August 03, 2009
Enews August 2009
Welcome to the electronic newsletter of the National Museum of American Jewish History. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of exhibitions, programs and other activities of the NMAJH, the only Museum in the country exclusively presenting educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore and celebrate the history of the Jews in America.
___________________________________
Only In America®/Hall of Fame Poll Ends Aug. 6
There are four days remaining to vote in the Museum's Only in America®/Hall of Fame initiative to help select Jewish Americans to be included in a gallery of the new Museum when it opens in 2009. Visitors to the website have the opportunity to vote from a list of 218 candidates in the fields of Arts and Entertainment; Business and Philanthropy; Literature; Performance; Politics, Law and Activism; Religion and Thought; Science and Medicine; and Sports. Participants will also have the opportunity to cast write-in votes. Voting ends Thursday, Aug. 6.
"We are delighted with the participation in the voting so far and the dialogue it has generated," said Michael Rosenzweig, the Museum's President and CEO. "In addition to using the poll to help us create our Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame, we wanted it to foster discussions about American Jewish achievement and the ways the American and American Jewish communities measure success. By the way people have engaged the Museum, through emails, phone calls and in personal conversations with staff members, we can tell people are invested in this process and are eager to have the accomplishments of the people for whom they voted recognized in the Museum. They are making thoughtful, passionate cases for their preferences and are excited to learn that the Museum is going to recognize American Jewish achievement."
The Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame will be a signature component of the core exhibition when the new Museum opens in November 2010.
It will feature
___________________________________
Only In America®/Hall of Fame Poll Ends Aug. 6
There are four days remaining to vote in the Museum's Only in America®/Hall of Fame initiative to help select Jewish Americans to be included in a gallery of the new Museum when it opens in 2009. Visitors to the website have the opportunity to vote from a list of 218 candidates in the fields of Arts and Entertainment; Business and Philanthropy; Literature; Performance; Politics, Law and Activism; Religion and Thought; Science and Medicine; and Sports. Participants will also have the opportunity to cast write-in votes. Voting ends Thursday, Aug. 6.
"We are delighted with the participation in the voting so far and the dialogue it has generated," said Michael Rosenzweig, the Museum's President and CEO. "In addition to using the poll to help us create our Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame, we wanted it to foster discussions about American Jewish achievement and the ways the American and American Jewish communities measure success. By the way people have engaged the Museum, through emails, phone calls and in personal conversations with staff members, we can tell people are invested in this process and are eager to have the accomplishments of the people for whom they voted recognized in the Museum. They are making thoughtful, passionate cases for their preferences and are excited to learn that the Museum is going to recognize American Jewish achievement."
The Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame will be a signature component of the core exhibition when the new Museum opens in November 2010.
It will feature major film productions, original artifacts and an interactive database. The 18 selected individuals will be featured in the films prepared for the gallery and projected on two large curved glass surfaces at its center. The films will explore their incredible work and the impact of their efforts on the world.
"The public's vote is providing us with a barometer of who has had a lasting influence on our world, and the 18 individuals selected for the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame will reflect a consensus between the public and the Museum's historians," Rosenzweig said. "The list is not meant to be comprehensive. It's a representative sample and a starting point for the public to think about major themes in American and American Jewish life during the past 355 years."
All 218 names included in the public vote will also be included in the interactive database that will be available to all Museum visitors as well as on its website.
Representing individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of activity, the Only in America®Gallery/Hall of Fame database will provide access to hundreds of compelling stories that underscore the Museum's primary themes and offer significant opportunities for educational activities.
Museum Board Member Ed Snider, who is Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, one of the preeminent sports and entertainment organizations in the world, is the major benefactor of the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame.
MUSEUM INTERIOR WILL SOON SEE THE LIGHT
The new Museum's roof skylight, which is now filled with a temporary wood covering, will soon be put into place, a critical step in the creation of the building's 85-foot high light-filled atrium. The atrium, according to architect James Polshek, spatially connects the ground level to the education center and auditorium below and to the exhibition floors above.
"This dramatic device allows the visitor to readily comprehend the organization of the Museum, emphasizing the immediacy of the invitation to see, share and to learn freely," Polshek said.
Once the skylight is completed, workers will go down each level of scaffolding filling the atrium, completing work on such finishes as the glass stairs traversing the atrium and the stainless steel handrails. Skylights will also be added on the fourth floor ceiling.
Robert Young, an Associate Partner at Polshek Partnership, said the light-filled atrium and the glass bridges across the atrium symbolizes the stitching together of the American Jewish community over time and distance.
The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. Nearly $118 million has been raised for the Campaign.
The new Museum is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010.
For information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement at 215.923.3811 x 133 or by e-mail.
