Fall 2001

Calendar

Exhibits

• Final chance to catch Yesterday's Tomorrows at Rogers City and Leland!
• Culture Tour Receives Public Acclaim
• From the Director: "Wreath"
• Legislative Update - NEH Funding/New State Department
• OCTOBER IS ARTS & HUMANITIES MONTH!
• Resource Center Preparing To Go Digital
• Michigan Humanities Council's ROADS Culture Kits Available at Half Price
• Artists-In-Residence Program from MACAA
• Michigan Arts/Humanities Radio Project On-Line
• New Grants Program/Deadlines In Effect
• $8,800 in Mini Grants Awarded to Three Projects
• Council Awarded $50,000 To Plan Michigana On-line Encyclopedia
• Help us update our mailing list… You can also win with NewsBytes!
• Become A Friend of the Humanities -- Give a Gift, Receive A Gift

Final chance to catch Yesterday's Tomorrows at Rogers City and Leland!

On September 12, Rogers City held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the fourth stage of a five community tour in Michigan this year as host of the Smithsonian exhibit "Yesterday's Tomorrow: Past Visions of the American Future." The exhibit will be on display at the Rogers City Senior Center through October 28, before it makes its final stop at the Leelanau Historical Museum in Leland. The statewide exhibition, sponsored by Michigan Humanities Council with support from Meijer, was launched in Greenville and subsequently visited Tecumseh and Ironwood before heading to Rogers City.

The exhibit explores the popular expectations of what the future held for those of their time. It examines advertising, media, entertainment and messages from popular culture over the past two centuries. Examples on display include artifacts and memorabilia displaying robots, kitchen gadgetry, space vehicles, nuclear powered cars, and the Atom-Bomb house. Viewers are encouraged to examine their own future by looking at what those in the past thought would be typical today.

The Presque Isle County Historical Museum, which is the event's curator, also held a "Smithsonian Exhibition School Contest in Art, Science and Writing" over the summer in which over 500 entries were received. Children from area schools were asked to create entries of "what they thought the future would be 50 years from now." Twenty-seven savings bonds, collected from contributions from the community, were awarded to the top entries in several different categories. The award ceremony was a part of a gala held on August 25 to welcome the arrival of the exhibit. All of the entries are on display in downtown Rogers City at the Johnson Building, next door to the Rogers City Senior Center, which will house the main Smithsonian exhibit.

Also notable will be guest lecturer Tom Moran, owner of Moran Iron Works in nearby Tower, who will speak about futuristic sculptures at 10 a.m. on September 15 at the Rogers City Theatre.

The exhibit then travels to Leland for its November 4 opening on the final leg of the Michigan journey. The Leelanau Historical Society will host a family matinee viewing and discussion of the Cold War sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" at the Bay Theatre in Leland on Thanksgiving weekend. An interactive project entitled, "Today's Tomorrows Youth Challenge," has also been developed by the Leelanau Historical Museum to involve area youth in service learning projects on the area's unique resources and to challenge Leelanau County residents to seek solutions to local concerns for the future. Part of the project asks students to design a piece of Leelanau's future in jobs, housing, environmental quality, and local government. For more information on the exhibit in Leland, visit their web site: http://www.leelanauhistory.org/yt/

A listing of events for the Leelanau exhibit is as follows:

* Sunday, Nov. 4 (1-4 pm). Public Opening. Special Exhibits include: Past, Present & Future: Views of Leelanau. At Your Service: Technology Present & Future

* Monday November 5. School Tours Begin

* Saturday, November 17th (1 pm). Imagining the Future in Science Fiction and Fantasy," Dr. Garyn Roberts, Northwestern Michigan College Faculty

* Saturday, November 24 & 25. Showing of Sci Fi Film Classic "Forbidden Planet" A 35mm presentation on the "big screen." 12 noon at the Bay Theater in Suttons Bay

* Saturday, December 1st. Transportation of Tomorrow Entry Deadline and Evaluation. Transportation of Tomorrow Exhibit opens

* December 21st . School Tours End.

* December 26 - 29 (10:30 am). YT Family Tours

All events will be held at the Leelanau Historical Museum, 203 East Cedar Street in Leland unless noted.

"Yesterday's Tomorrows" is part of the Museum on Main Street (MOMS) partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). It's the third exhibition of its kind to tour Michigan. MOMS places national touring exhibits in smaller, rural communities which have space and cost limitations to resources.

For more information, including a scrapbook with photographs highlighting the tour in Michigan, link here.

