News from the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
PALM SPRINGS, CA: Agua Caliente Cultural Museum Welcomes Julia Bussinger as new Executive Director. Julia Bussinger joins the Museum with a stellar background and a solid set of goals. At the top of her list is building a new Museum facility. She considers this project a “professional dream” of hers.
Julia expresses the importance of getting the community engaged with the Museum in new and creative ways. She promises to utilize all of her experience and knowledge to see all the Museum’s goals through to fruition.
Over the years, she has been a leader at several museums-Benicia Historical Museum, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium, Aerospace Museum of California, El Paso Museum of History, and El Paso Museum of Archaeology; and she’s also credited for leading the building of the Aerospace Museum.
Julia directed the installation and start-up of DIGIE (Digital Information Gateway In El Paso), the first of its kind 3D digital wall in the United States. DIGIE won a technology award through the Mountain Plain Museum Association (a 10-state organization), and the 2016 National Muse Gold Award for Multimedia Installations.
She also oversaw the development of multiple ongoing community engaging exhibitions including Neighborhoods and Shared Memories, and People of the Sun.
Neighborhoods and Shared Memories is a community driven exhibition that allows people to tell their own stories from their own neighborhood. The exhibition received a National award for Excellence in Design through the American Institute for Graphic Arts.
People of the Sun is a collaborative exhibition with the Tigua Tribe of Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo for both El Paso’s History and Archaeology Museums. The exhibition includes Tigua artifacts from the National Museum of World Cultures in Leiden, Netherlands.
Julia Bussinger is looking forward to working with all the Cahuilla people as well as the greater community of Coachella Valley in her new position as Executive Director of Agua Caliente Cultural Museum.
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About Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
In 1991, a modest museum of less than 1,600 square feet was founded to collect and preserve stories and artifacts of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and share them with local residents and visitors alike. Today, Museum programming provides a thriving resource for Native and non-Native people and a dynamic forum for permanent residents and visitors of all ages.
Museum offerings that serve over 28,000 adults and children each year include: quality exhibitions at the Museum, at off-site locations, and online; stimulating and enlightening lectures; classes and demonstrations that feature hands-on experiences with Native skills and crafts; a six-day Native film festival and other cultural special events; library and archives research opportunities; Museum tours; guided cultural hikes; and presentations for students in schools.
For teachers, students, artists, scholars, and collectors the Museum’s holdings provide unique research and archival resources — from recordings of a tribal
net (ceremonial and political leader) to the documentation of ongoing challenges made to tribal land and water rights. Free online resources are available on the Museum Web site at www.accmuseum.org.
Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institution. In keeping with its mission, the Museum inspires people to learn about the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other Native cultures through exhibitions, collections, research, and educational programs.
In recognition of its role as a regional and national resource, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum was the first Native American museum to be part of the prestigious Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program. The association with Smithsonian Institution provides opportunities for a mutual sharing of resources in collections, scholarship, programming, and technical expertise, and entitles the Museum to bring world-acclaimed Smithsonian exhibitions to the Coachella Valley.
Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is located at 219 South Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. The Museum is open September through May on Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and June through August on Friday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission to the Museum is free.
Administration Offices of the Museum are located at 901 East Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite C-204, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Additional information is available at 760.778.1079 or visit www.accmuseum.org.