tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939034600506132332024-03-13T12:16:42.593-07:00The Intern DiariesJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-24451881849819773852011-02-08T19:51:00.000-08:002011-02-08T19:53:26.025-08:00I Got a Question For Ya...What does the Super Bowl have to do with historic preservation and museum collections?<br />
My answer: more than you'd think.<br />
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I would love to say that I watched the Super Bowl this past weekend, with fingers turned orange from Dorito dust and hair matted under a <a href="http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1DXCQ_enUS411US411&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=cheesehead+hat#q=cheesehead+hat&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1DXCQ_enUS411US411&prmd=ivnsu&source=univ&tbs=shop:1&tbo=u&ei=h_1RTYfBNYH48Abcobz_CQ&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CF4QrQQwAw&biw=1920&bih=1079&fp=d4782e148cd670a8">wedge of foam-rubber cheese</a>, but alas, I'm not much for professional football. I did, however, catch some of the commercials and was especially impressed (like many others) with the poignant ad for the new Chrysler 200. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SKL254Y_jtc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br />
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As a native Detroiter, living well outside of the mitten at the moment, I find vignettes like these tug at my heart strings very easily. Once the goosebumps and the thrill of landmark recognition passed, I began to consider the commercial more critically (because I'm a grad student and that's what we're conditioned to do).<br />
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After reviewing the Monday morning roundup of commercials, I was most struck by the contributions from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. At present, a link to the Chrysler ad and accompanying article is prominently displayed on their <a href="http://www.preservationnation.org/">homepage</a>. <br />
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Yes, the National Trust for Historic Preservation had something to say about a rapper's attempt to hawk mid-sized sedans. Notably, they said this:<br />
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<blockquote>Let me be upfront: I realize this is not a commercial about historic preservation. And whether or not Chrysler genuinely loves Detroit and its struggling stock of historic treasures is irrelevant because, at the end of the day, they have a very clear bottom line: Sell cars. I get it. However, in my eyes, the ad clearly linked preservation to progress — to the rebirth of a city that “has been to Hell and back.” The screen capture of Eminem in front of the restored and insanely gorgeous Fox Theater with “Keep Detroit Beautiful” glowing on the marquee says it all. Cue the choir (of course there was a choir!) and you’ve got water works.</blockquote><blockquote>I also found the overall look and feel of the commercial to be deeply moving. For me, it showed that cities are alive — and can die. And the juxtaposition of progress and the city’s real but often sensationalized ruins was beyond poignant. Yes, moving inventory is critical to Detroit’s recovery, but so is historic preservation.</blockquote>(Read the entire article <a href="http://blog.preservationnation.org/2011/02/07/preservation-round-up-the-keep-detroit-beautiful-edition/">here</a>.)<br />
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For Michiganders, I felt this point was an obvious one-- of course Detroit needs historic preservation. We've all been heartbroken, watching beautiful and historic buildings decay before our very eyes. So much of what is seen in the news is the dilapidated, abandoned Detroit. I was a little offended that the author of this article seemed <i>surprised</i> that Detroit has something worth keeping. But that aside, I very much like the idea that the city's recovery is dependent on historic preservation as well as car sales and I was impressed that the ad seemed to highlight the preservation efforts that have already been successful within the city.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIMEj3CqlI/AAAAAAAAAZU/O4Y6VFwnoe0/s1600/Fox+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIMEj3CqlI/AAAAAAAAAZU/O4Y6VFwnoe0/s320/Fox+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fox Theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There were images of the Diego Rivera murals at the DIA, which not only capture iconic images of the auto industry, but are also one of Detroits points of pride. There were also images of historic downtown buildings that have been flawlessly preserved for decades (That is the part of Detroit with which I am most familiar). There was also the Joe Louis memorial, The Spirit of Detroit, and shots of our historic churches. Most notably, there was the Fox Theater. Arguably one of the most stunning buildings in the city, the Fox underwent a $12 million restoration in 1988 and is still sparkling.<br />
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I think it's rather symbolic that the ad culminates at the Fox Theater. In a way, highlighting the success of this historic preservation project represents what could happen all over the city.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIMCqW3g8I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/OAi050GM14o/s1600/Fox+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIMCqW3g8I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/OAi050GM14o/s320/Fox+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fox Theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>But the message on the marquee of the Fox Theater read like a call to action for historic preservationists: KEEP DETROIT BEAUTIFUL. The author of the NTHP article finished by saying "I couldn’t agree more. Americans are capable of making — and saving — great things."<br />
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Indeed! And what acts as a testament to that assertion better than a museum?<br />
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Those final thoughts bring to mind an object I saw while at <a href="http://www.thehenryford.org/">The Henry Ford </a>this past December. My dad and I spent a great day in the Henry Ford Museum while I was home in Michigan for the semester break and after our visit, we both agreed that our favorite object on view in the museum was a set of Johansson gauge blocks.<br />
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I had never heard of such a tool before we saw them at the museum. I can't explain the science behind them any better than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_block">Wikipedia</a>, but I thought the way they were exhibited and interpreted in the context of the museum was just great.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIG-56u_XI/AAAAAAAAAZM/wEcu_mz-a4g/s1600/GaugeBlockMetricSet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TVIG-56u_XI/AAAAAAAAAZM/wEcu_mz-a4g/s320/GaugeBlockMetricSet.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Johansson Gauge Blocks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sure, they don't look like much. In fact, I would have walked right past them except that they were alone in a display case all their own. Something clicked in the museum-awareness part of my brain and said, "This must be important!" And sure enough, they were. These blocks essentially represent the entire Detroit automotive industry. <br />
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Henry Ford used these instruments because their precision in measurements allowed Model Ts to be assembled without employing "fitters" (people needed to adjust individual parts so that they fit together correctly), which saved money but also further contributed to Ford's efficiency in mass production. The same mass production assembly line that allowed the automotive industry to take off in Detroit and centuries later, inspired Super Bowl commercials.<br />
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Eminem said, "This is Detroit and this [make cars] is what we do". Well, "this" is what we do because of these gauge blocks.<br />
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The above pictured set of blocks is not Ford's own. His set is not metric and is engraved with his name on every single block. Ford's personal set of Johansson gauge blocks is impeccably preserved and on display in the Model T exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. <br />
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Indeed, Americans are capable of making and saving great things.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-52084365095891969202010-09-11T13:49:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:54:31.757-07:00White Kids on Bicycles: Museums' Most Important Target Audience?Detroit.<br />
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Here, in Florida, I almost feel like it's a four letter word. Nobody wants to talk about it out loud, but lots of people ask me about the details of the city in private, with a kind of morbid curiosity. "Are there really bears in downtown?" "Do people really shoot raccoons and sell the meat to survive?"<br />
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When I first got back to Gainesville, I met with my advisior and he had just as many questions about the city-- albeit much more relevant and realistic ones. I'm happy to answer them. I don't want people to think of Detroit as some kind of scary, forbidden place full of mystery and lore. In that meeting, we talked a lot about the arts of Detroit. Of course, there is the DIA, the Detroit Symphony Opera, etc. But there is also the electronic music festival, The Scarab Club, the Heidelberg Project, and other more grassroots art movements.<br />
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When I was finishing up my internship at the DIA, Larry (programming director) asked me about my likes and dislikes, in an effort to find out more about the DIA's newest target audience: 20-somethings.<br />
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My birthday last week might even push me out of the <em>most </em>sought-after group: <em>early </em>20-somethings.<br />
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I urge my countless readers to watch ALL of the videos presented <a href="http://www.palladiumboots.com/exploration/detroit?ref=nf">here</a>. Palladium Boots (for some reason...) teamed up with Johnny Knoxville, of MTV's "Jackass" fame, to create a series of three videos that spotlight the "other" side of Detroit-- you know, the side that's <em>not </em>eating raccoons.<br />
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<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?autoplay=1&height=270&embedCode=5qamlwMTrY0vUEPg88yBWEJWxvuRKTLo&width=480&deepLinkEmbedCode=5qamlwMTrY0vUEPg88yBWEJWxvuRKTLo">
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Don't let Johnny Knoxville's association with "Jackass" fool you (Dad!)-- he takes a very respectful, curious, compassionate, and intelligent approach to the city. <br />
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One segment features restaurant owner, Larry Mongo, who speaks about owning a business in Detroit. He told a story about how he closed up his restaurant after a string of murders in the neighborhood, leaving it closed for a long period (I don't believe he specified... but it sounded like more than a month). After being closed for so long, he said one day, a group of "200 white kids on bicycles" were outside the restaurant, asking when he would open again.<br />
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Yes, hipsters are moving into Detroit. As Larry states, they're not taking over-- they're just filling in the gaps in much the same way that African Americans filled in the gaps when the white community left Detroit. Now that <em>everyone </em>has left, the hipsters are filling in.<br />
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There is a movement brewing in Detroit. These kids, in their late teens and early twenties, are active in the community and are passionate about bringing art and life back to Detroit. These are the people that the museums want to target, and with good reason!<br />
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It's no wonder that Inside|Out has been such a hit! The community is thirsty for that kind of outreach and "beautification". I realize that projects like this are like a band-aid on a gunshot wound. Certainly, 40 fake paintings aren't going to revitalize the city. But, I think it will do a lot to inspire and motivate the <em>people</em> who see them<em> </em>to continue in that direction of change and regrowth.<br />
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I've touched on this before but, it has been hotly debated among museum professionals so it's worth discussing again: What is the purpose of a museum?<br />
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A lot of museum professionals believe that museums exist to collect, preserve, and display works of art. Others argue that <em>civic engagement</em> is a necessary function, in addition to those listed.<br />
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I think it depends greatly on what the community needs. In Detroit's Cultural Center, students and recent graduates of Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies are the biggest catalyst of the revitalization of that area (it's one of the fastest growing and trendiest areas of the city). As the Palladium videos show, the young people of Detroit are motivated and willing to work on facilitating change in the city. I think they can find a partner in the DIA. <br />
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Detroit does not need a stoic, static building full of paintings. It needs an active organization that can fill some of the gaps in the failing school system, provide a partner to CCS and WSU students, as they take on public art projects in the city, be a place where Detroit residents can gather to discuss art, politics, community projects, or anything at all. Civic engagement needs to be a major component of the DIA's purpose, as it sits in the center of a city that is desperately attempting to become re-engaged!<br />
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I'm not sure if Detroiters realize what an ally they could have in the DIA. But if they do, I urge them to <a href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100519/FREE/100519828">vote</a> about it.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-71099165227905804672010-09-10T20:30:00.000-07:002010-09-10T20:30:26.399-07:00New Semester, New InternshipSome time has passed from my last entry and a lot of things have happened.<br />
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Most notably, I am back in Florida and three weeks into the semester. <br />
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Also, I have yet <em>another</em> internship (now called a "practicum" for reasons I don't quite understand). This time around, I'm at the Florida Museum of Natural History (or, FLMNH), working in the education department, developing programs for seniors and adults. I am completely thrilled with this assignment. I have had programming experience in the past, so this project seems totally accessible to me-- yet I've never programmed for adults, so it's new and challenging. In short, I'm stoked.<br />
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In other happenings, one of my intern projects from the Detroit Institute of Arts is now in full swing. <strong>DIA: Inside|Out</strong> has been featured in the <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20100905/ENT05/100905017/1035/Ent/Museum-brings-its-art-outdoors-around-metro-Detroit">Detroit Free Press</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gJ9MaTLFiI9hXSEo6_fT4T7zkPjw">Canadian Press</a>, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/09/05/detroit-art-street.html">CBC</a>, <a href="http://www.detnews.com/article/20100902/ENT01/9020504/1033/DIA-s-Inside/Out-art-finds-a-place-outside">Detroit News</a>, <a href="http://www.metrotimes.com/arts/story.asp?id=15347">Metro Times</a>, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-09-08-detroit-art-museum-inside-out_N.htm?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29">USA Today</a>, <a href="http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20100905/FREE/100909931#">Crain's Detroit Business</a>, and <a href="http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=40410">ArtDaily.org</a>! <br />
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That Canadian Press article was also featured in a dorky professional newsletter that I get, called <a href="http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/aam/aam090910.php">Dispatches from the Future of Museums</a>. It's actually one of my favorite museum news sources, so I was really excited to see the project featured there.<br />
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Inside|Out seems to be getting a great reaction from the public, but really, how could it not? I've had several friends back in the Detroit area tell me about various paintings that they have seen around town. <br />
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It's been so rewarding to see (even if it's from a distance) this project come to fruition and be so successful. I'm really happy with the way the paintings and labels turned out. For a while, it looked as if the labels would be cluttered with corporate sponsors' logos, or be made of low-quality materials... but they look fantastic! I'm really glad that our committee held their ground with that issue.<br />