Culture Tour Receives Public Acclaim

For the fourth summer of Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour, 20 presenters took to the state's northern highways and byways to expose audiences of local residents and tourists to cultural and heritage programs about northwoods and Great Lakes events, people, places and traditions.

Even threatening skies, a stretch of sweltering evening temperatures and uncertain gas prices this summer didn't keep some 7,000 travelers and local residents from taking in 94 Culture Tour programs at state parks, national parks, national forest campgrounds and smaller community venues July 1-Aug. 14.

Preliminary figures from 49 host sites in northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula indicate more travelers stayed closer to home this summer and took advantage of these cultural tourism events occurring in their own "backyard." Our web site (http://michiganhumanities.org/culturetour/2001schedule.html) offers some colorful views of Culture Tour presenters and audiences in action around the region.

The public's response to these musicians, storytellers, historical roleplayers, dancers and cultural interpreters was overwhelmingly positive:

"Great job - made a very enjoyable memory," wrote a Lakeport couple about the evening program by musicians Song of the Lakes of Traverse City at Brevoort Lake National Forest Campground near St. Ignace.

"Delightful presentation of the history of mining and logging in song," commented a local resident who heard Minnesota musician John Berquist play the instruments and music of Upper Midwest ethnic settlers at the Iron County Museum in Iron River.

"Great stories and storytelling" by storyteller Patty Clark of Charlevoix captivated Northport residents attending her program at Leelanau State Park, while youngsters and teens at Bay Cliff Health Camp enthusiastically "got into the act" for Marquette storyteller-musician Corinne Rockow's energetic presentation at the Big Bay camp.

One audience member at Harrisville State Park was even overheard remarking that Howell folk musician Neil Woodward's program was "almost as good as goin' fishing."

"Thank you for such good programs! We were able to see three and hope to see
more next year" commented northern Michigan travelers from Warren.

That's not to say out-of-state visitors didn't enjoy Culture Tour programs. Among the flood of positive comments were these:

"The storytelling, history and music - top quality," said a visitor from Kingston, TN, while a traveler from Sioux City, IA, noted "great fun and good music...high point of my vacation."

Another tourist from St. Charles, IL, enjoyed the opportunity "to have live music in a great setting," while a young visitor from Grayslake, IL, commented on the "good speaker. I can tell my teacher about it. (He'll be excited.)"

Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour, sponsored since 1998 by Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, was recently nominated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service and was among 13 finalists for the Travel Industry Association of America's Odyssey Award for cultural heritage travel promotion. We thank the Forest Service's Travel/Tourism Program in Washington, DC, for nominating Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour. Michigan's three National Forests are among partner-hosts for Culture Tour programs.

Watch our web site later this year for information about recognition of the Culture Tour as a cultural tourism "success story" in a soon-to-be-published "Share Your Heritage" guidebook of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Heritage Tourism Office. And, sign up now to receive a brochure with the 2002 Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour schedule, which will be available in April, 2002, in advance of the summer series; call 800/837-4532 or 906/789-9471 and request to be added to the Culture Tour mailing list.

Wreath
By Rick Knupfer, Executive Director

All the ghosts gone before us
are gathered among the living,

at an elbow here,
a shoulder there,

in the debris of the familiar.
They have been here before.

There is no word
of relatives or friends,

nor word of who at last sits
to the right of the almighty.

Out of respect to the living
there appears only a ribbon,

a collar where a neck once was,
and rain falling through rain.

Legislative Update - NEH Funding/New State Department

Bruce Cole Confirmed as New NEH Chair: On September 14, 2001, Bruce Cole was confirmed by the United States Senate as the new chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Dr. Cole, a professor at Indiana University-Bloomington, is not expectedd to arrive at the NEH until the beginning of the new year.

Federal update: Federal funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is currently being debated by Congress. Legislation on the FY 2002 budget for Interior Appropriations (HR 2217), which funds the National Endowment for the Humanities, is currently in conference committee for the House and Senate to iron out their differences. The Senate version of the bill would provide funding for NEH at $125.5 million, including $32.2 million for federal/state partnerships (an increase of $1.5 million over FY 2001). Overall, the Senate Committee proposal is a $5 million increase to the NEH budget over last fiscal year. The House version would provide an overall increase of $3 million to the NEH budget, with none of the increase earmarked specifically for federal/state partnerships.

