country
activities

Country Director
Jane Safer

Co-Directors in Hungary
Amy Módly, Linda Vadász

Chairman, Hungary Advisory Board
Andre H. Friedman

Consultants

Paxton Barnes, Grant Beglarian, Alexander Brody, Schuyler G. Chapin, Honee Hess, Michalann Hobson, Bradford Kelleher, Brian Lacey, Sharon Litwin, Peter Lyman, Pamela Myers, Ward Mintz, Jane D. Norman, Jillian Poole, Charles Ritcheson, Julius Rudel, George Stuart Sexton, III, Wendy Tiffin, Deborah Ziska

Activities Summary

Hungarian National Museum In follow-up to fall 1999 consultations in Budapest, The Fund submitted an overview report to the Hungarian National Museum with observations and recommendations on the National Museum’s reconstruction plans. Deborah Ziska, Press and Public Information Officer for the National Gallery of Art in Washington and Jane Safer prepared the report. It addresses overall goals of the reconstruction project, recommendations for enhancing public spaces to attract a larger audience and for developing a communications and public outreach plan. The report makes a number of specific proposals and offers continued assistance to the Ministry of Culture in implementing these recommendations, either by locating experts who can help the Ministry or by direct Fund help. Fund representatives in Hungary held follow-up discussions with Ministry officials in early June and were pleased to learn that a number of recommendations had already been implemented.

Museums Hungary The Fund arranged for Larry Warsh, publisher of Museums Magazines, to come to Budapest in May to discuss launching Museums Hungary with Peter Deme, Board Member of the Pulszky Association of Hugarian Museum Professionals and Public Relations Director of the National Museum (as well as a member of the Board of Advisors to The Fund); Deputy State Secretary for Tourism, Peter Kraft; and publisher of several English language publications, Peter Freed. As a result of these meetings, an agreement was reached between Mr. Warsh and Mr. Freed to publish a quarterly magazine under the same format as the original, available for New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. Discussions are underway to produce the first issue in March 2001, to coincide with the Spring Festival, an annual cultural event in Hungary.

Museum Education Project — Pilot Project At the 1999 Museum Education Conference in Budapest, co-sponsored by The Fund, Linda Vadasz, co-director for Hungary and President of the Friends of the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, presented a workshop on Friends’ programs. As a result of these meetings, a seventh grade teacher from one of Budapest’s poorer neighborhood schools formed an educational partnership with the museum.

The pilot project consisted of three phases: the students first wrote letters to the museum staff about their jobs; they then visited the museum, touring the facilities and meeting their “pen pals”; and finally, the children conducted an art history research project based on a particular painting at the museum. Because of the success of this innovative project, it is planned to expand the concept to other schools and other museums.

Museum Directors’ Visit to the United StatesIn October 2000, a group of Hungarian museum directors visited the United States under the sponsorship of the United States Information Service. Deborah Ziska and Jane Safer were called upon to put together an itinerary for the group during their visits to New York and Washington. The group had a full and informative program, which included appointments in New York at the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Historical Society, the Frick Museum and the Museum of American Indian of the Smithsonian. In Washington, Deborah Ziska hosted the group at the National Gallery where Jillian Poole joined them. The museum directors were particularly interested in learning more about how institutions adjust to change, organizational structure, capital campaigns and the licensing of images in their collections for commercial uses.

Future Plans

Jillian Poole has been invited to consult with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. This will take place for five days in early February. Jane Safer will also return to Budapest early in the year to confer with some of the newly appointed museum directors to ascertain whether they desire any Fund services.

Reports:
Report on Budapest Schools Exchange (pdf format)