Looking Back at 2018

This month’s edition of Performance Counts comes from Deputy Director Tracie Guy-Decker. To read past editions of Performance Counts, click here. To read more posts by Tracie, click here.

For this final Performance Counts of the year, we’ve decided to cast our eyes backward at the amazing programs and exhibits of 2018. The staff asked me to share with you the top 10 events of the year. I know which were my favorites, and I also asked my colleagues to share with me their favorite event of the year, so that I could compile our list.

In response to my question, Marvin wrote, “This question is like asking me to pick my favorite child… except even tougher. After all, I only have two children, but I have more than 60 wonderful programs to choose from.” Nevertheless, he did choose one (stay tuned for which).

And so, with a promise to Anna and Alan that I’ll never ask their dad to choose his favorite child, below you’ll find the top 10 JMM highlights of the past year, in chronological order.

With my best wishes for 2019,

~Tracie

1. February 25, 2018: Monkey Business

For this Maryland premiere film screening, 39 visitors experienced the entertaining and endearing treatment (in a mixture of live action and animation) of the story of Margaret and H.A. Rey, the creators of Curious George.

After the movie, we had a Skype Q&A spanning 6,915 miles between us and the film’s equally charming filmmaker, Ema Ryan Yamazaki. Yamazaki, a Japanese-American filmmaker, delighted us with stories of growing up in Japan with Curious George, and let us in on the fact that she was skyping from the bathroom of her hotel room in Seoul so as not to wake her sleeping husband (they were there covering the Olympics).

2. March 22, 2018: Morrell Park: Projected

This event was the culmination of a months-long project that saw JMM educators, professional storytellers and Hopkins film students working with eighth graders at Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School. The 32 middle-schoolers learned about storytelling and filmmaking techniques in order to tell their own stories.

Though many of the young people had to be convinced their stories were worth telling, those that were screened at the JMM (after red carpet treatment for the young filmmakers) brought most of the 130 people in the audience to tears. (The exercise also led to one session presentation at the conference of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums).

3. April 10, 2018: Book Launch: On Middle Ground

**A decade in the making,** the new book on the history of Jewish Baltimore, commissioned by JMM and published by Johns Hopkins University Press, was officially released in April. To celebrate, we threw a big party, and invited Jewish Baltimore’s preeminent storyteller, Gil Sandler, to share remarks. Gil did not disappoint, eliciting knowing nods, surprised looks and laughter from a sold-out crowd of 79.

Though Gil is always a tough act to follow, On Middle Ground co-author and long-time friend to JMM, Deb Weiner, did just that with aplomb. Her illustrated presentation was both informative and entertaining—enough to convince 46 people to purchase the book that night!

4. April 26, 2018: The Book of Joseph

The readings and conversations on April 26 were the cherry on top of a productive collaboration between the JMM, Everyman Theatre, and Richard Hollander, author of *Every Day Lasts A Year* (from which the play *The Book of Joseph* was adapted). Eighty-nine visitors got a sneak peek at the stage play, which had not yet been performed at Everyman.

At the same time, through our lobby exhibit featuring the suitcase and two dozen letters, passports and other documents that generated the book and play, visitors got a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Hollander family story.

5. May 17, 2019: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Across the Generations

This public conversation between two authors who have written very different books about the iconic RBG left the audience of 116 attendees feeling as though they knew the Justice (and the authors) a little better. This was Development Director Tracey Dorfmann’s top event. Of it she wrote, “Having the authors engage each other in the interrogative process was fascinating and effective. Learning how an adult biographer and a children’s book author approached telling this story kept the audience enthralled.”

6. June 24, 2018: The Magic of Jonestown Festival and Inescapable opening

We opened our most recent original exhibit with an over-the-top spectacle that included a **strait jacket escape** (suspended from a 65 foot crane!), stilt walkers, face-painters, and booths from 14 local cultural institutions. Among the 400+ people who came to the festival, we saw our Jonestown neighbors, members of the Jewish community from around the city and region, and other city residents and visitors. 288 people visited the Museum that day and 103 of them visited one or both of our historic synagogues. It was a moment when the JMM truly showed what it can mean to be a community connector.

