The Prairie Landscape

ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

05/21/2001

IHC to Bring Smithsonian’s “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” Exhibit to Five Illinois Communities in 2002

CHICAGO -- The Illinois Humanities Council invites smaller museums, libraries, and historical societies in towns of fewer than 20,000 residents to apply to host a Smithsonian travelling exhibition called “Yesterday’s Tomorrows.” The Smithsonian developed this portable 5-kiosk display especially for small museums and historical societies with limited access to traveling exhibitions due to space and cost limitations.

“Yesterday’s Tomorrows” presents a look at the future as imagined by people in the 19th and 20th centuries. Residents of selected towns can learn much about their town’s history by considering how past residents imagined the future, and perhaps even use the exhibit as a springboard to make plans for the town’s future.

The exhibit will tour five Illinois communities from March to December 2002. Sites will be chosen based on geographic location, strength of proposed ideas for auxiliary events, and physical display space. Applications are due by March 15, 2001. Selections will be announced within two weeks. To request an application, call Angel Ysaguirre at the Illinois Humanities Council at 312/422-5585, ext. 225 or visit the IHC website at www.prairie.organd download an application.

The Illinois Humanities Council will provide the following for each host community:

  • Rental of the Smithsonian exhibit for $2,500 for a six-week period
  • An exhibit support manual covering installation, object collection and conservation, public relations, and evaluation
  • Exhibition brochures and posters for distribution
  • Assistance in program planning and ready-made promotional materials such as Public Service Announcements
  • Travel expenses for a project director to attend an installation and planning meeting at the opening site of the Illinois tour
  • $2,000 in grant funds in support of community programs, such as oral histories, guest lecturers, film series, artifact collections, workshops, reading discussion programs, dramatizations, etc.
  • A humanities scholar who will visit your town to consult on the exhibition and present an opening night lecture in your town
  • A committee of experts that will provide technical assistance in all aspects of the exhibition

In return, host communities will be asked to:

  • Identify a staff member or volunteer who will serve as director of the project for its duration and who will attend the installation and planning meeting and site visit
  • Plan and implement public programs during the exhibition
  • Raise matching local funds for public programs
  • Track all staff and volunteer time, facilities, and other resources donated to the project and provide a report of this local cost share at the project’s conclusion
  • Pay for shipping

The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized more than 25 years ago as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by the citizens of Illinois, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.

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