FREE SPEECH ZONE | May is Museum Month in Minnesota
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Minnesotans are museum enthusiasts – so much so we will be celebrating May 2012 as Minnesota Museums Month. – the first in the nation, it is said. And we will be hosting thousands of museum professionals and supporters at the American Association of Museums annual conference meeting in the Twin Cities April 29-May 1.Free Speech ZoneThe Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. The opinions expressed in the Free Speech Zone and Neighborhood Notes, as well as the opinions of bloggers, are their own and not necessarily the opinion of the TC Daily Planet.For the most part, Minnesotans know about and often have visited the Minnesota Institute of Art and the Walker, the Science Museum, the History Center, the Weisman and the Goldstein Museum of Design on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. Lin Nelson-Mayson, director of the Goldstein, chairs the Minnesota Association of Museums, the organization spearheading the Minnesota Museums Month initiative. According to the Minnesota Association of Museums, Minnesota has 600 museums with an economic impact of more than $300 million annually.So what and where are these 600 centers of interest? For starts, 55 are in the Twin Cities. We know the majors, but have you visited the Firefighters Museum in Northeast Minneapolis, or the new African American Museum and Cultural Center in South Minneapolis, the Bakken Museum near Lake Calhoun or the Model Railroad Museum at Bandana Square in St. Continue Reading