From the Field: Museums and the Web Conference

Heritage Philadelphia Program awarded several travel grants to the Museums and the Web Conference in Indianapolis this April. Rick Fink, Education Director at Cliveden of the National Trust, kindly agreed to share some of his thoughts and insights that he learned at the conference:

I wanted to thank the Heritage Philadelphia Program for the opportunity to attend the Museums and the Web Conference 2009 in Indianapolis. I had a great time out there and certainly learned a lot about internet education and marketing.

The point frequently emphasized in many of the discussions and workshops was collaborative learning. I learned that while Cliveden and Historic Germantown may have an online presence, we are certainly lacking with online collaborative education. I hope to take advantage of many FREE ideas I learned of while at the conference, specifically including:

• the use of Twitter for onsite and real-time visitor feedback;


• the use of Wikis for displaying museum collections information and allowing visitors to share stories regarding our collections;


• the use of Flickr for generating visual maps and “geo-tagged” content on our website.

While these are very specific tools I learned how to use, I did come away with a better understanding of how to present ourselves on the web. I have realized that Cliveden and Historic Germantown’s website needs to not only be simplified and made clearer, but also needs to improve opportunities for visitors to share their thoughts. It does not always have to be time consuming to create online content, as there are many historic sites across the country that have thorough history databases generated primarily by visitors and online users.

There were many international library and museum staff members from across the country at the conference, and I was able to gain a different perspective on online learning. It seems to me as if the international museum community has been employing collaborative online learning techniques successfully for several years, providing a great framework for how to move forward here in America.

During my spare time in between sessions, I attended an Indiana Pacers basketball game as well as walking Indianapolis’ historic Canal District. I had never visited the Mid-West and this trip certainly provided me with a different perspective on life and the country.

Did you attend the Museums and the Web Conference? What were your thoughts? What did you learn there? Click on "comments" below and let us know!

For more information about Travel Grants from HPP, please e-mail us at hpp@pcah.us.

HPP Announces 2009 Grantees

The Heritage Philadelphia Program Proudly announces our 2009 grantees. Below are the organizations and projects that were funded; please visit our website for more details.

Cliveden of the National Trust ($200,000) to renovate Upsala, an 18th century neighboring house, for community programming. The renovated building will be used as a center for community revitalization, including neighborhood safety meetings, a teen writers’ workshop, and a resource center for the area’s many historic houses. The work on the building will include construction of an accessible entrance and restroom, and installation of new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. The adaptive re-use of Upsala will also allow office space to be removed from Cliveden, providing for more effective preservation of the National Historic Landmark building, site of the 1777 Battle of Germantown.

Fairmount Park Art Association ($199,720) to implement “Museum Without Walls: AUDIO”—individual audio programs on 35 public art pieces in Philadelphia that will be accessible by cell phone or podcast. Working with a team of professional audio producers and historians, the Fairmount Park Art Association (FPAA) will create interpretive audio programs that interested “visitors” can access through their cell phone as they walk, jog, or bike past an artwork. These pieces can also be downloaded to an MP3 player from the FPAA website. The audio programs are designed to incorporate what FPAA calls the “authentic voice”—the story of each piece as told by people with important connections to it.

Historic Germantown Preserved ($200,000) to implement “Germantown Works,” a series of history-based projects that include youth employment training and intergenerational programming. Historic Germantown Preserved is a collaborative of 14 historic houses and sites in Germantown working together to develop coordinated programming that is responsive to community concerns. The “Germantown Works” projects will combine historic perspectives on work and industry in Germantown with programs designed to create work for young people.

Philadelphia Folklore Project ($70,000) to pilot the Community Documentation Workshop. The Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP) will select a group of community participants from diverse immigrant groups in the city for an eight-month training program in documenting community history and folklore. The training will provide participants with skills to document a variety of cultural experiences in their own communities as well as opportunities to develop exhibitions based on their research and findings. These exhibitions will be installed in PFP’s gallery space. PFP will use the pilot project to develop on-going workshops and a new, community-driven approach to exhibitions.

Philadelphia Mural Arts Advocates ($200,000) to implement “Journeys South,” exploring South Philadelphia’s immigrant history through public art projects that include photography, installation, and lighting. Mural Arts Advocates will host four artist residencies, during which the artists (RA Freidman, Kate Slovich, Michelle Ortiz and Tony Rocco, and Phoebe Zinman) will work with historians and members of the community to develop their projects, based on immigrant stories and histories of the neighborhood. The resulting artworks will be installed in public spaces in the neighborhood, and will be unveiled to the public during a month-long festival in the summer of 2010. Mural Arts will also partner with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s internet-based PhilaPlace project, expected to launch later this year, in order to document the artworks and research.

Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia ($56,350) to plan and pilot a training and technical assistance program for African American historic churches and historic house museums. Building on the Alliance’s successful neighborhood preservation program, these projects will provide opportunities for important collaboration among these sites. Training will offer congregations resources for capital fundraising and the development of new community partnerships. The Alliance will also work with the growing number of African American historic sites to assess and develop collaborative interpretation and marketing efforts.

Wyck Association ($75,000) to develop an interpretive plan for Wyck, a National Historic Landmark house and garden in Germantown. Working with expert advisors from a variety of fields, including historic preservation, urban agriculture, and sound art, along with representatives of local community organizations, Wyck will develop a plan for inventive future educational and community-focused programming. This planning process is part of Wyck’s goal of developing their historic site as a community resource, building on the success of the Wyck Home Farm program, which combines a farmers market with history and educational programming.

Wyck's New Programs Rooted in the Garden

In 2007, Wyck launched their innovative Wyck Home Farm program and related outdoor education programs.  HPP's Laura Koloski asked the staff at Wyck a few questions about these new programs, which are expanding their audience and changing the way the historic site relates to its neighbors and community. 

Many thanks to the Wyck staff members who contributed to this post:
Reeve Basom, Outdoor Educator
Landon Jefferies, Home Farm Manager
Nicole Juday, Horticulturist
Eileen Rojas, Executive Director 

LK: What were the factors that led to the development of this new programming?
In 2006, we undertook a strategic planning process that outlined some new program directions more focused on our community, but drawing on historical themes of education and horticulture/agriculture.  Wyck's mission states, in part, that its goal is to "strengthen community life" and that was the driver for creating the Home Farm and outdoor education programs.  Produce from Wyck's garden used to be sporadically set out in a cardboard box on the sidewalk, but otherwise there was no system for distribution to the community.  

For the outdoor education program, we set out to identify what the needs were in schools with the closest proximity to Wyck.  We found that most children were not spending time outdoors.  One school had a parking lot with cars as their only outdoor space, and at another, children got to go to a playground once a week for an outing and otherwise spent their recesses in the school hallways.  Meanwhile Wyck’s grounds, a beautiful and safe 2.5 acre open space, were being under-utilized.  Most neighbors and teachers in the nearby schools did not know that Wyck was a museum, although it has been since 1973.  Until we started these programs, we were largely invisible to our surrounding community.  With the addition of the Home Farm and the outdoor education programs, we were able to integrate agriculture and education—and combine them with efforts to interpret our site’s history as well. 

Can you describe the Home Farm and Outdoor Education Programs for me?
The Home Farm operates with several objectives in mind.  It helps us interpret our site and is located on soil that has been used as pasture land or for vegetable and other crop production for more than 300 years.  Many of the vegetable varieties are heirloom breeds and the methods of cultivation avoid many modern agricultural technologies including gas-powered tools, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. 

The Home Farm serves educational purposes beyond history as well.  For many urban school children, agriculture is a distant concept.  Basic scientific terms like pollination and germination are not defined here, they are witnessed.  And the Home Farm not only provides students the opportunity to explore a working farm over the course of the season, but often a chance to pitch in and get their hands dirty.  The Home Farm is also a resource for neighborhood gardeners who can volunteer at the Home Farm or stop by the Farmers Market for advice. 

The Home Farm is also a productive attraction.  Produce from the garden is sold at a weekly, on-site Farmers Market.  Held every Friday afternoon from late May until late November, the market provides the neighborhood with healthy, affordable produce, and the neighborhood in turn helps support Wyck’s programming.  The market draws many first-time visitors to Wyck and creates a social space for neighbors to enjoy the outdoors while swapping recipes, gardening tips, and gossip. 

The outdoor education program themes are all grounded in the exploration of natural science, horticulture and farming for food, but the delivery of the program happens both at Wyck and in classrooms, and ranges from games to hands-on lessons to vocationally based work projects. 

Who comes to the farmers market and the outdoor education programs?
The Farmers Market appeals to a diverse audience, but is primarily geared towards neighbors living within a mile or so of Wyck.  Since it’s located on the sidewalk of busy Germantown Avenue, it attracts passersby as spontaneous grocery shoppers along with people who arrive at the market every week with their reusable shopping bags.  Also, in part because of the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which offers one-time use coupons that can only be used at farmers markets to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, the market attracts a lot of mothers and seniors. 