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All 40 reproductions should be installed by the middle of September, but a bunch of them are already in place-- including one on <a href="http://www.romacafe.com/">everyone's favorite Italian restaurant</a>. Here are a few shots of our little piece of the DIA (click on any one of them to enlarge):<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIrx6oL69xI/AAAAAAAAAYM/1zKb_Xmi8cU/s1600/DSC02139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIrx6oL69xI/AAAAAAAAAYM/1zKb_Xmi8cU/s320/DSC02139.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fruit Vendor</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIryHC4Go6I/AAAAAAAAAYU/tBS9hvors7g/s1600/DSC02140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIryHC4Go6I/AAAAAAAAAYU/tBS9hvors7g/s320/DSC02140.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The painting is located right next to our kitchen door</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIryTRwE51I/AAAAAAAAAYc/CTw4KXaUdRo/s1600/DSC02142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TIryTRwE51I/AAAAAAAAAYc/CTw4KXaUdRo/s320/DSC02142.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though this photo is reminiscent of a "Where's Waldo" book, the painting is still visible. Can you find it?</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A map of all the locations and artworks can be found <a href="http://www.dia.org/user_area/uploads/Inside%20Out%20Map.pdf">here</a>. And <a href="http://www.dia.org/calendar/special-event.aspx?id=2472&iid=">the DIA website</a>, of course, has a little feature on it as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More photos of the various paintings can also be found at the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1542686@N22/">Inside|Out flickr site</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can only hope that my current internship will pan out to be as rewarding and educational as my time at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Already, I think this practicum was a good choice for me. I was wavering back and forth about what classes to take this fall, and when I had one schedule slot left to fill, I didn't want to settle for a course that wasn't of great interest to me. So, I decided to go a different route and spend 9 hours / week at the Florida Museum of Natural History. From the few meetings I've had, and the bit of initial research that I've done, I can tell that this will be 3 credits well spent.</div><br />
Certainly, the FLMNH differs from the DIA in many ways, including content, size, location, and budget. Yet, I can already see many similarities in the general operations and some of the challenges that have been discussed-- many of which I think are universal among museums of all kinds. <br />
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So this just leaves me wondering... when will we be installing <a href="http://www.hellofortmyers.com/media/articles/large/2149_image3_large.jpg">these</a> in surprising locations around Gainesville?Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-54363855768209933132010-07-11T11:06:00.000-07:002010-07-24T12:44:30.658-07:00Formative EvaluationsMy last project at the DIA was just as fun and interesting as everything else I had been working on all summer, and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't have more time to get involved with it.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Museum evaluation is actually very interesting to me. I like to know how the visitors perceive the museum-- is it meeting their needs? Their expectations? Are they enjoying themselves? Are they actually learning anything? Is our message being received by the public? And I find evaluation to be tied very closely to education, as the answers to the above questions are generally addressed by an educator.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The DIA appears to take evaluation very seriously. They have their own evaluation department that works with many areas of the museum (staff engagement surveys to membership evaluations and visitor surveys). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My last project involved formative evaluations of some labels for an upcoming exhibition called, "Fakes, Forgeries, and Mysteries". I wish I were going to be in town for it-- it sounds pretty cool. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The DIA actually tests every label before it goes up on the wall. More specifically, they test interpretive labels and texts. Those labels that just describe the artwork don't really change. I love this. I love the idea of presenting the draft of the label to the public, asking if the text works for them. It just makes so much sense. And honestly, it's not that much work. I know it sounds really labor intensive to test every single label, but it's just not that bad.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_FRAu8aI/AAAAAAAAAXo/t9qpAhYUGEk/s1600/IMG_0499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_FRAu8aI/AAAAAAAAAXo/t9qpAhYUGEk/s320/IMG_0499.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>All of the necessary supplies for label evaluations</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Each draft label is printed out on regular paper and taped to a wall in the museum (frankly, in the scope of this entire project, I was most nervous about taping things to the walls of the DIA) and then 10 visitors are asked to read the label(s) and answer some questions about what they read. Generally, 2 labels are tested each time so it goes pretty quickly.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_OEQxfiI/AAAAAAAAAX4/Y2-LPeYf4tI/s1600/IMG_0501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_OEQxfiI/AAAAAAAAAX4/Y2-LPeYf4tI/s320/IMG_0501.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The draft label on the wall, along with sample artworks</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For two days, I was charged with standing near the Rivera Court, temporarily mounting the draft labels, and interviewing 10 people per day about their thoughts on the texts. I really liked it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">To some, I'm sure this sounds like a painful task, but I really enjoyed for a couple of reasons. First, I got to talk to visitors. I love talking to visitors. A buddy and colleague of mine, who works at another museum said, "I take my employee badge off when I walk through the galleries so no one will ask me anything". We could not be more different in that respect. In his defense, he's only been working at his current museum for a few months, so he doesn't really have the knowledge base to feel comfortable answering visitors' questions. I, on the other hand, have been coming to the DIA for the better part of my lifetime and can tell you where the bathrooms are without blinking.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_JlUBxvI/AAAAAAAAAXw/h-yjrPZx4hI/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TEs_JlUBxvI/AAAAAAAAAXw/h-yjrPZx4hI/s320/IMG_0500.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>As a "prize" for participating, each visitor gets a postcard of an artwork in the DIA.</em></span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One of my "hobbies" while at the DIA this summer, was to walk around the galleries when I had some down time, and listen to people's conversations. It sounds creepy, but I'm interested in what they are saying about the art and about the museum. I like listening to how adults talk about art with kids, and how people engage with each other in conversations about art.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>So it was a real treat for me to stand in the hallway and ask visitors questions. Plus, I was able to give directions to elevators and bathrooms all day.<br />
<br />
The other thing I liked about this project was seeing the results. Because each label is only read and evaluated by 10 people, it's possible to see the results very quickly. For example, after about 6 interviews, I was able to find a pattern and see that people had trouble understanding the third paragraph of a certain label. <br />
<br />
It's instant evaluation gratification and I loved it.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-41208424834690711912010-07-09T12:04:00.000-07:002010-07-09T12:04:17.931-07:00Pan Asian Cuisine, Formative Evaluations, Recommendations, and 20-Something HipstersOver jalapeno sake and Korean food, I was told that the DIA's Executive Vice President had been given the recommendation to hire me as soon as I graduate.<br />
<br />
I spent much of last night, before my last day on the job, wondering if I had done any good. In my last post, I mentioned the projects I completed and spoke about their value to the organization, but I was still wondering whether or not <em>I </em>had actually done a good job.<br />
<br />
So I guess that answers that.<br />
<br />
Larry and Michelle took me to lunch today and I really enjoyed it. I feel particularly invested in the 125th Anniversary's DIA: Inside Out, so it was nice to have lunch with the rest of the team before I leave.<br />
<br />
Larry had very complimentary things to say about my work and mentioned that he told the EVP that she should hire me as soon as I'm done with school. After which he said, "Wait... when are you done with school?" A year and a half seems like a long time for the DIA to wait, but I suppose it's not unheard of. On top of the fact that I am fantastic, there is another reason why the DIA is interested in hiring me (and people like me). Larry spoke briefly about an initiative called the 15/15 project (or something like that), which aims to add 1,500 young, college educated, Detroit residents (living around the cultural center and Wayne State University) to the DIA's membership.<br />
<br />
So, all of a sudden, hip 20-somethings are the DIA's target demographic.<br />
<br />
(This revelation was followed by Larry asking how old I am (24) and then asking my feelings about Andy Warhol, contemporary art, and Damien Hirst. It feels kind of nice to be a target demographic-- suddenly, everyone is interested in my thoughts on things.)<br />
<br />
To target this demographic, the DIA really needs to have some 20-somethings on staff, which is the other big reason why Larry was so willing to recommend me.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, I think that a large percentage of the DIA's visitors are already local 20-somethings. While they may not actually be <em>members</em>, I have noticed a lot of people my age wandering around the museum on a daily basis. In fact, yesterday, I was doing some more formative evaluations for an upcoming exhibition and more than half of the people I spoke with were younger people, and young couples seemed to be the largest demographic I saw all day. This is purely anecdotal evidence, of course, but it seems to me that the 20-something Detroiters are already interested in the DIA, but perhaps they are not being cultivated for memberships.<br />
<br />
So that was my last day at the DIA; Asian food, recommendations, formative evaluations, and hipsters.<br />
<br />
Except that I don't really think this is my last day, so much as it is my last "official" day-- perhaps my last day in the building, but I don't think it's my last day at work.<br />
<br />
There are two projects that remain unfinished:<br />
<br />
1.) DIA: Inside Out<br />
Inside Out is a major undertaking and I have offered to help Michelle with emails and phone calls in any way that I can. I made contacts and established relationships with several Detroit-area businesses and Downtown Development Authorities, and while I have given them all of Michelle's information, I was their primary contact until now, so I will continue to field any of their questions and concerns about the project, as they arise. And Michelle has offered to keep my updated on the overall progress of the project. As I said, I am very invested in this project and I would like to continue to be a small part of its realization.<br />
<br />
2.) AAMD Maps<br />
The data for the maps has been sent off to the AAMD. But, of course, it will take some time for the fellow at the AAMD to process the information and generate the maps. I expect that he will have some questions about the way I broke down the information, or some organizations' addresses, or Canadian postal codes, or any number of other things before the maps can be completed and I have been the <em>only </em>person working on this project, so it seems silly and ill-advised to suddenly dump it on someone else's desk. I am still in contact with the AAMD, and will continue to be their primary contact until the maps are complete and in Sondra's hands.<br />
<br />
An intern's work is never done.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-42972866387580276762010-07-07T08:28:00.000-07:002010-07-07T08:34:26.836-07:00Inside OutI'm in the last days of my internship and I've been pretty busy, trying to tie up all of the loose ends in each of my three projects. Today, I'm entering the last bit of data for the AAMD Maps and I hope to have everything sent off to the AAMD by this afternoon. I'm also giving all of my program synopsis sheets one last proof-read before I print them off.<br />
<br />
And much more exciting, we finally picked a name for the 125th Anniversary Project! Yesterday, we were supposed to have a committee meeting but Michelle was out, buttering up some of our prospective locations and Courtney was off working on the construction of the frames, so that left Larry and I as the only two in the office. So Larry and I sat in his office, discussing the general progress of the project and my part in it, when he finally said, "Alright, we need a name for this thing-- what do you think?"<br />
<br />
We had a meeting with the marketing department last week that involved a lively brainstorming session to come up with names for the project. Some were better than others. A few of the rejects were:<br />
Drive By Art<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>(Not such a great image in Detroit)</em></span><br />
Severe Weather Art<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Which started as Art in the Sun, but then became a play on the tornados we've been having all summer)</span></em><br />
Art Attack<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>(Which I actually really liked)</em></span><br />
<br />
The list of ones we liked was pretty long, but in the end, it was Larry and I that selected the offical name for the project:<br />
<br />
<strong>DIA: Inside Out</strong><br />
<br />
The runner up was a name that <em>I </em>actually coined: Off The Wall. But Larry pointed out that we're actually putting these paintings <em>on </em>walls, so it's not such a great play on words.<br />
<br />
Either way, I love the name we came up with and I was thrilled to play such a large role in selecting it. I might not be around to see the paintings go up, but when I read about it in the paper, I'll know that they're using a name I helped select-- and that's just as satisfying.<br />
<br />
On that same note, I will not be around to see the paintings be installed because my internship is (sadly) coming to an end on Friday. Inside Out is far from finished, so Larry has asked that I find another intern (or two or three) to replace myself on the project (he even suggested that I conduct inverviews!), so I submitted the resume of a former classmate from CMU (Fire Up!), put a note on the Emerging Museum Professionals Facebook page and asked a former prof to email the offer to his students.<br />
<br />
The fact that I need to replace myself at the DIA seems to go against most of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/fashion/04Internship.html?_r=1">what I read this weekend</a> in the New York Times. The article talks mainly about the notion that interns should not be abused and worked to the bone without receiving "payment" of some kind, be it college credit, a stipend, etc.<br />
<br />
The article states that:<br />
<blockquote>In April, the Obama administration issued a <a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.pdf">fact sheet</a> listing six criteria aimed at preventing employers from violating the Fair Labor Standards Act with their unpaid internship programs. Among the stipulations: that the training the intern receives must be similar to training that can be obtained in an educational setting, that unpaid interns don’t displace a paid employee, and that the employer does not derive any “benefit” from the intern’s work. </blockquote>Ok, so...<br />
<br />
Training similar to that of an educational setting: Check.<br />
Must not replace a paid employee: Check.<br />
Employer does not derive any "benefit" from the intern's work: Ummm... <br />
<br />
What exactly do they mean by "benefit"? While at the DIA, I did a lot of things that I think were helpful to the organization. I wrote up program synopses that can be included in donor packets and grant proposals, I entered a ton of data into the AAMD database for mapping our community outreach-- which will be useful in our upcoming millage campaign, and I secured several locations for DIA: Inside Out, which I also helped name.<br />
<br />
Last night, I was explaining to my dad that while these things were helpful, my absence after Friday will not be noticeable... until I thought about Larry's request. Perhaps I <em>did</em> provide a measurable benefit to the DIA. Without knowing Obama's definition of "benefit", it's hard to say. But let me say this, I do not feel cheated or used by the DIA in any capacity. I am incredibly proud to say that I played a beneficial role in the success of a museum that I love dearly.<br />
<br />
And I didn't even have to pay $42,500 to do it. <br />
