As a member of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM), I’m excited to share the latest development that promises to inspire creativity and collaboration within our community: the formation of the Arts and Culture Professional Interest Group (PIG). The conversation I facilitated during the 2024 virtual conference sparked a lot of interest in creating this intangible resource, and I’m very grateful we can create a space that will be great for both current ALHFAM members and new ones.
Affectionately now known as “The Cultured PIG,” this group is focused on building and preserving an arts and culture resource for all ALHFAM members. Topics will include music and decorative arts, along with other cultural themes like domestic arts (other than foodways), faith, folk art, games, dance, and more. We encourage all ALHFAM members to participate, whether you are a curator, musician, artist, or anyone with a passion for culture and history. One easy way to do so is to update your profile in the membership noting you want Arts and Culture updates in the group participation section. This diverse group will help us bring fresh perspectives to how we all do living history.
If you haven’t seen the big announcement in this month’s eUpdate, below is what we’re planning to do this year. (Note that if you’re not a member of ALHFAM, now’s the time to join in on the conversation. Go to ALHFAM.org “Join” page. Multiple membership options are available, and we’d love to have you join us!
First, we want your help in creating a collage or logo for the Cultured PIG page on ALHFAM’s website! Do you have something at your site that reflects culture in a visual way, such as a quilt square with music on it? Or are you an artist yourself in any medium noted above? We want to fully represent ALHFAM’s membership in all of the ways that the arts and culture can, and we’d like to take those images, photographs, and symbols and create a Cultured PIG virtual “quilt” of sorts. You can email what you’d like to include to the email address at the bottom of the page.
Next, join the Facebook group. When we’re not meeting in-person or virtually (more on that shortly), we’ll be using the group as a place for people to post questions and the like, and you’ll more than likely see themed days too. (“Music Monday” or “Watercolor Wednesday” anyone?) It is our hope that group discussion will inspire members to share creative works, whether it’s artwork, music, or historical pieces, that tie into these themes too. Plus see what you are up to wherever you are as well!
In addition to our social media efforts, we’re planning a virtual series of rotating themed formal and informal conversations. We’ve already got ideas for both of these types of virtual events, as well as informal “happy hour”-style meetings. We’re looking forward to creating a space for dialogue and connection no matter where you live in the world, where we can discuss ideas and challenges in a relaxed setting, over a beverage of your choice. These gatherings will not only foster relationships within the group but also allow us to dive deep into specific areas of our work and explore new ways of thinking.
Our first introductory Zoom event will take place on March 18th at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific, with this meeting being a more open forum for discussion about the new PIG, and it’s completely free for all new and current ALHFAM members. Note: All future virtual events will take place on the third Tuesday of the month at the same time going forward, too.
A significant focus for our PIG this year is to create a list of people that PIG members can potentially hire for its first phase this year, with subsequent years including a compilation of grants available by state/province. This list will be a helpful tool for members looking to find specific expertise or funding opportunities for their projects. Whether someone is looking to hire an artist to help bring a vision to life or searching for state-specific grants to fund their work, this tool will become an invaluable part of our PIG’s offerings. We know that this resource will take time to build, but we feel it’s important to at least start the ball rolling on this list so it’s available to members as soon as possible.
We’re all very excited to see where this new initiative takes us this year. The Cultured PIG is an opportunity for collaboration, inspiration and connection within the broader ALHFAM community. I encourage fellow members to join us, share ideas, and get involved as we begin this new chapter. Together, we can create something truly special that celebrates the arts, culture, and the incredible work we do within our living history museums and agricultural spaces.
Stay tuned for more updates, mark your calendar for our introductory virtual meeting on March 18th at 6pm Eastern, and I look forward to seeing all the amazing contributions from our talented community!
Cece Otto, The Cultured PIG
cece.otto@alhfam.org
ALHFAM 