The JIMI Jabberwocky - Summer 2015

The J I M I

Jabberwocky Jab•ber•wock•y (j_b’er-w_k’_) n. Nonsense speech or writing designed to give the appearance of making sense.

V o l u m e X V, N o . I • J a n u a r y – A u g u s t 2 0 1 5

THE JIMI CLASS OF 2015 first row: Carol Messer, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi MS; Schelly Corry, Cook”s Natural History Museum, Decatur, AL; Chieko T. Phillips, Northwest African American Museum, Seattle, WA; Courtney Taylor, Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR; Laura L. Orr, Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Norfolk, VA; Kym Maddocks, Old Salem Museums & Gardens, Winston-Salem, NC; Kim Roberts Johnson, The National Museum of African American Music, Nashville, TN; Cathy Wright, The American Civil War Museum, Richmond, VA; Kari Barley, Pioneer Museum of Alabama, Troy, AL; Anne E. Miller, City of Virginia Beach, Department of Museums, Virginia Beach, VA. second row: Emily Epley, Earl Scruggs Center, Shelby, NC; Ruth M. Jackson, University of California, Riverside and Museums Board Member, Riverside, CA; Sean Daily, North Carolina National Guard Museum, Raleigh, NC; RoAnn M. Bishop, Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage, Old Fort, NC; Stacey Thompson, The Museum and Railroad Historical Center, Greenwood, SC; Alexis A. Rager, National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, VA; Terrance Hunter, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL.

JIMI 2016 S HO UT IT O UT! The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) proudly announces the 16th annual Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI 2016). Scheduled for January 19–26, 2016, JIMI is specifically designed for administrators from new and emerging museums and for museum professionals with subject area expertise desiring knowledge of general museum administration and operations. The deadline for JIMI 2015 applications is October 31, 2015.

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Fernbank M Great Hall by Drew

Cultural Collaboration

CREATING A COLLECTIVE VISION SEMC • OCTOBER 12-14, 2015 Jacksonville, Florida

Join us in Jacksonville

SEMC 2015 ANNUAL MEETING JIMI Luncheon & Reunion at the SEMC Annual Meeting, in Knoxville, is Monday, October 12, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. Register now!

CONGRATS, JIMI 2015! congratulations to the JIMI Class of 2015, consisting of participants from Alabama (2), Arkansas, California (1), Florida (1), Mississippi (1), North Carolina (4), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (1), Virginia (4), and Washington. ¶ This year marks the second of a three-year partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and SEMC to sponsor two scholarships and travel stipends for AAAM members. The two John Kinard scholarship awardees were Ruth M. Jackson, Emeritus University Librarian, University of California, Riverside and Museums Board Member, Riverside, California and Chieko T. Phillips, Exhibitions Manager, Northwest African American Museum, Seattle, Washington. ¶ Scholarships and/or travel stipends were provided by the state associations of Arkansas (Courtney Taylor, Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff), Mississippi (Carol Messer, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi), North Carolina (Emily Epley, Earl Scruggs Center, Shelby), and South Carolina (Stacey Thompson, The Museum and Railroad Historical Center, Greenwood). The Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship was awarded to RoAnn M.

Bishop, Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center, Old Fort, NC. ¶ Gaylord Brothers provided one scholarship which was awarded to Kari Barley, Pioneer Museum of Alabama, Troy, AL. John and Cynthia Lancaster provided a full scholarship to Kim Roberts Johnson, The National Museum of African American Music, Nashville, TN. ¶ Satilla Computer Solutions, St. Marys, GA provided $350 as a breakfast sponsorship. ¶ We opened the awards banquet to all JIMI alumni, and four people paid to attend and support the new graduates — Keith Post, CEO of Satilla Computer Solutions (JIMI Class of 2013), Ellen Strojan (JIMI Class of 2011), and Leah Walker and Josh White (JIMI Class of 2012). Susan Perry also attended, gave a warm congratulatory speech to the class and told them of SEMC activities, and participated in the awards ceremony. ¶ Afterwards, the newly minted “JIMI-kins” regrouped at the hotel hot tub and enjoyed adult beverages and snacks purchased with funds provided by JIMI alumni. A couple of brave souls braved the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean to keep the JIMI Polar Bear Club alive!

