Glendale’s Armenian American Museum Takes Shape

These halls will be used mostly for non-Armenian-themed temporary exhibitions. Karapetian said that the goal is to bring the non-Armenian population to visit the museum and in certain cases to show that there was also an Armenian presence in their home countries. In addition, these temporary exhibitions can show the younger generation of Armenians a connection that existed between different populations and Armenians.

India is one subject actively being explored by the museum for this part of the museum, in part because there was a large Armenian presence there during a critical period in Armenian cultural development. An exhibition about India can also show how Armenians helped Indian society as well as Armenian. Karapetian said that this could also be a good lesson for American Armenians to see how they too could be engaged in the United States in a positive way.

Moreover, he said that there are some donors to the museum who are Indian who have expressed an interest in working with it to make an Indian exhibition come about.

The core exhibition will also be on the second floor, and it will be permanent but periodically updated. Guests will come up the stairs or an elevator to be greeted with a large 60-foot screen with an introductory video loop showing the Armenian lands, with Armenian music, art and Armenian people. Karapetian said then there will also be certain artifacts that will cover different periods of Armenia history.

A section to the left of the screen will display various markers that identify Armenians, such as the language, alphabet and religion, including pre-Christian and Christian. It will show the creation of a strong culture, with Armenian art, architecture and so forth on the Armenian Plateau or Highlands, and later on, in Cilicia, where Armenians developed a structured society and various ruling dynasties. Theater-style videos will show different important historical periods on a loop.

It will also show the periods when Armenians existed without a government and contributed to the empires ruling them and them depict the Armenian Genocide as a major break, leading to their forcible removal from their ancestral homeland.

It will show various efforts at rescue and then battles of defense like that of Sardarabad in 1918 as well as the earlier attempts at partisan defense (fedayi fighters) and the creation of the first Republic of Armenia.

Another section will include one part devoted to the diaspora created after the genocide, and a second part showing the parallel existence of Armenians in the various republics of Armenia, with occasionally convergence.

Another section is devoted to the formation and development of the Armenian-American communities, highlighting their creative contributions to the United States and service in the military and public office. Karapetian explicated: “So we want individuals that are walking tall, to be thinking of us being builders, creators, and people who serve or are loyal to the nation where they live.”

There will also be a section with messages from present-day or recently departed successful individuals who impart their messages to the visitors and urge them to speak out for human rights and against prejudice. This could include the Armenian Nobel Prize winners in economics and medicine, Armenian chess and soccer champions, and also ordinary people passing on their wisdom to the next generation. Karapetian said that part of the focus is that people do not have to give up their identity and there is strength and benefit in diversity. Armenians he said want to help preserve society in the US not just for themselves but for others as well.

Eventually an app will be developed to connect visitors to the California state ethnic studies curriculum and prompt youngsters in particular to wonder who invented the alphabet they use, and learn more about the language and religion and culture of their ancestors, even when they may carry more than one ethnic identity. In other words, he said, “Now the museum creates a greater value to society than just an Armenian value.”

For Armenians in particular, though there are churches, schools and community centers, with greater intermarriage occurring in each generation, they will need to find a way to connect to their more complicated past histories. Furthermore, as far as the US is concerned, Karapetian said, “The more we respect and understand each other, the stronger we will be as a nation [i.e. the US], and we will survive.”

Collecting Contents

The museum already possesses a small number of physical artifacts for display, particularly about Armenian Americans and about the Armenian Genocide, and is searching for others, Karapetian said. “Some of us over the past years,” he said, have — because the museum doesn’t have a budget — used our own funds to purchase and acquire artifacts, so we’ll be donating that.”

He added that the government in Armenia has expressed a willingness to help in identifying objects held by Armenian museums like the National History Museum and the Matenadaran, which are not being displayed, and so could be used in Glendale. They may lend these items temporarily. Karapetian said about such objects, “So it might not be the top level one, but it still will help connect with what we’re trying to show.”

When there are unique items, like an astrolabe or an Urartian cuneiform inscription, physical duplicates may be made, Karapetian said. Some things will also be displayed digitally.