State update: On July 23, 2001, Governor Engler signed into law legislation that created the new state department of History, Arts and Libraries (Public Acts 61 through 79 of 2001). Lawmakers are in the process of completing the budget process. The governor also named William M. Anderson, a member of Michigan Humanities Council and former president of West Shore Community College in Scottville, as director of the department of History, Arts and Libraries.

"Contact Your Legislator" Website Now Available

As part of Michigan Humanities Council's ongoing efforts to inform legislators about its programs and services, a new "Contact Your Legislator" website has been created. The website has been designed to assist grant recipients, applicants, and friends of the humanities in communicating effectively with their legislators. Included on the website are: links to state and federal legislators' websites; links to "legislative locators" which help determine representatives by zip code; tips and pointers on effective communication with legislators; and sample letters and invitations to legislators.

Link here: http://michiganhumanities.org/legislator/legislator.htm

OCTOBER IS ARTS & HUMANITIES MONTH!

Governor John Engler has issued a proclamation to recognize October as Arts & Humanities Month in Michigan. The proclamation celebrates the creation of the new department of History, Arts and Libraries. Both Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs are working with state and federal leaders to encourage the celebration of culture in our state during Arts and Humanities month and to increase public awareness of and participation in the humanities and arts.

Resource Center Preparing To Go Digital

To enhance the mission of making humanities resources more available, Michigan Humanities Council will soon begin the process of digitizing its current resources as well as obtaining new resources in digital format. As part of the Council's strategic transition towards an on-line resource provider and connector, items from the Resource Center will be available for rent only through the remainder of the 2001 calendar year

As of January 1, 2002, all of the current resources from the Resource Center, including from the Media & Exhibit Library, will no longer be available for rent as the Council moves into its transitional phase. However, the popular ROADS Culture Kits, currently on sale at a reduced price of up to 50% off their retail value, will remain available for sale until sold out (see related article in this newsletter).

Michigan Humanities Council's ROADS Culture Kits Available at Half Price

Bring a ROADS Culture Kit to your school or community! Michigan Humanities Council is looking for new homes for its popular ROADS Culture Kits, which are now available for purchase at up to 50% off the regular price.

User-friendly and developed by ethnic scholars and K12 teachers to allow for the flexibility, convenience, and educational value you need, ROADS Culture Kits offer a multimedia, interdisciplinary approach to exploring ethnic heritage and traditions. Available themes include: African History & Cultures, African-American Heritage, The Americas: Hispanic History and Cultures, Middle Eastern History & Cultures, and Native Peoples: Indians of the Great Lakes. Separate ROADS Culture Kit units are designed for elementary-level classes and secondary-level students and older audiences. Each contains lesson plans on geography, history, literature, folk tales, food traditions, family life, holidays and celebrations, language, music and art.

All kits include: teacher reference materials, field-tested lesson plans, fiction and non-fiction books, videotapes, audiotapes, slides, maps, posters, hands-on activities and cultural artifacts. Lesson plans for the Native Peoples: Indians of the Great Lakes and Middle Eastern Cultures ROADS Culture Kits list corresponding Content Standards for the Michigan Framework for Social Studies Education and the Michigan English Language Arts Model Content Standards for Curriculum.

Teachers (K-12), curriculum developers, home school parents, librarians/media specialists, program directors, researchers, MSU Extension officers, and college/university instructors have benefited from our ROADS Culture Kit program.

Purchase your Culture Kit(s) now and save up to 50% off each kit! (The Council has limited copies available.)

Call 517.372.7770 or email mihum@voyager.net for more information.

Sales offer applies to previously circulated Culture Kits. All Culture Kit materials are in good condition. Culture Kit contents may vary slightly depending on the availability of individual resources.

Artists-In-Residence Program from MACAA

The Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies (MACAA) has announced the creation of the "Community pARTners: Artists-In-Residence" grant funding program. This program will provide funds to enable artists to work with representatives of arts and cultural groups, faith-based organizations, civic groups, local governments, social and human service organizations, neighborhoods, businesses, and other groups to use the process of art-making to effect community change. Such change could strengthen a community through celebrations, enhance the built environment, or address local issues.

MACAA will host information sessions throughout the state from September through October which will offer insights to help identify potential program partners and prepare to take maximum advantage of the grant kick-off Conference in November. There is no fee, but reservations are required (contact Naghma Husain, 800/203-9633).

Attendance at the "Community pARTners: Artists-in-Residence Conference" on either November 7 in Lansing, or November 9 in Marquette, is required for organizations seeking funding. For more information on the locations, dates, and times of information sessions, and for details on the conference, link to the web at http://www.macaa.com or call 800/203-9633.

