[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6035420,"mediaKeyId","5100848-dbefc404a88e12f57b0dec3a0b5664cc","parentId",5100848,"title","Bishop Museum urges lawmakers to sustain state subsidy as federal grants shrink; highlights collections, digitization and neighbor‑island access","audioSeconds",2226,"startMs",1852000,"endMs",4078000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5100848-dbefc404a88e12f57b0dec3a0b5664cc&start=1852&end=4078","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5100848-dbefc404a88e12f57b0dec3a0b5664cc/thumbnail_1852000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6035420/Hawaii/Bishop-Museum-urges-lawmakers-to-sustain-state-subsidy-as-federal-grants-shrink-highlights-collections-digitization-and-neighborisland-access","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6035420-13b6d565c190328c02558220ce0c879d/orig.mp4?Expires=1775184230&Signature=JubrRy-b17H1zL1xwTGGmsvhYr3v~exTyssJzUhArnhbSPzlRmSSL0tnMX3uN-z0ZxcHjN-1qmINgTrWay1a-crgn7CVCYmAfgTCrAu400RqTT4CbzZgWgRRtIwqBxOIW2m~kFWmUuR8-21m2w~5EDBrY-S41VXMJQQFWCIwjPjvvuLbc-X6uTF4E~HPQkzatqfr8uZSUV7M7kuMJmWd5KQZ7IJje2zDd9zoXnIPkO1XmnLds88RD9YovNoRSpQLNP~fc5uB5g-DMkH3H7LT3OyrhD44ebEagq2ZtL8yT7mlMGOp3ROxVu~JEDez2j74B6cbD9oiUXkL9rIKDCIKEw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Hawaii House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs","date","2025-05-09T09:10:10Z","article","Janet Bullard, vice president of advancement and acting director of government relations at Bishop Museum, and Anne Botticelli, board chair, briefed the House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs about the museum's collections, operational needs and risks from federal funding reductions.

Janet said Bishop Museum’s collections include the library and archives (items such as sheet music and handwritten diaries), an ethnology collection of about 77,000 objects, a herbarium with about 600,000 preserved plant specimens, and entomology holdings described as among the largest in the United States (she cited 14,000,000 specimens). She said the museum houses archaeological, malacology (snail) and vertebrate collections and operates the state’s only cryopreservation lab used for DNA analysis and services tied to public health (for example, rat‑lungworm testing).

Janet told the committee the museum conducts active fieldwork and research and that its education department serves about 20,000 students annually. She said Bishop is undertaking a large digitization effort for its holdings so collections can be preserved and shared; she characterized the project as a primary method for both conservation and outreach.

On funding, Janet said that in 2019 the museum received a much smaller state subsidy (about 9% of the budget). She said state operational support since 2019 has “made a tremendous, tremendous difference” and allowed investments in IT infrastructure, data security and fire suppression. She also warned that federal grant funding has recently been cut: “We have about $4,000,000 in total federal risk right now,” she said, and noted multiple termination notices and uncertainty about National Science Foundation funding for programs that place teacher cohorts in labs and fieldwork.

Board chair Anne Botticelli said state funding helped address historic wage compression at the museum and allowed the board to begin an endowment campaign; she said the museum’s endowment is currently about $8 million and the board believes an endowment on the order of $170 million would provide long‑term stability. Janet and Anne both described CIP work now underway: campus roof repairs, IT cabling, active installation of fire suppression, an environmentally controlled warehouse for collections storage, and an expansion and equipment upgrade of the cafeteria (in partnership with a local vendor) to increase earned‑revenue capacity. Janet said many CIP projects aim to complete by next June.

When asked about neighbor‑island access, Janet said the museum is digitizing collections and building online assets; prior neighbor‑island outreach (a portable planetarium and mini‑museum visits) ended with a grant two years ago and the museum currently lacks staff and funding to resume that program. Janet said the newly hired CEO, Chris Helgan, supports exploring options such as permanent mini‑installations in public libraries on other islands to provide access and encourage visits to the Oahu campus.

Committee members asked for examples of research at risk; Janet cited the teacher‑cohort program funded by NSF that places teachers in labs and fieldwork and develops curricula for classroom use, and the plant database and digitization work that many state agencies (including the Department of Agriculture) use. The briefing concluded with committee members thanking museum staff and expressing interest in site visits and interim collaboration.

