Getting in tune with the Smithsonian in the birthplace of country music

Guest blogger Rene Rodgers, associate curator at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, writes about what it means to a small museum to become a Smithsonian Affiliate.

After several years of planning, fundraising, community support, and exhibit design and construction, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum finally opened its doors in August 2014 in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia. For everyone who had believed in the museum becoming a reality and worked so hard to make it happen, the grand opening weekend was a real thrill with staff and volunteers, local and regional supporters, and visitors from many states and even other countries, enjoying the museum’s exhibits, live music performances, and a vintage radio show recording.

Since that first day, we’ve had the excitement of opening our first special exhibit, the development of a variety of education and outreach programs, the opportunity to partner with other local museums and cultural organizations, media coverage from outlets such as National Geographic and The New York Times, and so much more. And as one of the oldest Affiliates—the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (the progenitor of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum) originally became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 1999—we’ve had ample opportunity to take advantage of the resources and support that are possible through our link to the Smithsonian.

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia. (Photograph by Fresh Air Photo)

In 2012, we were able to offer “Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos,” an after-school astrophotography program for under-served middle school students using the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory‘s Micro-Observatory Telescope Network. This program gave these students access to resources and opportunities they might never have had otherwise, a truly significant benefit we were able to share with our community through the Smithsonian.

More recently, we opened our first Smithsonian special exhibit – New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music. After its life as a Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit, New Harmonies has now found its permanent home at BCMM, something made possible through the hard work of our Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager Alma Douglas and Carol Harsh, Director of MoMS at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

After several months of negotiating the many steps in the process, 19 huge crates arrived on a truck this past January. Unloading and unpacking each of the crates was like opening a treasure chest – each one revealing another piece in the exhibit puzzle: a panel about sacred music, a diddley bow, a flip panel about the Kingston Trio, an audio box, a banner.

The “New Harmonies” crates arrive at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum (Photo courtesy of BCMM)

In March, we prepared the special exhibits gallery for New Harmonies. Two days were spent with our volunteers figuring out how the panels fit together – using directional pictograms that made it a little bit like putting together IKEA furniture – and working out the best configuration of all the elements in the gallery. We also created some of our own elements to add to the space – a “woodshed” where visitors can watch short videos about how to play various instruments and then have a go themselves and a lounge area where records can be played on a retro record player.

BCMM’s core exhibits focus on the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, their role in the development of the commercial country music industry, and the impact of the 1927 recordings on American music. New Harmonies is a wonderful fit for our museum, and its exploration of the distinct cultural identities of American roots music allows us to extend our mission beyond the focus of our core exhibits. It has also proved a wonderful opportunity for us to develop interesting programming that will give us the chance to bring new audiences to the museum in the coming months – everything from screening films by Alan Lomax and a concert by Piedmont blues artist John Dee Holeman to a shape note sing and Native American music and dancing demonstrations. We are also looking into the possibility of sharing this exhibit with smaller regional institutions, libraries, and schools.

Smithsonian affiliation is a real honor, and we are proud to be a part of the affiliate network. More importantly, however, Smithsonian affiliation gives BCMM the chance to bring new exhibits, resources, programming, and so much more to our local community – a way to expand horizons and opportunities. We are excited about what the future will bring!

A version of this post was originally published by the Smithsonian Affiliations blog, the affiliate.

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