*Bonus* July 29, 2018: The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

Since it wasn’t a public or members’ program, it isn’t in the official top ten, but the **annual thank-you event for our volunteers** was a highlight of at least one staff member’s 2018.

Sue Foard, Membership and Volunteer Coordinator writes of the event “The celebration included entertainment by David London performing the living history character, Harry Houdini, always a hit. A delicious dinner catered by Catering by Yaffa, short speeches of the accomplishments over the year and door prizes made for fun, good food and fellowship had by all.”

7. August 23, 2018: Operation Finale

In an unusual program for us, we partnered with BJC and CJE to present a pre-release screening of a major motion picture at the Landmark Theatre in Harbor East. The sold-out show hosted 185 moviegoers.

Because it was a JMM program, we weren’t content to simply watch a movie, and instead brought in a historian formerly of the US Holocaust Memorial and Museum. I was honored to facilitate the conversation with him after the movie, about which one of our visitors wrote “Loved that you clarified fiction vs fact. Loved that there was audience participation. Thanks for a wonderful evening.”

8. October 28, 2018: Houdini’s Magical Halloween

In this family day, we hosted 3 magicians and a lockpicker, 10 all-day craft activities, and 5 special workshops. Over 140 people came through the museum at all different ages.

About the day, Jessica Konigsberg, Shop Assistant and Office Manager, said “I’m generally very partial to programs that have a strong family-friendly component, but I especially enjoyed Family Day because the Esther’s Place Shop was involved in selling Svengali card trick kits and lockpicking sets to complement the Card Trick and Lockpicking Workshops offered throughout the day’s activities. Many groups came into the Shop after taking part in these workshops and eagerly shared their experiences and their successes. Many were delighted to invest in further card sets, or some, in their own lockpicking set to continue the spark of excitement from the workshop.”

9. November 11, 2018: Veteran’s Day: The Jewish Legion

If you’ve read this far, perhaps it is because you must know Marvin’s favorite event from the past year. This was it. Archivist Lorie Rombro presented to 45 visitors. About the exhibit and presentation Marvin said “It illustrated a piece of Maryland’s Jewish history that is still not widely known. It showcased the strengths of the Museum, both in terms of the talents of my colleagues and the rich resources of our collections. The program made me very proud to be part of the JMM team.”

Marvin’s sentiments were echoed by those of Joanna Church, Director of Collections and Exhibits: “The combination of lecture and exhibition was a chance for us to share a little-known story and highlight our collections, on an important day – the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I – that added a layer of commemoration and meaning to our usual activities. Since the audience included family members of several Legionnaires, it was an opportunity to make connections between the history in our storage spaces and Maryland’s modern community. Lorie’s presentation was engaging and entertaining, and very much made the point that our work here is both academically vigorous and, well, fun; we love making those discoveries and connections that can be found in our archives and collections.”

10. December 2, 2018: The Great Jewish Bake-Off

The third installment of our annual cooking competition, the bake-off was both delicious and a lot of fun. From the winning challah bread that was, in my humble opinion, the **Platonic ideal of challah**, to the Asian-fusion inspired **Chinese scallion pancake challah** to the highly snackable potato and mustard **knishes** to the Overall Championship babka, it was a truly tasty event. There were 16 total entries, 2 judges, 6 trophies awarded, and 102 tasters present.

About the event, Rachel Kassman, our Development and Marketing Manager had this to say: “As a more behind-the-scenes staff member I don’t get a chance to attend most of our public programs, but this was one I couldn’t resist – The Great Jewish Bake Off! Getting to not just attend such a delicious event but participate as a contestant myself made this a stand out program. From tasting all the other competitors entries (challahs and babkas and knishes, oh my!) to watching the judges put on their serious faces and making the tough choices, it was a fantastic day. Plus nothing beats watching adorable children hang out at craft tables making their own beeswax candles in between sneaking just one more cookie from the tasting table.”

Looking Back at 2018

December 25th at JMM

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