State History

Congratulations to the New York recipients of Federal Grants from The Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Games For Change
205 E. 42nd St., 20th Fl.,
New York, NY 10017

Games for Change will partner with eight museums to create replicable approaches for integrating game design and civic engagement into museum education programs. The project will be based on the methods and materials tested and applied through the national Games for Change Student Challenge. The project will begin with an initial planning year. In this stage, an advisory group of museum educators and experts in digital media and learning will work with museums in two cities to pilot the integration of the game-design into museum education programs. Following evaluation and revision of that pilot, the program will expand to two additional cities. In each city, five museum educators and teaching artists will learn the game design curriculum and how to lead a social impact game design course in their institution or with school partners. The museums will present workshops and game jams and host a citywide challenge as a culminating event in each city.

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
Pier 86, W 46th St.
New York, NY 10036

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will partner with New York University's Ability Project to increase the capacity of historic sites to develop rich, sensory-based interpretive experiences that are accessible to visitors with disabilities. The museum will establish a core working group of eight local individuals with disabilities and eight professionals representing historic sites across the United States. The working group will identify accessibility challenges, field test proposed solutions, and periodically convene to review, evaluate and provide recommendations. Other activities will include the development of a graduate-level course at NYU and an exhibition at the museum about the project. The project will produce a digital publication titled Sensory Tools for Interpreting Historic Sites that will offer strategies for increasing visitor engagement through interpretation that is accessible for visitors with disabilities and achievable by historic sites of all sizes.

New York Botanical Garden
2900 Southern Blvd.
The Bronx, NY 10458

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) will enhance its EcoFlora Project and work with four other botanical gardens to implement the model in their communities. The EcoFlora Project uses digital herbarium and library collections and Geographic Information Systems technology, combined with citizen scientist observations, to build an electronic resource to document and monitor a city's plants while engaging the public in studying biodiversity in their own neighborhoods, and informing land use and conservation decisions. Each partner garden will create its own project platform and recruit citizen scientists. NYBG will expand its EcoFlora in more neighborhoods to maximize the diversity of citizen scientist participants, and create a toolkit for local teachers to use with students. NYGB and the partner gardens will share project experiences at national conferences and create online materials to serve as a guideline for other gardens.