New Ideas for Old Houses: MAAM Cornerstone

Do you consider yourself a historic house museum “anarchist”? Perhaps it’s time you should!

In today’s world, it helps to have practical, innovative, and sustainable approaches to interpreting historic house museums within their communities. New York State is home to a large number of historic house museums, particularly within the Capital Region. As communities change in upstate museums, historic house museums must adapt to provide engaging experiences that benefit their local communities. Now is the time to introduce a little anarchy in the historic house museum world.

The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) presents the first Cornerstone Learning event for Upstate New York’s Capital Region: “New Ideas for Old Houses” to be held Thursday, March 23 2017 at the Albany Institute for History and Art. Speakers, Cordell Reaves and Franklin Vagnone, will introduce techniques for creating viable and meaningful experiences in your organizations historic house museum.

Speakers, Cordell Reaves, Heidi Hill, and Franklin Vagnone, will introduce techniques for creating viable and meaningful experiences in your organizations historic house museum. 

• Reaves, a Historic Preservation Program Analyst with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, has a Master’s degree from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies.   Currently he is assisting in the development of interpretive programs for many of the 37 state historic sites across New York.
• Vagnone, co-author The Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, is a Public Historian and "domestic-archeo-anthropologist", with over 25 years of transformational leadership in non-profit management, financial oversight, fundraising, strategic planning, board relationships, award-winning cultural program & creative place-making development. 

This Cornerstone Learning event will focus on bridging relationships between communities and historic house museums. Museum professionals, consultants, historic preservation enthusiasts, and students are encouraged to attend a day filled with educational information, networking, and workshops. Cornerstone Learning promotes MAAM’s mission to support and promote excellence, ethics, and accessibility in museum practices to make the museums of the Mid-Atlantic region better able to preserve and interpret our diverse cultural, scientific, and aesthetic heritage.

Contact: Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, MAAM Cornerstone Coordinator at shaual96@oneonta.edu.

Photo Courtesy of Cindy Falk, Cooperstown Graduate Program