<em>(Seriously, read that article!)</em>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-89126848617424593282010-07-01T20:42:00.000-07:002010-07-01T20:43:16.689-07:00Art Camp in Pictures<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I took a bunch of pictures at Art Camp last week and have been meaning to post them, so here they are, in all of their ridiculous, messy glory:</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1coEsCyUI/AAAAAAAAAWI/FOTVXiqZKRc/s1600/P6230038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1coEsCyUI/AAAAAAAAAWI/FOTVXiqZKRc/s400/P6230038.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Creating creatures and environments</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1ct4uYmMI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/GOPfdPEw680/s1600/P6230042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1ct4uYmMI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/GOPfdPEw680/s400/P6230042.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Painting pink penguins</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1cxryZnnI/AAAAAAAAAWY/rONOVf3B6Bw/s1600/P6230045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1cxryZnnI/AAAAAAAAAWY/rONOVf3B6Bw/s400/P6230045.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Chatting with Mr. Byron</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1c2HL-kTI/AAAAAAAAAWg/ucoJp8RmLCk/s1600/P6230046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1c2HL-kTI/AAAAAAAAAWg/ucoJp8RmLCk/s400/P6230046.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">This fold-out chalkboard divides the two studios. Cool.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1c6WtOioI/AAAAAAAAAWo/_jzn7zd_K_k/s1600/P6230048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1c6WtOioI/AAAAAAAAAWo/_jzn7zd_K_k/s400/P6230048.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">A giraffe in Africa</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dDJGAfnI/AAAAAAAAAWw/e283RvKsTnE/s1600/P6240050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dDJGAfnI/AAAAAAAAAWw/e283RvKsTnE/s400/P6240050.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Mixing colors can get messy...</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dIhBVwII/AAAAAAAAAW4/aDhiRb36xDY/s1600/P6240052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dIhBVwII/AAAAAAAAAW4/aDhiRb36xDY/s400/P6240052.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> Thank goodness we have plenty of aprons to go around!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1ci8FpIqI/AAAAAAAAAWA/ka0VWJulUjU/s1600/P6230034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1ci8FpIqI/AAAAAAAAAWA/ka0VWJulUjU/s400/P6230034.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Working hard on her imaginary roller coaster</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dNJwj11I/AAAAAAAAAXA/wQQ7o1hfItY/s1600/P6250061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1dNJwj11I/AAAAAAAAAXA/wQQ7o1hfItY/s400/P6250061.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">It all culminates with an art show for parents and family on day 5</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1cbF85b3I/AAAAAAAAAV4/2uE90wsDs6U/s1600/P6240058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" rw="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TC1cbF85b3I/AAAAAAAAAV4/2uE90wsDs6U/s400/P6240058.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Parents, admiring their students' work</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Learn more about the DIA's summer art camps and see pictures from better photographers than myself at <a href="http://www.diaartstudio.wordpress.com/">http://www.diaartstudio.wordpress.com/</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diaartstudio">www.flickr.com/photos/diaartstudio</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-61992261184013194302010-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:002010-06-28T20:32:40.844-07:00The Drama with the Custer FlagIt's why we pay lawyers to represent us in court and doctors to cure what ails us and exterminators to take care of those ants that keep coming back.<br />
<br />
We trust these people to take care of our needs because they are skilled in their professions and are more or less <em>experts </em>at what they do. They have a mastery of a profession that others do not.<br />
<br />
So why are museums so freely criticized by those who do not understand the laws and processes surrounding museum operations?<br />
<br />
I think a lot of it has to do with the idea that museums hold the public's objects and promises to take care of them... forever. On the one hand, I am pleased when the public feels a sense of ownership for the objects in the museum. On the other hand, I hate it when the people feeling ownership are completely illogical.<br />
<br />
I think it must be common knowledge that people who rant on message boards and leave irate comments IN ALL CAPS at the bottom of web articles are not people to be reasoned with. But darn it if I won't try!<br />
<br />
This rant stems from a civil war (or, "war of northern aggression", as I've learned it's called down in Florida) flag that has ties to Custer (from Monroe, MI) and is owned by the DIA... but now the museum has plans to sell it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClmvqp15gI/AAAAAAAAAUo/ARl9rsJSKyA/s1600/bilde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClmvqp15gI/AAAAAAAAAUo/ARl9rsJSKyA/s320/bilde.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The flag, complete with commemorative Custer illustration.</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>So, here's the story:<br />
<blockquote>On June 25, 1876, George Armstrong Custer, the pride of Monroe, led the 7th Cavalry into battle against the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne near the Little Bighorn River in Montana. It was not, shall we say, Custer’s finest hour. All 210 men under his immediate command died in the massacre. So did Custer. <br />
<br />
As a burial detail surveyed the carnage a few days later, Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson discovered a tattered swallow-tail American flag, known as a guidon, hidden beneath a dead soldier. He picked it up, folded it and squeezed it into his pocket. Four years later, according to an 1895 Free Press report headlined “Memento of a Massacre,” the first written document of the flag’s history, Culbertson gave it to Rose Fowler, whose husband was a military man. After Mr. Fowler died, his wife married another soldier and retired to southwest Detroit. </blockquote>Eventually, Rose sold the flag to the DIA for about $50. Now, the DIA has decided to put the flag up for auction at Sotherby's, where they expect it will sell for somewhere between 2 and 5 million dollars.<br />
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Currently, the DIA's collections budget (their budget for buying new art) is about $3 million. If the flag sold for the expected amount, it could more than double that budget.<br />
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Fantastic, right?<br />
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Well, some people aren't so thrilled and they're even writing <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20100628/OPINION04/6280315/1322/Keep-Gen.Custers-Little-Bighorn-flag-here-in-Michigan">goofy letters to the editor</a> about it.<br />
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There are so many ridiculous things in this article, I don't even know where to start...<br />
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<em>"This isn't a piece of surplus artwork; this a priceless piece of history"</em><br />
Exactly. It's not art! I agree that the flag has value, but so does all of the "surplus" art in the museum. The flag doesn't fit within the mission or collections policy, so it simply has no place in the DIA. There are no civil war historians on staff, thus there is no one to interpret the work. There are no other civil war objects in the collection, thus there is no context in which to display it. Should the flag remain in the DIA, it will stay in storage; unseen and unexplained. Forever.<br />
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<em>"give the people of Michigan time to donate and raise money so that the flag could stay here"</em><br />
Seriously? There have been countless fundraising campaigns over the years to support the DIA. Did you donate then? At the risk of sounding cliche, I will ask, given the economic troubles in Michigan at the moment, is raising $5 million to keep a <em>single</em> <em>flag</em> really at the top of everyone's priority list?<br />
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<em>"I highly doubt that the soldier who gave his life protecting this flag had this in mind as he tucked it under his body."</em><br />
Well, I guess we'll never know. An art historian probably can't tell you much about the circumstances under which this flag was salvaged.<br />
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I know I'm playing the devil's advocate here. I mean, I worked at a historical museum for several years. I am not one to try and devalue historical objects. However, historical objects belong in historical museums, with experts than can interpret them correctly.<br />
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<em>"Imagine if this flag ends up in Russia, China or the Middle East"</em><br />
Wait... what? Is this guy for real?<br />
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On other message boards and comment threads, people are all up in arms about the idea that there may be blood on the flag. I've seen a lot of civil war flags (our historical museum had a hugely impressive collection of them) and many of them do have blood, dirt, grass stains, etc. from the battles-- so it is very possible that this flag does indeed have some blood on it. <br />
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So here's what people are saying about that: <br />
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<em>"If this is Native American blood, wouldn't this fall under the various repatriation acts that require the flag to be returned to Native American tribes involved with the battle?"</em><br />
Now, I don't claim to be a NAGPRA expert, but I know what the acronym stands for, so I feel that qualifies me enough to comment on this. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act exists to (rightfully) protect Native American graves, remains, and funerary and religious artifacts. I don't believe that blood spattered on a flag qualifies as any of those things.<br />
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<em>"If this is the blood of an American soldier, shouldn't it be returned to the family of the soldier who died possessing it?"</em><br />
We don't know who that soldier was. We only know who picked it up and put it in his pocket-- and that guy willingly donated it to Rose, who willingly sold it to the DIA for $50. Why is nobody mad at Rose Fowler? There was no DIA curator at the battle of Little Bighorn, going around and ripping flags out from under fallen soldiers. <br />
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<em>"If this was a flag used during a U.S. military operation, isn't it the property of the U.S. government?"</em><br />
I can't say for certain that the flag was not, at one time, government property. What I do know is that enough time has passed that the DIA does legally own the flag and can do with it what they please.<br />
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There are also many comments lamenting the sale as the DIA's "shameful" way to "make a buck". I know I don't need to say this to any of my peers, but the money earned in the auction of the flag will not pay anyone's salary, nor will it keep the lights on in the galleries. That money will be used <em>exclusively </em>for the purchase of great art-- art that will enrich the DIA's collection and serve the museum's mission of "creating experiences that help visitors find personal meaning in <em>art</em>".<br />
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The value of this flag comes from the story it can tell-- yet that story will not be heard and meaning will not be garnered if it remains in storage at the DIA.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-7310272469340188172010-06-28T18:53:00.000-07:002010-06-28T18:56:48.010-07:002010.26Yes, yes, I know. Some of my peers may be thinking, "Jess, you're an educator... why are you always ranting about accession numbers, relative humidity, exhibition planning and other things that are outside your chosen realm of museum work?"<br />
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Well the answer is that I simply enjoy museums as a whole. I see most functions of the museum as being interrelated. If the art is not cared for and understood, then how can I be expected to educate the public about it? What do I say when a kid asks me, "Why is it so cold in here?" or "What are those little numbers for?" or "Why can't we touch anything?" I think it's important to know about all aspects of the museum if I am to speak confidently as an educator and representative of the museum.<br />
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On that note; today I was working with some labels.<br />
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As a part of the 125th Anniversary Project, labels need to be fabricated to accompany the repro paintings that will be installed around Metro-Detroit. Thus, I was charged with making a draft of the text for these labels (which will later be approved by a curator). <br />
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We have selected 40 paintings to be reproduced, so Michelle and I went into the museum's database (The Museum System, or TMS-- which I must say, is a lot cooler than ARGUS, which is what I used at the history museum) and printed out the information on each of our 40 pieces. This document contains all of the information that one would find on a wall label, but it's in a much different format. So my job today was to reformat all of the information into labels that mimic those used in the actual DIA galleries.<br />
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This would have been fine, if I had any idea what format the DIA uses for their labels. I looked on our website and found nothing, so I had to sneak down into the galleries. The DIA is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so all of the lights were off, and the galleries were technically "closed", but I have a little ID badge that says "Staff" so just let them try and stop me!<br />
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I managed to snap a quick picture of the first label I saw. It was for this work of art:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQvwVkPoI/AAAAAAAAAUI/PHvWfcEYTVs/s1600/2453234800_045ec9fee1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQvwVkPoI/AAAAAAAAAUI/PHvWfcEYTVs/s320/2453234800_045ec9fee1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I've come to really love this painting over the last two months. I don't recall ever seeing it before, but now I spend a few minutes looking at it every day as I wait for the elevator. I can see it from the third floor balcony and it has grown on me.<br />
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Anyway, I used this label as a template, eliminating the interpretive text below the tombstone information.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClPPV-UMBI/AAAAAAAAAUA/RGo3FiMQ7fQ/s1600/Label.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClPPV-UMBI/AAAAAAAAAUA/RGo3FiMQ7fQ/s320/Label.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It's not a pretty picture, but it served the purpose of showing me how to format my labels. I thought I was being pretty clever.<br />
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So with my example established, I began rearranging the information about each of the 40 paintings. As I was going through the list, I was struck by a few entries that I found particularly interesting.<br />
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The first piece ever accessioned by the DIA (Detroit Museum of Art, at the time) was <em>Reading the Story of Oenone</em>, 1883<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQy6xxBsI/AAAAAAAAAUY/k_HrkX2gDDk/s1600/small_Reading_the_Story_of_Oenone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQy6xxBsI/AAAAAAAAAUY/k_HrkX2gDDk/s320/small_Reading_the_Story_of_Oenone.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The accession number is 83.1... which means the museum bought the painting the same year it was made. What was so great about this painting that the DIA decided this is what will start their collection? And why not a great classic masterpiece? Why a contemporary (for the time) piece? I find this very interesting.<br />
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There were several others that the DIA bought shortly after their completion. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQxnzJcpI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/YbvnfbC4JD0/s1600/ashcan01_a_day_in_june.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQxnzJcpI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/YbvnfbC4JD0/s320/ashcan01_a_day_in_june.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<em>A Day in June</em> was purchased in 1917, just four years after it was made. I can't help but think that perhaps the Detroit Museum of Art began as a rather progressive institution, willing to invest in controversial impressionist paintings and contemporary artists.<br />
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Every art history student I've spoken to hates this painting:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQ1csohwI/AAAAAAAAAUg/5TODC2ZDVvs/s1600/The_Nut_Gatherers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TClQ1csohwI/AAAAAAAAAUg/5TODC2ZDVvs/s320/The_Nut_Gatherers.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>But it's a Detroit treasure. Visitors love it and it may very well be the most visited and most recognized painting in the museum. I think its only competition would be the Van Gogh self portrait. So I was a little surprised that it was only accessioned in 1954. That seems so recent! As a citizen that has patronized the DIA for many years, it is difficult to fathom that <em>The Nut Gatherers</em> has not always been at the DIA. I mean, there was a time in my parents' lifetime when they could not go see the Nut Gatherers. I mean... my dad would have been 2 years old when it was accessioned, but still!<br />
