A unique component of the Smithsonian marks 60 years in business this year. Smithsonian Associates bills itself as the largest museum-based education program in the world. It offers many courses and seminars for lifelong learners. Smithsonian Associates director Fredie Adelman joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin in the studio to provide the details.
Interview transcript:
Tom Temin: And tell us about Smithsonian Associates. You are of the Smithsonian, but not exactly the Smithsonian?
Fredie Adelman: Correct. We are the education nerve center at the Smithsonian, but we are entirely self-supporting, which is an amazing feat that our incredible staff have put together. We operate independently and we’re a business activity. So we rely on all of our dedicated, committed, lifelong learners to invest in their own learning and come to all of the different programs that we offer. These programs are inspired by and going beyond everything that the Smithsonian has to offer.
Tom Temin: And the programs then are funded by people that take the courses, not by foundations or grants or that type of thing?
Fredie Adelman: We’re mostly funded through registrations. We have a very active community of lifelong learners that come in for particular benefits. So we do study tours, we have studio arts classes and we’re a lifelong learning program. So we have a theater for early learners and we rely on donors to help support that kind of activity. So everything that we do is because people are investing in learning at all different levels and of all different types.
Tom Temin: And you mentioned studio arts and study tours, is it all visual or what about the other arts that might come from somewhere in the Smithsonian?
Fredie Adelman: The arts, the sciences, the culture. We do in-person tastings and we have a cheese program coming up that’s going to be in person. We’re going to be celebrating D.C. women’s chefs in March because March is Women’s History Month. So those are in-person programs. But we also do online programming. About 88 or 90% of our programs now are available through Zoom. So you don’t even have to be in the D.C. area to access the Smithsonian at, really, any time. So we’re the only dot-org with the Smithsonian. So if you look for smithsonian.associates.org, you’ll find us and we offer about 1,000 different program options every year.
Tom Temin: Wow. So and they cater to all the senses, it sounds like?
Fredie Adelman: All the senses and all of the intellectual pursuits. So we have an astronaut coming later this month. We’ll be exploring Smithsonian Gardens. We’re going to go back behind the scenes with Smithsonian exhibits later this month. So we just try to offer everything for everybody. We look at World Heritage sites and we have instructors who come from all over the world as well.
Tom Temin: And the instructors I was going to ask, are they also connected with the Smithsonian, its curators and so forth? Or tell us more about that.
Fredie Adelman: Sure. We love working with our colleagues who are curators, who are scientists, who are researchers and who also introduce us to professors and other experts in whatever endeavor that they’re working on. We’ve worked with other federal agencies. We’ve been very happy to connect with different people who write about their experiences, have great things to say about their experiences. One of our most popular programs is an informal conversation with some of the Supreme Court justices that always does very, very well for us because it’s a little bit of a side of the Supreme Court that you don’t always hear about.
Tom Temin: Yeah, they have their own interests and hobbies. They are actually people.
Fredie Adelman: Correct.
Tom Temin: When they get past the robe, so to speak.
Fredie Adelman: Exactly. So we’re happy to make those introductions in a very Smithsonian way. We’re all about research. The Smithsonian, as you know, it’s such an honor to work there and we’re such a trusted entity within the entire museum community within D.C. and on the national stage, on the international stage. So we are always excited to be able to introduce people who have lots of knowledge and then give them an opportunity to sort of sit back a little bit and tell their personal stories.
Tom Temin: We’re speaking with Fredie Adelman. She’s director of the Smithsonian Associates. And do the courses and activities take place only in the DMV because the Smithsonian footprint is national?
Fredie Adelman: The Smithsonian footprint is national. We are very proud to be on Zoom. So you don’t have to be in the DMV. Our in-person programs do take place around the National Mall and the different Smithsonian museums. For instance, we have a long-standing relationship with the National Museum of American History where we do concerts, both the classical and the jazz concerts with them. And then we take tours to nearby areas. So we go to the Philadelphia Flower Show, for example. We’ll be going to North Dakota to trace Theodore Roosevelt’s impact there. So we are a little bit of everything for everybody who is an interested and avid learner at any stage in their learning.
Tom Temin: And how are you marking the 60th year?
Fredie Adelman: With absolute extreme delight and joy. We are very, very excited to be celebrating 60 years. We’ll do a look back. So look for an announcement about a small historic 3D timeline that will be running later in the year. We have some exciting programs coming up. We’ll be looking at architecture in D.C. We will be looking at.
Tom Temin: Yeah, there is actually good architecture sometimes in D.C. Not all of it. You can find it if you’re looking.
Fredie Adelman: So we try to take people on walks around D.C. to look at architecture. So we’ll bring some highlights. There is certain presenters who we’ve been working with for a long time and will be making sure to bring those people back. We are looking forward to a fall festival about everything Smithsonian. So keep your eyes on our website and that smithsonianassociates.org and will be announcing the presentations for that birthday celebration in October.
Tom Temin: And just out of curiosity, the White House has its own kind of cultural subhistory.
Fredie Adelman: Correct.
Tom Temin: You mentioned it was started in the 1960s, a little bit after Jackie Kennedy in 1965. But she kind of touched off a resurgence in the White House history and culture. Is that part of the mix here?
Fredie Adelman: Absolutely. In fact, I’m glad you mentioned it. We have a program coming up on the White House presidential china, the dishware, the porcelain, which is always very exciting. We have a very good relationship with the White House Historical Association and we cultivate relationships with all of the other cultural organizations, both in D.C., but also beyond that.
Tom Temin: And besides running it, what’s your personal interest in this panoply of art offerings and culture and science and technology?
Fredie Adelman: So I come out of a museum education background and museum educators are inherently curious about the world. We want to know more and we want to learn in ways that go beyond a textbook. So I’m a museum kid from way, way back and I pretty much when anybody asks me what’s my favorite, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s the program I attended last night. No, wait a minute. It’s the one I’m going to tomorrow.’
Tom Temin: I guess it’s fair to say museums, like libraries, have completely changed since our childhood memories of places that were quiet, dark, dusty and static. That doesn’t characterize museums at all these days.
Fredie Adelman: Museums have really grown to appreciate and understand the value in their community. Museums are economic drivers. They are places for people who learn differently. They’re places for people to explore that sort of dusty old notion. I’m not sure where that came from.
Tom Temin: The British Museum, I think.
Fredie Adelman: Possibly. But these are places that are vibrant and exciting and offer opportunities for so many diverse communities. They’re exciting places and we’re happy to host people and we’re happy to make them available 24/7, which is pretty much Smithsonian Associates.
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