2 March 2015 the Vladimir Potanin Foundation announced the winners of the contest that will participate in the U.S. – Russia Bi-lateral Training Program for museum professionals. For the first time the international program has united work of three foundations: the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the U.S.-Russia Foundation (USRF), and the Vladimir Potanin Foundation.

The U.S.-Russia Bi-lateral Training Program is part of the Foundation’s Museum Bridges Program, aimed at promoting new professional standards and innovative approaches in culture, as well as strengthening partnership and networking within professional museum community.

General Director Oksana Oracheva: ‘Building up opportunities for professional growth and leadership is one of the Foundation’s priorities. We are glad that our initiative was supported by these two large partners as the Trust for Mutual Understanding and the U.S.-Russia Foundation. Leading organizations in the area of cultural support will be involved in the study program development. Russian candidates underwent a rigorous selection process and hopefully this training will serve as a stimulus for their further creative development.’

Director of the Trust for Mutual Understanding Barbara Lanciers: ‘We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Valdimir Potanin Foundation and the U.S.-Russia Foundation on this prestigious museum exchange program between Russia and the United States. This reciprocal program will serve to install mutual understanding and respect among colleagues while building critical skills for museum program and administration management in a rapidly evolving environment for the arts in both countries. The candidates interviewed for this program were an overall stellar group, representing diverse museum programming and focus in regions throughout Russia. We are extremely satisfied with the results, congratulate the new participants, and look forward to welcome them in New York in May.’

Director of the USRF branch Anna Danilina: ‘We hope that the program will be efficient and useful for professional and personal growth of the candidates who have won the competition. At the interview all candidates proved to be pro-active professionals, who are interested in the success of the program, and are able to use acquired knowledge and skills once the program is completed. This year they will have opportunity to site visit leading museums in Washington D.C. and New York City. We believe the program participants will manage to set up partnership relationships with American colleagues. We wish them good luck!’

 The contest winners are:

• Ader Lidia – N.Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Museum-Apartment, branch of the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music, St. Petersburg
• Kondratieva Sofya – Natural architectural archeological museum-reserve Divnogorie, the Voronezh region
• Korytin Nikita – Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, the Sverdlov region
• Mironenko Elena – Geology Museum of Central Siberia, the Krasnoyarsk region
• Rakhcheeva Maria – the State Biology Museum named after K.A.Timiryazev, Moscow.
• Novoselova Tatiana – Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva, Moscow

Six Russian museum specialists will travel to New York and Washington DC to become acquainted with their U.S. colleagues and a wide variety of museums from natural history to visual art to ethnographic. The program aims to facilitate greater exchange between U.S. and Russian museum specialists through a reciprocal program of site visits, meetings, and collaborative projects. The Russian museum specialist study tour to the U.S. will be followed by a visit to Russia by five U.S. museum specialists in November 2015. During their visit, the U.S. museum specialists will become acquainted with museums in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Voronezh, Moscow, and Krasnoyarsk.

The exchange programs are organized by CEC ArtsLink, a U.S. cultural exchange organization, and the Pro Arte Foundation in St. Petersburg.
Meetings and discussions with U.S. museum experts will focus on the exchange of information about best practices in the field of audience development . The program will also include a training seminar on the structure of funding structure of the arts in the United States and the principles of audience development. Among the museums the group will visit are: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, 9/11 Museum, New York Historical Society, Newseum, National Memorial to the Holocaust, and the Air and Space Museum.

Established in 1999, the Vladimir Potanin Foundationis one of the first private foundations in the history of modern Russia to implement significant programs in the field of education and culture. The Foundation’s mission is to develop philanthropy in Russia and to support talented and intelligent individuals who are ready to change and help others. The Foundation’s activities seek to promote critical social values such as creativity, professionalism and voluntary activity.

The U.S. Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF) is a donor organization supporting non-profit projects with a focus on economic development, rule-of-law and entrepreneurship. The mission of USRF is to support partnerships between US and Russian organizations, including universities and strengthen ties between Russia and the US in the fields of education, science and entrepreneurship.

The Trust for Mutual Understanding awards grants to American nonprofit organizations to support the international travel component of cultural and environmental exchanges conducted in partnership with institutions and individuals in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. Priority consideration is given to projects that involve direct, in-depth professional interaction, that respond to social contexts and engage local communities.

Program coordinator Irina Aktuganova, iaktuganova@yandex.ru, +7 960 254 7765

For interviews please contact Julia Grozovskaya, grozovskaya_ya@fondpotanin.ru, +7 916 248 7677.