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In the early 90's, it seems like a there was a change in the collections policy. Granted, I am looking at an extremely small sample from the collections database, but around 1993, suddenly the credit lines (list of people who gave money to purchase-or donated--an artwork) grew from one or two lines to some that are a whopping 15 lines of text! Dozens and dozens of donors are suddenly being listed on labels. <br />
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I have a theory on this. <br />
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Perhaps, as the museum's collections policy became more refined, the DIA began to deaccession donated works and sell them (of course, putting the resulting funds into an account exclusively for the purchase of more art). As the account was used to pay for new art, ALL of the names of ALL of the people who contributed must then be present on the label. <br />
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Of the 40 works on this list, those with the longest credits were accessioned in 1977, 1993, 1995, and 2002. To me, that points to a more recent change in the collections policy and some deaccessioning and redistribution of funds.<br />
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And speaking of deaccessioning and redistribution of funds... have you heard about the drama with the Custer flag?Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-78268843038580469842010-06-24T14:01:00.000-07:002010-06-29T08:56:42.289-07:00Mummies and DaddiesFor Fathers Day this year, I took my dad to the Detroit Science Center to see The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato. <br />
Sure, he drove… and paid… but it was my idea, so I’m still saying that I “took” him there.<br />
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The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato is a traveling exhibition by The Detroit Science Center and The Accidental Mummies Touring Company LLC, along with Manuel Hernandez/Firma Culturato. The exhibition will begin touring nationally after its initial stint in Detroit. It features 36 accidental mummies from the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato. While there is an entire museum in Mexico that is dedicated to their care, this is the first time that any of the mummies have ever been seen outside of Mexico. The exhibition opened in Detroit in October of 2009 and will begin touring before the end of 2010 until 2012. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCPFlqFgC5I/AAAAAAAAAT4/FV7jtrrceJI/s1600/Mummy+Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCPFlqFgC5I/AAAAAAAAAT4/FV7jtrrceJI/s320/Mummy+Logo.jpg" /></a></div>The Detroit Science Center is directly across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Every day, as I am leaving work and driving up John R, I am taunted by the creepy yet exciting posters and flags that hang around the science center. I have wanted to see this exhibition since I came back to Detroit in May!<br />
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After all of that hype, I was not disappointed.<br />
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I love mummies. I have loved mummies for as long as I can remember. As I kid, I had giant (taller than me, at the time) cardboard books about Egyptian mummies, books about the bog mummies, <a href="http://www.elewasbazaar.com/servlet/Detail?no=1274">sarcophagus pencil cases</a>, mummy activity books, King Tut masks, huge inflatable mummies, and I even made a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopic_jar">canopic jar</a> in art class (I was a weird kid but my parents supported my interests). So when the Guanajuato mummies came to town, I was ready!<br />
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I was told not to take pictures inside the exhibition, so being the respectful museum professional that I am, I urge you to go to <a href="http://accidentalmummies.com/photo-gallery.php">http://accidentalmummies.com/photo-gallery.php</a> and see the exhibition photos. They're better than what I would get with my camera anyway.<br />
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My dad has been to lots of museums with me and has seen the great and the not-so-great exhibitions, but we were both floored by the first gallery and found the rest of the exhibition equally as impressive and enjoyable. <br />
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I was impressed by several things:<br />
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1.) <em>The respect with which the mummies were displayed.</em> It's a tough thing to display deceased human beings. It even sounds weird as I'm typing it... "display". But the Science Center did a nice job with it. They weren't on rotating platforms or set up to look like they were playing poker with each other. The displays were simple, informational, and still engrossing.<br />
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2.) <em>The design of the exhibition.</em> The first room, made to look like the cemetery in which they were found, was simply fantastic. Being the nerd that I am, I thought to myself, "I bet the exhibits department had a ball fabricating this!" The second room was the more simple, respectful display, and the third was made to look like a research lab-- complete with CT scanner and video of research methods and forensic facial reconstruction. That was my dad's favorite part. <br />
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3.) <em>The interpretive texts.</em> Each panel was in English and Spanish and they were all well written. They provided information that was easy to understand, and served as a valuable reference while we were in the exhibition. Dad and I even went back to a few text panels in previous galleries to double check our facts. It is unusual for me read <em>every </em>text panel in an exhibition, but it's also unusual for <em>every </em>text panel to be informative and useful.<br />
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I was also less-than-impressed with some others:<br />
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1.) <em>Inventive histories.</em> This was a tricky one for me, and I'm still trying to decide what I think. While the text panels about how accidental mummification occurs, Mexican history, etc., were very well done, I had an issue with some of the "stories" inside the cases with the mummies. Many of the stories seemed to be fabricated with the intent of tying these mummies in with some middle school social studies. A lame attempt to comply with the GLCEs and HSCEs. I saw right through it. These stories said things like, "This is a mummy of a woman who died in 1850. Women often played music for Spanish settlers around that time. This woman many have played music for Spanish settlers." Really? I mean... really? This poor woman may have been the most talented <em>chef</em> in town and lived her entire life without touching a musical instrument... but because she is a woman, and the Science Center is desperate to hit those Social Studies GLCEs, suddenly she played guitar for Spanish settlers. That irked me a little bit.<br />
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2.) <em>Dumb parents</em>. This is not the Science Center's fault, but when Dad and I were reaching the end of the exhibition, I suddenly heard a blood curdling scream from the entrance. It was clearly a terrified child, discovering a mummy. These accidental mummies became mummified because the cement of the mausoleum wicked the moisture out of their bodies. When bodies dry out like this, the mouth often opens. Thus, almost every mummy looked like it was screaming. To a kid, that could be pretty intense. I've already touched on my lifelong affection for mummies... but I'm not sure how I would have reacted to a "screaming" mummy when I was young. It's tough to say. I mean, I <em>really </em>liked mummies. Anyway, perhaps the visitor services rep should have advised this parent that this exhibition is not for children, but I think it's really the parent's decision-- and this parent made the wrong one.<br />
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However, those two minor issues did not noticeably detract from my overall enjoyment of the exhibition.<br />
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When I was taking my first undergrad course in museum studies (Introduction to Museum Work), my advisor (and professor), Lynn Fauver told us, "Taking this course will ruin any museum visit you have from now on." He seemed to think that <em>knowing</em> about museums would suck the enjoyment out of the visit. I have now come to disagree. I really liked Lynn. He was a great and fair advisor, an enthralling lecturer and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the museum field. But in this respect, I think he's full of it.<br />
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The more I learn about museum work, the more I am able to enjoy a museum visit on multiple levels. I am excited to see the exhibition itself, but I am also excited to see how it was produced and what choices the museum staff made. It's gotten to the point where I just want to know everything I can about how and why museums do what they do. I am able to walk into an exhibition like The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato and be awestruck by the mummies-- imagining their stories, thinking about the science of mummification, looking at their clothing, etc.-- while also checking the temperature and RH inside the cases, looking at the mounting hardware, lighting, layout, interpretive texts, and so on. <br />
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I am honestly and truly interested in all aspects of an exhibition like that. I may be alone on this, but knowing there is 44% RH inside of the mummy's case does not <em>ruin the magic</em> for me. (Sidebar: Some mummies were displayed laying on their backs, while others were mounted upright. Those laying down had 23-26 RH in the case, while the upright ones had 44-46 RH in their cases. My theory is that those who were laying down were so fragile that not only could they not be mounted in an upright position, but that they also needed drier conditions. Thoughts?)<br />
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So, if you like sausage and you respect the law, you shouldn't watch either one being made. Instead, spend your day at a museum. You'll like that better, I promise.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-38764975376687481712010-06-23T20:23:00.000-07:002010-06-24T10:01:29.188-07:00Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!Today was Art ‘n Action Camp for 5 – 8 year olds. Actually, camp goes all week long, but today was the first chance I had to sit in and watch. Tomorrow, I hope to observe the older kids (9 – 12) at Camp Art Exploration. <br />
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For as loud and ridiculous as this morning was, it turned out to be a lot of fun! I really like the methods that Miss LaVern and Miss Liz use to run their classroom. And it does run very much like a classroom. There is a certain amount of discipline necessary in a room with 11 5-8 year olds, but I think the idea is to keep the atmosphere fun and light, at which Liz and LaVern are highly skilled. I did have to laugh at one point, when a little boy wouldn’t stop rocking his stool back and forth (risking a head injury) Miss LaVern simply confiscated his stool and let him stand for the next few minutes. It seemed a little stern for “art camp” but I understand that if the instructors aren’t able to project some aura of authority, then chaos will ensue.<br />
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I came to camp a little late, so as I was arriving, the group was finishing up one project and getting ready to take a museum tour. <br />
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Back when I worked at the historical museum, I spent much of my usual day giving 4th graders an “orientation” (or snorientation… borientation… as we would sometimes call them) to the museum. The orientation included a recitation of the rules of the museum—though we weren’t supposed to call them “rules” so much as “guidelines”. Anyway, sometimes kids would listen intently… and other times I was practically peeling them off the walls while I ran through my 2 minute speech. It was not the most effective way to communicate museum behavior to the kids, but it was the most efficient. And on days when groups were coming in every 15 minutes… efficiency is next to godliness. I think I can still recite it in my sleep.<br />
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But I liked the way Miss Liz prepared the campers for their gallery visit. While they were seated at their tables, she said that we would be going into the museum and asked, “What are some things you think might be important in the museum?” Immediately, the kids came up with “Don’t run and scream!”, “Stay with the group”, and “Don’t touch anything”. For the record, these were the three things that I spent 2 minutes explaining every day at the historical museum. These exact 3 things. But the kids came up with them right off the bat. It was great. And because they came up with them on their own and Liz wrote them on the board, they seemed to remember them pretty well. I should have timed how long it took the campers to come up with those rules. I bet it was less than 2 minutes.<br />
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While I observed this, I took a moment of silence to reflect on all of the snorientations happening at the historical museum today. I still have good friends working there, and I know they appreciate a well presented orientation.<br />
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Speaking of the historical museum; I can remember some of the most frequently asked questions I heard over my 2.5 year tenure there…<br />
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1.) Where’s the bathroom?<br />
2.) How do I pay for parking?<br />
3.) Do you have dinosaurs?<br />
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Well, #3 reared its ugly head again today! After the list of rules, the next comment was, “Are we going to see dinosaurs??” To which Liz said, “There aren’t any dinosaurs… but we have mummies… and mummies are… umm… old… like dinosaurs… kind of.” Nice recovery Miss Liz.<br />
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So of course, our second stop (after petting Artie) was the Egyptian exhibition. I heard a kid yell “Mummies aren’t real and neither is Santa Claus!” before he stopped dead in front of the case with the mummy. “Is there a person in there??”, he asked me. I pointed to the accompanying X-ray, which clearly shows the skeleton within the wrappings, and he was awestruck. I managed to impress an 8 year old, and I felt SO cool. Though I’m not sure there was much I could do about his opinion of St. Nick.<br />
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When we got back to the studio, I was then able to observe the kids do a project from start to finish. It was really interesting and I liked the way LaVern presented the project. <br />
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The kids would be making family photo albums. But the books were really cool—they were made of all kinds of paper and cut into crazy shapes and stuff. LaVern showed the kids a few examples of books that others had made, including some by herself and Liz. After which she said, “You don’t have to do what Miss Liz and I do. You probably have other ideas, but we are here to help you.”<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOaWn_UqI/AAAAAAAAATw/y5olbyR0GMM/s1600/4725357886_34b8c950ae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOaWn_UqI/AAAAAAAAATw/y5olbyR0GMM/s320/4725357886_34b8c950ae.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Miss LaVern</span></em></div><br />
I had mentioned before that these workshops provide structure with room for creativity, and I think LaVern’s comment really exemplified the teaching philosophy of the DIA art studio. By the time camp was over for the day, photo albums were taking the shapes of sharks, stars, and rocket ships of all colors, sizes and arrangements. Yet they were all still photo albums. Perfect.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOXM7oYNI/AAAAAAAAATg/v-9MisIVNvY/s1600/4721754794_02e1191f9e_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOXM7oYNI/AAAAAAAAATg/v-9MisIVNvY/s320/4721754794_02e1191f9e_b.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Making memory boxes</span></em></div><br />
For this age range, attention span is always an issue. To combat this, each segment of camp is only about 15 or 20 minutes. A 15 minute museum tour, followed by a 20 minute snack time / run around the lawn, then 20 minutes to finish yesterday’s project and another 15 or 20 to get started on the photo albums, and so on. It keeps the kids from getting burnt out on any one project, and also—kids work fast. They don’t usually take much time to sit and consider their project. If you put paper and scissors in their hands, they are cutting immediately. 20 minutes is often all they need to complete a project.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOZMDd8jI/AAAAAAAAATo/MAoMHWYQGeM/s1600/4725347678_8b4dab84c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TCLOZMDd8jI/AAAAAAAAATo/MAoMHWYQGeM/s320/4725347678_8b4dab84c2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Havin' a great time at art camp</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photos can also be found at diaartstudio.wordpress.com)</span></em></div><br />
Camp Art ‘n Action is just another example of all the things the DIA is doing right. The kids were having a great time, they were being creative and making some really neat stuff. How much more can you ask for from a 3 hour art camp? I used to do art classes after school at a community center (every Wednesday, I believe) for several years and I remember loving it. But there is such a benefit to doing these kinds of classes IN the museum! It adds another dimension of enjoyment and education to the class. <br />
