2006 RC-MAAM “White Gloves Gang”: Preliminary Call for Brooklyn, NY Host Institutions & Project Volunteers

Apologies for cross-postings as we try to get the word out to various groups. Please share this posting with institutions that may be in a position to host or individuals who may be interested in volunteering.

The 8th Annual “White Gloves Gang” will be coming to Brooklyn for the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) Annual Meeting, “Bridging Communities” (October 22 - 24, 2006). The “White Gloves Gang” event is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, October 25. 

Sponsored by the Registrars Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (RC-MAAM), the “White Glove Gang” matches volunteers for projects with local meeting-area institutions (i.e. museums, historical societies, historic houses, etc.) in need of assistance.  Projects are varied and range from cataloguing artifacts and numbering objects, to conducting inventories and object photography, to assessing storage areas and implementing a plan, to re-housing objects and archives.  The event is a wonderful way to assist institutions who need a bit of extra help all while meeting new people and see new places (or catching up with those you already know).

This is a preliminary call for:

HOST INSTITUTIONS = local Brooklyn institutions that need assistance with projects.  Projects should able to be completed in one day or a foundation set for future work or can be set-up for training the institution’s volunteers to complete later.  While the assistance is free, we ask that host institutions provide lunch for the volunteers.  Host representatives will be invited to a logistics dinner.  IF INTERESTED, please let me know & provide a brief description of project(s) and the institution (with contact information, etc.).

VOLUNTEERS = willing to assist with various projects.  Participants should have registrarial, collections management, curatorial, art handling, archival, or related experience. Volunteers should be aware that this is a “low-budget” operation so we can not provide hotel space.  However, we will try to offer housing for the night preceding the event at the homes of local colleagues.  There will be a logistics dinner and host institutions are being asked to provide lunch on the day of the event.  Most, if not all, Brooklyn institutions will be accessible via public transportation and details will be provided at the logistics dinner.  *IF INTERESTED, please provide a brief description of your area(s) of expertise and experience so the right project match can be made.  Also, provide contact information.

*Note:  More information about how volunteers should “officially” sign-up for the “White Gloves Gang” will be provided in the near future. (It will be through the conference registration on the MAAM website http://www.cmiregistration.com/user/org/category.jxp?id=15736&org=231.)

Additional information about the “White Gloves Gang” is below.  Logistical information (i.e. planning dinner, locations, etc.) for the 2006 event will be provided as confirmed.

Brooklyn is a great place (and my lifelong hometown) and the “White Gloves Gang” is a great event so we hope many of you will be able to join us.

If you are an institution interested in hosting volunteers or you are an individual who wants to volunteer, please let me know by e-mail (preferred) [log in to unmask] or telephone (718) 488-9216.

 

Thank you,

Juliette

2006 “White Gloves Gang” Coordinator

e-mail [log in to unmask]

telephone/fax (718) 488-9216.

 

Juliette V. Ibelli

Registrar & Collections Curator, Private Collections ([log in to unmask])

Reference Librarian, Brooklyn Historical Society ([log in to unmask])

 

 

ABOUT THE WHITE GLOVES GANG
The “White Gloves Gang” (WGG) event occurs in conjunction with the MAAM Annual Meeting. Sponsored by the MAAM Registrars Committee, the “White Gloves Gang” is an all-volunteer group of museum and related professionals who donate their time and expertise to assist museums and historical organizations in the annual meeting host city with collections-related projects.

HISTORY
The first “White Gloves Gang” event occurred in Baltimore in 1999. Leaders from The Star Spangled Banner Flag House, The Fire Museum of Maryland, and Hampton National Historical Site organized a group of 16 volunteers to participate in the first event. Since then the White Gloves Gang has helped the staff of 21 sites in cities throughout the region, including:  Harrisburg, PA, Wilmington, DE, Albany, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Newark, NJ.

The WGG has assisted with a variety of tasks including inventorying, photographing, re-housing, renumbering, and reorganizing collections and collections storage areas.  The WGG has worked with a variety of institution types (museums, historical societies, historic houses, etc.) and a wide-range of collections (decorative arts, fine arts, photo archives, costumes, etc.)

SPONSORS
The on-going success of the “White Gloves Gang” has been made possible by the volunteers and the continued generosity of vendors in the industry. Past contributors include: Ace Insurance Company of North America, Conservation Resources International, Crozier Fine Arts, Gaylord Bros. Inc., The Hollinger Corporation, Light Impressions, AAM Registrars Committee, University Products.  The RC-MAAM, the association board and staff thank all the donors and volunteers who continue to make the “White Gloves Gang” program possible.

 

 

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