The Institute of Museum and Library Services has announced a new funding opportunity for museums, libraries, and Native American and Native Hawaiian communities. The $15 million federal investment will provide direct support to address community needs created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and in assisting with recovery. “Museums and libraries have stepped up to provide their communities with essential services and access to all kinds of health, job, government, educational, social, and cultural resources,” said IMLS Director Crosby Kemper. “As places begin to reopen, these institutions will continue to be trusted spaces dedicated to sustaining communities. This funding will allow them to continue lifting up their communities and enabling people to thrive.” The American Rescue Plan Act allocated funding to IMLS to enable libraries, museums, federally recognized Tribes, and nonprofit organizations serving Native Hawaiians by supporting the vital programs and services they provide to their communities. Proposals to this grant program may continue, enhance, or expand existing programs and services, or they may launch new ones to address emergent needs and unexpected hardships. Reflecting IMLS’s goals of championing lifelong learning, strengthening community engagement, and advancing collections stewardship and access, successful projects for this grant program will: 

• Advance digital inclusion through approaches that may include, but are not limited to, improving digital platforms, online services, connectivity (e.g., hotspots), and creating digital literacy programs, as well as creating new processes and procedures needed to sustain a robust online environment.

• Support hiring new staff and training or retraining existing staff to ensure a workforce that has the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities.

• Build community-focused partnerships, networks, and alliances with organizations with an emphasis on complementing, rather than duplicating, resources and services.

• Support the creation and delivery of online and in-person educational, interpretive, and experiential programs and exhibitions for learners of all ages.

• Provide trusted spaces for community engagement and dialogue to foster recovery and rebuilding.

• Support efforts to collect, preserve, manage, and interpret documentary sources and tangible objects representing all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic experience.

 The deadline for submitting applications is June 28, 2021, with award announcements anticipated in October 2021. A free informational webinar will be made available on-demand on the IMLS website. For More InformationTo apply for this grant, as well as other available IMLS funding opportunities, please visit the IMLS website. 

Mystic Seaport Museum announces the launch of Mystic Seafest 2021, a summer-long celebration of all things to do with the ocean in an ongoing series of events at the Museum from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day. The festival begins with the opening of the new exhibition A Spectacle in Motion: The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World on May 29.

Mystic Seafest 2021 will offer entertainment for the entire family and for those who simply want to enjoy a day by the beautiful Mystic River. Under the theme “Come celebrate life on the ocean wave!”, the Museum will host a continuing series of concerts, boat shows and parades, new exhibits, artists-in-residence, maritime lectures, and other programming related to the ocean.

The Museum will kick off Seafest with the opening of its newest exhibition, A Spectacle in Motion: The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World, in collaboration with the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

The Panorama, which is owned and conserved by the Whaling Museum, is the longest painting in North America, as well as a rich tapestry of fascinating narratives that delight, inform and entertain. The Panorama recreates the experience of a whaling voyage, detailing the remarkable sights that only whalemen were privileged to see. It depicts the story of whaling and the cultural ties born of this global industry, now ingrained in the unique multi-cultural landscape of New England.

In an era before the age of cinema, the painting traveled the country as a “moving” panorama. It was how curious people without the means or inclination to travel were transported to exotic locales in the 1800s. The Panorama was a performance spectacle, scrolling across a stage on giant spools with accompanying theatrics and narration. Although the painting will not be shown again as a moving panorama, which would undo the extensive conservation efforts, Mystic Seaport Museum will display one 30-foot scene at a time, accompanied by a 34-minute narrated digital film that depicts the entire painting much as it would have been seen in 1848.

Visitors are encouraged to pick up their free Grand Panorama Passport souvenir. The Museum will be issuing stamps for each port of call and each scene — there are 15 over the course of the exhibition. Awards will be given to those with multiple stamps throughout the show’s run and there will be a special prize for those who collect all 15 at the end.

The exhibition runs through March 27, 2022.

Mystic Seafest 2021 signals the Museum’s return to pre-COVID levels of operation with the historic village, indoor exhibits, the shipyard, children’s activities, and waterfront boat rides all returning for the summer season. Memorial Day Weekend begins Seafest with a wide range of additional programs and activities, including:

Live music at 3:00 p.m. each day (included with admission):

Wooden and fiberglass classics, vintage racers, and other antique and Chesapeake Bay-related boats are returning to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum beginning Friday, June 18, for the 33^rd Antique & Classic Boat Festival and the Arts at Navy Point in St. Michaels, Md.

Hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, this Father’s Day tradition brings a sense of nostalgia to the Miles River and CBMM’s docks and campus, drawing some of the area’s finest classic boats, nautical and maritime treasures, and entertainment to the waterfront festival.

This year’s festival celebrates a theme of Cruising on the Chesapeake, with classic-style cabin and express cruisers and sport fishing boats expected to attend, and a full slate of boating history seminars planned on June 18 &19.

The show attracts everything from the finest runabouts to yachts, and includes race boats, work boats, launches, hydroplanes, and utilities. Chris-Craft, Trumpy, Gar Wood, Donzi, and Lyman are among some of the names represented with sizes ranging from a 9-foot hydroplane to 70-foot plus cruisers. Several Jersey Speed Skiffs—a crowd favorite—will be displaying their aptly named strengths throughout the show.