Carol Messer chatting with Jamie Credle while Ruth Jackson (l) and Schelly Corry (r) smile for the camera.

Kym Maddocks asks a question as Terrance Hunter, Alexis Rager, and Chieko Phillips look on.

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Carol Messer, Schelly Corry, Chieko Phillips, Kim Roberts Johnson, and Cathy Wright working on a group project at JIMI 2015.

JIMI LaPaglia Scholarship Winner Reponse ever feel the world spins a little too fast sometimes?

Well, my world seemed to enter warp drive last October when I became director of the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center in Old Fort, NC. ¶ Born and raised in western North Carolina, there’s no place on earth I’d rather be. But before arriving in Old Fort (a tiny town nestled at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains), I had worked as a curator at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh for 14 years. I had largely adjusted to life in the big city and more or less learned what was expected of me. Now, here I was, not only in charge of a museum (small though it might be), but a staff and buildings (plural!) and an artifact collection, and a budget … and suddenly I felt like I was aboard the Starship Enterprise! ¶

That’s when I remembered a friend having told me about the Southeastern Museums Conference’s Jekyll Island Management Institute. He had attended “JIMI” the year before and couldn’t stop talking about what a wonderful experience he’d had and how much he had learned.

Well, I figured I needed all the help I could get and then some, so I applied for JIMI. Then, reality set in. How was I ever going to pay for this immersive, eight-day museum management training program? There are scholarships available, my wise friend said. So I applied for the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship. Named for a man who had enjoyed 35 years in museums and the public history field, the scholarship would entirely cover my tuition. And miracle of miracles, I not only got accepted into the JIMI program.

But I received the scholarship! ¶ I arrived on Jekyll Island on January 19, having driven non-stop for nearly 6½ hours, paid a $6 entrance toll fee, and managed to maneuver

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through the marshlands before dark and without hitting one of the island’s prolific deer. Once I had stretched my legs and found a bathroom, things began to look rosier.

The cottage, which I would be sharing with three other “JIMI-kins,” was right off the beach! ¶ However, there would be little free time over the next eight days to enjoy sunsets over the ocean, go shelling or admire the driftwood forest along Jekyll Island’s shore. No sir! There were sessions! Every day, even Saturday and Sunday, usually from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and with receptions, “participant sessions,” and group dinners afterward almost nightly.

But that’s what I was here for: knowledge and networking, right? So bring it on! ¶ And they did! The JIMI faculty concisely and delightfully presented more information about how to market your museum, recruit volunteers, manage staff, handle boards, be a leader, raise money, get accredited, plan exhibits, interpret history, care for collections, and prepare for disasters, (among myriad other topics), than I could ever have imagined. And it was all useful, practical information, stuff you could immediately put into practice back home — and all based on years of personal knowledge and experiences. Until the end of my museum career, my three-inch JIMI notebook will be my professional bible. ¶ As for the 17 museum professionals from across the nation who shared my 2015 JIMI experience, they will forever be “family,” people on whom I not only can call for museum assistance but also for moral support. Thanks to them, the JIMI faculty, SEMC, and the LaPaglia Companies, my work at Mountain Gateway Museum now seems much less daunting and much more

doable. My warp-speed world has at last wound down, and life is back on Blue Ridge Mountains time, as it should be.

— RoAnn M. Bishop

John Kinard Scholarship Recipients The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) proudly announces the John Kinard Scholarship recipients for the 15th annual Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI 2015). Chieko T. Phillips, Exhibitions Manager, Northwest African American Museum, and Ruth M. Jackson, University of California at Riverside, have been selected as recipients for the John Kinard Scholarship Fund for JIMI 2015. ¶ Thanks to the generosity of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) is pleased to offer the John Kinard Scholarship Fund for two staff members of AAAM institutional museums or individual AAAM members to attend SEMC’s Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI). The John Kinard Scholarship Fund is established in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

Created by an Act of Congress in 2003, the Museum is scheduled to open on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in 2015. For information on the Museum’s current programs and exhibitions visit www.nmaahc.si.edu or call 202.633.4751.

Satilla Computer Solutions PO Box 5669 St. Marys, GA 31558 t: 912.467.4794 e: keithfpost@tds.net Keith F. Post, CEO (Jimi Class of 2013)

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COME ON HOME TO JEKYLL ISLAND: JIMI HOMECOMING 2016

The JIMI Committee is pleased to announce the Fourth Annual JIMI Homecoming for JIMI alumni.