There are also rich collections in various churches such as in Echmiadzin, Antilias, or St. Lazarus in Venice, which may be of help. People have been offering to donate various items every week for display too but they need to be examined for suitability. Once the design development of the core exhibition is completed, Karapetian said that a call for artifacts will be publicly issued, specifying the types of articles that are needed.

There are people who have private collections who the museum plans to work with, especially about the Armenian Genocide or Armenian Americans. Some have also created websites about local communities, like Whitinsville in Massachusetts. Karapetian said the museum will work to try to help all communities to use that as a template to create websites about the history of their own communities, and all these will be part of the museum’s exhibitions.

The museum’s people follow the newspapers to learn about Armenians collecting in different fields. “In time, they will all see that the museum is something that can work with them,” Karapetian said.

Programming/Learning Center

Karapetian said that Lord Cultural Resources told the museum that it needed to include features and programming elements in the museum which will keep attracting people to come at different times, over and over again. For this reason, the first floor is set up in such a way that it will not necessarily attract people to go visit the museum exhibits but entice them to see ongoing and changing events.

The museum’s Learning Center, on the first floor, will have a separate entrance so that it can operate independently of the rest of the building, Karapetian said, and will possibly have three rooms. There will be age-appropriate activities for young children of visiting families during the daytime. There will be classes in Armenian language, music and art, and an IT learning center with computers where programming will be taught.

Furthermore, there will be money management and finance classes for the older children who are of high school age. The Glendale school district already has a curriculum about money management and an organization called Junior Achievement also does such programs, so the museum will work with such entities and sponsoring corporations to provide such classes. Karapetian pointed out that 70 to 75 percent of the population living south of the museum are not affluent, with most renting homes. Their children, whether Armenian or non-Armenian, will have the opportunity to benefit from such programs.

Karapetian added that the museum will be working closely with the Glendale Unified School District on a number of things, including ethnic studies, so that there will be programming enabling children to use the museum exhibitions and the space for youngsters for ethnic studies. There could also be programming for seniors, and in this case the museum would work with the neighboring adult recreation center.

Karapetian said that the museum expects to have a lot of field trips from schools. For example, he said that Los Angeles’s Japanese American National Museum or Holocaust Museum averages on an annual basis about 50,000 student visitors, usually in the mornings until around one o’clock. The museum will be working with tour groups to get them to come with buses to the museum. After that, there is the general population which may come on its own.

There will be a souvenir shop on the first floor and administrative offices. There will also be a multipurpose room with a small space for musical, theatrical and movie presentations. It will also serve as a hall for events, holding about 300 people, and as a banquet facility that could hold about 250.

There will be a demonstration kitchen, where individuals or couples can come to classes to learn about cooking dishes of different types of cuisines, Armenian and non-Armenian. Karapetian said that it will also be rented out to companies that want to do team building exercises or receptions.

The type of cuisine demonstrated will vary in accordance with the subject of the temporary museum exhibitions, so that for example India is the focus, the kitchen will demonstrate the preparation of some Indian food dishes, or if Italy, Italian.

Finally, at the very top of the museum, above the second floor, is an open space which will eventually have a type of rooftop café and outdoor sitting room.

Beyond the Building

The influence of the museum will extend beyond its building. Immediately outside, there is an area that is called the outside plaza, where the museum will have the possibility to put in garden and water features in the future, depending on how donations and finances are at that time. Meanwhile, the city of Glendale is building a new children’s park and a senior park in this area along with an amphitheater.

For two months out of the year, the park will be totally controlled by the museum for programming, Karapetian said, including the week of April 24, Armenian independence day, and Armenian cultural month. The rest of the time, a joint committee with representatives of the adult recreation center, the library and the museum will decide the programming. Furthermore, if all of a sudden the museum wants to have a program outside of the predetermined eight weeks – for example, if the museum inaugurates a new exhibition and wants to use the park then – the museum will still be able to make sure that anything will take place in the park that will conflict with this use.

The city has also given the museum a lease to the land from the end of its building to its parking lot, from its corner all the way to the street, for 55 years, beginning from the date that the museum starts operation. The museum will have two options of 20 years to extend the lease up to 99 years.

Karapetian exclaimed, “It’s almost like owning it.” Moreover, he stressed, this also allows the museum to avoid paying property taxes if one day the government decides to impose property taxes on non-profit organizations, since the property will remain in the name of the city.

