Tuskegee University News May 13, 2015 Tuskegee University awarded UNCF/Mellon grant to unify HBCU museums and arts spaces Representatives from nearly 20 historically black institutions from around the nation will gather at Tuskegee University to discover how to strengthen their teaching and learning environments through unity. Thanks to a $35,000 grant from the UNCF/Mellon Programs, the Tuskegee University Legacy Museum Teaching Learning Institute conference will be held on campus May 17-19. The goal of the event is to bring together 18 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that have museums, galleries and art spaces and to decide on an interpretative tool(s) to link the institutions' art spaces and collections for the first time. The unification tools discussed will include: a website with virtual tours, a mobile app, interactive data kiosks, museum exhibitions, discussion and symposia programs, and books and exhibitions. Tuskegee University's Legacy Museum curator, Dr. Jontyle Robinson, conceptualized linking the art spaces and collections of the 18 HBCUs together, which evidences, she believes, survival and strength. "This working agreement with UNCF/Mellon will aid in promoting Tuskegee University's Legacy Museum's art historical legacy and the art legacies of 17 other HBCUs to people throughout the nation and world," Robinson said. According to its website: "The UNCF/Mellon Programs were created in 1989 with a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Designed with the goal of strengthening the number of qualified minority faculty within the Academy, these programs target undergraduates and faculty at the consortium of 37 UNCF institutions and Hampton University." Tuskegee University president, Dr. Brian L. Johnson, is a 1995 UNCF/Mellon Fellow. The Tuskegee University Legacy Museum received its 2016 Teaching and Learning Institute Grant to support several vital projects in addition to the conference, which is the first step in a two-part process to make the institutions' data and collections accessible and searchable from around the world. The linking of the institutions will also strengthen the teaching and learning environments of each of the participating schools and provide curricular enhancement for the students at the HBCUs using the respective museums, galleries and art spaces as teaching tools. Students at each campus as well as the national and international public will be able to access the collections of the HBCUs, individually and collectively. "Library Services is excited about this opportunity to expand our reach," said Juanita Roberts, director of Tuskegee University Library Services. Projects incorporated into The Teaching and Learning Institute: * Collection of materials from all of the 18 coalition members to be used to populate an interpretative tool(s). * An on-site Teaching and Learning Institute where coalition members can convene, connect and coalesce around a tool(s). * Commitment and planning for the implementation of the tool(s) which is the second part of the two-part process, as well as planning for and the creation of curriculum materials, symposia at the 18 sites, the creation of books and articles chronicling this watershed event. The Coalition Participants: Bennett College, Clark Atlanta University, Fisk University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Howard University, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A & T University, North Carolina Central University, Prairie View A&M University, Spelman College, Texas Southern University, Talladega College, Tougaloo College, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Winston-Salem State University. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 150 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.