Grants:Project/Rapid/Jewish Museum/Second Annual Edit-a-thon

statusFunded

Rapid Grants

The Jewish Museum Second Annual Edit-a-thon

This grant would support the Jewish Museum's second annual Edit-a-thon on Sunday, March 3, 2019, which will help improve visibility and scholarship of women artists in our collection.

targetWikipedia (en); Art+Feminism

start dateMarch 1

end dateMarch 31

budget (USD)$1400

grant typeOrganization

contact(s)• rkushnick@thejm.org

organization (if applicable)• The Jewish Museum

friendly space expectations

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Project Goal

Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.

1. This grant would support the Jewish Museum's second annual Edit-a-thon on Sunday, March 3, 2019, which will help improve visibility and scholarship of women artists in our collection.

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

We will be hosting one edit-a-thon on Sunday, March 3, 2019 that will include a gallery walkthrough of the Museum’s temporary exhibition Martha Rosler: Irrespective, a training session on becoming a Wikipedia editor, and an open editing session.

2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.

The Jewish Museum’s wide social media following includes an actively engaged community of staff, members, and visitors. With more than 173,000 followers on Twitter, 46,000 followers on Facebook, 63,000 followers on Instagram, and 125,000 email subscribers, we will reach individuals who are interested in our organization and programming. The event will also be featured on the Museum’s website, with general information, a schedule of the day’s events, and a link to RSVP. To advertise this event, the Museum will partner with an outside, relevant organization like the Council of American Jewish Museums or the Jewish Women's Archive. This event is a co-presentation with Art+Feminism and will be advertised on their website to help spread the word to even more community members.

3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?

Yes, Museum staff member Carlos Acevedo, Digital Asset Manager, will lead the Wikipedia training event portion of the event this year. He is an experienced Wikipedia editor and holds a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute. Other experienced Wikipedia editors and staff members will be available for questions and editing support throughout the program

4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

The Museum plans to provide participants with training materials prior to the event as well as on-site tutorials and demonstrations. Participants will be asked to bring their own laptops and power cords, however the Museum will provide a limited number of laptops to those who may not have one or are unable to bring their own. The event space will be equipped with WiFi and A/V tools as well. Participants will have access to the Museum’s online collection (with a special tag highlighting women artists) and exhibition history, made available online, as well as a list of references related to women artists to ensure the highest quality of content is written. This year, we will also encourage members of the Jewish Museum’s online community to participate remotely if they are unable to attend the event in person or live outside of New York City. The event will coincide with the final day of the Museum’s temporary exhibition, Martha Rosler: Irrespective. A gallery walkthrough with catalogue and type designers Miko McGinty and Rebecca Sylvers, as well as the Museum’s Leon Levy Assistant Curator Shira Backer will be included as part of the edit-a-thon. To incentivize participation this year, we will also offer a women artist prize pack from the Jewish Museum Shop featuring products created by women artists, including Deborah Kass, Judy Chicago, and others, to the participant who completes the most edits.

5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

In keeping with practices instituted at last year’s edit-a-thon, participants will receive a follow-up email after the event thanking them for their work and sharing the stats of how many articles were added or improved. The email will also ask for feedback so that future events can be even more successful. In addition to the email, information on how many articles were added or improved will be shared on the Museum’s social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as the Museum’s website so that our entire community may experience the impact of this event, remain connected to the Museum, and inspire future Wikipedia editing.

6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

Founded in 1904, the Jewish Museum is dedicated to the enjoyment, understanding, and preservation of art and Jewish culture. In celebrating Jewish contributions to global culture, it focuses on broad humanistic and aesthetic concerns from ancient to contemporary times, offering intellectually stimulating, educational, and provocative exhibitions and programs for visitors of all backgrounds. Core to the Museum is our collection of nearly 30,000 objects, considered to be one of the largest and most important of its kind. While more than 300 women artists are represented in our collection, many of which are significantly under-recognized or not acknowledged at all on Wikipedia. Participants at our second annual edit-a-thon will continue to overturn this issue and provide essential, new information for all to appreciate. The edit-a-thon represents a popular component of our education and outreach programs that that complement its exhibitions and collection, engaging audiences through tours, lectures, concerts, multi-generational activities, and collaborative art workshops. Due to the success of last year’s event, the Jewish Museum has decided to host a second annual edit-a-thon. Last year’s event brought 50 participants to the museum and 30 of them became new editors. During the event 100 articles were either created or improved. Given the popularity of this event, we hope to see more participants create or improve even more articles at this year’s event.

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

1. Number of events 1
2. Number of participants 100
3. Number of new editors 30
4. Number of of articles created or improved 150
5. Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events) N/A

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

The Jewish Museum's edit-a-thon will once again be organized by full-time Museum staff members, led by Director of Digital JiaJia Fei and Manager of Public Programs Jenna Weiss, who are both experienced Wikipedia editors. JiaJia Fei will handle promotional efforts via the Museum's social media outlets and website as well as schedule email campaigns before and after the event. She will work with IT to ensure necessary digital resources such as WiFi Network capabilities are set up during the event. Jenna Weiss will organize the overall event logistics for editing and training, and coordinate the gallery tour component with presentations by one or two artists. Along with Visitor Experience, she will oversee event registration, check-in, catering, and staffing.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

1. Food and drink = $750

2. Miscellaneous supplies, printing costs, photographer = $350

3. Local travel costs for presenters/artists = $100

4. Shop merchandise by women artists to recognize exceptional contributions = $200

Total = $1,400 USD

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

Love this idea! So important and such a great fit for the Jewish Museum. Can't wait!

• 100% support this project - so important to help give women artists their due! Great job, Jewish Museum! Amcinnyc (talk) 14:32, 7 February 2019 (UTC)
• The Jewish Museum is an amazing institution occupying a unique position at the intersection of art and Jewish culture, and an integral part of the Museum's mission is to be inclusive and accessible to people of diverse backgrounds and abilities. The edit-a-thon will engage the Museum's audience, while bringing attention to female artists in our collection who have been historically under-recognized on Wikipedia, making the information available to all future Wikipedia users. Jess feldman (talk) 15:06, 7 February 2019 (UTC)
• The Jewish Museum plays a unique, singular role in the conservation, presentation and story-telling around Jewish culture. The work they do in ensuring that relevant WIkimedia content current accurate is necessary and valuable. I whole-heartedly endorse this work and hope that the foundation continues to generously support it with this grant. Karmester (talk) 15:32, 11 February 2019 (UTC)
• This is such a critical project, and comes at such a critical time. I fully endorse this initiative to improve the representation of women artists on Wikipedia. Vajiajia (talk) 15:39, 11 February 2019 (UTC)
• Art+Feminism's Edit-A-Thon is such a crucial initiative! It's truly incredible to watch this project grow, ensuring content on Wikipedia is inclusive and free from bias. 72.43.130.34 18:31, 11 February 2019 (UTC)
• Excited to bring people together again at the Jewish Museum to lift up women artists. Domingolastar (talk) 14:56, 12 February 2019 (UTC)
• Great event! BrklynKat (talk) 14:42, 21 February 2019 (UTC)