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Recovery Resources for Museums Impacted by Hurricane Helene

Hello TAMfam. Our thoughts have been with all of our colleagues in East Tennessee and we hope everyone is safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The Tennessee Association of Museums is working toward compiling a list of museums and cultural organizations that have been affected by the storm. If you know of an organization that needs recovery help, please reach out to us at tnmuseums@gmail.com or call our TAM State Coordinator, Debbie Shaw, at 615-495-3354. We are working with several groups across the state to organize resources and recovery aide.

Provided by TN State Library and Archives:

Designated Areas | FEMA.gov

Cultural institutions, arts organizations, and artists and performing groups can call the National Heritage Responders hotline: 202.661.8068

Flood Recovery Resources

Heritage Emergency Task Force (HENTF) Resources
FAIC Recovery Guides
Save Your Family Treasures (HENTF)

Fact sheet for members of the public whose family treasures have been affected by flooding:

Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms

Review the Documenting in Times of Crisis: A Resource Kit, which provides templates and documents to assist cultural heritage responders and archivists in collecting materials on tragedies within their communities.

Provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

Recovery Resources for Museums and Libraries Impacted by Hurricane Helene

The Institute of Museum and Library Services participates in the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, a partnership of 62 national service organizations and federal agencies created to protect cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies.

Cultural Institutions or Arts Organizations that have been impacted by the recent storm can fill out one of the following Rapid Damage Assessment Forms:

Cultural institutions, arts organizations, and artists and performing groups can call the National Heritage Responders hotline: 202.661.8068. The National Heritage Responders, a team of trained conservators and collections care professionals administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, are available 24/7 to provide advice and guidance.

For Members of the Public

Members of the public and individual artists who have questions about saving family heirlooms and personal collections can email the National Heritage Responders at NHRpublichelpline@culturalheritage.org.

HENTF’s Save Your Family Treasures guidance is available at https://www.fema.gov/disaster/recover/save-family-treasures#fact-sheets. Here you can find the downloadable FEMA fact sheets “After the Flood: Advice for Salvaging Damaged Family Treasures” and “Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms,” available in multiple languages.

2025 Annual Conference

2025 Call for Proposals

2025 Tennessee Association of Museums Conference
Hope
March 12-14
Knoxville, TN

Call for Proposals

Deadline: October 18, 2024

"Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it, you'll never make it through the night." General Leia Organa, Star Wars: Episode VIII-The Last Jedi

General Leia Organa's words are not dissimilar from those spoken by museum professionals and volunteers across Tennessee.

I know we are at capacity, but I hope to launch this program next year.
Do you smell that? I hope it's not the HVAC system.
I gave it my best shot; now I just hope that donor calls me back.
Have you heard from Melissa or Paul? I hope we get that grant.

Desirous of a bright future, even amid seemingly dark times, Tennessee museums are full of hope. But how are they turning hope into reality?

With the Semiquincentennial quickly approaching in 2026, the state's museum community if approaching a turning point, and is now a great time to take stock and develop a vision for the future.

The Tennessee Association of Museums' 64th Annual Conference in Knoxville will challenge the state's museums to think ahead and share their hopes, the best practices and strategies for turning those hoes into realities, and the rewards that come from aspirational thinking.

Session proposals should channel the spirit of General Organa by using the past to prepare for a brighter future. Presenters are encouraged to include time for "futurecasting" that builds on the lessons learned int heir work and how they can inspire the future of museums in the Volunteer State.

You never know, there may come a time when museums are Tennessee's "only hope."

Submit a proposal for a session to inspire us in 2025. Proposals must be submitted by October 18, 2024. For questions, contact Bethany Hawkins, TAM Conference Chair, hawkins@aaslh.org.

Upcoming FREE TAM Webinars

Prepping Teachers for their Museum Field Trip - October 16th Registration

We have a website, we sent confirmation letters, we even had a video all to prepare teachers and make their field trip experience as seamless and pleasant as possible. Sometimes, however, we would still have groups that showed up confused, nervous, or just underprepared. Last year we introduced two new ways, one formal and one informal, to reach out to teachers and help them prepare for their field trips. The goals of these new programs were to communicate more effectively with teachers in ways that work for them, give the teachers the power to improve their field trip experience, and to make group visits more efficient for our staff. Join me to see what we have learned from this experiment so far.