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Home My WebLink About06/27/2017 - Minutes MINUTES RHS Meeting 6.27.17 Attendees - Liz, Lynn, Laura, Patricia, Antoin, Colleen Committee Report - Community Engagement -Haven't met since the last meeting (5.30) -Aunt Dottie still tentatively signed on to MC, will check with Nephew - Fundraising Committee -Notes for the Fundraiser (Annual) -Dessert Dash (needs domes to cover, make appealing) -Wine sale discussion -Tip jar for students -Jordann contacted the High School to get volunteers to serve the event -Alexis procured the caterer last year, Renton Tech (too expensive) -Budget review for - Finance Committee -nothing to report - Annual Meeting -made $380 -overall the meeting was a successful, - Outreach Committee -Patricia and Jordann (Farmer's market at the landing - August 17th ) -Still needs members to volunteer(August 29th Downtown Renton Farmer's Market) - Renton River Days -No linens for the tables -Ballons to denote different stations -No booth at Liberry Park -Kim planning activity stations in the yard -Historical Actors? -Endowment Report -Moving $37k out of cash to position for growth -Will follow up in August/September -October meeting will have the Financial Advisor come in to report(Oct.24th?) -Access for All -Dave Upthegrove -Special "carve out" for 11 outside Seattle orgs. King County Council -Strategy if the prop passes -Information on Prop 1 (Ballots come July 12th) -Laura to send the info -Mission Moment -Conference in Moses Lake -Panel and Tour of two local museums (Wanapum) - Liz had 2 panels - Museum Hack - Keynote speech Next meeting Aug29th (closed week after river days and first week of August) Executive meeting MUSEUM REPORT For June—July 2017 Compiled by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Director Sarah Samson, Collection Manager Kim Owens, Public Engagement Coordinator Nezanet Tewolde, Museum Office Aide Operations Visitors in June: 225 Visitors in July: 491 Visitor numbers reflect members and researchers as well as paying visitors. Tours included Ballard Senior Center and Summit at First Hill. Administration Grant reports: Director Liz Stewart completed final grant reports for our annual Heritage Sustained Support grant for 2016, as well as a special King County grant for the support of programming associated with Sorting Out Race. Liz also filed the Request for Draw from our Custer Fund with the Renton Community Foundation. Access for All / Prop 1: Liz hosted two ' , informational meetings about Prop 1 at the �� 1� �►'�'�� '�� , Museum at the request of King County �,�� °�° .A'� �`,`.� '' i Councilmember Dave Upthegrove, as well as ��'�r� ' " "-� � �� ,�:. 1 appearing in a voter pamphlet and writing a Letter " to the Editor for the Renton Reporter. In spite of ; ,,��`, - � �'� everyone's best efforts, the ballot measure failed, ' , ° ,.,. B � 49 to 51%, with the far east King County ��s � , P° ' .i_. s xY�bl A 9 ..�.,.i.._ . overwhelmingly opposed. Cultural Access �°°'"s='"m`°�'Va�=,E;=a�r,�p41P1°�� pCCE55�dR p�� Washington is now considering what the next � �,r,., t �., _� �'PR�� steps might be. Exhibits History of Renton in 75 Objects exhibit: The UW student-curated exhibit, A History of Renton in 75 Objects, continues to be very popular among visitors pleased to see some of our favorite 75 objects and photos.The interactive, in which visitors are asked to talk about one object that tells the story of their life, has been very eye-opening. One visitor wrote, "My mother's wedding sari means the most to me, and makes me feel the most connected to my heritage." Renton in 75 Objects will be up until January 2018. Pro�rams, Outreach, and Education Curator's Talk: On July 13 Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Sarah Samson gave a talk about her favorite 10 objects to accompany A History of Renton in 75 Objects. The talk was very well-received, with some who could not attend requesting that we repeat it or have another staff inember do a similar talk. Liz may offer a similar program in January, as a close to the exhibit. Fall programs: Public Engagement Coordinator Kim Owens has completed the programming for fall 2017, including numerous programs to support our current exhibit. She and Nezy are currently working on promoting the programs, getting them on numerous online calendars and in other venues. Curriculum development: Kim has met with Renton School District social studies coordinators, who intend to implement the new Coast Salish curriculum this fall. She has also met with Duwamish Tribal Chair Cecile Hansen and the Native American Curriculum Coordinator for the Bellevue School District to get their feedback on the program.The revised Coast Salish curriculum is designed to be "rented" out to schools who may keep it for up to two weeks and use the lessons that coordinate well with their classroom plans. Partnership programs: Kim and Liz are working on two collaborative programs that will extend the reach of our diversity initiative. On September 23 they will be staffing the oral history booth at the Renton Multicultural Festival at Piazza Park, collecting oral histories and archiving them for our collection. On November 2, they will also be providing support for a series of facilitated conversations around race hosted by KCLS and based on a Seattle Times program called "Under Our Skin." Museum staff will continue to look for ways to maintain forward momentum in the area of social justice and racial awareness. Events and Outreach �`s'3 "��'� " Annual Meeting: The Renton Historical Society's �-- - � - 1,,;�, , ,�. � Annual Meeting was held on Thurs., June 8 this !�\\��.,,�~�" �. year, and all participants agreed it was one of our �� `� ;,�" �;,�"'�'" j` � � best. The meeting celebrated the 75t" anniversary `� �'�� '' -� �'`� of Renton Fire Station #1. Members of the Board of � -�� 41t '��,,�.' . � �� `�' ;,, Trustees took charge of various parts of the . ` � � ��. � �, ��. y,. program, which members enjoyed, including " �� -=-��' ,� organizing a raffle which covered the cost of the ^� ��-�`�.r , event.The George and Annie Lewis Custer Award , �' -; for Heritage Stewardship went to Dave and Monica \�� ° Brethauer for their sensitive rehabbing of the historic F. W. Woolworth's (now Cortona) Building. Dave and Monica also had the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with assistance from staff at the Renton History Museum. Dave attended the Annual Meeting, and was extremely excited about the honor. He and his wife later sent a substantial donation. Renton River Days: Museum staff experimented with a new approach to Renton River Days this year, keeping our programming focused on the Museum and our yard in order to draw more visitors in. Kim put considerable energy into leading a team of volunteers that created two living history performances, Charles Custer and Florence Guitteau; Sabella Curtis wrote two scripts using our collections, and Cathy Lim and Bridget Shew created their historic costumes and props. Actors Spencer Peerson and Abby Lewis brought the characters to life for five hours on Saturday. We also offered three activity stations outside the Museum. The result was many more substantive interactions with the public, answering their questions about Renton history and the Museum. Attendance at the Museum was up 35%from previous River Days Saturdays, although Sunday's attendance was about the same. Everyone enjoyed the living history performances and we will probably aim for more and more diverse historical characters next yea r. Collections New acquisitions: In July Sarah accepted the donation from Michael Hayes of 200 historic photos depicting the Hayes and Burrows families in 1913 — 1917. Included among the photos are images depicting the disappearance of the Black River, Renton High Class of 1917 sports teams, and the Hayes nursery and gravel mine. Volunteers Volunteer Program: In June and July we avoided over-stressing our volunteers by scaling back our River Days effort slightly. Still, 20 volunteers contributed 121 hours of service in June and 26 volunteers worked 203 hours in July. We were particularly happy to cultivate some volunteers with new skills and talents, like historic costuming and seamstressing, and they are interested in participating in our next fashion exhibit, scheduled to open in late January.