The awards banquet for the JIMI Class of 2016 is a chance to meet and congratulate the new JIMI class and to mingle with fellow alumni.

The awards banquet in the historic Jekyll Island Clubhouse takes place on Tuesday, January 26, 2016.

The cost of the dinner is TBA. There will be a bartender, and all alumni are responsible for their own tab and tips.

If you wish to attend, please contact Martha Battle Jackson before Friday, January 8, 2016: martha.jackson@ncdcr.gov or 919.733.7862, ext. 236.

Space is limited, so reservations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Â

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JIMI

Faculty News

Lisa Littlefield recently moved with her family to Maryland where her husband, Dave Tulis, took a job as associate editor with the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association magazine. While she will be focusing on completing her doctoral dissertation, she still plans to join us at the SEMC annual meeting in Jacksonville and at JIMI 2016.

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wcu.edu for more information about MHC programs and exhibits.

Scott Philyaw (2008) has a new position at Western Carolina University. Scott writes to us, “While I will devote half of my time to the history department, the other half will be in a new position as Faculty Associate for Digital Humanities. In that role I will continue and expand the work I have done for the last four years with the Digital Heritage project, which has been transferred from the Mountain Heritage Center to our Faculty Center. Thankfully, I will be able to give DigitalHeritage. org and associated digital projects the attention they deserve. Through the Faculty Center they will also get much needed technical support. I will also continue my work with university engagement in the region. Obviously, even in the virtual realm, I will still be using many of the valuable skills I learned at JIMI. Thanks again for a great 2015 JIMI and kudos to everyone’s impressive accomplishments!

Pam Meister and the Mountain Heritage Center staff have been busy moving and getting settled into new offices and exhibit spaces at the Hunter Library on the campus of Western Carolina University. Collections storage and work spaces will remain in the administration building. She’s now gearing up for the 41st annual Mountain Heritage Day Festival on September 26 and helping to host the North Carolina Folklore Society’s annual meeting on October 9-10. In addition to its oncampus operations, the MHC creates outreach exhibits for five public venues in three western NC counties, and is circulating six traveling exhibits designed for small to mid-sized museums. Contact Pam at pameister@email.

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JIMI

Alumni News

Stephen Charla (2006) has lef the Clinton Library and is now Archivist for the National Archives in Philadelphia.

Lisa Chastain (2014) is the new Assistant Director of the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City, MO. Julian Gray (2007), Executive Director of the Rice Northwest Museum of Rock and Minerals, in Hillsboro, OR, shares with us how instrumental JIMI has been for his directorship, along with his preparation at Tellus: “During the intensive ten days of JIMI, I had the great fortune of learning from many instructors, including the late Pete Lapaglia. At that time (eight years ago) I was working at the Weinman Mineral Museum, then in the process of transition from a 9,000 square foot museum to the 120,000 sq ft Tellus Science Museum.

The JIMI experience and training was extremely helpful during planning and construction of Tellus. After eight and a half years at the Weinman/Tellus, an opportunity opened up at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals, a small mineral museum in Hillsboro, Oregon — just west of Portland. I knew of this museum and its fabulous collections and jumped at the chance. Besides, with volcanoes, rugged beaches, and deserts, Oregon is a geologist’s paradise. The Rice NW Museum is housed, literally, in the former home of Richard and Helen Rice.

Because of unique building materials and design and use of craftsmen for construction of the house, the Rice home itself is on the National Register of Historic Homes. The sixty-two year old historic building that houses the museum was among the many serious challenges awaiting me. The broad museum management training at JIMI coupled with extensive on the job training at Tellus were appealing to the museum’s board and incalculably useful to me. And so it was that I landed

SEMC

the job (another dream job) as executive director at the museum. I started in May of last year and hit the ground running. This position is very rewarding, and I do feel that I am making a difference here. Still, I miss all my friends and museum family back in Georgia. My new institution has reached short-term stability (as I like to say, we are broke, but not in debt), and we are now a Smithsonian Affiliate. Our website (ricenorthwestmuseum.org) and social media are dynamic, and word of our great museum is spreading. One of the more important, but less glamorous accomplishments, is the recent conversion from an IRS private foundation to public charity. That small tweak will open granting and funding sources previously unavailable to us. So a big “Hello” to all my friends back East, and a thanks to the Tellus staff and JIMI faculty for all that you did for me. Please come visit when you are in the Pacific Northwest.”

