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KIDS ROCKWELL Art Lab is open Thursday – Monday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Plan your visit

Community Impact

The Rockwell Museum exists within and for our community. Since the Museum’s founding, the people of Corning, NY and the surrounding region continue to make The Rockwell a creative and innovative cornerstone of arts and culture.

The Museum’s work with children and families is central to our mission. The Rockwell education team provides programming for students and young people in the galleries, through classroom outreach and in the community with public art initiatives and celebrations.

Since the opening of the Museum’s KIDS ROCKWELL Art Lab in 2018, this accessible space on Market Street provides rotating new activities meeting the needs of youth and families to create and learn together. Since 2020, our expanded digital offerings provide even more access for different learning styles and locations. These arts education initiatives promote collaboration across economic, gender, racial and cultural backgrounds. The Museum’s work with students, youth and families is how we directly contribute to building a more just, diverse, and inclusive community for the future.

To maximize impact beyond the Museum walls, we routinely engage new groups through creative collaborations and shared learning experiences. The exceptional artworks under the Museum’s care invite multiple perspectives and require broad community participation to deeply reflect upon American art and identity. Embracing this broad context, The Rockwell is proud to serve as a venue and co-presenter for music, poetry, drama, gingerbread, and whatever our community dreams up next.

Mission Statement

Through compelling exhibitions and imaginative programs, The Rockwell Museum provokes curiosity, engagement and reflection about art and the American experience.

 

Vision Narrative: Reshaping Museum Engagement to Connect Americans

A museum that collects, interprets and reflects upon American art encourages visitors to see beyond a singular perspective on national identity. As such an organization, The Rockwell Museum is obligated to support an evolving understanding of the history and evolution of America—to show how the multifaceted nature of experience can be a source for dialogue and conversation; a force for cultural acceptance; and a tool for mutual understanding. 

With its position in Corning, NY, The Rockwell Museum serves a diverse audience of local community members and out-of-town visitors: students and teachers; community members who may not travel outside the region or visit another museum; an Ivy League-educated executive from Corning Incorporated; or a guest from outside our region who visits numerous museums and enjoys cultural experiences wherever they go. Our challenge is to represent “the world” to the Southern Tier but likewise Corning, NY, to the world.   

Through our growing collection, Smithsonian affiliation, partnerships throughout the region, and relationships with artists and thought leaders, there is no limit to the historical and contemporary stories we can tell. But for those stories to have lasting impact, they must be brought to life and made relevant. In the coming years, The Rockwell Museum will build on its past successes to push the limits of the museum experience and multiply the ways in which art can inspire visitors.   

Three interrelated principals will guide the pursuit of our vision and strategic goals:  

  1. Craft unexpected transformative experiences. Provide a deeply engaging environment–in program, presentation and service— that draws guests into their experience and holds their attention in ways they never could have anticipated. 
  2. Ignite curiosity, capture imagination. Guide guests to deeply explore art and the creative process, prompting discovery and creating personal connections.  
  3. Elevate ideas. Bridge disciplines, perspectives, and subjects across the institution to inspire dialogue and engage guests with complex realities.  

The Rockwell Museum will seek to broaden the spectrum of people’s understanding of the idea of America and American art, as well as be a leader in changing the way the visitor experience is conceptualized and manifested. Continuous reinvention and evolution will be required to succeed. The opportunity is limited only by our imagination, creativity and dedication to realizing a shared vision. 

Organizational Values

As a twenty-first century museum, The Rockwell Museum adheres to the norms of good governance including transparency, ethical stewardship, professionalism, and accountability to our community and stakeholders. The values that express our beliefs and guide our work are…

  • People. The Rockwell centers the individual in its experiences, exhibitions, programming, meetings, and engagements as our visitors, team members, volunteers, board and community are essential to everything we do.
  • Progress. The Rockwell employs its resources, position and programming as a force for good to improve mutual understanding, heighten empathy in our society, encourage a supportive environment and nurture connections between people.
  • Collaboration. The Rockwell embraces intentional and holistic collaborations and partnerships that strengthen the work of the Museum, enhance experiences and expand the possibilities of a museum focused on social impact.
  • Experimentation. The Rockwell believes in the power of experimentation, its successes and failures, to further the vision of the organization and deepen the connection to its programs, exhibitions, events and interpretation.
  • Zest.The Rockwell appreciates playful and unexpected approaches to language, design, interpretation, communications and organization which refresh, revitalize and enrich the museum experience.
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JEDAI Pillars

The Rockwell JEDAI Interdepartmental Team, formed in 2020, aims to guide The Rockwell Museum with courage and transparency to be a welcoming and inclusive place for all people by providing ongoing education, direction, implementation and evaluation relevant to justice, equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion.

