2007 Grants

The Museums and Communities Collaboration Abroad Program (MCCA)
The collaborations funded will focus on community outreach to ensure the fundamental objectives of this new program - increasing cross-cultural understanding and showcasing the role of cultural institutions as vibrant, engaged and committed influencers in contemporary society - are reached. The program partner in the U.S. is the American Association of Museums (AAM). This professional association represents the entire U.S. museum community and has extensive experience in coordinating international exchange programs for museum professionals.

The MCCA brings U.S. and foreign museums together and provides them the resources to develop new models for sustainable international collaborations that involve the local community. The following programs have been funded in this first year of the competitive process:

"Dear Mr. Mandela, Dear Ms. Parks: Children's Letters, Global Lessons" - Michigan State University Museum / Nelson Mandela Museum, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. These two museums will use letters written by children to raise awareness of the deep parallels between the struggles for racial justice in the United States and South Africa. The partners in this project that seeks to reach school-age children will create a touring exhibition and an online gallery featuring the letters written by the children.

The Indo-U.S. Science Center Diversity Dialogue & Cultural Immersion Project - the New York Hall of Science; the National Council of Science of India; and the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) of Bangalore, India. The partnership will operate a minority youth development program called the Science Career Ladder (SCL). U.S. and Indian museum educators and students will adapt this program for use in science centers across India to increase access to technical careers for minority youth. Each museum will develop public outreach and programming to allow staff and student visitors to interact with the local community.

Inside/Outside/ North & South - Museo de las Americas of Denver, El Museo National De Etnografia y Folklore of La Paz, Bolivia, and El Centro Alipelt, Zacatlan of Mexico. The partners are working with their communities to create a youth-curated multimedia art exhibition, featuring works by local students exploring stereotyping and prejudice. High school students from both majority and minority ethnic groups will engage in creative multimedia activities. This collaboration will culminate in a final joint exhibition that will include visual, oral and literary components.

"Promoting Volunteerism to Improve Zoo Safety, Education and Animal Care"- the Black Pine Animal Park of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and the Dushanbe Zoo in Tajikistan. Ft. Wayne, Indiana students and Dushanbe pen-pals have teamed up with the Black Pine Animal Park and the Dushanbe Zoo to help prevent accidents and provide more family-friendly visitor experiences. With funding from MCCA, the two zoos and the students will work together to develop educational materials for visitors and promote community involvement in the zoos through volunteerism.

For information about the organization or the MCCA, please visit www.aam-us.org.

The Council for International Programs, USA
The Council's new U.S. program is entitled "Engaging Marginalized Youth through the Arts in Turkish Society" (EMY) and is designed to provide arts educators and community service professionals with the skills and knowledge to engage marginalized youth through the performing arts. This 18-month program targets school-based arts educators and administrators, community focused visual and performing arts organizations and NGOs serving youth. The goals are to provide a program to "train the trainer," and build after-school performing arts programs targeted toward the burgeoning marginalized youth population in Istanbul. An original theatrical performance will be created, produced, and performed by members of the Turkish arts program; and an arts program Web page will be created with an interactive blog that will be used as a networking mechanism for all participants and students.

For information about the organization, please visit www.cipusa.org

Institute for Training and Development
The Institute for International Training and Development program is a three-phase project that focuses on using the performing arts in work with marginalized and at-risk youth. In the initial phase, eleven South African performing artists and arts managers will travel to the Hartford-Springfield area for three weeks of hands-on experience in schools, after-school programs, and community arts centers. The experience will culminate in a public program featuring both the South African participants and U.S. counterparts. During the second phase, ten U.S. performing artists will travel to South Africa for a parallel program. While working with the South Africans they will select a group of young performing artists from the townships for the final phase of the project. This group will have a one-week residency at a performing arts charter high school and participate in several presentations at various schools.

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