The Beat

Partnership with Museum Association of New York for Building Capacity, Creating Sustainability, Growing Accessibility

The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is thrilled to announce that 98 museums from across New York State have been selected to participate in “Building Capacity, Creating Sustainability, Growing Accessibility”, an IMLS CARES Act grant project designed to help museums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic share their collections and reach audiences who cannot physically visit their museums. 200 staff will be trained to use new hardware and software to develop programs that will engage their communities and reach new audiences.

Grant funds will be used to preserve three severely endangered nitrate feature films

Rochester, N.Y., December 3, 2020—The George Eastman Museum recently received a grant award for $65,350 from the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve three severely endangered nitrate feature films from the museum’s collection. The prints of His Last Race (US 1923), Payroll Pirates (US 1920), and When Betty Bets (US 1917) are likely the only versions of the films that still exist. Due to severe nitrate decomposition in all three films, this is the last chance to save these unique prints.

Remains open with Winter Wild Walk, Wild Lights and more

Tupper Lake, N.Y. - The Wild Center is excited to announce Wild Lights, presented by Merrill L. Thomas, Inc., a dazzling display that will transform The Wild Center's campus into a winter wonderland. Wild Lights offers a whole new way to celebrate the season, with thousands of enchanting lights that will illuminate the campus all winter long, with special nighttime viewing hours on Friday and Saturday evenings beginning Fri., Dec. 11. The Wild Center, which plans to remain open throughout the winter season, will also offer familiar activities, such as Winter Wild Walk and snowshoeing, as well as new ones like kicksledding and the outdoor winter otter play yard.

Lewis Black to Host “Lewis Black Friday” Online Store Celebration 

Jamestown, NY – November 24, 2020 – The National Comedy Center, the nation’s official cultural institution and museum dedicated to the art of comedy, today launched a new national hub for comedy-themed products and gifts called The Comedy Shop (ComedyShop.com). The Comedy Shop, which exists both online and at its physical brick-and-mortar location in Jamestown, NY, celebrates the legacies of comedy’s most iconic brands with a broad array of gifts and exclusive products that will bring smiles and laughter to anyone who loves to laugh. All proceeds from sales at The Comedy Shop support the non-profit mission and operations of the National Comedy Center and its museums.

Co-presented by Museum of the Moving Image and Polish Cultural Institute New York

Docs Against Gravity NYC runs exclusively online December 9–16, 2020

New York, New York (November 19, 2020) — Few national cinemas have authored and challenged definitions of nonfiction film more persistently than Polish cinema. From Marcel Łoziński and Krzysztof Kieślowski to Anna Zamecka and Michał Marczak, the legacy of Polish nonfiction is long and consistently dynamic, led by both observational and narrative impulses, anthropological rigor and hybridized transgression. Founded nearly two decades ago, Millennium Docs Against Gravity (MDAG) has developed into the largest documentary film festival in Poland, and thus, thanks to the volume and consistently high quality of Polish nonfiction, one of the most important documentary festivals in the world. From December 9 through 16, Museum of the Moving Image and the Polish Cultural Institute New York will co-present five recent highlights from the MDAG Festival in the series Docs Against Gravity NYC. The films will be viewable exclusively online and available to audiences throughout the United States.

Saratoga Springs,, NY (November 20, 2020) — Kids, parents, grandparents, friends, and relatives near and far are invited to take part in Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery’s first online Make-a-Turkey-Out-of-a-Potato Festival!

The Tang tradition, now in its 18^th year, aims to inspire intergenerational creativity for the holidays. For the first time, it is all happening online at http://tang.skidmore.edu.

Buffalo, NY - The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is introducing a brand-new series of exhibits, Gardens After Dark. Offered at different times throughout the year, this new experience was created to open the Botanical Gardens in the evening for all to enjoy.    

Each Gardens After Dark exhibit will focus on the Botanical Gardens’ mission of connecting people to the natural world literally in a new way and in a new light. The Botanical Gardens will be filled with colorful and soft lighting to enhance and showcase their mesmerizing plant collection and the beautiful historic landmark that surrounds.  Each exhibit in the series will bring a new way to experience the amazing Botanical Gardens and provide feelings of inspiration, peace and calmness during these unprecedented times. …

Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Design presented by the American Alliance of Museums

Rochester, N.Y., November 16, 2020—The George Eastman Museum was recently awarded the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize in the 29th annual Museum Publications Design Competition, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This “Best in Show” honor was given to the museum for its David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire (2019) publication. This four-volume box set accompanied an exhibition of the same title at the museum in 2018 and features essays by well‑known art critic Dave Hickey, contemporary art specialist Joanna Marsh, and exhibition curator Lisa Hostetler, Curator in Charge, Department of Photography, George Eastman Museum.

Mumford, N.Y. --

WHAT:

Preparing for Winter, Saturday, November 21, 10 am-3 pm

· Watch the village…

Mumford, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2020)– This holiday season, Genesee Country Village & Museum is taking advantage of its 600-acre campus to create a welcoming respite from the pressures of the past year. From craft markets to Yuletide celebrations, the slower pace of life in the Historic Village and Nature Center lends a feeling of peace and comfort to the festive -but often hectic - season. Watching a cook tend her warm hearth fire or catching the blacksmith working at the forge will calm even the most frazzled holiday-prepper's nerves. This year, the line-up of events at the Museum includes some visitor favorites as well as some new experiences.