Each JEDAI Pillar outlined here is intended to organize the Museum’s priorities, successes, experiments and goals. These guiding questions should be applied to our day-to-day work and big-picture strategic planning alike, holding ourselves and the organization accountable to JEDAI principles.

Art & Programs

The Rockwell Museum is gradually and consistently acquiring new works to diversify its permanent collection. Traveling exhibitions, loans and programming are selected to immediately impact the diverse stories we tell at the Museum. Partnerships with individual artists and national organizations boost the Museum’s efforts and expand our network to make waves.

Focus Areas
• Collection diversification and decolonization
• Diverse exhibitions
• Events and programs

Guiding Questions
• Are we diversifying our collections and exhibitions to better represent the American Experience and showcase a multitude of identities and perspectives?
• Are the art and programs relevant –relatable, connected to current events and issues that impact people’s lives?
• Are the art and programs broadening the Museum’s reach to new audiences?
• What voices are missing in our programming and community partnerships? Can we add them?

Space & Place

The Museum is committed to continuous improvement of its spaces, accommodations, messages and hospitality offerings from a JEDAI lens. This extends beyond the walls through digital platforms and communications. We strive for consistent representation of the Museum’s welcoming stance before, during and after an encounter, from marketing materials to planning and experiencing a visit.

Focus Areas
• Accessibility in physical spaces
• Communications and media planning
• Social Media

Guiding Questions
• Is the Museum a space focused on justice, equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusivity?
• Are we actively creating a welcoming space for everyone?
• Do we make the Museum more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming for our visitors and staff?
• How is our commitment to creating a welcoming place communicated with visitors, community, stakeholders, members and students?

Community Engagement

JEDAI principles sparked new and exciting collaborations, with accessibility and diversity at the forefront. We continued our collaboration with Corning-Painted Post district art teachers to offer tours culminating in student exhibitions. The development of an audio tour for Please Touch! The Art of Michael Naranjo exhibition and continuation of our Artists as Activists tour enhanced our offerings. These initiatives and more helped make the Museum’s spaces and collection more accessible and inclusive to visitors.

Focus Areas
• Responsive Education Initiatives
• Partnerships with Cultural Organizations
• Living Artists

Guiding Questions
• Are we working with our community partners to reach out and make community connections?
• How is our work connected more broadly with our community and region?
• Are we cultivating partnerships with civic, cultural and educational institutions to build our audience?
• Have we cultivated partnerships with civic, cultural and educational institutions to develop programs addressing equity and inclusion in the arts?
• Are we prioritizing community engagement by investing in promoting and providing access?

Organizational Culture

In 2021, The Rockwell Museum added goals focusing on justice, equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion to the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, approved by the Board of Trustees. JEDAI qualities and priorities are now listed in every job description and performance review document.

Focus Areas
• Hiring Practices
• JEDAI Interdepartmental Team

Guiding Questions
• Are we recruiting, developing and retaining high-performing, talented employees, volunteers and Board of Trustees members with diverse backgrounds and perspectives?
• Are we valuing empathy and awareness — both self and situational — in the workplace?
• Are our justice, equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion (JEDAI) pillars reflected in our workplace policies and institutional culture?
• Does the Museum’s strategic plan include strategies specific to JEDAI?

Resources

With its interdepartmental team structure and bottom-up budget processes, the Museum aims to flatten its hierarchy and promote leadership in decision-making at every level. Team members from all departments and levels weigh in on budget needs, program prioritization and collection interpretation. 

Focus Areas
• Annual Budget
• JEDAI Training for Staff & Stakeholders

Guiding Questions
• Who has access to decision-making and influences decisions regarding the deployment of resources?
• Are we allocating resources for ongoing JEDAI training for the entire staff?

Read Full JEDAI Pillars Report >>

2023 Annual Report | Heroes

 

BROWSE PAST REPORTS>>

Are you a community member or group interested in collaborating with The Rockwell? Contact us!