Category Archives: Uncategorized
Museums Seek Clarity, Face Challenges to Budgets and Relevance
Lately I’ve been taking advantage of the comp museum admission perk through my employment with New-York Historical Society. I’ve saved a pretty good amount of cash at some of New York’s premier cultural institutions ($25, MoMA; $20, Frick Collection; $22, … Continue reading
Frames Upon Frames At Collector’s Showroom
Today I went to Diego Salazar Antique Frames in Long Island City, New York. It’s a place well known in the frame game (Merkelson 2013), but I surprisingly found it hidden among steel-doored warehouses just south of Queens Boulevard. Having … Continue reading
Finnish Baby Buggy Bumper: Finland’s “Maternity Package” as Cultural Heritage
In 1938, the Finnish government introduced the Maternity Grants Act. That year, Finland’s expectant mothers each received a baby shower of supplies for their newborn. All-weather clothing, health and hygiene products, bedding, a toy–these were some of life’s bare necessities … Continue reading
Lordy Lord, Lourdes! Pilgrimage Site Suffers Record Flooding
The rainwater and snowmelt that flooded southwest France just over a week ago has finally receded. The normally tranquil Gave de Pau river rose as much as 15 feet, spilling over its banks and pouring into medieval towns across the Pyrenees. … Continue reading
The Great Hall at National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Photo: Nicholas Merkelson The Great Hall at the National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.) Once the largest room in America, the Great Hall was originally conceived to display miniature models required of inventors when the building housed the United States Patent … Continue reading
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Culture in Peril 