9 East Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 549-2000 → submissions sent to [email protected] ● The Hampshire Gazette (printed daily for Hampshire County), 115 Conz Street, Northampton, (413) 584-5000, P.O. Box 299, Northampton, MA 01061 → submissions sent to editor at [email protected] ● The Republican (published daily for Springfield) ● The Recorder (printed weekly for Greenfield), The Recorder, 14 Hope Street,Greenfield, MA 01302-1367,(413) 772-0261 ● The Valley Advocate (Arts & Leisure weekly publication) ● The Country Journal (printed weekly for Huntington) 24 Water Street, Palmer MA (413) 283-8393 ● Sentinel (printed weekly for Belchertown, Amherst and Granby) PO Box 601, 1 Main St., Suite 100, Belchertown, 01007→ Editor Aimee M. Henderson | 413-323-5999, ext. 101 ● The Summit (printed weekly for Easthampton) Mailing address: PO Box 299, Northhampton, MA 01061 ● The Mount Holyoke News → [email protected] ● The Amherst Student ● The Hampshire Climax

30 ● The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, 113 Campus Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 (413) 545-3500 ● The Smith Sophian

Websites/ Tourism Organizations

● MassLive.com

● The Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1441 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103 (800) 723-1548 or (413) 787-1548 ● Five College Calendar of Events, 97 Spring Street, Amherst MA 01002 (413) 542.4000 → [email protected] ● Pioneer Valley Folklore Society → www.filbert.com/pvfs/events.htm ● Pioneer Valley History Network → [email protected] ● Town of Amherst, 4 Boltwood Avenue, Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 259-3333 ● Upper Pioneer Valley Visitor Center, Rotary at I-91 and Rte. 2, Greenfield, MA (413) 773-9393 ● Berkshire County Department of Tourism and Commerce→ (800) 237-5747

Radio ● WFCR, New England Public Radio

Television ● WSHM, CBS 3 Springfield → [email protected] ● WWLP, 22 Western Massachusetts → [email protected] ● Amherst Media → 246 College St. Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 259-3300 [email protected] Greenfield Community Television → [email protected]

Appendix V

● National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): Museums, Libraries, and Cultural Organizations: Implementation Grants ○ Funding categories: publicity expenses, public programming, staff training, audience evaluation, final consultation, final digital project work ○ Link to description: http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/challenge-grants-may-1- 2014-edit.pdf

● NEH: Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions

31 ○ Funding categories: preservation assessments, purchase of preservation supplies and equipment, staff training ○ Link to description: http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/pres-assist-grants-may-1- 2014.pdf

● NEH: Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections ○ Funding categories: (Planning) energy-efficiency in conservation, analysis of current conservation practices; (Implementation) energy-efficiency in conservation practices, update/install conservation systems ○ Link to description: http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/sustaining-cultural-heritage- dec-3-2014.pdf

● NEH: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources ○ Funding categories: digitizing collections, designing digital project, providing conservation treatment, cataloguing collection ○ Link to description: http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/humanities-collections- reference-resources-july-17-2014-edit.pdf

● NEH: Challenge Grants ○ Funding categories: support staff salaries, teacher development, preservation and conservation programs, construction, renovation, fundraising, “bridge” fund ○ Link to description: http://www.neh.gov/files/grants/challenge-grants-may-1- 2014-edit.pdf

*Note about all NEH grants: The museum connects well with the NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative that works to present cultures and objects from around the world to the American public. This would be an influential argument to make in any NEH grant proposals.

● Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC): Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund ○ Funding categories: building preservation, building code compliance, barrier-free access, documentation of preservation restrictions, legal ads ○ Link to description: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcmppf/mppfidx.htm

● Mass Humanities: Project Grant ○ Funding categories: public programming, digital interactives (i.e. website) ○ Link to description: http://masshumanities.org/grants/project/

● Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): Museum Assessment Program ○ Funding categories: assessment of museum operations ○ Link to description: http://aam-us.org/resources/assessment-programs/MAP

● IMLS: Museums for America ○ Funding categories: public programming, conservation ○ Link to description: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/detail.aspx?GrantId=11

● State of Massachusetts, MCC: Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund ○ Funding categories: renovation, construction ○ Link to description: http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/facilities/facilities.htm

● National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Relations Commission: Access to Public Records Grant ○ Funding categories: preservation, digital preservation/cataloguing ○ Link to description: http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/access.html

● National Center for Preservation Technology and Training: PTT Grant ○ Funding categories: mobile application development, 3-D visualization and cataloging ○ Link to description: http://ncptt.nps.gov/grants/

● National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP): Preservation Funds ○ Funding categories: preservation, education ○ Link to description: http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/find- funding/preservation-funds-guidelines-eligibility.html#.UrDjqKW-C-I

● NTHP: Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation ○ Funding categories: marketing, digital communications, programming, preservation, consultation ○ Link to description: http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/find- funding/special-funds/johanna-favrot-fund.html#.VLLxjzm9Xdt

● NTHP: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors ○ Funding categories: analysis of current interior, architect for possible restoration design, consultant on textiles ○ Link to description: http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/find- funding/special-funds/cynthia-woods-mitchell.html#.VLLy3Tm9Xdt