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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2004
Contact:
Frances Levine, Director
Palace of the Governors / New Mexico History Museum
505-476-5096
Jennifer Marshall, Public Relations
505-476-1144
Santa Fe, New Mexico — The Palace of the Governors has received a $425,453 National Leadership Grant in the Library & Museum Collaboration category from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). This award was announced by the IMLS on September 21, 2004.
“National Leadership Grants encourage nationally replicable model projects that enable museums and libraries either individually or in partnership, to advance innovation and learning for students of all ages,” said Dr. Robert S. Martin, IMLS Director. “The projects address issues of national interest, such as literacy, the advancement of and instruction in science and technology, and the preservation of art, culture and history.”
The IMLS, the primary source of federal funds for the nation’s museums and libraries, presented grants in five categories of its prestigious National Leadership Grants. More than $13 million has been awarded to 44 museums and libraries throughout the country, in a highly competitive grant program. The recipients will match the awards with an additional $14,767,538. In the Library-Museum Collaboration category, 19 institutions were awarded a total of $6,492,155.
The two-year grant awarded to the Palace of the Governors will support outreach programs developed by the Palace staff and partners in conjunction with the upcoming exhibit: Lasting Impressions: The Private Presses of New Mexico, an exhibition that presents a comprehensive history of private press printing in the state.
“The staff should be commended for their efforts in pursuing this prestigious grant,” said Stuart Ashman, Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs. “They have my gratitude. The award is significant not only because of the financial support it provides but also because of the recognition from the primary federal agency that supports museums. This recognition provides the kind of validation that private donors and foundations seek when making their award selections. We look forward to the potential for continued support as a result of the IMLS grant.”
Lasting Impressions, opening in February 2005, will be curated by award-winning printers Pamela Smith and Tom Leech, respectively the former and current director of the Palace Press, builds on the nationally successful Palace Press Workshop and a series of book-based traveling exhibits developed by the TREX exhibition program of the Museum Services Division. The exhibition will illustrate the evolution of printing technology and the production of unique, hand-made book arts and printed materials from 20 private presses.
“New Mexicans have culturally diverse oral histories and storytelling traditions,” said Frances Levine, Director of the Palace / New Mexico History Museum. “They have used these traditions to produce an equally rich marriage of literature and visual arts in the production of hand-printed books.”
The Palace of the Governors will partner with the New Mexico State Library, Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, and with other museums, libraries and archives throughout the state, to present information about the birth and flowering of small, private presses in New Mexico. The IMLS grant was matched by funds and contributions totaling $712,075 from project partners, including the New Mexico State Library, The Lannan Foundation, Friends of the Palace, a New Mexico Humanities Council We the People grant, and the Palace Guard, a Palace support group.
“This grant is an opportunity to extend the reach of the Palace of the Governors and New Mexico History Museum statewide,” said Levine.
“And it will promote innovation by combining traditional library reading programs with a hands-on book-arts component,” added Richard Akeroyd, State Library Director.
Literacy Volunteers will work with the library and Palace staff to incorporate Spanish and bi-lingual English/Spanish reading curriculum and family-centered activities into the library and museum outreach programs. “We hope to recruit new audiences and engage those interested in the state’s literary history, the history of technology and the artistic process involved in hand-made books,” said Levine.
The institute of Museum and Library Services in an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a national learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The IMLS fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning, by supporting the national’s 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The IMLS also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about eh IMLS, please log on at http://www.imls.gov
For more information about the exhibit, contact Tom Leech at the Palace Press, (505) 476-5096.
The Palace of the Governors is part of the Museum of New Mexico/Department of Cultural Affairs.
www.palaceofthegovernors.org
