In honor of the AAM Annual Meeting coming to Philadelphia, the local PR & Marketing Committee has officially launched Museum Week! For complete details, please visit www.phillyfunguide.com/museumweek. A press release about this event follows.

REGION’S MUSEUMS CELEBRATE MUSEUM WEEK

APRIL 27-MAY 3
February 23, 2009

Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance1616 Walnut St., Suite 600Philadelphia, PA 19103

Contact:

John McInerney

mailto:johnm@philaculture.org

215-399-3515
Philadelphia-Greater

Philadelphia’s museums offer countless opportunities for remembering, discovering, and learning. During Museum Week, April 27th-May 3rd, over fifty regional museums will offer not just incredible arrays of exhibits and collections, but, for one week only, special discounts on admission, shopping and other amenities. “Our region stands out for its incredibly rich selection of museums, science centers, historical sites, and gardens,” says Peggy Amsterdam, President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “From cutting edge art to some of the most historically significant collections in the world, Philadelphia is second to none.”Fifty-five regional museums will highlight their collections and exhibits, while offering special discounts during Museum Week. Details on participating museums and special offers are available online at www.phillyfunguide.com/museumweek. A full list of participating museums is below.Museum Week is being produced in honor of the 2009 American Association of Museums (AAM) Conference, which will be hosted by Philadelphia the first week of May. Over 6000 museum professionals from around the country will descend on Philadelphia to discuss how to remain relevant, real and responsive in today's challenging environment. Additional information on the 2009 AAM conference is available at www.aam-us.org/pressroom.cfm “We are delighted that Philadelphia museums are offering these incredible discounts and special offers to the general public during Museum Week,” said AAM President Ford Bell. “What a wonderful way to celebrate the incredible value and impact of our country’s museums.”

Exhibitions of note on view during Museum Week include

• Cezanne and Beyond at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

• Galileo, Medici and the Age of Astronomy at the Franklin

• Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania at the Penn Museum

• From Swords to Plowshares: Metal Trench Art From WWI and WWII at the James A. Michener Museum
• Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago's Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68 at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

• America I Am: The African American Imprint at the National Constitution Center

(Discounts may not include admission to special events or exhibitions, please check www.Phillyfunguide.com/museumweek for complete details on all discounts) Other attractions and collections of note include the new Simeone Foundation Museum of exotic race cars; the haunting world of Eastern State Penitentiary; the newly relocated Fabric Workshop & Museum across from the PA Convention Center; the beautiful Laurel Hill Cemetery and the quirky Spiral Q Puppet Theatre puppet collection.

All Participating Museums:

Academy of Natural Sciences

TheAmerican Helicopter Museum and Education Center

American Swedish Historical Museum

Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial

Betsy Ross House

Cedar Grove Mansion

Chemical Heritage Foundation

Chester County Historical Society

Cliveden of the National Trust

Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts

Delaware Museum of Natural History

Design Center at Philadelphia University

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site

Fabric Workshop and Museum

The Fort Mifflin on the Delaware

Franklin Square

The Garden State Discovery Museum

Glencairn Museum

Academy of the New Church

Hagley Museum and Library

Historic Philadelphia, Inc.

Independence Seaport Museum

Independence Visitor Center Corporation

Institute of Contemporary Art

James A. Michener Art Museum

John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove

Laurel Hill Cemetery

Longwood Gardens

Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania

Mercer Museum

Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania

Mount Pleasant Mansion

Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

National Constitution Center

National Liberty Museum

The National Museum of American Jewish History

Nemours Mansion and Gardens

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Peter Wentz Farmstead

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Zoo

Please Touch Museum

Reading Public Museum

Rosenbach Museum & Library

Ryerss Museum and Library

Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center

Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

Spiral Q Puppet Theater

Temple Judea Museum of Keneseth Israel

The Franklin

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Wagner Free Institute of Science

Winterthur Museum and Country Estate

Woodford Mansion

Woodmere Art Museum, Inc.

It's the Green Subcommittee again!

Take our survey: Click Here to take survey

The deadline for collecting data is this Friday, February 27th. Thanks!

It's not easy being green. Or is it?

Welcome from AAM Philadelphia's Green Subcommittee! Being "green" is a term that refers to the idea of sustainability, defined by the United Nations as "to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Basically it's the idea of thinking about how your actions impact our environment and trying to reduce that impact as much as possible. Many of you may strive to do this in your everyday lives.

The Green Subcommittee will be blogging about how easy it is for AAM Annual Meeting attendees to make their experience in Philadelphia a green one. We also will be spotlighting green hot spots here in Philadelphia, including many of our own museums! We have recently surveyed museums in the Philadelphia area about their environmentally conscious practices. Stay tuned for the results. Don't forget to look for one of our representatives in the hospitality area of the convention center.

A BIG Welcome

Welcome to the 2009 AAM Host Committee Blog. This is our spot to show off all that Philadelphia has to offer to our colleagues from the international museum community. I invite you to post updates on our city, its great cultural institutions and restaurants, its fantastic sports teams with the best fans in the world, and anything else you’d like to share with our visitors. Did you find a new dining experience that you want to share? Blog it! Have a rare collection item that’s coming out on view during AAM? Let us know! Personally, I’d like to share the news that Please Touch has acquired the Walking Piano from the movie “Big,” and we’ll have it out in the gallery for the Opening Party on Thursday, April 30! So, start practicing “Heart & Soul” and "Chopsticks."

AAM host committee,
I'm joining the bloggers.