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Well, that and the kids get to be messy and look at mummies. I call that a win.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-7452787749656834142010-06-17T18:00:00.000-07:002010-06-17T18:00:36.281-07:00RankedDuring today’s All Staff meeting, Graham was asked a question about how the DIA ranks, nationally. It has often been said that the DIA is one of the top 6 museums in the country.<br />
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I have always thought this was an odd phrase—that we aren’t quite in the top five, but we’re better than museums 7-10, so saying we were in the “top ten” didn’t do us enough justice. <br />
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To me, it indicated that we were the 6th best museum in the country, on a list of what I imagined to be 100 or so museums.<br />
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Not surprisingly, I was wrong.<br />
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The DIA is classified as a “universal museum” because our collection spans all space and time. There are 6 “top” universal museums in the country and they are: The Met, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and of course, The Detroit Institute of Arts. <br />
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Other museums like The MoMA or the National Gallery are excluded because they are not universal. <br />
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These 6 universal museums are not usually ranked, but when they are, it’s on a bias. If you like Impressionist art, then Chicago is #1… but if you like European Art, then the DIA is probably #1, and so on.<br />
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Thus, the clout in this phrase is really that we are among the six (as there are only six) best universal museums in the country.<br />
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I suppose one could liken it to being a “Big Ten” school—there isn’t School #1 or School #2—they’re all just in the Big Ten.<br />
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Actually, that might be a terrible reference. Once football or basketball season takes off, they are very clearly ranked.<br />
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Maybe it’s more like American Idol, once contestants reach the top 12 or top 5. Within that group, no one is individually ranked, but they are each one of the 12 best singers in the country.<br />
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I wonder if Simon Cowell has ever been to the DIA…Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-57923205656599811102010-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:002010-06-17T11:18:40.971-07:00All Staff MeetingToday I had to be at the museum before 9:00. I kind of hate being <em>anywhere </em>before 9:00 but it turned out to be well worth the trouble. It was the All Staff Meeting!<br />
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More than 100 DIA employees gathered in the auditorium (which I had never seen before, but is <em>very </em>nice!) to hear the Director and various other managers discuss projects and initiatives within the museum. I asked how often All Staff Meetings occur and was told that they try to have them quarterly, but that's not always the case. Either way, I was pleased to be present for this one.<br />
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<u>Perimeter Heating Project: Elliott, Museum Operations</u><br />
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We are now in Phase II of the perimeter heating project (I must have missed Phase I), which involved closing a number of galleries on the second floor for repairs to the heating system. Last winter, some galleries with exterior walls had NO heat beyond the forced air system (I don't know enough about heating and cooling to tell you why we need more than forced air heat, but apparently we do). Fortunately, last winter was mild enough that there were few to no complaints from visitors, and of course, the artwork was unharmed.<br />
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Elliott, from Operations, attempted to list the second floor galleries that would be closing but admitted to not knowing the official gallery numbers. At this point, he asked for some “audience participation”, saying that he would tell us what is in each gallery, and someone in the audience should yell out the gallery number. It went something like this:<br />
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“It’s that gallery with the painting on the ceiling…” <br />
“W 234!”<br />
“It’s got that piece of furniture with all the inlaid stone… umm… it also has The Wedding Dance…” <br />
“W 230!!” “BINGO!!<br />
Ok, nobody yelled out “Bingo”, but I think it would have been appropriate.<br />
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After Gallery Number Bingo, Director Graham Beal talked about some stuff that was not on the agenda, but proved to be pretty interesting.<br />
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<u>New AAMD Environmental Standards: Graham Beal, Director</u><br />
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The AAMD has decided to relax its environmental standards for galleries. The gold standard for relative humidity levels in the galleries was generally between 40% to 50%. Yet, for various reasons, the range of acceptable RH has been expanded to 40% to 60%.<br />
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I did some quick Internet research and it seems like most museums were already doing this anyway. But now the AAMD is making this the official standard, which really only changes one thing; loans. As Graham explained it, some museums were having trouble acquiring loans because when they would submit a facilities report, their hygrothermograph output would read 56% or something that the loaning institution would find unacceptable. Graham even told stories of institutions submitting a blank hygrothermograph output sheet with a ruled pencil line drawn through the whole thing at 45%. In other words, some museums, desperate for loans, would forge their RH reports. Seriously?<br />
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The other benefits of this greater flexibility are that it saves the museum some money, reduces energy consumption and carbon footprints, and generally streamlines the loan process (so people can stop lying!).<br />
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Apparently it has been suggested for a while that most works of art will not sustain damage from incremental RH fluctuations, and can thus withstand a greater range. My peers that watched “The Rape of Europa” with me last semester can attest that many works of art that hung out in caves, barns, and other locations without climate control for the duration of WWII were returned to the museums without much (or any) damage. I am not suggesting that galleries be converted to reflect the barn environment in the name of reducing our carbon footprint, but I can certainly see the merit to allowing RH to reach 60% +/- 3.<br />
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Graham also noted that it is extremely difficult to retain a consistent RH % in the Midwest (especially in those dry winter months). So this change in the standards will end up saving the DIA quite a bit of money. In the winter the DIA will heat the museum less, thus reducing the need to add humidity to the air; and in the summer we will cool the museum less, thus reducing the need to remove humidity from the air.<br />
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During this briefing, a representative from the conservation or registration department stood up and assured the crowd that the collections were not being put at risk in any way by this change and that there simply won’t be much difference to the state collections.<br />
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To prove that I’m not making these numbers up, here are some articles I found about the change:<br />
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<a href="http://blog.conservation-us.org/blogpost.cfm?threadid=2227&catid=175">http://blog.conservation-us.org/blogpost.cfm?threadid=2227&catid=175</a><br />
<a href="http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=38716">http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=38716</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Climate-control-time-to-change-the-settings/20913">http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Climate-control-time-to-change-the-settings/20913</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Revising-the-gold-standard-of-environmental-control%20/20549">http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Revising-the-gold-standard-of-environmental-control%20/20549</a><br />
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And if any of my information is way off base, I certainly hope that my newest reader, Dixie, will set me straight.<br />
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<u>Millage Campaign: Annmarie, Executive Vice President</u><br />
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I mentioned before that the DIA plans to launch a millage campaign in an effort to establish a more stable source of funding for the museum and that the initial poll results for the campaign were overwhelmingly positive. <br />
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Today, Annmarie presented a more detailed account of the poll results, which I found very interesting. I was asked not to share the details of the results, but I will discuss one thing that struck me about the poll and that was how many people reported a very positive image of the DIA. In one question, people were asked “Who goes to the DIA” and the common response was “Everyone”. I found this to be so encouraging. In a previous post, I said myself that I recognize museums (art museums, in particular) as having to struggle with that public perception of elitism. I think this just speaks to how many things the DIA is doing RIGHT. There are a lot of words that describe the City of Detroit (resilient, soulful, diverse, historic…) but I don’t think “elite” is one of them. Which is why I was so struck by the apparent perception of the DIA as being the people’s museum—a place where everyone goes. I think that this is a perception that most (all?) museums strive for and I am just so happy to see the community embrace the DIA as their own, just as I have for so many years.<br />
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But then again, I claimed ownership of Lake St. Clair when I was in preschool so I’m not sure I’m the best barometer of the community’s investment. I get attached easily.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-77506524615643032982010-06-16T00:14:00.000-07:002010-06-16T07:38:56.498-07:00"I think we've got something here..."That's what Larry said when he saw everyone's reaction to our sample repro of <em>Watson and the Shark</em>.<br />
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People were coming from all over the third floor to check it out. Even Graham Beal stopped in for a moment to take it in. I'm beginning to gather that he is a man of few words, but he looked impressed.<br />
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People were doing double-takes as they walked past the conference room and saw a framed replica of <em>Watson</em>, just sitting on the table. The real painting is not on display at the moment, so several people thought we toted it up to the third floor for the afternoon. That's how convincing it is.<br />
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Sharing this sample with the rest of the staff did a lot for our cause. It really seemed to get everyone excited about the project and it may have even converted a few skeptics.<br />
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My iPhone photo doesn't quite do it justice, but what we have here is a very high quality reproduction of one of the DIA's most well-known paintings.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TBhEx11aIuI/AAAAAAAAATY/G9x7Ruinef4/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" qu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TBhEx11aIuI/AAAAAAAAATY/G9x7Ruinef4/s640/photo.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was so excited, I couldn't even wait for Larry to get out of the frame. Hi Larry.</div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-81048174138124308392010-06-15T20:15:00.000-07:002010-06-24T13:07:49.726-07:005 Weeks in ReviewAt a little past the halfway point of my internship, I thought I would give a rundown of the projects with which I’m engaged.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">1. AAMD Mapping</span></u></strong><br />
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<strong>Project Summary: </strong>I am compiling data about the DIA's outreach efforts or "partners", to be sent to the AAMD and turned into a map. Partners can include schools, churches, colleges / universities, businesses, community / cultural organizations, senior groups, libraries, and youth groups. Each partner will be represented by a colored dot on the map. Maps zoom in and out to include multiple or individual states, counties, cities, or congressional districts. Maps like this will be useful in millage and other funding campaigns to illustrate the museum's reach.<br />
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<strong>Department / Staff Collaboration: </strong>Trickled down to Sandra from Graham Beal (Director). Data has come from Lisa Rezin (Group Sales) and Jenny Angell (Student Tours). I was told to meet with lots of other people, but Lisa and Jenny have proved to be biggest wealth of information.<br />
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<strong>Status:</strong> I am making data compilations for Fiscal Years 08-09 and 09-10. Each set of data has 4 components: Group Sales, School Tours, In-Classroom Visits, and Speakers Bureau. 08-09 has 3 of 4 and 09-10 has 2 of 4. I am hoping to have all of the data entered by next week.<br />
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<strong>Favorite Elements: </strong>Data entry can be mind numbing, but it's interesting to see (even before the map has been created) the areas that utilize the DIA the most. I have been surprised by some of the results, so far. Though, I am delighted about how many DPS visits the DIA has had in the last two fiscal years.<br />
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<strong>Challenges: </strong>I had a lot of dead-end meetings before finding the people who had the information I needed. Also, many (400+) schools on one list were without zip codes, so I had to look up each individual zip code for every school on that list. That was less than riveting. And data entry can be mind numbing.<br />
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<strong>Academic / Professional Relevance: </strong>I have improved my skills with Microsoft Excel ten fold. Other than that, I have found it interesting to see which programs touch people in different parts of Michigan (and beyond). Mostly, this project has given me some insight into the kinds of groups a museum may cater to. I also learned just how many commercial and corporate involvements museums have. I think I was a bit naive to that before I saw all of the groups from the last two years and saw what a large percent of groups were corporate events.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">2. Program Synopsis</span></u></strong><br />
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<strong>Project Summary:</strong> Expanding the existing “Program Matrix” into a format that is more accessible and usable to new hires, development officers, grant writers, donors, and those wishing to learn more about the programs at the DIA. Each program is to be summarized into a one-page document that expresses the value of each program to the community and why these programs should continue to be supported. At this point, I understand this to be a mostly internal document—in other words, while it will be distributed to donors and such, they will not be in card racks or generally available to the public.<br />
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<strong>Department / Staff Collaboration:</strong> Assigned by Sandra. Guidance from Jennifer Czajkowski (Education – Learning & Interpretation) and David Cherry (Grant Writer). My main resource is the Programs Matrix, compiled by Jennifer Czajkowski, Matt Frye (Marketing), and other staff involved in the Program Audit that took place before my arrival.<br />
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<strong>Status:</strong> 8 Synopsis sheets are complete. I hope to have 7 more done by July 9.<br />
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<strong>My Favorite Elements:</strong> Researching the programs gives me a more in-depth understanding of the programs at the museum. Making the case for their overall value and worthiness of funding allows me to think more critically about the program and what elements of the program are most important and relevant to the museum’s constituency. I like looking at programs that I've never seen before and saying, "Is this any good? And why?" This also gives me an excuse to sit in on school tours and other programs (I love watching programs!) in order to form an opinion. Spoiler alert: They're usually great.<br />
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<strong>Challenges:</strong> No such document has ever been created, beyond the Programs Matrix, thus I have very little to work with in terms of research material. A lot of my information comes from <a href="http://www.dia.org/">http://www.dia.org/</a> or even Google. When attempting to communicate the value of a program (many of which I have never seen), I often turn to websites like yelp.com for “customer reviews” to see what visitors are saying about the programs. I feel awkward bothering people (without a formal survey in my hand) and asking them for their opinions about a program, so I haven't done much of that.<br />
