Key Ingredients: America By Food

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Key Ingredients America By Food
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Museum on Main Street A One-of-a-Kind Project
That

• Combines
• Exhibitions, collections and services of the
  Smithsonian
• Program expertise and resources of State
  Humanities Councils
• Volunteerism, creativity and pride of rural
  museums and their communities
• In Order To
• Provide high-quality cultural programs to
  underserved rural citizens
• Spark lasting professional improvement for small
  town cultural organizations

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Why Rural?

• 1 in 4 Americans live in rural communities
• Rural communities have limited access to cultural
  resources
• Rural museums comprise half of all US museums
• average operating budget is less than 40,000
• fewer than 2 paid employeesmostly volunteer run
• limited funds for public programs and traveling
  exhibitions

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Portrait of a MOMS Community

• Most have populations of less than 8,000
• Most MOMS exhibitions have been in museums (80),
  cultural centers (12) and libraries (9)
• Most have never hosted a traveling exhibition
  before

Douglass, TN (pop. 300)
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Museum on Main Street

• A 3-Way Partnership Between
• Smithsonian
• State Humanities Councils
• Local Communities

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The Smithsonians Role in MOMS

• Provide traveling exhibitions and manages
  exhibition tours

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The Smithsonians Role in MOMS
Provide -Marketing related materials -Training
in program development and installation -Training
and Educational resources
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The Smithsonians Role in MOMS
www.museumonmainstreet.org
www.keyingredients.org
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Smithsonian Benefits by

• MOMS Connects the Smithsonian to the American
  Public
• To date, 35 states have participated in MOMS and
  nearly 300 communities have hosted a MOMS
  exhibition

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State Humanities Councils Role in MOMS

• Councils Provide
• Participation of state project scholar
• Connection to in-state resources
• Support for local complimentary humanities
  programs
• In-state promotion
• Coordination/oversight of state tour
• Councils Benefit From
• MOMS connects Councils with rural audiences and
  communitiessometimes for the first time
• MOMS provides high-quality humanities resources
  to their citizens
• MOMS enhances the cultural infrastructure of
  their state

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The Role of the Local Museums and their
Communities in MOMS

• Provide
• Commitment to carry out the project
• Creativity in developing complimentary public
  humanities programs and exhibitions on related
  themes
• Coordination of local fundraising and publicity
  efforts
• Contribution of their local story in the
  national project

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Local Museums/Communities Benefit by

• Training from national/state experts marketing,
  exhibit development/design, volunteerism (docent
  training), educational programming
• New partnerships and collaborationslocally,
  statewide and nationally
• Strengthened fundraising efforts leveraging local
  support for the project and future endeavors
• Increased visibility/attendance and recognition

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MOMS Exhibitions

• Produce for Victory Posters on the American Home
  Front, 1941-1945
• Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon
• Yesterdays Tomorrows Past Visions of the
  American Future
• Key Ingredients America by Food
• Between Fences

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Produce for VictoryPosters on the American Home
Front, 1941-1945
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Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon
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Yesterdays Tomorrows Past Visions of the
American Future
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Key Ingredients America by Food
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Between Fences
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Coming Soon Key Ingredients America by Food
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Section One Land of Plenty
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Section Two Local Flavors
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Section Two Local Flavors

• Regional Favorites often owe more to heritage
  than to climate and land

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Section Three Dynamic Delivery
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Section Three Dynamic Delivery
Piggly Wiggly, the first self-service super
market (1916)
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Section Four Festival of Feasts
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Section Four Festival of Feasts
The first McDonalds, Des Plaines, Illinois, 1955
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Section Five Home Cooking
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Local exhibitions with Key Ingredients

• Host towns supplement the Smithsonian exhibit
  with
• Local collections of cooking utensils and
  appliances
• Memorabilia about local restaurants and grocery
  stores other food producers
• Local food products and impact on local economy
• Docent-led tours

West Chicago IL, (pop 14, 786)
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Sample Humanities Programs Community Events

• Community Cookbooks with Oral Histories
• Scholarly Lectures Cooking Demonstrations
• Film Series Reading/Discussion Programs
• Ethnic Food Festivals
• Cook-offs and Taste Testings

Key Ingredients Art Competition Huntsville, UT
(pop. 561)
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Key Ingredients is coming!Lets Eat!