For an up-to-date picture of the construction site that refreshes every 15 minutes, view our Museum-Cam. To see additional photos of the Museum's construction like those above, click here.
Sketch Studies Featured In Exhibition
Once curators have decided on a theme for a section of an exhibition, designers begin to sketch out ideas about how to represent that theme in a physical environment. In the Museum's current changing exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning, visitors can see how that process takes place, such as in the study (pictured above) of the future exhibit, Anxiety, Alarm and Confusion.
The sketch above shows how designers created a gallery on the Museum's third floor that documents the parallel trajectories of American and German Jewry during the 1930s. Using a unique layered wall design, the gallery will explore the reactions of American Jews to the rise of Nazism and the challenges they faced in advocating for intervention on behalf of their brethren. The American story will be told on an exterior wall of the exhibit, now being created for the Museum's new core exhibition, and the rear wall will feature images of 1930s Germany.
"The hand-drawn sketches, scale models, and computer-generated renderings in Shaping Space, Making Meaning offer a portrait of how we are working to create a compelling exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life," said Josh Perelman NMAJH Deputy Director of Programs and Museum Historian. "The museum experience that we are creating will include captivating stories, original objects, and interactive experiences that will resonate with visitors."
Shaping Space, Making Meaning offers an insider's look at the process of creating an exhibition about more than 350 years of the American Jewish experience. The exhibition also provides an opportunity for visitors to offer feedback to the NMAJH design team through interactive experiences.
The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum.
HAND PAINTED WOMEN'S TALLITOT SOLD AT MUSEUM SHOP
All 218 names included in the public vote will also be included in the interactive database that will be available to all Museum visitors as well as on its website.
Representing individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of activity, the Only in America®Gallery/Hall of Fame database will provide access to hundreds of compelling stories that underscore the Museum's primary themes and offer significant opportunities for educational activities.
Museum Board Member Ed Snider, who is Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, one of the preeminent sports and entertainment organizations in the world, is the major benefactor of the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame.
MUSEUM INTERIOR WILL SOON SEE THE LIGHT
The new Museum's roof skylight, which is now filled with a temporary wood covering, will soon be put into place, a critical step in the creation of the building's 85-foot high light-filled atrium. The atrium, according to architect James Polshek, spatially connects the ground level to the education center and auditorium below and to the exhibition floors above.
"This dramatic device allows the visitor to readily comprehend the organization of the Museum, emphasizing the immediacy of the invitation to see, share and to learn freely," Polshek said.
Once the skylight is completed, workers will go down each level of scaffolding filling the atrium, completing work on such finishes as the glass stairs traversing the atrium and the stainless steel handrails. Skylights will also be added on the fourth floor ceiling.
Robert Young, an Associate Partner at Polshek Partnership, said the light-filled atrium and the glass bridges across the atrium symbolizes the stitching together of the American Jewish community over time and distance.The Museum is in the midst of a $150 million Capital Campaign for construction of the 100,000-square-foot, five-story building. Nearly $118 million has been raised for the Campaign.
The new Museum is scheduled to be completed in fall 2010.
For information on how to support the Museum, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's director of institutional advancement at 215.923.3811 x 133 or by e-mail.
For an up-to-date picture of the construction site that refreshes every 15 minutes, view our Museum-Cam. To see additional photos of the Museum's construction like those above, click here.
Sketch Studies Featured In Exhibition
Once curators have decided on a theme for a section of an exhibition, designers begin to sketch out ideas about how to represent that theme in a physical environment. In the Museum's current changing exhibition, Shaping Space, Making Meaning, visitors can see how that process takes place, such as in the study (pictured above) of the future exhibit, Anxiety, Alarm and Confusion.
The sketch above shows how designers created a gallery on the Museum's third floor that documents the parallel trajectories of American and German Jewry during the 1930s. Using a unique layered wall design, the gallery will explore the reactions of American Jews to the rise of Nazism and the challenges they faced in advocating for intervention on behalf of their brethren. The American story will be told on an exterior wall of the exhibit, now being created for the Museum's new core exhibition, and the rear wall will feature images of 1930s Germany.
"The hand-drawn sketches, scale models, and computer-generated renderings in Shaping Space, Making Meaning offer a portrait of how we are working to create a compelling exhibition about more than 350 years of American Jewish life," said Josh Perelman NMAJH Deputy Director of Programs and Museum Historian. "The museum experience that we are creating will include captivating stories, original objects, and interactive experiences that will resonate with visitors."
Shaping Space, Making Meaning offers an insider's look at the process of creating an exhibition about more than 350 years of the American Jewish experience. The exhibition also provides an opportunity for visitors to offer feedback to the NMAJH design team through interactive experiences.
The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum.