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<strong>Academic / Professional Relevance: </strong>I think that being able to so closely examine the educational and public programs run by the DIA will provide me a great deal of insight when I am looking to design future programs. This analysis has also taught me to ask questions of the programs like, "What need is this fulfilling?". Programs are great, but unless they are filling an educational gap, or answering a call from the community, they are difficult to justify to funders and others outside of the museum.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: large;">3. 125th Anniversary</span></u></strong><br />
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<strong>Project Summary: </strong>(I think we might now be calling it "Art on the Move"). Based on a 2007 London project called "The Grand Tour", the purpose of this project is to place "fully submersible" reproductions of the DIA's masterpieces in surprising locations around the greater metro Detroit area. The reproductions are weatherproof and will be mounted outside, in an effort to bring the DIA's collection to people who might not otherwise see it.<br />
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<strong>Department / Staff Collaboration: </strong>Larry Baranski (Public Programs) is heading this project, and I am working closely with Michelle Hauske (Public Programs / Registration) to secure locations for the "paintings".<br />
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<strong>Status: </strong>The sample is complete! And it looks incredible. Other than that, I would say the project is about 40% complete. There is much work to be done and I doubt I will see any of the paintings installed before I leave.<br />
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<strong>Favorite Elements: </strong>Finding connections between the art and the community. There is something of a tongue-in-cheek element to this project that I absolutely love. The committee has attempted to match the theme of the artworks to their prospective locations. For example, I already discussed <em>Syria by the Sea </em>at the old train station, but there are others, such as <em>Watson and the Shark </em>on the Nautical Mile or <em>The Fruit Vendor </em>in the Eastern Market. I think it's going to look like the paintings escaped from the DIA and went home.<br />
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<strong>Challenges: </strong>Lots of hoops, lots of delays, little time, little money. Every time one thing gets settled, five more issues pop up. Of all things, we actually have to get insured for this project... in case one of the paintings falls off the wall and hurts someone. Little things like that take some of the initial excitement out of the project.<br />
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<strong>Academic / Professional Relevance: </strong>I've learned quite a lot about the DIA's collection. I have also been in meetings with donors and witnessed the relationship between the funder and the museum. As frustrating as it can be, I also see the value in experiencing the bureaucracy that can sometimes slow a project down. It is encouraging to see the rest of the committee meet these challenges with grace and enthusiasm. Overall, it has been extremely educational to watch a program like being realized.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-85357203664589466402010-06-11T13:14:00.000-07:002010-06-16T06:43:30.244-07:00Registration and ConservationYou know you’re in the Registrar’s office when there are nomenclature books and #2 pencils everywhere you look. <br />
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The Registration department in the DIA was pretty boring. It looks much like the third floor—grey, with cubicles… but more filing cabinets. I’m sure they keep all of the really interesting stuff hidden.<br />
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Today, I worked mostly on the 125th Anniversary project. Michelle (a registration intern and part-time Public Programs staffer) and I took an extended tour of the museum, choosing and eliminating artworks to be reproduced and placed around the greater metro Detroit area. I’ve really enjoyed working on this project. Most of the businesses have been enthusiastic about participating—which is a good start—and it’s been fun to discuss the paintings and why they should go where. It’s also been interesting to be in on planning the assembly and installation (selecting the materials and installation hardware, etc.). I don’t know much about that kind of thing, which I think is why it’s been so fascinating.<br />
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Michelle knows a lot more about art than I do (which isn’t difficult) so I enjoyed touring the galleries with her this afternoon and hearing her thoughts about which paintings are most important, which best represent our collection and why some paintings are better suited for certain areas than others. I can’t wait to audit Intro to Art History next semester… I’ve been faking my way though art museums for far too long.<br />
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Michelle also had some other keen insights for me, and answered a few questions I had about the museum. For example, some paintings are under glass, while others are not. I studied these paintings a while, and could not find a pattern. One Renoir is covered, while others are not, etc. Michelle says that this is handled by the Conservation department (not Registration, as I had guessed) and those paintings with glass over them are the paintings most likely to be touched (the Van Goghs!) and those needing extra protection (Degas’ pastels). I was satisfied with that answer for the most part—but I find it hard to believe that the Caravaggios don’t warrant a glass covering. <br />
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Yet all of this led me to another question: How many museums have a separate Conservation department? <br />
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I had previously thought that a lot of the conservation is handled by the registrar. I have to imagine that in a larger museum, like the DIA, that separate departments are more typical. But I am also wondering if it is more common for museums that have older collections. Perhaps a museum of contemporary art has less need for conservation tactics? Is it that a Caravaggio needs more upkeep and care than a Warhol (at least for the moment)?<br />
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I sent an email to University of Florida professor and past Registrar, Dixie Nielson for her opinion. She wrote the book on registration, so I’ll be interested to hear her insights.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Literally.</div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-5359943996660679842010-06-07T20:09:00.000-07:002010-06-09T11:36:45.135-07:00The Grand TourGood Morning! My name is Jessica. I’m an intern at the Detroit Institute of Arts and I would like to drill some holes in the outside of your building.<br />
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This summer, some of my friends are working at museums that they have never visited. I, on the other hand, am working at a museum in which I practically grew up. I think I have the better deal—at least in terms of this project. The DIA’s 125th Anniversary Project (we don’t have a real name for it yet…) is a public art installation project based on London’s 2007 “<a href="http://www.thegrandtour.org.uk/index.html">Grand Tour</a>”.<br />
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Essentially, we will be mounting the DIA’s most famous paintings in some of the Detroit area’s most surprising locations.<br />
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Places like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vC4qpGKI/AAAAAAAAASY/kdDgXWALmj4/s1600/michigan-central-train-station-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" qu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vC4qpGKI/AAAAAAAAASY/kdDgXWALmj4/s400/michigan-central-train-station-big.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Michigan Central Station</em></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yes, really.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Michigan Central Station makes my guts hurt. It’s the visual representation of why people say awful things about Detroit. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It used to be beautiful and ornate and… functional. Now it is quite simply in ruins.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vZmD251I/AAAAAAAAATA/7C1FvmNuavo/s1600/michigan_central_station_eric_smith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" qu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vZmD251I/AAAAAAAAATA/7C1FvmNuavo/s400/michigan_central_station_eric_smith.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Interior of the train station, covered in graffiti</span></em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For those unfamiliar with this location, Michigan Central Station used to be a large train station, with trains running frequently to major cities like Chicago. It was on par with the great train stations of New York City and had lots of offices (and a hotel, I think?) and other stuff in the large building above the station. Now, every single window is broken.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">At first, I was shocked that the committee had chosen to include Michigan Central as a location for this project. Until I saw what painting they had chosen for it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vJxDZQLI/AAAAAAAAASg/fXgT-dq9Voo/s1600/Syria_on_the_sea_by_Frederick_Edwin_Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" qu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vJxDZQLI/AAAAAAAAASg/fXgT-dq9Voo/s400/Syria_on_the_sea_by_Frederick_Edwin_Church.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Syria by the Sea, Frederic Edwin Church (American 1826-1900)</span></em></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It broke my heart in such a good way. It’s a painting of magnificent ruins.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Syria by the Sea is one of the DIA’s most famous and popular paintings. I have seen it many times, but I had never really considered it until now. It is so completely perfect for Michigan Central Station.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And as Larry (the head of this project committee) pointed out to me, the idea is to place these artworks in surprising locations around the city. Well, I can’t think of any place more surprising than one of the biggest abandoned buildings I have ever seen.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>I am also told that people (tourists!) quite frequently visit Michigan Central. The old train station is across the street from an area that is quickly becoming a revitalized area of Detroit—popular and trendy. That strip is home to one of the coolest restaurants in the city, <a href="http://slowsbarbq.com/">Slows Bar B Q</a>. Interestingly, their logo is a train. <br />
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So anyway, I guess people going to that side of town to hit up Slow’s also stop by Michigan Central to take in the ruins. At first, I was kind of appalled by this. But then I remembered how many times I’ve visited the ruins in Rome or Pompeii. While this is not nearly as old… I think it holds some of the same appeal to visitors. So that’s how Michigan Central Station came to be a stop on Detroit’s Grand Tour.<br />
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Here's a few shots from London's Grand Tour to give you an idea of what it is:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vM8_nC9I/AAAAAAAAASo/iGKB59I-keg/s1600/2154272379_cf935284b7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vM8_nC9I/AAAAAAAAASo/iGKB59I-keg/s320/2154272379_cf935284b7.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vPH2ijMI/AAAAAAAAASw/1U6RD7BJWtY/s1600/1117381054_15bed330b6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TA2vPH2ijMI/AAAAAAAAASw/1U6RD7BJWtY/s320/1117381054_15bed330b6.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The rest of the sites are somewhat less surprising. Trendy areas like Downtown Ann Arbor and The Nautical Mile of St. Clair Shores, and Detroit’s Eastern Market are all great locations for these paintings.</div><br />
So after going through the list of locations and paintings, I began “cold calling” some businesses and honestly, I felt a bit like Oprah.<br />
<br />
Everyone in today’s studio audience gets a reproduction of a masterpiece from the DIA’s collection. <br />
<br />
EVERYONE gets a painting! Yes, YOU get a painting! YOU get a painting! And YOU get a painting! <br />
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My job today was to call all of these locations and tell them that “YOU get a painting!”, or more accurately, “Your location has been scouted and selected by DIA staff as an appropriate site for one of our life-sized reproductions”. Either way, it was fun.<br />
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I was surprised by how enthusiastic some of these contacts were. The woman at the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority has been emailing me all afternoon with pictures she’s taken of various places where she wants us to put a painting. I love it!<br />
<br />
There are 45 locations in all, and I have a lot more “cold calls” to do, but today’s results have been encouraging.<br />
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Now for the boring part—<em>funding</em> it.<br />
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We are making “fully submersible” reproductions of our most famous paintings—they can get rained on, exposed to extreme heat and cold, etc. The images of the paintings are going to be printed on a vinyl material (much like any outdoor banner you would see around town) and mounted on a Versatex sheet board. The frames will be made of an ultra-light material called Fypon, which will then be painted with a self-oxidizing gold paint (to make it look 200 years old in about 2 days).<br />
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The budget for all of these materials is $11,096. We have a very generous donor (I believe he owns the printing company and is thus printing our repros for the fabulous price of FREE) who has given $12,000 to the project. So he covers all of the production—with $904 left over for lunch.<br />
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All we need now is another $8000 for the labor and mounting hardware. Larry says he thinks that he can find a “little pot of money” somewhere in the museum to take care of this. But I really liked what our donor guy said during our meeting. He said, “The original budget ($12000) is all I'm prepared to commit to, but I'm not prepared to let this program not happen." Basically, he is saying that he is willing to use his business contacts to help us out, in addition to the $12,000 he is already giving. <br />
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Our donor is one hell of a good guy and I really like his attitude. <br />
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All in all, I'm really pleased to be a part of this project. It benefits my hometown, and I think my knowledge of the area is helpful (both to me and the project committee, as they don't have to explain where things are and the demographics of each location, etc,).<br />
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Tomorrow I am meeting with the rest of the 125th Anniversary Project committee and I'll be able to see the first sample reproduction! <br />
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Exciting!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-65089357026181854352010-06-05T11:15:00.000-07:002010-06-05T11:19:54.914-07:00This is Impossible!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I heard a kid say that to his mom last night at the DIA drop-in workshop for watercolor postcards.</div><br />
