Press Releases
Back to Full List
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2005
Contacts:
Erica Garcia, Educator
(505) 476-5109
Cheryle Mano Mitchell, Project Director
(505) 476-5055
“Lasting Impressions” launches Web site;
offers Curriculum Packet
Santa Fe, NM — The Palace of the Governors expanded the reach of its exhibition Lasting Impressions: The Private Presses to all of New Mexico and beyond by launching http://www.privatepress.org this week.
The ambitious Web site, designed by Freelance Farm under the direction of Beth McLendon, encompasses the exhibition that is based on two centuries of New Mexico’s literary history told through the work of artisan printers; interactive activities using printers’ tools and the first book printed in New Mexico; and an educational packet developed by a team of educators, to assist New Mexico teachers.
With the launching of the Web site, Palace of the Governors Educator Erica Garcia also announced the publication of “Lasting Impressions: A nexus of history, art and technology,” which includes a curriculum, a teacher guide and lessons plans that she helped to write and compile with curriculum specialists Beth Maloney and Katherine Sienicki.
Using literacy through book arts as their credo, the three designed the packet to assist teachers who must — by federal mandate — meet specific benchmarks of learning under the “No Child Left Behind” act.
“The recently published low test scores of too many New Mexico students only strengthened our resolve to make the Palace of the Governors as much a place of learning for our children as it is a historic site for families to visit and a vacation destination for tourists,” said Garcia. ”Following in-service training, Friday, September 16, we will begin our work in earnest, with scheduled tours for classes that have reserved a date.”
The in-service training for New Mexico educators will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the auditorium at the Museum of International Folk Art, Museum Hill, 706 Camino Lejo. Class tours of Lasting Impressions at the Palace of the Governors, on the Santa Fe Plaza, will be scheduled at 10:30 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays through the school year, and Garcia has arranged with a drop off point directly in front of the Palace entrance on Palace Avenue.
“We’ve done everything we can think of to both protect and prepare them,” said Garcia.
She and Maloney developed lesson plans for pre-, onsite, and post-visits to the Palace exhibition for grades 3 and 4, grades 7 and 8, and grades 11 and 12. Sienicki constructed a curriculum for project-based learning through literacy activities, specifically oral language, reading and written language.
The complete packet is available on the Web site, as are:
- a virtual tour of the Exhibition with all of the informational panels, several of the photographs and many of the books and printers’ tools and a complete Gallery Guide.
- a Reading Room, with suggested books and also audio readings by Gov. Bill Richardson, First Lady Barbara Richardson, Wes Studi, Ali MacGraw, John Nichols, Marsha Mason, N. Scott Momaday and Sister Mary Rosita Sioshee, S.B.S., who reads in her native Keres.
- the Virtual Print Shop to test traditional printer skills through computer technology.
- the Cuaderno de Ortografía, with turning pages.
- a Calendar of Lasting Impressions events, openings for related book-art exhibits at museums and libraries, the schedule for the Van of Enchantment, Bookmobile stops, Summer Reading Programs at public libraries, and Adopt-a-Press programming as refurbished presses are placed in communities around the state.
- links to the Palace’s many Project Partners, including the New Mexico State Library in Santa Fe where “Lasting Impressions: A Library Legacy is on exhibit. All partners continue to work towards improving literacy through book arts, exhibitions, programs and events at public libraries, schools, museums and community centers throughout New Mexico.
The many components of the Lasting Impressions project are the result of a cooperative effort by the Palace of the Governors, New Mexico State Library, Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, New Mexico Coalition for Literacy, Museum Outreach, New Mexico Highlands University, and TREX, Traveling Exhibitions Program.
The Lasting Impressions Web site received funding for design and maintenance from the National Endowment for the Humanities, We the People grant, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The IMLS and the Brindle Foundation funded research, writing, graphic design and printing of the curriculum guide. To learn more about the IMLS, please log on at http://www.imls.gov
The Palace of the Governors is part of the Museum of New Mexico/Department of Cultural Affairs.
www.palaceofthegovernors.org