HAND PAINTED WOMEN'S TALLITOT SOLD AT MUSEUM SHOP
This beautiful silk tallit (pictured at right) depicts the four Matriarchs of Israel: Rachel, Leah, Sarah and Rebecca. It is one of many women's tallitot that the Museum Shop carries both in the store and on its website.
The Matriarch's talllit is hand painted using fine liquid French dyes on medium weight crepe de chine silk. Each item begins as white silk. After the dyes are set, gold or silver accents are applied by hand. The unique process ensures that no two pieces are alike.
A matching tallit bag is also available.
Along with hand crafted tallitot, the Museum Shop offers other Judaica including kippot, tallit clips, and tallit bags.
The Matriarch's talllit is hand painted using fine liquid French dyes on medium weight crepe de chine silk. Each item begins as white silk. After the dyes are set, gold or silver accents are applied by hand. The unique process ensures that no two pieces are alike.
A matching tallit bag is also available.
Along with hand crafted tallitot, the Museum Shop offers other Judaica including kippot, tallit clips, and tallit bags.
Visit the Museum Shop to browse the collection or look at items online at www.judaicashop.net. For more information email Eva Schlanger or Elaine Silverman, or call the Museum Shop at 215.923.0262.
The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-
5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
AMERICAN JEWISH HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFFER
Running from Home chronicles Rita's flight from the Nazis as it was perceived by a young child. The sense of bewilderment, loss of home, and suffering from hunger and cold create an indelible mark upon her and does not leave when she eventually comes to America. Her youth and adolescence are assaulted by the demons that have been imprinted on her young brain.
Rita Ross was born in Vienna, Austria two years before Hitler's troops stormed the country. She spent the war years hiding her Jewish identity and came to America in 1945 where she met the father she hadn't seen in six years. She went from a convent environment in Germany to Orthodox Jewish surroundings, where she was expected to know how to read Hebrew and recite prayers from memory. Eventually Rita was accepted to the High School of Music and Art in New York providing her with many oportunities.
Yoo-Hoo, E-Newsletter Subscriber
The Museum is offering E-Newsletter subscibers tickets to Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg. From Aviva Kempner, maker of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, comes this humorous and eye-opening film about television pioneer Gertrude Berg. She was the creator, principal writer, and star of The Goldbergs, a popular radio show for 17 years, which became television's very first character-driven domestic sitcom in 1949. Berg received the first Best Actress Emmy in history, and paved the way for women in the entertainment industry. The film includes interviews with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, actor Ed Asner, producers Norman Lear and Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties), and NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg.
Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg opens Friday August 14 at Ritz at the Bourse Theatre, 400 Ranstead Street Philadelphia. Call 215.440.1181 for ticket purchases and special group sales rates.
The Museum Shop is open Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-
5 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Proceeds from the Museum Shop support the National Museum of American Jewish History.
AMERICAN JEWISH HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFFER
The Museum is joining with author Rita Ross to offer E-Newsletter subscribers three signed copies of her new autobiography, Running From Home.
Running from Home chronicles Rita's flight from the Nazis as it was perceived by a young child. The sense of bewilderment, loss of home, and suffering from hunger and cold create an indelible mark upon her and does not leave when she eventually comes to America. Her youth and adolescence are assaulted by the demons that have been imprinted on her young brain.Rita Ross was born in Vienna, Austria two years before Hitler's troops stormed the country. She spent the war years hiding her Jewish identity and came to America in 1945 where she met the father she hadn't seen in six years. She went from a convent environment in Germany to Orthodox Jewish surroundings, where she was expected to know how to read Hebrew and recite prayers from memory. Eventually Rita was accepted to the High School of Music and Art in New York providing her with many oportunities.
To receive one of the three complimentary copies of Running From Home, e-mail ritabrossmemoir@aol.com ritabrossmemoir@aol.com with the subject line "NMAJH Book Promotion."
To purchase the book on Amazon please click here.
To purchase the book on Amazon please click here.
Yoo-Hoo, E-Newsletter Subscriber
The Museum is offering E-Newsletter subscibers tickets to Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg. From Aviva Kempner, maker of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, comes this humorous and eye-opening film about television pioneer Gertrude Berg. She was the creator, principal writer, and star of The Goldbergs, a popular radio show for 17 years, which became television's very first character-driven domestic sitcom in 1949. Berg received the first Best Actress Emmy in history, and paved the way for women in the entertainment industry. The film includes interviews with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, actor Ed Asner, producers Norman Lear and Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties), and NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg.To receive a pair of tickets, be one of the first five subscribers to email movie.tickets@verizon.net with the subject line "NMAJH Promotion."
Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg opens Friday August 14 at Ritz at the Bourse Theatre, 400 Ranstead Street Philadelphia. Call 215.440.1181 for ticket purchases and special group sales rates.
posted by nmajh @ 8/03/2009 