The parking structure, the building and everything above the land does belong to the museum, Karapetian said. The museum is incorporated as a 501(c)3, so the donations it receives will not be subject to taxation. On the other hand, any revenue it may generate from the sale of items or parking fees is taxable.

Fundraising and Revenue Sources

Karapetian said that over $55 million —close to $60 million — has been raised so far for the museum. Of this, $22 million has come from public sources: the state of California has contributed $20 million, the federal government $1 million and the Los Angeles City Council $1 million. The city of Glendale has also given almost $700,000. The bulk of the money, however, almost $40 million has come from the Armenian community.

Donations have come in many forms and amounts. Karapetian said there were individuals who just sent $20 or $50, others who have decided to sponsor a square foot and give it in the name of their grandchild or in the name of their grandparent, and individuals who have become ongoing donors of $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 on an annual basis.

There are also naming rights in exchange for major donations. For example, the covered plaza is sponsored by a generous Armenian family, the Arakelians. The first-floor corner demonstration kitchen is sponsored by a donation from Avadis “Avie” Tevanian’s family. Tevanian is credited with writing the operating system for Apple computers, and his mother loved cooking, so he fell in love with the idea of the demonstration kitchen. The auditorium is sponsored by Jack and Maro Kalaydjian through a $4 million donation, while an $8 million donation gives a donor who temporarily wishes to remain anonymous the naming rights to the core exhibition area.

The total cost will be around $100 million, but Karapetian said that sum could be reached if the museum on average raises $4 to $5 million a year, which he said is an attainable amount of money. That will allow paying for the construction as well as the creation of a nice endowment to sustain the museum and allow other activities such as scholarships and research — and even sustaining some Armenian institutions that may not have the ability to continue their activities without aid.

This could be possible, Karapetian said, because the museum belongs to the entire community, with 10 organizations represented on its board of trustees, including Diocese, Prelacy, the Armenian Evangelical Union, the Armenian Missionary Association of America, the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of the US and Canada, cultural associations affiliated with the three “traditional” Armenian political parties, the Armenian Cultural Foundation (another affiliate of one of those parties, the ARF), and the Armenian General Benevolent Union. [However, it must be noted that the Tekeyan Cultural Association does not have any representation.] The board of governors, Karapetian continued, includes individuals from a wider scope.

While the represented organizations might not directly raise funds for the museum as their first priority, Karapetian said they have been instrumental in opening doors to individuals who might donate funds.

So far, the museum has collected enough money to pay for its expenses without financing. However, Karapetian said, “Going forward, we’re going to need a much faster pace of money to come in. We have about another $35 or $40 million that we are going to spend over the next 12 months and we cannot raise all of that money at once.” For that reason, the museum is applying for financing which will be paid off through hopefully raising $4 or $5 million annually.

New prospects are approached every month, but, Karapetian said, it takes anywhere from six months to a year to go from identifying a person and making the initial connection to the donor making a decision. Aside from continuing social media postings, fundraising galas, and outreach to foundations and individuals, the museum is always trying new efforts, Karapetian said, to branch out into other types of fundraising venues. So it will attempt golf tournaments or even an exclusive whiskey branded in a barrel specifically for the museum.

There will be a small entry fee to the museum exhibitions. Karapetian says that for other similar institutions in the Los Angeles area, it ranges from $10-15 for adults, and then there can be special rates for seniors and students, and annual memberships.

Parking will be available at a fee for anyone, which will be another source of general revenue, but if parkers want to go to the museum, that fee will be included in the cost of the museum entry donation. There will be 85 parking spaces.

The temporary exhibitions, demonstration kitchen and auditorium will keep attracting visitors and generate revenue for the museum as well, Karapetian observed. If outside entities want to organize an exhibition at the museum, they will pay a usage fee or lease for the space.

There will be a gift shop and in addition, the Armenian Museum plans to do auctions as a way of raising money. A museum not far away in Los Angeles, the Autry Museum of the American West, has auctions of paintings, sculptures and photos that are so popular that people come from all over the world to participate, and Karapetian said it is very helpful in teaching the Armenian Museum how to do similar auctions.