Michigan Arts/Humanities Radio Project On-Line

For more than five years, the Arts and Humanities Radio Project from Michigan Radio has provided on-line access to humanities and arts feature stories originally aired on public radio stations in Michigan. Since its inception, the programs have been produced as a partnership funded by Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Among the feature stories produced by WUOM-Radio's Tamar Charney this past summer were: a new opera being performed in the Upper Peninsula which is based on the real-life tragedy of the Children of the Keweenaw, in which 73 people died in a panic at a Christmas party organized for the children of striking copper workers at Calumet's Italian Hall in 1913; an interview of two teenagers whose lives were changed by the 1967 Detroit riots; and, a report about a rotating group of artists from Michigan, Germany, and Colorado who circumnavigated Lake Superior in a sailboat this summer while collecting stories, painting, photographing, and making sketches of their journey.

You can visit August reports and other archived reports dating back to 1997 at the Michigan Culture Link website: http://michiganhumanities.org/culturelink/radio/

New Grants Program/Deadlines In Effect

As of the September 1 deadline, Michigan Humanities Council began reviewing applications under the guidelines of its new grants program: "Creating Vision for the New Century: The Humanities and the Strengthening of Michigan's Communities." The 2002-2005 grants program emphasizes collaboration among cultural, educational and community-based organizations and institutions to serve Michiganians today with public humanities projects which have the staying power to help position our communities to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Types of grants available include: Public Humanities Development Grants (up to $15,000), Extending the Reach Grants (up to $7,500), Local Network Grants (up to $15,000), General Humanities Grants (up to $3,000), and Quick Grants (up to $500). Grant applicants which met the September 1 deadline will be notified November 1 if they have been awarded a grant. Project directors who have been awarded a Michigan Humanities Council grant are encouraged to attend the "Project Directors Workshop" on November 15. The next grant deadline is January 15.

$8,800 in Mini Grants Awarded to Three Projects

Michigan Humanities Council awarded $8,799.97 in grants to three diverse projects relating to public humanities programming in Michigan. These "mini grants," designed under the Council's previous granting program which concluded September 1, are awarded to public humanities projects which emphasize collaboration among cultural, educational and community-based organizations.

Michigan Humanities Council granted $2,961.97 to the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society to produce "2001 Education Pilot Project." This project will produce 100 complete, two-week lesson plan packets that will focus on familiarizing students with the general history of the Michigan Supreme Court, its members, important cases, the state judicial system and its role as it pertains to the law. Packets will include ten lesson plans along with supporting materials, fun activities and worksheets, quizzes and projects and packet evaluation forms. These packets will be distributed to area teachers in Eaton and Ingham counties as well as other statewide law-related educators who will pilot the plans in their classrooms and report on their effectiveness.

"50-Year Farmers" received $2,838 from Michigan Humanities Council to assemble framed photographs along with essays of men and women who have farmed for 50 or more years in southern Michigan for exhibiting and touring. Plymouth Community Arts Council sponsors the project.

"Planning Grant for the Writing and Dissemination of the Life Story of Keewaydinoquay - Woman Between Worlds" has been designed to build community collaboration to prepare the life story of Keewaydinoquay, an Ojibwe elder, for publication and to present this work to the public. The project, sponsored by Holy Hill Trust of Leland, has been awarded a $3,000 grant from Michigan Humanities Council.

Council Awarded $50,000 To Plan Michigana On-line Encyclopedia

Michigan Humanities Council has been awarded a $50,000 planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create "Michigana," an on-line encyclopedia of Michigan history and culture. The Council will work with MATRIX: The Center for the Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences On-line at Michigan State University as well as other educational and cultural partners throughout Michigan in this effort. Michigana is part of the development of MichiganCulture.Net, an on-line network currently in construction to connect Michigan schools, cultural organizations, colleges/universities and the public.

Dr. Nancy Nelson Knupfer has been hired as project planning director for "Michigana." Knupfer brings to the project more than 20 years of experience in educational technology, computer education, interactive telecommunications, and distance learning. Knupfer comes from Kansas State University, where she was employed as an associate professor of educational computing, design, and telecommunications since 1991. She earned her doctorate in Educational Communications and Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987.

Public visitors to Michigana will be able to track, by state location or by subject, Michigan historical and cultural information with links to other sites and references. Michigana will meld text-based, scholar-edited articles and essays on Michigan culture and heritage (up to and including contemporary and new cultural knowledge), audio and visual images and streaming, virtual exhibitions and tours, and downloadable curricular units, overlaid on an historical and contemporary cultural geography portal. Much of the material (particularly that suited for classroom and curricular needs) will be downloadable. Text will be stylized at eighth-grade reading level, the same as Time and Newsweek.

