Italian American Museum, Museum Of Chinese In America To Receive Marco Polo Ambassador Awards October 14th

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that the Italian American Museum along with The Museum of Chinese in America will be receiving the Marco Polo Ambassador Award on October 14, 2022. Please see the flier below for details on tickets and sponsorships. All are welcome to attend..

Sincerely,

Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa

From the event announcement about the Marco Polo festival:

THE SILK ROAD AMBASSADOR AWARDS DINNER is an evening to celebrate and recognize exceptional local leaders for their outstanding contributions towards and promotion of harmony, goodwill, and cooperation to the two communities of Chinatown and Little Italy.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR HONOREES:

ITALIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM– The Italian American Museum, located in Manhattan’s Little Italy since 2007, has embarked on a major project that will quadruple its size at its current location. But it is more than a physical expansion. It is an endeavor to ensure that Little Italy will have a permanent anchor institution that will preserve and promote not only the neighborhood, but the legacy of Italians in America from Peter Caesar Alberti in 1635 to present-day immigrants who continue to seek opportunity on these shores.  The Museum’s mission will also be to celebrate modern-day Italian culture with exhibitions and programs that feature artists, authors and thinkers from Italy.

With construction beginning in early 2018 and slated for completion in 2022, the new Italian American Museum will encompass four levels in a new structure located on Mulberry St. It will feature a majestic street-level entrance, four levels for permanent and temporary exhibitions, and an auditorium for film screenings, lectures, presentations, meetings and theatrical, music and dance performances. The Italian American Museum was officially founded on June 12, 2001 when it was chartered under the aegis of the University of the State of New York Education Department as a museum.

The Italian American Museum is more than an immigration museum. Its purpose is to document the myriad of contributions made by the people of Italy and their descendants to the very fabric of American society from its earliest origins and its philosophical underpinning through philosophers, explorers, adventurers, industrialists, scientists, educators, politicians, and everyday extraordinary people, telling the whole story which continues to flourish and evolve in America today.

MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICA – The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) aims to engage audiences in an ongoing and historical dialogue, in which people of all backgrounds are able to see American history through a critical perspective, to reflect on their own experiences, and to make meaningful connections between: the past and the present, the global and the local, themselves and others.

Since its founding in 1980, MOCA has celebrated the living history of the Chinese experience in America by preserving and presenting the 200-year history, heritage, culture, and diverse experiences of American communities of Chinese descent. Founded as a community-based organization, MOCA has over a period of four decades maintained our community centrality while gaining a national following of visitors and members. Our museum strives to be responsive to the moment; tell nuanced and unexpected stories; spotlight politically conscious issues; and provide a platform for open dialogue and dynamic programs. MOCA contributes to a fuller and more nuanced and layered American narrative in highlighting the stories of this immigrant community.

MOCA’s current Capital Campaign for a Home is a generational opportunity for MOCA to boldly claim its place within the American cultural narrative and safeguard the stories, legacies, and experiences of the Chinese in America. For the first time, MOCA is uniting the visionary designs of artist and architect, Maya Lin, with the cutting-edge innovation of Ralph Applebaum Associates to revolutionize a museum that integrates the past, present, and future aspirations of the Chinese American journey. This collaboration will result in an icon in New York City and will propel MOCA to new heights as a museum of conscience that is transnational in scope and impact.

Banner  Image: Event graphic. Image Credit – Marco Polo Festival

Italian American Museum

Logo A NEW HOME IN THE HEART OF LITTLE ITALY New Exterior The new Italian American Museum (IAM) will serve as a cultural hub and community nexus for Italian Americans and the Little Italy neighborhood. Through permanent and temporary exhibits, robust educational and cultural programming, and collaborations with the community, the IAM will become the preeminent center for learning about and engaging with Italian as a platform for sharing Italian American voices and celebrating Italian American achievements, the IAM will be interesting to both Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans, bringing Italian American culture and heritage to younger generations and a wide range of new audiences. The Italian American Museum preserves, promotes, and celebrates the culture and history of Italian Americans, serving as living record of their contributions to America and a bridge between the remarkable past and the evolving future of the community. By allowing Italian Americans to share their story in their voice, the Italian American Museum will encourage a full appreciation of what it means to be Italian American. News Progress Photos Building Update / Annual Appeal Dear friends, We are pleased to report that we have topped off our new building and the new brick facade is being applied. Below please find pictures of the new building and the brick facade. Topping off the building Close up of the new brick facade View of the brick facade on our building Due to COVID-19 we have postponed all of our fundraising activities for the year including our annual Golf Classic and Ambasciatore Awards dinner. However, we ask that you be as generous as possible during this time of our Annual Appeal since it will be our sole fundraiser for 2021. Please know that we sincerely appreciate your contributions and that funds raised will be used to support the construction for the new building. We do so look forward to seeing you again at the reopening of the “New” Italian American Museum in Fall 2022. We will be bigger and better than ever before. Thank you for your continued support of our Italian American Museum. Andrà tutto bene! Respectfully, Uff. Prof. Joseph V. Scelsa Italian American Museum 19th Annual Golf Classic to be held on Monday, June 6th at North Hills Country Club. North Hills Country Club Exhibitions The New Italian American Museum: Architectural renderings and model for the forthcoming newly designed museum. OUR STORY FROM COLUMBUS TO CUOMO From our beginnings in Little Italy The IAM is located on Mulberry Street in the heart of what was once the largest Italian community in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. We became aware of the need for our own Museum in 1999, with the launch of the first major exhibition on Italians in America at the New York Historical Society, “The Italians of New York: Five Centuries of Struggle and Achievement”. The exhibit was a great success and we realized that in order to be part of the cultural dialogue in America, we needed our own Museum. So in 2001, we were chartered in New York State as the first Italian Museum in America. In our Museum, we seek to tell our whole story from Columbus to Cuomo and everything in between, our struggles and our accomplishments through hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. It has not always been easy but we have much to be proud of, for our contributions to American society are enormous. Now we will have a secular cathedral for all to see, experience and appreciate where we came from and what we have achieved.