Museum at Bethel Woods

infobox Museum
name= The Museum at Bethel Woods


established= 2008
location= Bethel, New York, USA
visitors=
director=
website= [http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/Museum/ The Museum at Bethel Woods]

The Museum at Bethel Woods, sometimes known as the Woodstock Museum, is part of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York. It commemorates Woodstock and the 1960s and is designed to let visitors know more about the home of the famous music festival, where the museum is located. The museum is scheduled to open on June 2, 2008, despite more than $1 million in its anticipated funding being withdrawn in October 2007, and local officials hope it will help revive the area.

cope

In addition to information about the music festival, which is about two-thirds of the museum's scope,Cite web|url=http://www.sc-democrat.com/news/02February/19/news.htm|title=Museum Will 'Relive' the Woodstock Era|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2008-02-19|author=Dan Hust|work=Sullivan County Democrat] the museum will offer exhibits, personal stories and a multi-media experience about various aspects of the 1960s, including music, fashion and political protest.Cite web|url=http://www.buffalonews.com/405/story/338749.html|title=Bethel Woods Museum|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2008-05-04|work=The Buffalo News] In addition, it will focus on issues such as the baby boom, Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, and the assassinations and riots that occurred during the decade, all of which contribute to the context of Woodstock. The 7,000 square-foot museum will include a 2,000 square-foot high-definition theater and a 4,300 square-foot gallery, as well as classrooms, a kitchen and a patio.

Impact

Expected to stay open for ten months of the year, closed during Sullivan County's off season from January to March,Cite web|url=http://www.sc-democrat.com/news/02February/19/news.htm|title=Museum Will 'Relive' the Woodstock Era|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2008-02-19|author=Dan Hust|work=Sullivan County Democrat] it is hoped that the opening the museum will help revive tourism, which has suffered in the region following the closure of many resorts following the decline of the so-called Borscht Belt. While Sullivan County has struggled, at times, with the legacy of Woodstock, officials hope the museum will help manage that.Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/26/AR2007102602136.html?nav=emailpage|title=A Museum on Woodstock, With a Haircut|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2007-10-27|author=Joel Achenbach|work=The Washington Post] Bethel is already benefiting from the opening of the performing arts center in 2006, and has led to increased development in the town and along nearby Kauneonga Lake,Cite web|url=http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080221/BIZ/802210301/-1/SPECIAL06|title=Museum will Let Visitors Know 'Woodstock' was Really Bethel|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2008-02-21|author=Victor Whitman|work=Times Herald-Record] and the museum is seen as one of the county's larger economic development programs, despite the controversy surrounding its funding.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E7DE133AF930A35756C0A96E9C8B63|title=A New Moment for Aquarius|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2008-05-03|author=Sarah Wheaton|work=The New York Times]

Funding

$1 million in funding that the museum received from the U.S. Senate in June 2007 was criticized after it was revealed the museum founder, Alan Gerry, then donated almost $30,000 to New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, who had helped to secure the funding.Cite web|url=http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/NEWS/710180315/-1/NEWS|title=Museum at Bethel Woods: A Political Attraction?|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2007-10-18|author=Steve Israel|work=Times Herald-Record] The funding was rescinded in October 2007 following criticism from Republicans led by John McCain, although it did not affect the museum's scheduled openingCite web|url=http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/07-10-25/head3-bethel.html|title=Senate Blocks $1 Million for Bethel Woods Museum|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2007-10-25|author=Fritz Mayer|work=The River Reporter] nor the more than $15 million in state funding.Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7067874.stm|title=Woodstock Museum Will Stay Open|accessdate=2008-05-23|year=2007-10-29|work=BBC News]

References

External links

* [http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/Museum/ The Museum at Bethel Woods]