“With a juried competition among entrants for best restored and preserved boats, this festival attracts the best of the best when it comes to classic and antique boats,” said ACBS-Chesapeake Bay Chapter Festival Chairman Bob Hamilton. “We’re thrilled the festival is able to return to CBMM’s beautiful campus this summer and can’t wait to see the public there.”

From Friday, June 18, through Sunday, June 21, the festival’s signature Arts at Navy Point pavilion brings juried fine artists, craftspeople, and vendors to CBMM’s waterfront campus, offering nautical and maritime-themed items for boat and home. Festival hours are 10am–5pm Friday and Saturday, with the Arts at Navy Point and limited displays continuing on Sunday from 10am–3pm. Entrance to the festival is included with CBMM’s general admission, which is good for two days and free for CBMM members.

For advance tickets and more information, visit cbmm.org/antiqueandclassic. For information on the Antique & Classic Boat Society’s Chesapeake Bay Chapter, or to register as a vendor, visit chesapeakebayacbs.org.

The National Museum of the Great Lakes will be offering FREE admission for veterans and active military over Memorial Day weekend (Saturday, May 29 – Monday, May 31)

The Channel Islands Maritime Museum will be a hub of activity and fun on Father’s Day, June 20, 2021, as it celebrates with “Classics by the Sea.” This family-friendly event will feature a wonderful display of boats, travel trailers, woodies, and classic cars of all vintages, many one-of-a-kind, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Museum will also be hosting a unique maritime treasure sale including used tools, books, ship models, and art. Live music will be provided by local favorite “Unkle Monkey” who will play from 12 pm to 3 pm.

Inside of the Museum, there will be knot-tying demonstrations the Museum will also be hosting live characters, in period costumes, from maritime history. The Museum’s current temporary exhibition, Art of the Sailor, will also be available for viewing.

All outdoor activities are free to the public. Regular Museum admission fees apply inside of the Museum. Active members of the military (with ID) and children 5 years old and younger are free. The Museum gift shop, BlueFin Gifts, will be open during the event as well (there is no admission fee to enter the gift shop only).

Founded in 1991 and located in Oxnard’s Channel Islands Harbor, the Museum’s galleries feature rare and beautiful maritime paintings dating back to the 1600s, more than sixty world-class models of historic ships, rotating thematic fine art exhibitions, and interactive exhibits that encourage visitors to expand their horizons about everything maritime. The Museum is currently open Friday-Sunday from 12 pm to 4 pm.

AAM is currently fielding a survey of people in the museum field to better understand their needs. The responses to this survey will be used to help inform our strategic planning process and we want to ensure your members and followers voices are heard as well! Please share this survey across your newsletter, website and social media. The survey can be found here and should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Of those who complete the survey, two participants will be randomly selected to receive a $50 gift card to bookshop.org, where your purchase supports an independent bookstore of your choice. The survey closes May 21.

On Fridays from now through June 18, families are invited to join the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Rising Tide Program for afternoons of FREE fishing off CBMM’s docks.

Both fishing gear and waterfront access are available for participants in Free Fishing Fridays, from 3:30–5:30pm. Individual fishing licenses are not needed, but parental supervision is required for anyone 8-years-old or younger.

“Since 2015, Rising Tide has provided a welcoming, relaxed environment for students in grades six–nine to learn hands-on skills through after school and summer programming,” said Youth Programs Coordinator Nina Graham. “Our Fishing Fridays are just one more way to reach those students and to help keep them engaged with the Bay. We’re always thrilled to be able to provide opportunities like this to expand access to the waterfront for those who may not have it otherwise.”

Registration is required by emailing risingtide@cbmm.org. To learn more about CBMM’s Rising Tide Program, which offers both after-school programming and summer camps, visit cbmm.org/risingtide

PEM’s Board of Trustees and the East India Marine Associates invite you to celebrate the opening of In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting. Go behind the scenes with exhibition Co-Curator Daniel Finamore, PEM’s Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History, as he highlights key works and themes and answers questions from guests.RSVP TODAY!

You will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to participate via Zoom. For more information or technical questions, please email Lauren Fairweather at lauren_fairweather@pem.org.

Building on the reach and success of last year’s online Annual Meeting, AASLH will have two conferences in the fall, each with distinct experiences. The AASLH/Arkansas Museums Association 2021 Annual Meeting will be held in person in Little Rock, Arkansas, September 22–25. The AASLH 2021 Online Conference will be held October 12–15. The theme of both conferences is Doing History/Doing Justice. Read more.

Please join the Board of Directors of the Door County Maritime Museum on Saturday, May 22nd at 11am  to celebrate the opening of Sturgeon Bay’s newest landmark! 

Rising on the Sturgeon Bay waterfront, the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower stands as a one-of-a-kind landmark that will leave a legacy of maritime history that will also educate and entertain generations to come. The views from inside the Tower’s 10th floor Working Waterfront exhibit and the rooftop Baumgartner Observation Deck offer an unparalleled panorama spanning the entire historic working waterfront, from the waters of Green Bay to the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal.

The Christening event will take place in the DCMM parking lot and is open to the public. We ask that you keep a respectful distance from folks not in your group, and wear a face mask when inside the Museum.

More than 300 individual, family, corporate and foundation donors have contributed a total of $5.8 Million to the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower $7.2 Million construction capital campaign. This includes $1 Million from the George F. Kress Foundation and a $250,000 Community Development Investment grant from the State of Wisconsin’s Economic Development Corporation