The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association was founded as an organization of the people, by the people, and for the people. In that spirit, we are always reaching out to serve a wider constituency. Through our outreach programs we become a more integral part of the fabric of each community in our region—the communities and stories that our collection represents.
Learn more about several of our initiatives with the following links: African Americans in Early New England, Jurassic Roadshow, and our seven NEA Big Read programs.
Other ongoing efforts to reach a broader and more diverse audience include:
- Free Admission Days: Memorial Hall Museum opens its doors for free to anyone attending the Fall Old Deerfield Craft Fairs. For many fair attendees, the museum is a new discovery and their first—but rarely last—visit to the museum.
Off-site traveling exhibits, designed for family interactions, with English and Spanish labels: Fertile Ground—Corn, Cranberries, Tobacco, and Artists (2021 & 2022), “The Time of My Life”—Vintage Views of Western Massachusetts (2019), and Reading the Rocky Book of the Past—Dinosaur Footprints in the Connecticut River Valley (2018). These exhibits traveled to one or more state parks in the region (Great Falls Discovery Center, Holyoke Heritage State Park, and the Summit House at Skinner State Park).
Massachusetts Art Week: Our Living Landscape (2019) and Always in Bloom (2018)
Off-site traveling exhibits, designed for family interactions, with English and Spanish labels: Fertile Ground—Corn, Cranberries, Tobacco, and Artists (2021 & 2022), “The Time of My Life”—Vintage Views of Western Massachusetts (2019), and Reading the Rocky Book of the Past—Dinosaur Footprints in the Connecticut River Valley (2018). These exhibits traveled to one or more state parks in the region (Great Falls Discovery Center, Holyoke Heritage State Park, and the Summit House at Skinner State Park).
Massachusetts Art Week: Our Living Landscape (2019) and Always in Bloom (2018) PVMA has also participated in Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day, been a workshop host for Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom, worked closely with the Veterans Education Project, and developed several Community Service Learning programs.
