WASHINGTON – Two museums
in Westchester County and one in Greene County are among the 217 nationwide
to receive funding from The Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Campaign for the Westchester Children’s Museum in Rye was awarded
$25,000; Hudson River Museum of Westchester in Yonkers was awarded $25,000;
and Thomas Cole Historic House in Catskill was awarded $150,000 with a
matching grant of $265,000.
Campaign for the Westchester Children’s Museum will expand an existing
service-learning program called Museum without Walls to engage high school
and college students who are interested in the museum education field.
Hudson River Museum of Westchester will partner with the Nepperhan Community
Center and the Yonkers YMCA to plan, implement, and evaluate “Yonkers
Voices.” The project is designed to gather oral histories from Yonkers
residents in order to strengthen the role of the Hudson River Museum as
keeper of community tradition, heritage, and history.
The Thomas Cole Historic House will create permanent interpretive exhibits
that engage audiences with issues raised by artist Thomas Cole’s
life, art and writings. Project activities include recreating authentic
1836 interiors Cole designed and installed in three rooms; the final design,
fabrication, and installation of multimedia exhibition technology to enable
hands-on engagement; the design and implementation of new website elements;
and training for docents and visitor center staff.
