Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art

infobox Museum
name= Jacques Marchais
Museum of Tibetan Art


established= 1947
location= 338 Lighthouse Ave, Staten Island, New York, USA
visitors=
director=
website= [http://www.tibetanmuseum.org/ Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art]

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, located on residential Lighthouse Hill in the Egbertville neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City is home to one of the United States' most extensive collections of Himalayan artifacts.Cite web|url=http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/where_are_all_the_jobs_nonprof.html|title=Where are all the Jobs? Non-Profits|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2008-03-02|author=Stephanie Slepian|work=The Staten Island Advance] The museum was created by Jacques Marchais, an American woman, to serve as a bridge between the West and the rich ancient and cultural traditions of Tibet and the Himalayan region.Cite web|url=http://www.orientations.com.hk/hmmay07.htm|title=From Staten Island to Shangri-La: The Collecting Life of Jacques Marchais|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2007-05|author=Sarah Johnson|work=Orientations] Marchais designed her educational center to be an all-encompassing experience: it was built to resemble a rustic Himalayan monastery with extensive terraced gardens and grounds and a fish and lotus pond.Cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0552,hoods,71264,15.html|title=Close-Up on Egbertville, Staten Island|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2005-12-20|author=Tim Heffernan|work=The Village Voice] The museum was praised for its authenticity by the Dalai Lama who visited in 1991.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E4DC153EF934A2575BC0A9679C8B63&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=print|title=On an Island That's Worth Remembering|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2001-08-17|author=Claire Wilson|work=The New York Times] . A writer in the New York Times referred to the museums's founder under the name Jacqueline Klauber, noting that she used Marchais as her professional name.

Marchais had never visited Tibet or the Himalayas, but she had a lifelong interest in the region and sought to find a permanent home for her collection. The museum officially opened in 1947.Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E3D9173CF932A15755C0A96E958260|title=Desperately Seeking Solitude; Prayer Flags Aflutter at a Tibetan Outpost|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=1998-06-21|author=Edward Wong|work=The New York Times] More than sixty years later, the museum continues the original mission of promoting awareness of and preserving the art and culture of Tibet and the Himalayan region. The museum, its collection and its history in Staten Island has been chronicled in a book by the same namecite journal | title=Treasures of Tibetan Art: Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art| journal=The Journal of the American Oriental Society| year=2000-07-01] and 60th anniversary exhibition.Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082400719_pf.html|title=Boroughing into Staten Island|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2007-08-26|author=Grace Lichtenstein|work=The Washington Post]

The museum has not been able to benefit from the Department of Transportation's initiative to draw traffic to the borough's cultural organizations via a new signage program because it lacks a dedicated parking lotCite web|url=http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/sandy_ground_museum_easier_to.html|title=Sandy Ground Museum Easier to Find Thanks to New Highway Signs|accessdate=2008-03-30|year=2008-03-01|author=Maura Yates|work=The Staten Island Advance] and as such it remains somewhat hidden among New York City's cultural organizations.

ee also

*Tibetan art
*Buddhist art
*List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

References

External links

* [http://www.tibetanmuseum.org Official website]