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$links = '';



$release_date ='July 3, 2003';



$contact_1='Anne Scher/Alex Wittenberg<br>The Jewish Museum<br>212.423.3271';

$contact_1_email='pressoffice@thejm.org';





$contact_2 = '';

$contact_2_email='';



$meta_key='jewish museum, jewish art, museum, jewish culture, jewish identity, judaism, ceremonial art';

$meta_desc='The Jewish Museum in New York City explores 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture.';

$title='THE JEWISH MUSEUM LAUNCHES NEWLY REDESIGNED DYNAMIC AND INTERACTIVE WEB SITE';



$sub_title='http://www.thejewishmuseum.org';



$content='NEW YORK, NY - The Jewish Museum, one of the world\'s largest and most important institutions devoted to exploring the intersection of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture, has expanded its presence on the Internet with a complete redesign and reorganization of its Web site, http://www.thejewishmuseum.org.  A unique, new experience has been created for Internet users.  Formerly a static, two-dimensional, linear design, the newly redesigned site has been transformed into a dynamic and interactive virtual museum.  



<p> Through an innovative design concept, site users can now sample many experiences similar to those of actual Jewish Museum visitors while also enjoying greatly expanded, unique opportunities for exploration only available on the site.  Multiple pathways take users into the depth of the site so they can explore whatever areas are of interest.  Highlights include an interactive online exhibition of works from the Museum\'s world-renowned collection, a section on ongoing provenance research regarding selected works in the collection, media clips from the Museum\'s television and radio archive, and online special projects related to temporary exhibitions.  Visitors to the online exhibition will now be able to choose how they look at works in the collection and how different objects or art works relate to each other.  From these multiple associations interesting juxtapositions will be created, further enriching the experience of the user and creating opportunities for learning and discovery.  In addition, site visitors will be able to access new e-commerce options - online purchasing of public and family programs tickets, and Museum memberships - and enjoy a greatly expanded section on the Museum\'s shops.</p>



<p> The redesigned Web site can be a destination in and of itself for those who cannot come to visit The Jewish Museum in New York City.  Those able to visit the actual Museum will be able to make new connections between the content offered in the Museum\'s gallery space and on the Web site.  In addition, The Jewish Museum\'s Web site now becomes a benchmark for the Museum\'s overall branding strategy and is its most public and accessible communications vehicle. Through its design and content, the site conveys that The Jewish Museum is a museum of art and culture for people of all backgrounds.</p>



<p><b>Innovative Design Concept</b><br>

Three pathways from the home page will allow users to easily access many layers of information and choose routes according to their own interests: the navigation bar which will always appear in the middle of the screen; a new area on the home page under the navigation bar offering frequently updated quick links to what is on view and what is new; and the thematic slide show presentation on the top 1/4 of the screen pairing images of works from the permanent collection with questions, answers and links to different areas of the site.  The theme of the slide show is portraits. As you move from page to page, different portraits will be shown, each with a different question.  The user can get the answer to a particular question, find out more about the particular work or image, go deeper into the site, or go on to the next image and question in the series. There are ten images in the inaugural series. The opening image, Deborah Kass\' 1993 painting, Double Red Yentl, Split (My Elvis), is paired with the question "How does this portrait comment on roles played by gender and religion in today\'s culture?" A photograph of Gregory Peck looking at the Urbino Torah Ark is paired with the question "When did Gregory Peck visit The Jewish Museum?"  This series will change quarterly.</p>



<p><b>Interactive Online Exhibition: <i>Making Connections in Art and Jewish Culture</i></b><br>

