Museums Connect Phase I Museum Profile Form

• Phase I Museum Profiles for the 2013 cycle must be submitted by US and non-US museums no later than October 15, 2012 to be included on the Museums Connect website for review. Pre- partnered US and non-US museums must submit a Phase I Museum Profiles no later than January 14, 2013. • All materials must be submitted in English, in a sans-serif font (e.g., Arial or Verdana) at 11 or 12 point, and formatted for letter-size paper.

• Please note page limits. Additional pages are not considered for review.

About the Museum Rishon LeZion Museum Name of Museum

20 HaCarmel St. Rishon Le-Zion, ISRAEL Mailing/Street Address

Rishon LeZion, 75264 City/State/Mailing Code/Country

+97239682435 Telephone (include all country codes) http://rishonlezion-museum.org.il Website (if applicable)

Nava KESSLER Director Name of Director (First Name FAMILY NAME) Title

1982 25 Historical Year Founded Number of Paid Employees Type of Museum Size and Range of Collections

The Rishon LeZion Museum is an open-air historical museum spread out over the old quarter of the city. It includes seven historical structures with exhibits and another 17 historical sites along a

marked “pioneers’ trail.” The sites include the colony’s well, where a unique light-and-sound show is shown. The collection includes documents, photos, and objects that represent the town’s history and its founders’ contribution to Israeli culture and to national identity.

Facilities

Seven structures (six historical structures), an auditorium (120 seats), and a center for lectures and workshops.

Public Programs and Other Public Activities

The museum offers the public a wide range of activities for all ages, including: tours for all ages in several languages, led by actors posing as historical figures, and educational workshops that

include arts and crafts, theatre, journalism, games, lecture series, concerts, festivals, and evening cultural programs for diverse audiences. The museum has a genealogical website, unique to Israel, which is now being translated into English. The museum cooperates with schools and scholarly institutions all over the country.

Mission Statement

The Rishon LeZion Museum is a non-profit institution whose mission is to make the general public familiar with the city’s glorious heritage and its contribution to the shaping of Israeli culture and national identity. The museum’s collections and archives are used by leading scholars in their research. We have created educational and cultural programs in order to make these studies accessible to the public.

Project Ideas List three to four projects your institution is interested in developing with a partner museum. Projects should involve community engagement in both countries. Museums Connect does not fund projects concepts focused solely on staff development, exhibition design/object exchange, or artist residencies. Use only the space provided.

1. Cultivating teenage leaders through educational programs based on the city’s heritage. 2. Producing innovative ideas about water treatment, as a continuation to the city’s heritage and its current activities in this field. 3. Nurturing women leaders in the tradition of the groundbreaking women pioneers who were active here.

4. Focusing on immigration—a city that absorbs immigrants is, by nature, multicultural, and the

museum aims to serve as a broker to help bring the diverse cultures together.

Community Involvement Direct community engagement is the foundation for Museums Connect. List ways in which community members in both countries may be directly involved in executing the project. Use only the space provided.

1. Projects that create a focused web-based activity involving the communities in both countries. 2. Projects that generate a bond by means of students’ video art on the relevant topics. 3. Art competitions between the communities in both countries, inspired by a joint project. 4. Exhibiting the artwork in both museums.

About the Project Coordinator Attach a one-page bio in English

Nava Kessler Male Female

First Name Middle Name/Initial (if used) FAMILY NAME

Director of the Rishon LeZion Museum Museum Director Position Specialty

[email protected] +97239598860 Email Address Telephone

Is the Project Coordinator a full-time, permanent employee of the museum? Yes No

Languages Please list all languages in which the Project Coordinator is proficient. Please include English even if it is the Coordinator’s first language.

Hebrew Excellent Good Fair Language

English Excellent Good Fair Language

Arabic Excellent Good Fair Language

French Excellent Good Fair Language

Chinese Excellent Good Fair Language

Italian Excellent Good Fair Language

Nava Kessler

Address: 19 Arlosoroff St., Jerusalem Tel.: (02) 561-0146; (054) 553-5537 Email: [email protected]

Professional Experience 2011-Present Director of the Rishon LeZion Museum, an institution that presents the city’s contribution in shaping Israeli national culture and identity. • General management of the museum; working on the development of a new program for the museum; updating exhibitions; and promoting educational, cultural, and art programs and marketing them to the general public. 1993–2010 Director of the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art/Association of Italian Jews, a nonprofit organization established to preserve, exhibit, and disseminate the cultural heritage of Italian Jewry . Management of the Museum of Italian Jewish Art, the Institute for the Study of Italian Jewry, the Restoration Center, and the old Italian synagogue; staff management; responsibility for professional, administrative, and financial operation of the Association; fundraising and deficit-free budget management . Development of social and educational programming for the public . Cooperation with organizations and institutions . Development and production of cultural activities, festivals, special events, symposia, and conferences Accomplishments . Widespread publicity for the activity of the museum and the Association and increased public awareness of them . A sevenfold increase in the number of visitors and in the museum’s independent income 1989–1992 Took several years off to raise my children 1983–1988 Director of Beit Tamar, a home for disabled children run by Ilan (Israel Foundation for Handicapped Children)

Education 2000–2002 Hebrew University—Executive MBA with a concentration in strategic management 1996–1997 Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati School of Business Administration—program in management of cultural and artistic institutions (300 academic hours) 1996 Practical museum marketing course, Tel Aviv (100 hours) 1980–1983 Hebrew University—BA in sociology and anthropology and in East Asian studies, dean’s list

Public Activity 2001– Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation—board member 2003 Named a Knight of the Republic by the Italian government for spreading Italian culture

Languages Hebrew—native English—very good Arabic, Chinese, French, and Italian—fair

Personal Information Born in Israel, 1956, mother of two