Monday, January 30, 2012

MCCA Grant

The Museum submitted an American Association of Museums' Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad grant today. Helena and Susan worked find a suitable partner across the border, and the Museum submitted with Terra Peninsular, an organization focusing on art and land conservation. The $99,000 program aims to use combine traditional forms of craft production with Kumeyaay language studies in the learning method of situational fluency.

Below is the abstract: 
This project engages international and local communities in meaningful dialogue about complex border issues through youth-based cultural exchanges aimed at cultural fluency. Yuman cultures, which shared a common past for thousands of years, have been separated by the artificial border between the United States and Mexico. The traditional crafts associated with desert survival have remained intact on the Mexican side of the border, while language structures and traditional songs have remained intact on the US side of the border. The goals of identity building, strengthening community, and encouraging cultural exchange will aid directly in giving several marginalized native communities tools to survive the current crises of the border.

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