FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2011
Historical Society of New Mexico
Historical Society of New Mexico announces Dorothy Woodward Award
(Santa Fe, April 27, 2011)—The Historical Society of New Mexico has announced that the New Mexico Museum of Art will receive its 2011 Dorothy Woodward Award for advancement of history education. The Award is being given specifically for the Museum’s New Mexico Art Tells New Mexico History, a web-based history curriculum for students and teachers.
The New Mexico Museum of Art through New Mexico Art Tells New Mexico History (nmartmuseum.org/nmhistory) demonstrates how compelling pictures are when it unleashed the power of 200 images to tell the many stories of the state’s history.
The Museum, a state-funded institution, wanted to make its rich collection of art available to every corner of New Mexico, in a meaningful way. The project’s origin was its permanent exhibition, How the West is One, which tells the story of art in New Mexico, while also telling the state’s history.
Teachers and museum staff collaborated to ensure the website’s content could be used freely and creatively by teachers, at all grade levels, to develop lessons matching the state education social studies curriculum. With the New Mexico Content Standards as the core, six themes of New Mexico history emerged.
Four themes have been completed—Ancestral Peoples; Opening the West; Growing New Mexico; and People, Places and Politics. Historical essays set the stage for the art to tell the story. Information about the artist and critical thinking questions round out the narrative. Students can explore further through weblinks and book references. Two more themes, Art and Architecture and Landscape and Environment are coming soon.
Through this joint privately and publically funded project that involved teachers in Santa Fe, Hobbs, and Albuquerque, the museum bursts out of its walls. Access to the collection is expanded to 24-hours a day, throughout the state, and not only to the education community, but to anyone interested in the art and history of New Mexico.
Thanks for this project go to Senator Gay Kernan, Hobbs, New Mexico; Stephen and Lety Schwartz; Mary Jebsen, Assistant Director, New Mexico Museum of Art; Lorraine Schechter, Website Content Development; Dianne Beal, Site Researcher; Devon Skeele, Librarian/Webmaster, New Mexico Museum of Art; Doug Patinka, Website Manager, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs; Michelle Roberts, Museum Senior Registrar; Art and Christine Gómez, Education Consultants; Teachers Advisory Committee, Hobbs, NM: Dianne Beal, Jan Brian, Heather Cummings, Christy Hepp, Tyson Ledgerwood, Becky McMurray, Nancy Powell, Kara Wink; IDEAL-NM : Virginia Padilla, Marie Julienne.
Michael Stevenson, President of the Historical Society of New Mexico, said; “One of this program’s greatest contributions is demonstrating how intertwined are New Mexico history and New Mexico art. This web-based learning site is not only appropriate for students and teachers, but is also educational for all.”
The Director of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Mary Kershaw, will accept the Woodward Award at the Historical Society’s Annual Awards Banquet at the Ruidoso Convention Center on May 7, 2011. The Awards ceremony is part of the 2011 New Mexico History Conference being held in Ruidoso May 5 - 8, with other events taking place at Lincoln and Fort Stanton State Monuments. For more information, see the Society’s website, www.hsnm.org.
A dedicated educator throughout a long and distinguished career, Dorothy Woodward earned her Ph.D. at Yale University in 1935. By that time she had already taught history in the Denver Public Schools for several years. Soon after leaving New Haven, she joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico, where she remained a fixture in the history department for the next twenty years. A contemporary of France V. Scholes, Woodward was sometimes called "La Suprema" by her students, who included Myra Ellen Jenkins, Robert W. Delaney, and other well-known historians.
Media Contact:
Michael Stevenson
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