The new online exhibition, <i>Making Connections in Art and Jewish Culture</i>, presents close to 60 works from the Museum\'s collection organized by three themes:  Acculturation, Interpretation, and Text and Commentary.  There are five to ten sub-themes for each major theme.  Visitors can look at a 1961 Ben Shahn painting, We Kindle These Lights, and then connect to a video of Ben Shahn talking about a parable from the Talmud.  A 1751 marriage contract from Italy takes the user to a contemporary marriage contract created in 1994 by Gay Block and Malka Drucker.  There are several different paths that users can select to take them through the online exhibition:  from object to object, theme to theme, or from object to theme to object to theme.  Of the works in the online exhibition, 32 are not on public view in the actual Museum.</p>



<p><b>The Collection</b><br>

The Jewish Museum\'s permanent collection demonstrates how Jewish culture is reflected in art.  The collection consists of 28,000 works from ancient objects to contemporary art, in a variety of mediums and styles.  The collection area provides a new way for visitors to sample the Museum\'s renowned collection.  Close to 70 representative works are divided by medium: painting and sculpture, photography, prints and drawings, antiquities, ceremonial art, decorative arts, numismatics, installation and time-based art, and the Museum\'s television and radio archive - the National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting (NJAB).  The NJAB section presents an overview, links to other media resources, and media clips (called the Virtual Jukebox).  Highlights from the NJAB Virtual Jukebox include video excerpts of Golda Meir being interviewed by Elie Wiesel, Gertrude Berg in the popular TV sitcom The Goldbergs, and an audio clip on Bob Dylan featuring an interview with a family friend describing Dylan\'s bar mitzvah.   Works by such artists as Rembrandt, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Alfred Stieglitz, Elie Nadelman, Max Weber, R.B. Kitaj, and Nancy Spero, among others, are included in the collection area.  </p>



<p><b>Provenance Research Project</b><br>

In compliance with the American Association of Museums\' recommendations, The Jewish Museum has closely examined and is continuing to research the provenance, or ownership, records for approximately 379 European paintings in its collection, that were acquired after 1932 and created before 1946. The majority of these works were acquired directly from the artists or their families, eliminating the likelihood of Nazi confiscation; nevertheless, all records were reviewed carefully and provenance research of all works in this category remains an ongoing commitment and priority at the Museum.  The Jewish Museum\'s Provenance Research Project currently lists close to 50 works on the Museum\'s Web site.  This site will be updated in installments as new information is discovered and documentation and images are transferred to an electronic format.  </p>

<p><b>Site Design</b><br>

This is the first major redesign of the Museum\'s site since it was originally launched in 1997, and the first phase of a two-part redesign process.  The planning for the site redesign had phase two and the future in mind, with the designers creating a structure to build upon and grow. Phase two will be implemented in the coming year, with a major expansion of educational resources and activities for children, families and teachers.  In future years, additional works will continually be added to the online exhibition and the collection section of the site.<br><br>

The Web site was designed by Perimetre of San Francisco led by Perimetre founder and creative director Stephen Jaycox in collaboration with a team of Jewish Museum curators and staff.  

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Major support for the site has been provided by Robert S. Kaplan, a Jewish Museum trustee, with additional support from the Elayne P. Bernstein Fund and Schimmel Trust.</p>

<span class="credits"> For general information on The Jewish Museum, the public may visit the Museum\'s Web site at http://www.thejewishmuseum.org or call 212.423.3200.  The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan.  Museum hours are Sunday through Wednesday, 11am to 5:45pm; Thursday, 11am to 8pm; and Friday, 11am to 3pm.  Museum admission is $10.00 for adults, $7.50 for students and senior citizens, free for children under 12 and Jewish Museum members.  Admission is pay what you wish on Thursday evenings from 5pm to 8pm (to 9 pm in July and August).</span><br><br>

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<span class="credits">Perimetre is an interdisciplinary communication design agency that serves clients internationally from its offices in San Francisco.  The agency provides the full spectrum of digital agency services for clients in the museum, publishing, software, electronics and tourism industries.  For further information, please visit <a href="http://www.perimetre.us">www.perimetre.us</a>, or contact Stephen Jaycox, Creative Director, at 415.284.0197.</span>';

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