Every Friday, the DIA is open until 10pm. During this time, there are live music performances (last night was ZoZo Afrobeat, which I heard was awesome), drop-in art-making workshops, cash bars throughout the museum (I'd be lying if I said this didn't make me a little nervous), lectures, and other small events inside the galleries.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My dad and I used to go almost every Friday when I was younger. I saw (and met!) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA51wyl-9IE&feature=related">Richie Havens</a> there when I was in high school. It was groovy.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So last night, I stayed late at the museum (My advisor told me that I should spend the night at the museum to ensure that I acheive my 320 hour minimum...) to observe a Friday Night Live from the perspective of a program evaluator, rather than a visitor.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There were lots of people, and ZoZo Afrobeat seemed to be filling the Detroit Film Theatre Auditorium to the rafters. It was a great night.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Then I decided to check out the drop-in workshop to see what their turnout was like, and what kind of projects everyone was making. I was pleased to see a diverse group of families, young adults, and seniors all painting postcards. I walked around and asked a few kids what they were painting. Most gave me an answer; stars, mountains, etc.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But when I asked one third grade boy what he was painting he said, "I don't know..." To which I replied, "That's ok, you don't have to know." And I was surprised by his next outburst of "This is <em>impossible</em>!!"</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That's when his mother pulled me aside and told me the poor kid had just had a "meltdown" a few minutes prior to my arrival. He was so intimidated and frustrated by the lack of instruction for this (seemingly simple) project that he simply shut down.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">His mom then told me that in his art classes in school, he is usually given <em>very </em>specific instructions. The kids are told what to paint and how to paint it, without much room for creative variances. I found this surprising and asked what school district he is in. Quite frankly, I was expecting her to tell me he was in a Detroit Public School (DPS is not known for their fantastic art programs). But no, he attends a Grosse Pointe school-- one of the best around, for that matter.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was stunned.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Earlier that afternoon, I had visited the DIA gift shop, searching for childrens' books for a girlfriend's upcoming baby shower. While there, I found this book for myself:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqP9IjyHgI/AAAAAAAAASQ/veWLJvgk_Fo/s1600/Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqP9IjyHgI/AAAAAAAAASQ/veWLJvgk_Fo/s400/Book.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">One of my big, final projects last semester was about how to talk about art with kids in a museum setting. It was a historical project that looked at methods of teaching art criticism from the Picture Study Movement of the late 1800's, through The Feldman Model and finally the contemporary Visual Thinking Strategies.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">So naturally, I was interested in this book and thought it was worth my 17 bucks.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't know much about teaching art to children-- I have but one semester's worth of knowledge and zero experience. But I knew that this poor kid was struggling and that whatever method was being used in his school is not doing him any good. Frankly, it sounds like he's in an art class from the turn of the century. His mother even disclosed that while he enjoys art, he will often open up an art book and copy the pictured works, almost exactly.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I told her that while I don't think there is any real danger in allowing him to copy works in an effort to hone his technical skills, I do find it somewhat concerning that he found the presentation of a blank postcard and a palette of paint to be <em>so</em> upsetting. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I then asked if this was their first time in an art class or drop-in workshop at the DIA. She said yes and I suggested that this should not be the last. From the research I've been doing for these program synopsis sheets, I learned a lot about the techniques used in the studio classes for kids. They actually use a VTS method, which I found interesting as I could picture no way to use VTS in a studio setting-- until I read their descriptions. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The classes are structured enough to prevent frustration fueled meltdowns, but are open enough to allow for a certain amount of creative expression. I told this mom that if her kid has an interest in art, but is afraid of working without specific instruction, that the DIA Art Exploration Camps would be a good place to start.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">While I felt badly that this poor kid was having such a rough time, it felt really good that I could be somewhat knowledgeable about his problem and helpful in suggesting a possible solution.</div>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-42908097302217951892010-06-04T18:30:00.000-07:002010-06-09T11:38:14.599-07:00Check Mate<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I feel as though I have been given a job that I don't deserve.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One of my intern tasks is to research all of the DIA's programs and do a short, one-page write up on each of them, expressing the program's value to the museum and community. Essentially, I am presenting information about the programs (revenue, people served, frequency, target audiences, etc.) and then stating <em>why </em>the DIA should continue these programs and why you, the public, should support them.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Basically, I've been asked to determine which programs are of any value.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So I've been going through this list of 100 some programs and making up these little synopses or info-sheets. I think I have 6 done so far. Because there's a fair amount of research involved, it's not a terribly expedient process.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqIA3xxWnI/AAAAAAAAASI/aLNokhA0KLQ/s1600/ee_CD27532_resize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqIA3xxWnI/AAAAAAAAASI/aLNokhA0KLQ/s320/ee_CD27532_resize.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But anyway, today I was working on the synopsis for the <a href="http://www.detroitcitychessclub.com/">Detroit City Chess Club</a>, and I was astounded. The kids in the DCCC have won all kinds of awards, scholarships and trophies for playing competitive chess. There are over 200 kids, from 50 schools in the Detroit Metro area, but none of these schools will give the club any space to meet and play chess. Super lame, DPS. So the DIA stepped in and every Friday, gives the DCCC enough space for dozens of chess games. It's really something to see.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I've walked past this event for the past several weeks, and I'm always impressed. First of all, I think it's just plain cool to see twenty or so school kids playing chess among 400 year old suits of armor. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHuFdjAvI/AAAAAAAAARY/AZrzzPpi2zg/s1600/_CD23031-260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHuFdjAvI/AAAAAAAAARY/AZrzzPpi2zg/s320/_CD23031-260.jpg" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHqw_pcKI/AAAAAAAAARQ/MYpwGpZRtVo/s1600/_CD23028-257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHqw_pcKI/AAAAAAAAARQ/MYpwGpZRtVo/s320/_CD23028-257.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Secondly, I am always amazed by how much these kids seem to genuinely enjoy the game of chess. They're always smiling and laughing and cheering each other on. Some of them get so excited that they can't stand to sit in a chair, and end up pacing around the tables while playing. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH-SD99tI/AAAAAAAAASA/zz5y-A6nUzM/s1600/ee_CD27524_resize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH-SD99tI/AAAAAAAAASA/zz5y-A6nUzM/s320/ee_CD27524_resize.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The other great thing about this program is that it takes place on Friday nights. The DIA is open to the public until 10pm on Fridays for a program called "Friday Night Live". As a result, lots of people are walking by the DCCC set up, and many stop to play a game with the kids, or among themselves-- which the DCCC both welcomes and encourages.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHzwUMXmI/AAAAAAAAARo/-uNH2tIMfOY/s1600/couple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHzwUMXmI/AAAAAAAAARo/-uNH2tIMfOY/s320/couple.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So not only do we give the DCCC a place to play, but we also get the general public interacting with Detroit school kids and playing chess-- thus witnessing the DIA's <em>civic engagement </em>and developing a positive image of the DIA as an active member of the Detroit community.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHw-3DkKI/AAAAAAAAARg/sVLC5eHafZk/s1600/_CD25408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqHw-3DkKI/AAAAAAAAARg/sVLC5eHafZk/s320/_CD25408.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There has been much debate in the museum world concerning the "function" or "purpose" of museums. Should they really be turned into community centers? Or should their mission center solely on the care of artworks?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I know that many of my peers shudder to think of the museum being transformed into a community center. But I think it works here. Detroit is something of a special case these days. All of the city's organizations need to work together to make sure that their kids aren't falling through the cracks of this deeply cracked city. I don't mean to be harsh on the City of Detroit. I love Detroit, and I'm not afraid to say it. While I see a lot of negatives in the DPS and other areas, I see as many positives in programs like those at the DIA that are actively supporting the city's students.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH5qEvrfI/AAAAAAAAAR4/OsLhKymmD9E/s1600/ee_CD27514_resize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH5qEvrfI/AAAAAAAAAR4/OsLhKymmD9E/s320/ee_CD27514_resize.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And if I haven't mentioned it yet, I need to do so now: Chess is great. It is a highly strategic game that develops critical thinking, and parents of chess club members have reported improvements in their kids' self-esteem and GPA. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH3jLfP2I/AAAAAAAAARw/w5nMNy05U1U/s1600/DIA97.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAqH3jLfP2I/AAAAAAAAARw/w5nMNy05U1U/s320/DIA97.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For an organization like the DIA, which so highly values critical thinking, a partnership with the DCCC seems like a no-brainer. DCCC kids and their families are also frequently offered VTS tours of the collections-- another way of developing critical thinking skills in students. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Thus, in my most humble intern opinion, I see the Detroit City Chess Club as being one of <em>the most</em> valuable programs at the DIA.<br />
<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">All of the photos came from the chess club's website, </span><a href="http://www.detroitcitychessclub.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.detroitcitychessclub.com</span></a></em>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-19629931626878769522010-06-01T21:11:00.000-07:002010-06-02T12:28:02.262-07:00VIP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Somehow, when I pictured myself working in a museum, I always imagined myself in an office stacked with books and full of priceless artifacts. Now here I am in a sea of grey cubicles. The third floor of the DIA is not glamorous. Even the director's office is just a modified cubicle with a door.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of the windows don't even look outside-- they're all interior windows (partly a result of the renovation) that look into interior courts or directly into other walls. Which is why I was surprised to walk out of my cubicle corner and see this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQHlbiQSI/AAAAAAAAAQI/XxHBDjnG7BU/s1600/IMG_0469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQHlbiQSI/AAAAAAAAAQI/XxHBDjnG7BU/s320/IMG_0469.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">An unusual sight in the hallway...</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQNKu34BI/AAAAAAAAAQY/h-vSagKM9LU/s1600/IMG_0471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQNKu34BI/AAAAAAAAAQY/h-vSagKM9LU/s320/IMG_0471.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey, I wasn't done with the comics yet!</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, that's right. They put <em>newspaper </em>over our (interior) windows! These windows weren't all that exciting to begin with, so it was disturbing that someone felt the need to cover them entirely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can see that they look out onto... nothing:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQbQ4cLYI/AAAAAAAAAQo/2LnnWuHUPdU/s1600/IMG_0473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQbQ4cLYI/AAAAAAAAAQo/2LnnWuHUPdU/s320/IMG_0473.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our now papered windows, looking at a wall.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQPhOHuDI/AAAAAAAAAQg/QoQHXWGByfQ/s1600/IMG_0472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQPhOHuDI/AAAAAAAAAQg/QoQHXWGByfQ/s320/IMG_0472.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Odd and sad.</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I haven't been at the DIA very long, but this was the first time I had seen something like this. There had been rumblings throughout the week about a "VIP luncheon" that would be happening on Wednesday. I figured there might be some connection... but what?</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As it turned out, it was no big deal at all. The "VIP" guest was only the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. Who cares, right?</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Needless to say, the entire museum had gone bananas. All of the office windows were covered in paper (lest us common-folk lay eyes on the first lady), the museum was on lock-down, and there were more police officers than I had ever seen in one place. It was something to behold. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">All day on Wednesday, if I wanted to go from my office to the Kresge Court (which I <em>did </em>want to do... about 6 times that day) I had to go outside of the building and walk along Woodward Ave., then re-enter the building from the other side. I was just happy that it was a warm and sunny day. If it had been raining, I think the Obamas' approval rating would have dropped significantly in the City of Detroit.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">On one of my many walks around the building that day, I noticed something strange about the grand Woodward entrance-- it was open.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQg_UvnuI/AAAAAAAAARA/rg8jXkaj9Fs/s1600/IMG_0476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXQg_UvnuI/AAAAAAAAARA/rg8jXkaj9Fs/s320/IMG_0476.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mrs. Obama uses the front door.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As I mentioned in another post, the Woodward entrance is not functional, and thus remains gated at all times... unless, of course, the first lady is visiting. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Mrs. Obama was speaking at Wayne State University that day to a group of students about things like <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/michelle-obama-encourages_n_591186.html">education and leadership</a>. I am told it was a great speech, and I have no doubt that it was. I, however, missed it while I was running laps around the museum. After her speech, Mrs. Obama held a luncheon for 200 of these students and their <em>celebrity mentors </em>at the DIA. The celebrity mentors included people like Spike Lee, Magic Johnson, and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (which one of these things is not like the other?).</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">For the duration of this event, I was either leaving tracks on the museum's lawn or I was stationed in the Kresge Court, administering a staff engagement survey. While I found the survey to actually be somewhat interesting, the rest of the museum staff was more "engaged" with Mrs. Obama. I hear that many were standing on chairs and climbing onto window ledges (apparently some were left paper-free) to catch a glimpse of the first lady.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">A co-worker managed to get this photo as she was entering the building (<em>not </em>through the Woodward entrance, I might add). Mrs. Obama would be that little pink blip near the center of the photo:</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXRJODfR8I/AAAAAAAAARI/nN_2EzN8oEg/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/TAXRJODfR8I/AAAAAAAAARI/nN_2EzN8oEg/s640/photo.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Exciting, right?</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">For as ridiculous as it seemed to demand that I walk <em>outside </em>of the building all day, I will say that normal museum operations appeared to be generally uninterrupted. The museum remained open for its usual hours, and there was even a full schedule of school groups and tours. I think that just goes to show how these large-scale institutions are able to act as well-oiled machines. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">However, I know that it is the excellent DIA staff, walking around with oil cans, that really keep things running smoothly. I don't believe I have mentioned yet how impressed I am with the staff at the DIA. Not only are they professional and extremely knowledgeable about pretty much everything-- but they are some of the most friendly people I have ever worked with. In the few weeks that I have been interning, everyone has been happy to answer my questions, and quick to make me feel welcome.</div><br />
That's probably why Michelle Obama wanted to have lunch with us.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-91648442234686548182010-05-25T10:12:00.000-07:002011-05-20T10:53:23.435-07:00Our Business Model is Badly BrokenGraham Beal gave a speech at the volunteer program today, for which I was pleased to be present. I had been hearing a lot of things, second hand, and was interested in his thoughts.<br />
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He spoke primarily (and apologetically—this is supposed to be a celebratory occasion, after all) about the DIA’s financial situation and stated that “our business model is badly broken”. <br />
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For many years, 16 million of our 22 million dollar budget came from the State of Michigan. Last year, $10,000 of our now 32 million dollar budget came from the State of Michigan.<br />
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Mr. Beal expressed that what the DIA would really like is <u>stability</u> and believes this can be achieved by setting up an unrestricted endowment. The endowment the DIA is currently working with has something in the ballpark of $70 million. At around 3% interest, that would generate about 2.1 million per year (remember-- the budget is 32 million).<br />