Ending: No formal committee actions or votes were taken at the briefing. Museum officials requested continued state operational support while they pursue private fundraising and digitization to mitigate federal funding losses.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","CAA Info Briefing - Thu May 8, 2025 @ 10:00 AM HST","oneSentenceSummary","Janet Bullard and Anne Botticelli told the House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs that state operational support has been critical to Bishop Museum's collections care, IT and fire‑suppression work as the museum faces roughly $4 million in federal grant risk.","taxTitle","House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs, House of Representatives, Legislative , Hawaii","taxId",25708,"location","Hawaii","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6035425,"Iolani Palace officials ask Hawaii lawmakers to sustain operational funding as repairs and school programs continue",951,788000,1739000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5100848-dbefc404a88e12f57b0dec3a0b5664cc&start=788&end=1739","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5100848-dbefc404a88e12f57b0dec3a0b5664cc/thumbnail_788000.jpg","/articles/6035425/Hawaii/Iolani-Palace-officials-ask-Hawaii-lawmakers-to-sustain-operational-funding-as-repairs-and-school-programs-continue","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6035425-8a97e9f7f2b870cf0126188fa77ccf83/orig.mp4?Expires=1775184230&Signature=VrT9tYlri0BZdPFM2x59ukXk5dlMpn4nzbezyfXROWdJcb7SKsCVdEwkrJfhgvYSng24Vio3IxcpsGkVQhnL0oLc~9o-Ny-t6kMtPl1rbOu1GgbMsWKhxZQkSSJGPA~eSnizBnkEcLIp-IhOupBpCZfSr2Gkn4WK2OIxYCb5KYtZmOWr6AyEbn-FM8bYvOt4qf4HoV~yuCd2X96ljgLVHAWisusA0ESzQGzfSLQDEBDQSvk9HL5T3Sv1sG26A1qsDCet8G4TrmxX7CpC4l8VpwJXG0Dz3WXWCr5W0nluV~c6Gw9rNGfsLikcl4PNl1eqUfTf1eS4p1BKzjVx4SPtww__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Representative Capella convened an informational briefing of the House Committee on Culture, Arts & International Affairs with visitors from Iolani Palace and Bishop Museum to discuss state support for both institutions. Paula, director of Friends of Iolani Palace, described how the organization uses state operational funding to preserve the historic building and sustain programs, including school tours.

Paula said the Friends of Iolani Palace “were formed in 1966 as the nonprofit to oversee the repair and restoration and maintenance of Iolani Palace and to share her story with Hawaii and the world.” She told the committee the group was designated in 1976 as the State of Hawaii Museum of Monarchy History and clarified that the palace remains under state parks (DLNR) oversight.

The director described three principal near-term priorities for the Friends: (1) repairs and maintenance that the group can fund directly, (2) a planned basement exhibit with supporting infrastructure, and (3) replacement of an elevator that is more than 60 years old. She said the Friends signed a $1.4 million contract to update basement electrical work, add Wi‑Fi and pre‑install piping in anticipation of a future fire suppression system so a new exhibit will not be later torn apart for piping work. She said the palace is conducting “MacGyvering” fixes on its HVAC and that, at present, its HVAC usage pattern is shaped by electricity costs (which she described rising from about $25,000 to about $40,000 a month if run in the originally designed mode).

On large capital needs, the director said, “A fire suppression system is what we've been slowly working on, and that's estimated to be $3 million to $4 million.” She said the Friends are funding interim basement piping themselves rather than waiting for a state CIP conversion that would route the project through DLNR and delay work. She told members the Friends have also paid to clean and polish historic silver and commissioned a California artisan to restore reverse‑etched glass doors using the 1882 method guided by Secretary of the Interior standards for National Historic Landmarks.

The director described school‑visit programming: ticket sales are “pretty darn close to what they were pre‑pandemic,” and a donor is underwriting bus transportation and admission for schools next year so “all students, whether it's public, private, charter, homeschool, will provide bus and admission into the palace.” She said the Friends are hiring educators and a facilities person with preservation experience and are exploring airline ticket donations and deeper discounts to expand neighbor‑island student access. She also said a 3‑D virtual walkthrough exists on the palace website but “it doesn't have any audio” to discourage purely virtual visitors who might otherwise not come in person.

Representative Capella and other members asked about a prior GIA that had been treated as a CIP and whether those funds have been released; Paula said the GIA was about $150,000 and, when she last checked, the funding had not been released. The committee did not take formal action at the briefing.

The presentation and questions emphasized the distinction between what the Friends can staff and fund directly and what remains under DLNR or a CIP process. Committee members expressed interest in visiting the palace and exploring interim ways to support neighbor‑island school access.

Ending: The committee closed the segment after thanking the director and hearing a summary of near‑term projects and funding needs. No motions or votes were recorded during the informational briefing.","Leaders of Friends of Iolani Palace told the House Culture, Arts & International Affairs Committee the nonprofit relies on state operational support for maintenance, a planned basement exhibit, elevator replacement and school-tour access, and estimates a needed fire suppression system at $3 million–$4 million.","actionData","errors"]

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Bishop Museum urges lawmakers to sustain state subsidy as federal grants shrink; highlights collections, digitization and neighbor‑island access

Iolani Palace officials ask Hawaii lawmakers to sustain operational funding as repairs and school programs continue