Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

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"Waste not, want not” is always a good philosophy, and when it comes to printing, SITES doesn’t let a square inch of paper go to waste. Last month, on the The Mask of Lincoln poster portfolio, we realized that the four corners of the portfolio cover would be trimmed away to make the flaps.

Since Studio A, the designer of the project, was also working on our AAM booth graphics, we immediately sent them text and images to lay out two-sided, 2.5”x9” bookmarks in the four corners. Although there were nominal costs associated with trimming and packaging, we got attractive give-aways with our AAM graphic identity basically for free and another way to help market SITES shows throughout the year.

Good printers, like good designers, are problem solvers. And that's just what Colorcraft of Virginia did throughout this project, from offering tips on paper sizes to giving advice on shipping the portfolios to thousands of recipients across the U.S.

So don’t be afraid to ask questions. As that famous printer Ben Franklin said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

--Ann Carper, SITES editor

I Want You, I Need You . . . to Host a Show

Elvis made a date with SITES in Philly–did you? Although the sun rarely shined, Elvis brightened our AAM booth considerably with his handsome 21-year-old self gracing our working photo booth. (More about him below.)

My staff always looks forward to AAM. It’s an opportunity to connect a face with a voice or, in the age of technology, an email. It's a chance to meet museums new to the traveling exhibition experience and re-connect with long-time SITES exhibitors.

It’s also fun to hear about the local impact of a SITES exhibition. Kathy Kelsey Foley, director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, WI, hired a professional letter writer to visit area schools in conjunction with More Than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. At her gym a few weeks later, Kathy overheard a conversation between two high school students: the young lady asked her beau to put his feelings in writing–in a letter!

We showcased some of our new shows on colorful postcards; the images alone will be enough to entice you to host a SITES show real soon. We gave away tomato seed packets announcing Green Revolution, a collaboration with Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, about various aspects of environmentalism. For this intriguing new exhibition, we provide the design, and the venue fabricates the show…Green Power! We hope you had a chance to meet Aaron Bryant, curator of William H. Johnson: An American Modern, and learn more about the Smithsonian Affiliations program from our colleague Jennifer Brundage.

Lastly, we hope you took a picture with Elvis…who begins his national tour at LA’s Grammy Museum this December. So make a date with a SITES exhibition at your museum. Our Scheduling matchmakers are standing by!

--Michelle Torres-Carmona, Director, Scheduling and Exhibitor Relations

The Presidential Toll

You’ve compared the photos. Is being President of the United States aging Barack Obama? Are there more gray hairs on that head than before? If so, it’s not the first time that the nation’s highest office has taken a visible toll on its occupant. 

When Abraham Lincoln became President in 1861, he was a fresh-faced senator, much like today’s Commander-in-Chief. But the issue of slavery and division of the Union weighed heavily, and in portraits taken just before Lincoln's 1865 assassination, his face reflects the enormity of those responsibilities.

The brand new Mask of Lincoln portfolio set, a collaboration between SITES and the National Portrait Gallery, allows a glimpse at this striking transition. Visit our Lincoln website to access .pdf files of the portfolio’s pages and see for yourself. Better yet, print and cut out small thumbnail images to create a flip book and watch Lincoln age before your eyes. And be sure to visit our Facebook page's discussion board to tell us what you think!

Time to reevaluate your Presidential aspirations?

 

To make your own Lincoln flip book:

1. Go to www.sites.si.edu/lincoln to access the .pdf files of the portfolio

2.  Print out the portfolio's back cover with the ten thumbnail images of Lincoln

3.  Cut out the images, including the red space to the left side of each photograph (this is where you will staple it together)

4.  Put the portraits in order, and stack them so that each edge sticks out slightly further than the one before

5.  Staple the pages together in the red area on the left side, and you're ready to start flipping!

 

- Marcie Sprankle, Project Director

 

The Mask of Lincoln portfolio was made possible by a grant from the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

Image of the Day: What IS this?

Oh! So you think you know what this unearthly thing is? It's featured in one of our "deepest" exhibitions. Take your pick. Which is it?

a). Leftovers from the set of "Snakes on a Plane."
b). A new species of tapeworm, discovered in Madagascar.
c). Locks of hair thought to have come from Medusa's head.
d). Calamari on the drying rack in Julia Child's kitchen.
e). Something even more bizarre.

If  you guessed "e," you were right! This is the first complete giant squid specimen available for study--found off the coast of Newfoundland in 1874. See more oddly fascinating things with In Search of Giant Squid. 

Only ONE more venue: The Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, KS.