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Blue Star Museums now number 800 nationwide
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On Wednesday, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman made a surprise call to the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to personally notify Executive Director Johnny Baier that his museum was the 800th institution to join the Blue Star Museums program. The museum is also the 1,000 "follower" of the NEA's Twitter feed.
"We are thrilled to help Blue Star Museums cross another milestone," said Baier. Located in the Bricktown Arts and Entertainment district of downtown Oklahoma City, the Museum presents every chapter of the banjo's story, from its roots in American slavery to its more recent roles in Bluegrass and international folk music.
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A detail of a vintage banjo from the American Banjo Museum. Photo courtesy of The American Banjo Museum. |
Blue Star Museums is a national partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and museums across the country to offer free admission to active duty military and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2010.
Other newcomers to the Blue Star Museums honor roll include The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in Missouri. On July 8, the Museum will host a Pecha Kucha event, an informal series of short presentations by local artists, designers, architects, and other creative people.
Artist, archaeologist, collector, and a leader in the American Arts and Crafts movement, Henry C. Mercer (1856-1930) recognized the need to preserve handmade materials of daily life in America before the Industrial Revolution. His collection of 40,000 objects reflect early American craft, trades, and occupations, including tilemaking, glassware, woodwork, shoemaking, and gunsmithing. All are housed in the Mercer & Fonthill Museums, both National Historic Landmarks located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Visit the NEA website for the entire list of Blue Star Museums.
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