Museum Partners

Back to More Past Projects

Beginning in 1997 a series of CEC projects aimed at building collaborative relationships between museums and libraries in the U.S. and Russia. It is our experience that such professional exchanges prove beneficial to both sides, resulting in ongoing contacts and professional relationships. Russian participants have benefited from opportunities to improve their expertise and to see first-hand best practices and innovations in museum operations. Americans participating in these exchanges are frequently overwhelmed by the rich comprehensiveness of Russian institutions, as well as by the professionalism, generosity and hospitality of their Russian colleagues.

Our projects generally fall into two categories: seminars/conferences for museum or library professionals and short term residencies. In the past 7 years, more than 80 museum and library professionals have taken part directly in exchanges and many more have benefited from seminars, lectures and informal meetings. We are now targeting museums outside of Russia’s capitals, although past projects focused primarily on museums and libraries in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Recent and Upcoming Projects

November 7-14
Galina Titarenko, Curator at the Museum of the Vaganova Ballet Academy (St. Petersburg) at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. 

March 14-22, 2006
George Boziwick and Jacqueline Davis of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts visit local partners (Moscow Conservatory, Glinka Museum of Musical Culture, Museum of Theatre and Music, Museum of the Voganova Russian Ballet Academy, and St. Petersburg Conservatory), participate in a conference on the economics of the performing arts, and attend the contemporary music festival From the Avant-garde to Today in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

Staff Exchanges

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art with the State Hermitage Museum, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of Oriental Art
  • The Museum of the City of New York with the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg
  • The New York Public Library with the National Library of Russia
  • National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution) with the Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography)
  • The Wadsworth Atheneum/Metropolitan Museum with Museum of Theatre and Music
  • The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with the Museum of Theatre and Music

Seminars/Conferences

Conference on the Economics of the Performing Arts (2006) Jacqueline Davis, Executive Director of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, gave presentation "Assessing the Value and Impact of the Performing Arts in the U.S." at the international conference hosted by Interstudio, the Federal Institute for Professional Development of Cultural Workers, in St. Petersburg.

Content/Interpretation/Presentation (2000-2001) Seminars, workshops and site visits in New York and St. Petersburg dedicated to the topic of information, wall texts and English language captions; for museum professionals from across Russia.

Licensing and Merchandising in Museums and Cultural Institutions (2003-2004) Seminar on copyright, licensing and income-generating products and activities for cultural institutions in St. Petersburg (February, 2003). Five Russian museum professionals visited U.S. museums, met with staff in charge of product development and merchandising, and attended the annual meeting of the Museum Stores Association in Portland, Oregon (spring 2004).

Libraries within Museums’ Information Space (2002) Kenneth Soehner, Chief Librarian of the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, participated in an international conference on museum libraries, organized by the St. Petersburg Center for Preservation and the Russian Museum, in order to help the staff of Russian museum libraries confront the challenges posed by new technologies and demands.
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Arts Square & State Russian Museum

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Peter Brill (left) of the NMAI and Pavel Pogorelski (right) of Kunstkamera at the NMAI in New York (April 2005)

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Jacqueline Davis and George Boziwick (New York Public Library for the Performing Arts) looking over archival material at the Depository of the Museum of Theatre and Music in St. Petersburg (March 2006)