We have focused our outdoor education programs on schools that are within walking distance of Wyck so that we are serving students from our immediate neighborhood, but also so that transportation is not an impediment to participating in the program.  We serve more than 200 school children a week during our busiest time of year, and participant numbers are still expanding as we continue to form new relationships with schools and teachers in the area.  The children who participate in Wyck outdoor education programs come from public and independent schools and range in grade level from Head Start to High School.  We have also begun working with a number of autism spectrum classes.  

Due to the proximity of many participant schools and teacher recognition that our program provides a valuable missing piece in the lives and education of many of their students, we have been able to establish ongoing, weekly Wyck programs with many groups.  The development of this type of relationship is enriching for all involved.  Students benefit from the regular reinforcement of concepts and from feeling a real connection to and sense of belonging in the outdoor space at Wyck.  Teachers build connections and extensions to their own curriculum from the lessons at Wyck, and Wyck not only receives help with outdoor projects, but builds a broader and deeper connection to the community and benefits from a new generation of people who know and love the site. 

Who works on the programs? How much staff time is dedicated to them?
We have a part-time Home Farm Manager who spends, on average, 25 hours a week planting, harvesting, and preparing for market.  We also have a part-time Outdoor Educator who spends 900 hours working on the program each school year.  Our Horticulturist oversees and supports both of these programs, including stepping in when needed to substitute for a class. 

Who else do you work with to make the programs a success?
We partner with The Food Trust on this market and they provide the technical support necessary to accept food stamps and have made arrangements for Amos Fisher, a Lancaster county Amish farmer, to participate in the market.  This has helped make our market unique, convenient, and affordable for our neighbors. We also work with West Central Germantown Neighbors, Greater Philadelphia Cares, City Harvest, Mastery Charter School (Pickett School— we are working with them as a satellite garden project site), and various service organizations.  

Do you see these programs affecting the way you approach programming at Wyck going forward? How?
These programs have allowed us to not only interpret our site’s history in a very dynamic and contemporary way, but they have also enabled us to serve our community in a much more outwardly-focused way.  Our Home Farm/Farmers Market and outdoor education program have allowed us to become known to our community, to reach beyond the literal fence that surrounds us and keeps us hidden.  This year we will be adding open house hours during our Farmers Market so that market-goers can peek in and learn a little more about our history and what Wyck is.  We will also be creating additional connections between the Farmers Market and our outdoor education program, encouraging student participants to bring their families to shop at the market (and to eat the produce they’ve helped grow) through various incentives. 

In the coming year, we will be working on how we interpret our history and develop programs that continue to tell the story of our site while also actively engaging our community.  We will continue identifying the needs of our community to ensure that we serve as a resource well into the future.  

Laura Koloski is Heritage Philadelphia Program’s Senior Program Specialist, and a lover of all things vegetable.

Sautéed Snap Peas and Green Garlic

Wyck's Farm Manager Landon Jefferies puts out recipe cards created by the Food Trust that are appropriate to the growing season. One of the first spring recipes that Landon will recommend once the market gets going is this one for sautéed snap peas and green garlic. 

Sautéed Snap Peas and Green Garlic

1 Qt. Snap Peas
2-3 Stems of Green Garlic*
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Wash garlic and snap peas.  Remove any strings from peas. Cut off and discard the tougher, fibrous ends of the green garlic leaves.  Slice the garlic—the bulbs, stems and tender starts of leaves—on the bias.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic first and cook for one minute. Add the snap peas and cover.  Remove the lid occasionally to stir.  When the snap peas are tender, but still have a slight crunch, remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

* Green garlic has a strong but fresh garlic taste.  It is not as pungent as cured garlic but is very flavorful.

Where do you find your best recipes for in-season produce?  
Click on "Comments" below and share with us!

Map of Brooklyn Treasures Discovered

We are thrilled to have learned about this wonderful web project, Brooklyn Revealed, created by the New-York Historical Society. It is a virtual historical tour of Brooklyn, leading the viewers down the streets of the different neighborhoods. Viewers can explore the history of the different neighborhoods, find out how the streets were named, as well as see photographs of the streets from the NYHS's archives.

Its simplicity is admirable, its usability enticing. Take a tour and discover it for yourself.