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To establish this endowment, what the DIA intends to do is launch a millage campaign, proposing a 10 year property tax, which would then be used to build the endowment—ensuring the DIA some long term financial stability.<br />
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A poll was conducted in the community and the response was overwhelmingly positive. A similar campaign for the Detroit Zoo was launched a few years ago, and was accompanied by billboards that tugged at the heartstrings in all the right ways. The Zoo millage passed with incredibly high numbers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_wEeIDI8PI/AAAAAAAAAQA/lSUN2QkVDYs/s1600/Billboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_wEeIDI8PI/AAAAAAAAAQA/lSUN2QkVDYs/s320/Billboard.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Who Doesn’t Love Giraffes?</span></em></div><br />
It was a concern that the DIA millage would not be as successful because art museums and zoos are perceived so differently by the public. Zoos have very family-friendly amenities like sno-cones and stroller parking. Art museums are not always perceived as being a place for families to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thus, there was concern that the DIA would not receive the same support from its surrounding communities. However, the polling company was stunned by the data they collected, which showed great support.<br />
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Interestingly, the original millage proposal had multiple cultural institutions on the ticket. However, the polls showed that people did NOT show the same support for the shared millage. Thus, the DIA dropped the other institutions, in favor of going it alone because it could so drastically increase their odds of winning.<br />
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And nobody minds. <br />
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Graham Beal expected the other institutions to be a little miffed when he announced that the DIA would be the only institution on the ticket (and thus the only one benefiting from this property tax). Yet, he claimed that his colleagues handled this news graciously. I found this incredibly hard to believe until he explained <em>why</em>.<br />
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Mr. Beal reported his colleague at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as saying, “A strong DIA helps every cultural institution in the city”.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wow. That <em>is</em> gracious.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">But the gentleman at the symphony has a good point and another colleague is reported as noting that if the millage passes, “that will be a major institution that is no longer asking for money, and that helps everyone”.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">These are both excellent points. If the DIA can be self-sufficient, then it will be sucking significantly less money from donors around the city, who will then be able to donate to The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Detroit Historical Museum, The Science Center, and every other cultural institution in Detroit. Sounds good to me.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_wEYOdVMVI/AAAAAAAAAP4/tjwKp67XuqM/s1600/Artie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_wEYOdVMVI/AAAAAAAAAP4/tjwKp67XuqM/s200/Artie.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>"Artie" The Donkey</em></span></div><br />
</div>Also, I think I should be featured on a billboard, feeding something to Artie and giggling. Millage accomplished.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-23046005396044174152010-05-25T10:04:00.000-07:002010-06-01T20:21:19.455-07:00The 48th Annual Volunteer Council MeetingHeld in the Detroit Film Theatre Auditorium, The Annual Volunteer Council Meeting was quite a production. I would really like to be involved with volunteer management sometime in a future career, and with volunteer management comes volunteer recognition. So I was interested in seeing what the DIA does to recognize the efforts of their many volunteers.<br />
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The DIA Volunteer Council is comprised of 6 individual committees, with a total of 697 volunteers. These volunteers put in 63,000 hours this year, which is equivalent to 30 full time employees.<br />
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Think about where you work or go to school. Pick 30 people that are around you and make them disappear. While I’m sure some of us wouldn’t mind making a few choice individuals disappear, the overall result would be devastating. With the cuts that the DIA has taken over the last several years, having 30 people work for free (actually, they pay a fee to volunteer) for 63,000 hours is invaluable.<br />
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Each volunteer is given 4 free guest passes to the DIA. If every pass is used, that will bring 2,500 visitors to the museum. That's a heck of a lot. In my Volunteer Management class last fall, we identified volunteers as being one of the biggest sources of publicity for their insitution and it appears as if the DIA has recognized their potential as well.<br />
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During the various speeches, there was much emphasis placed on being “ambassadors” to the DIA. Today’s speakers and presenters spoke of representing the museum with pride and talking about it with anyone who will listen. It reminded me a lot of being a tour guide…er… “campus ambassador” at CMU. And I find it interesting that in the half dozen staff meetings I have attended, no one mentioned this to the employees. Could it be that the museum volunteers are under more pressure to positively represent the DIA than the actual paid staff are? I wonder if this is simply because volunteers are often the ones interfacing with the public.<br />
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Anyway...<br />
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Director Graham Beal also spoke and discussed the state of the museum this year, but I will go into more detail about that later. However, I thought it was great that the director was at this event. His presence underlined the importance of the DIA’s volunteers.<br />
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Like many museums, pins are given out to recognize those who have dedicated years of service to the DIA. I counted how many people received each pin. (Why? Because I care about stuff like this, that’s why.)<br />
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15 years: 15 <br />
20 years: 6 <br />
25 years: 2<br />
30 years: 5<br />
35 years: 1<br />
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Honestly, I expected more 35 year pins to be handed out. I have spoken with so many volunteers who have told me their stories of first coming to volunteer at the DIA in the 60’s, I expected them all to be lined up to receive their pins. But then, I guess lots of them have been here more than 35 years, and already have their pins.<br />
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Today is day 12 for me (I’m technically a volunteer), so I’m .002% of the way to my 15 year pin!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-28273333509450592662010-05-24T20:21:00.000-07:002010-05-24T20:25:36.902-07:00Dedicated by the People of Detroit to the Knowledge and Enjoyment of ArtI have lived all but one year of my life in Michigan. That's 23 Michigan winters. But you know what? I'm still freezing. I don't know if I have poor circulation or an iron deficiency or something... but I don't handle cold temperatures very well. As I mentioned, the ODHR office is kept at near arctic temperatures. Maybe they're trying to keep Jimmy Hoffa fresh in one of those suspiciously unused cubicles-- I can't say for sure. <br />
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I just know that the weather is finally warming up outside, so I have an escape (and can stop running to the bathroom to run my hands under hot water). So this afternoon, I took a little stroll outside to warm up and walked around the entire exterior of the DIA. It's more impressive than I had remembered. <br />
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The museum underwent a massive reorganization, renovation, and expansion several years ago. I talked previously about the changes to the interior-- new text panels, smaller gallery rooms, new interpretive techniques, etc.-- but there were some major changes to the exterior of the museum as well.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For those who may not be familiar with the great City of Detroit, the Detroit Institute of Arts is located in what we refer to as the "Cultural Center" of Detroit. This area is home to other great Detroit treasures such as...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s5rLXrLEI/AAAAAAAAAO4/79-IrJooyd0/s1600/IMG_0455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s5rLXrLEI/AAAAAAAAAO4/79-IrJooyd0/s320/IMG_0455.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><em>The Detroit Public Library</em></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s6UUtfnDI/AAAAAAAAAPI/UwkJhDJpvL8/s1600/IMG_0462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s6UUtfnDI/AAAAAAAAAPI/UwkJhDJpvL8/s320/IMG_0462.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>The Detroit Science Center</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s7b-TxK1I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/1RdH8rlEkrI/s1600/IMG_0464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s7b-TxK1I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/1RdH8rlEkrI/s320/IMG_0464.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>The Scarab Club </em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>(</em><a href="http://www.scarabclub.org/"><em>http://www.scarabclub.org</em></a><em>)</em></div><em>My dad took me inside the Scarab Club once, when I was younger. It functions partly as an artist collective of sorts, and also as a community arts center. It's a crazy little historic building, and I remember being granted access to one of the top floors when we visited-- which is generally closed to the public. Upstairs are a number of artist studios, and I recall meeting one of the artists and discussing his work briefly. It was pretty neat.</em><br />
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Anyway...<br />
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It is easy to see where the "new" and "old" DIA meet each other. I recall there being some rumblings in the community about the look of the expansion. It does look much sleeker and more modern and is a definite departure from the traditional temple-style of the "old" DIA<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>Old and New DIA converge</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One of my favorite things about this building (and I think most Detroiters would agree) is the Woodward entrance. Woodward is a major street in Detroit, and while much of the city has declined, Woodward Avenue remains both active and reminiscent of Old Detroit. Fittingly, this part of the DIA is about as reminiscent as it gets. In one of my classes last semester, we discussed the museum as being a "temple" for art (or history, or what-have-you) and that many museums were actually elevated off the street by impressive marble staircases and other heavily classic architectural features. The movement now is toward a more welcoming structure that is less separated (physically and metaphorically) from is surroundings. That's what is so interesting about the DIA-- you can actually see this shift taking place in its very architecture.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s8sWDrwmI/AAAAAAAAAPg/j6lZYPlt6cQ/s1600/IMG_0467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s8sWDrwmI/AAAAAAAAAPg/j6lZYPlt6cQ/s400/IMG_0467.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Classic Woodward Entrance</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>What is unfortunate these days is that Woodward is no longer a functioning museum entrance, and it's a damn shame. I think there is something transformative about walking up a flight of marble stairs, between two shooting fountains, and past "The Thinker" that prepares the visitor for a meaningful museum experience. What you can't see in the photo is that it's been gated shut.<br />
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Entrances to the DIA are now on the sides of the building, and feature a more contemporary and low-key style. Does this make for a more positive and less intimidating visitor experience? I don't know. Museums never intimidated me, so I can't even begin to answer that.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s9OEpwULI/AAAAAAAAAPo/NtFgXzNiAoc/s1600/IMG_0459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><em><img border="0" gu="true" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PRGjh0JLj6M/S_s9OEpwULI/AAAAAAAAAPo/NtFgXzNiAoc/s400/IMG_0459.JPG" width="400" /></em></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Contemporary Farnsworth Entrance</em></div><br />
I'm pretty neutral about the new style of the expansion. I liked the old DIA, but I like the new one, too. I think the white marble is sleek and solid looking in its simplicity. But there will always be a place in my heart for the ornate design of classic museums.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-50034330937866634272010-05-21T20:31:00.000-07:002010-05-21T20:31:04.793-07:00GrantedToday I met with a guy who had a $100,000 check in his pocket. He is the DIA's new grant writer.<br />
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We met to discuss what kind of program information grant writers find useful when applying for grants. As it turns out, the kind of information that would actually be useful is information that I will be unable to provide in my (now) 6 weeks at the DIA. Awesome.<br />
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While it was somewhat frustrating to learn that my project will be less than helpful in the grant application process, it was still a very interesting meeting with David. He gave me a great outline of the kind of information needed when writing grants. Even if I am unable to gather that information during my internship, I think it is still valuable to know about.<br />
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One of the biggest things we talked about was "impact". David cited this as being the most important thing to potential funders. It is also the most difficult thing for museums to measure. The kind of impact he is referring to are the long-term results of the program.<br />
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David described three kinds of results: short term, mid term and long term. <br />
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<strong>Short term</strong> results involve things like customer service, visitor experience, and meaningful interpretations and tours. The short term result of those things is a positive museum experience, or the visitor just having a positive <em>feeling </em>about the museum.<br />
(Measurable with visitor surveys, etc.)<br />
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<strong>Mid term</strong> results spawn from short term results and involve things like visitors buying museum membership packages or any change in the visitors <em>actions </em>as a result of their <em>feelings </em>about the museum.<br />
(Measurable by counting the # of memberships sold, etc.)<br />
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<strong>Long term</strong> results involve a social, environmental, or economic change in the community.<br />
(Measurable... not at all.)<br />
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Grant writers want to be able to tell funders that "This program has improved children's critical thinking skills" or "This program has made the community more environmentally conscious". But it is still difficult for museums to measure those kinds of things. It seems that kind of long-term evaluation has yet to be perfected and implemented.<br />
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Either way, I really enjoyed meeting with David, as he had a <em>lot </em>of excellent insights. However, while I did win Dixie's grant-writing contest last fall, and I would love to walk around with $100,000 checks in my pocket... I don't think grant writing is for me.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593903460050613233.post-90313226439378357862010-05-21T20:10:00.000-07:002010-05-21T20:11:52.837-07:00The DIA is the Best Museum in the World. Here's Why:I heard a quote today that supposedly comes from the director of the DIA. It would never hold up in court, and would be classified as "hearsay" but I think it's an important quote-- regardless of who actually said it.<br />
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<blockquote>The DIA is the best museum in the world. It is even better than the Louvre. It's the best museum in the world because not only do we attract 500,000 visitors every year, but we do it in Detroit. Getting 500,000 people to venture into downtown Detroit these days is no small feat. It's easy to get 500,000 people to go to the Louve, The Smithsonian, or The Met-- people are already IN those thriving cities. People stumble into The Met because they're already vacationing in New York, and need to kill an afternoon. People come to the DIA because they have <em>chosen </em>to <em>travel </em>to the DIA based on its superior reputation in collections and programming. And that's why the DIA is the greatest museum in the world.</blockquote>I have to say... I don't disagree.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11514851691354252849noreply@blogger.com0