Mary Hauser (2012) has added the title “Associate Director” to her current role as Registrar at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design. (She also serves on the executive committee of the North Carolina Museums Council.) Mary has been with the Gregg for eight years and is excited to take on this leadership role as the museum transitions to a new building and a new phase in its existence. She credits JIMI for giving her the skills to take this on. Go, Team JIMI! Terrance Hunter (2015) has relocated back to Orlando, gotten married, and accepted a position with the Art & History Museums – Maitland as the Participant Services Specialist. In this role he will be responsible for managing membership, volunteers, and interns, as well as visitor relations. He writes to us, “I am very excited about my first role outside of the education depart-

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

ment! The Art & History Museums – Maitland recently received designation as a National Historic Landmark (the first in Orange County) and is experiencing a lot of growth so this an exciting time to join the team. I have also accepted a position as director of development with a small nonprofit.”

Christy Leonard (2011): Since graduating from JIMI in 2011, Christy was promoted three times at the Museum of Science & History, earned a Master’s of Public Administration degree (focus on Nonprofit Management) from UNF, and recently accepted a position at Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a nonprofit veteran services organization in Jacksonville, FL. Christy credits JIMI for igniting in her a passion for nonprofit management and fundraising and is very happy to see JIMI still going strong. In her new position at WWP, Christy focuses on resource development, where her team is responsible for raising $14.5 million/year in grants. Although she misses the museum world, she is excited to be working for an organization with such a great mission — to honor and empower wounded warriors.

Danyelle McNeill (2012) has been promoted to Digital Archivist at the Arkansas History Commission and State Archives, where she has worked for a year and a half. She is also head of the marketing committee and handles public relations for the commission and archives.

Chieko Phillips (2015) was the Community Engagement Manager at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle, Washington, when she graduated from JIMI this year. In June, she left NAAM after five years to join

the Photographic Center Northwest (also in Seattle) as their Public Programs Curator. Photographic Center Northwest is an educational institution that facilitates creation, conversations, and sharing of significant photography. PCNW accentuates the accessibility and global reach of photography, which is one of the reasons she took a position working with this art form.

Angel Rohnke (2014), assistant director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, in Jackson, shares that her museum is currently hosting the traveling exhibtion Wolf to Woof. “We have had lots of service dogs visiting the museum this summer, which has been fun for staff and visitors,” she writes. Angel and her husband, Adam, have some happy personal news, the arrival of Oren William Rohnke on April 27, 2015.

Both Angel and Adam are doing well in their profes-

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JIMI

Alumni News

sional lives, too. Both received the 2015 Outstanding Conservation Alumni Achievement Award from the Finger Lakes Community College Alumni Association, and Angel received the 2015 Outstanding Rudolph J. H. Schafer Outstanding Project WILD Coordinator Award from the Council for Environmental Education.

Nathan Moehlmann (2006), of Goosepen Studio & Press, rotated off the North Carolina Museums Council board this past March and remains proud of NCMC’s establishment of an endowment. He continues to be involved in the museum world through JIMI (as the Jabberwocky putter-togetherer) and SEMC (for which he designs the newsletter) and as a book-design-andpublishing exhibitor at museum conferences, including SEMC and, as a first-timer this past May in Atlanta, AAM. Goosepen’s most recent books include The 50 Coolest Exhibits at Tellus by Shaw Kinsley, edited by Jose

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Santamaria, with a foreword by G. Wayne Clough, for the Tellus Science Museum, and Useful Work: Photographs of Hickory Nut Gap Farm by Ken Abbott whose exhibition opened in late July at the Asheville Art Museum.

Leah Walker (2011) has a new position. After nearly seven years with the Doak House Museum, she began as Executive Director of the Rogersville Heritage Association in May. This brings with it the Tennessee Newspaper & Printing Museum, the Hale Springs Inn, and two historic houses, as well as a huge heritage festival that draws more than ten thousand people to her small town. She writes to us of a wonderful connection and of some helpful JIMI-kins: “We are based out of the old Southern Railway depot, out of which my grandfa-

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

ther worked for thirty-seven years! Also, I have been using my JIMI notebook nonstop because I have never worked with a board before (thank you, George Bassi!).