Michigana is currently conceived to become a "feeder" for schools, museums, cultural organizations and the public, developed unit by unit in modular fashion by need and within thematic and geographic areas (for example: maritime heritage and culture). The interactive encyclopedia is intended to be a compass that will guide Michigan learners and the public to new sources of cultural knowledge, while simultaneously referencing and linking historical scholarship. Michigana will also target, create, and facilitate interactive networks of users and learning communities, from schools, homes, cultural centers, community learning groups, and cultural tourists, to the general public. The nature of the interaction will vary from chatrooms, moderated lists, and other networked communications to question and answer discussions between learners and teachers, and on-line edited contributors' updates.

Unlike the traditional "one-size-fits-all," A-Z-comprehensive encyclopedia on library shelves, Michigana will be a dynamic, genuinely interactive, constantly-revising and changing model. It will combine traditional reference formats with networks of users and learners. The encyclopedia will meet contemporary and changing state educational standards with downloadable curriculum units as well as interactive activities. Michigana will also meet the changing nature of public and cultural organizations by developing teams of scholars that will work with local arts and humanities organizations to create local cultural geography/historical/arts and humanities content.

Help us update our mailing list… You can also win with NewsBytes!

Michigan Humanities Council requests your help to provide us with updated information on your name, title and address. Please correct the address label and return to us. Let us know if you wish to continue to receive our quarterly newsletter, Michigan Humanities News.

Also, let us know if you are interested in signing up for NewsBytes, a monthly electronic newsletter with the most up-to-date information on humanities events and happenings in Michigan. In August, Angela Breakstone won the opportunity to choose a resource from the Council's Resource Center; and, in July, Jan Hartranft won a beautiful poster by Debra-Ann Pine, a Native American artist from Sault Ste. Marie. NewsBytes subscribers have an opportunity to win a prize every month (subscribe at http://michiganhumanities.org/newsbytes/).

Drop us a line or send us the corrected label with your address or name change, or if you would like to sign up for NewsBytes, by email at: mihum@voyager.net, or by mail to: 119 Pere Marquette, Suite 3B, Lansing, MI 48910.

Become A Friend of the Humanities -- Give a Gift, Receive A Gift

Be a contributing partner as a friend of the Humanities!

Since 1974, Michigan Humanities Council has brought the riches of the world and the neighborhood to Michigan's public through the humanities. The humanities give depth to the issues, bring multiple perspectives, and foster conversation. Here are some highlights of how Michigan Humanities Council is currently bringing people together to understand themselves, their communities, their traditions and laws, and the world:

* Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour - brings culture and interpretations of Great Lakes Heritage to remote park and recreation areas in northern Michigan.

* "Yesterday's Tomorrows" Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit with programs for rural Michigan communities - explores the connections between the past and America's future.

* Michigana - an interactive, on-line encyclopedia of Michigan's history and culture.

* Arts & Humanities Touring Program - partners with Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs to bring to schools and communities artists and cultural interpreters who share the best of Michigan's culture.

* Programming grants to organizations which collaborate within their communities - develops humanities programming for the public.

* michiganhumanities.org - our website and development of a new on-line cultural and educational network.

* Resource Center - makes exhibits and resources available to local museums and libraries to explore the meanings and identity of place and culture.

You can help bring these programs, and more, to Michigan and to your community by making a tax-deductible donation as a Friend of the Humanities. Your gift may be matched by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Your contribution will also be recognized by Michigan Humanities Council on its website and in a following newsletter.

Giving Level:
$24-49 - Humanist
$50-99 - Scholar (Michigan Humanities Council t-shirt)
$100-$249 - Mentor (subscription to Humanities magazine)
$250-$499 - Master (subscription, and a poster by artist Debra Ann Pine, "Native Peoples: Indians of the Great Lakes")
$500-$1,000 - Philosopher (subscription, poster, and a choice of a video from Michigan Humanities Council's Media & Exhibit Library)
$1,000 - Sage (subscription, poster, and choice of a video series from Michigan Humanities Council's Media & Exhibit Library)

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Please make your check payable to "Michigan Humanities Council Friends" and mail with this form to: Michigan Humanities Council, 119 Pere Marquette, Suite 3B, Lansing, MI 48912-1270.