The most exciting thing that has happened since I began is turning around at my Director’s Welcome Reception to see John Lancaster standing there! That wonderful man drove five hours just to be at my reception! Of course I had to get all teary eyed and blubber on him. But I am still so touched and pleased by his gesture. I’ve known John since I was in college, but I can thank JIMI for solidifying the bond. Great things happen for JIMI-kins!”

Heather Marie Wells (2010), an SEMC Director and the Digital Media Specialist at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, has contributed an essay to the book Technology and Digital Initiatives, part of the Innovative Approaches for Museums series edited by Juilee Decker of the Rochester Institute of Technology and published by Rowman & Littlefield. Heather contributed her essay “Setting the Table for Tablets: Starting Small While Thinking Big” at the request of the editor. It is one of only ten — all by academics and curators from major universities and museums, including the National Gallery of Art, the Frick, the British Museum, and the Met. Josh White (2012) began a new post as Membership and Development Coordinator at the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville, FL. The museum

is one of our host institutions at the upcoming SEMC Annual meeting in October, and Josh is serving on the Local Arrangements Committee. As the Jabberwocky was ready to go to cyber-press, we learned that Josh has even more wonderful news. In late August, he accepted a position at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, in Jacksonville, as the Associate Director of Development.

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JIMI

I

For Pete’s Sake

SEMC

The Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund

n the early 1980s, Pam Meister, then executive direc-

expand Jumpstart!, and thus was born the Jekyll Island Man-

tor of both the Southeastern Museums Conference

agement Institute (JIMI).

(SEMC) and the Louisiana Association of Museums

Pete was the heart and soul of JIMI; in fact, he became

(LAM) approached Peter S. LaPaglia with a workshop

known as “Mr. JIMI.” He not only poured his time and energy

idea called Jumpstart! She had written a successful

into it, he supported it financially and found other partners

grant to develop a workshop aimed at “small, new, emerg-

willing to fund it. These funds allowed the JIMI Committee

ing, and transitioning museums” in Louisiana. In addition

to fund tuition scholarships for museum professionals who

to formal training sessions, Jumpstart! brought together

otherwise would not have been able to attend.

workshop participants with seasoned museum profession-

Today, JIMI is a nationally recognized program with gradu-

als who volunteered to share their expertise and experience.

ates from twenty-five states plus the District of Columbia.

Each Jumpstart! participant was matched with a mentor

The museum world lost a valued friend when Pete passed

who guided them for twelve months following the workshop.

away. Because he was so committed to JIMI, SEMC has

Pam enticed Pete to facilitate Jumpstart! with the lure of

established the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund to

wonderful Cajun food, but unfortunately, it turned out to be

endow one annual scholarship in his memory.

spring break week and all the restaurants on the road to the

The scholarship will be open to all museum professionals

workshop site were closed. Pete never let Pam forget that she

in the United States having no less than five and no more

nearly starved him to death.

than ten years experience in the museum profession. The

After the success of Jumpstart!, Pam contacted Martha

applicant must demonstrate involvement with a museum

Battle Jackson, then chair of the SEMC Professional Devel-

professional organization at some level (state, regional, or

opment Committee and said, “Have I got a deal for you!”

national). The scholarship recipient must be a member of a

Working with Pete and Pam and an infusion of money from

regional museum association. We need $20,000 to make this

another successful grant written by Pam, the committee

scholarship possible.

expanded Jumpstart! to three and a half days and held the

For Pete’s Sake . . . please help by sending a check of any

workshop in four locations in the Southeast. Enthusiastic

amount to the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund, c/o

participants wanted more, so the committee decided to

SEMC, P. O. Box 9003, Atlanta, GA, 31106-1003.

T

The Peter S. LaPaglia Fund Policy he Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship funds will be

the museum profession. The applicant must demonstrate

restricted to using only the interest for one annual

involvement with a museum professional organization (state,

tuition scholarship. The scholarship will be open

regional, or national). The amount of the scholarship will be

to all museum professionals in the United States having

funded at the SEMC member level. The scholarship recipient

no less than five and no more than ten years experience in

must be a member of a regional museum association.

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