New Semester, New Internship

Some time has passed from my last entry and a lot of things have happened.

Most notably, I am back in Florida and three weeks into the semester.

Also, I have yet another 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.

In other happenings, one of my intern projects from the Detroit Institute of Arts is now in full swing. DIA: Inside|Out has been featured in the Detroit Free Press, Canadian Press, CBC, Detroit News, Metro Times, USA Today, Crain's Detroit Business, and ArtDaily.org!

That Canadian Press article was also featured in a dorky professional newsletter that I get, called Dispatches from the Future of Museums.  It's actually one of my favorite museum news sources, so I was really excited to see the project featured there.

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.

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.

All 40 reproductions should be installed by the middle of September, but a bunch of them are already in place-- including one on everyone's favorite Italian restaurant.  Here are a few shots of our little piece of the DIA (click on any one of them to enlarge):

The Fruit Vendor

The painting is located right next to our kitchen door

Though this photo is reminiscent of a "Where's Waldo" book, the painting is still visible.  Can you find it?

A map of all the locations and artworks can be found here.  And the DIA website, of course, has a little feature on it as well.

More photos of the various paintings can also be found at the Inside|Out flickr site.

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.

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.

So this just leaves me wondering... when will we be installing these in surprising locations around Gainesville?

Pan Asian Cuisine, Formative Evaluations, Recommendations, and 20-Something Hipsters

Over 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.

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 I had actually done a good job.

So I guess that answers that.

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.

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.

So, all of a sudden, hip 20-somethings are the DIA's target demographic.

(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.)

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.

Interestingly, I think that a large percentage of the DIA's visitors are already local 20-somethings.  While they may not actually be members, 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.

So that was my last day at the DIA;  Asian food, recommendations, formative evaluations, and hipsters.

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.

There are two projects that remain unfinished:

1.) DIA: Inside Out
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.

2.) AAMD Maps
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 only 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.

An intern's work is never done.

Mummies 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Speaking of the historical museum; I can remember some of the most frequently asked questions I heard over my 2.5 year tenure there…

1.) Where’s the bathroom?
2.) How do I pay for parking?
3.) Do you have dinosaurs?

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.

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.

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.

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.”

Miss LaVern

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.

Making memory boxes

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.

Havin' a great time at art camp

(Photos can also be found at diaartstudio.wordpress.com)

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.

Well, that and the kids get to be messy and look at mummies. I call that a win.

5 Weeks in Review

At a little past the halfway point of my internship, I thought I would give a rundown of the projects with which I’m engaged.

1. AAMD Mapping

Project Summary:  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.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  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.

Status:  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.

Favorite Elements:  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.

Challenges:  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.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  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.


2. Program Synopsis

Project Summary: 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.

Department / Staff Collaboration: 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.

Status: 8 Synopsis sheets are complete. I hope to have 7 more done by July 9.

My Favorite Elements: 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.

Challenges: 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 http://www.dia.org/ 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.

Academic / Professional Relevance:  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.


3. 125th Anniversary

Project Summary:  (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.

Department / Staff Collaboration:  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".

Status:  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.

Favorite Elements: 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 Syria by the Sea at the old train station, but there are others, such as Watson and the Shark on the Nautical Mile or The Fruit Vendor in the Eastern Market.  I think it's going to look like the paintings escaped from the DIA and went home.

Challenges:  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.

Academic / Professional Relevance: 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.

This is Impossible!

I heard a kid say that to his mom last night at the DIA drop-in workshop for watercolor postcards.

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.

My dad and I used to go almost every Friday when I was younger.  I saw (and met!) Richie Havens there when I was in high school.  It was groovy.

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.

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.

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.

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 impossible!!"

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.

His mom then told me that in his art classes in school, he is usually given very 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.

I was stunned.

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:

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.

So naturally, I was interested in this book and thought it was worth my 17 bucks.

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.

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 so upsetting. 

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. 

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.

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.

Check Mate

I feel as though I have been given a job that I don't deserve.

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 why the DIA should continue these programs and why you, the public, should support them.

Basically, I've been asked to determine which programs are of any value.

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.

But anyway, today I was working on the synopsis for the Detroit City Chess Club, 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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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 civic engagement and developing a positive image of the DIA as an active member of the Detroit community.

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?

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.

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. 

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. 

Thus, in my most humble intern opinion, I see the Detroit City Chess Club as being one of the most valuable programs at the DIA.


All of the photos came from the chess club's website, www.detroitcitychessclub.com

New Projects

Today I met the curator of Islamic art. I complimented her on the excellence of the newly-opened permanent Islamic art exhibit. Two days ago, I would have had nothing to say to this woman, I was happy that I'd had a chance to wander through that part of the museum.

Things on the third floor were pretty slow today. I send out a handful of emails, and was pretty much done for the day.

Around noon, I told Sondra that I was going down to the cafe to grab a quick bite and that I'd be back soon. She told me to grab a "slow bite" and to take my time and maybe check out a gallery or two.

So I took a long lunch and toured the new special exhibition: Through African Eyes. It was fantastic! One of the pieces reminded me of something I saw at the Harn not too long ago. It was a kente cloth made out of bottle caps and wine foils. The rest of the exhibition was great, as well. It was a little different from what I expected (truthfully, I don't know what I was expecting) but it was really interesting and very well put together. There were a few school groups with docents and I eavesdropped on their tours for a little bit, but I think I was making one of the docents nervous, so I left her alone after that. I don't know enough about African art or colonialism to dissect the exhibition much more, but I thought it was interpreted well, and provided a lot of contextual information. It was an interesting divergence from the VTS tour I observed yesterday.

Later this afternoon, I was offered two additional projects, which I promptly accepted.  One came from Sondra.  She has asked that in addition to my list of partners to be submitted to the AAMD, I create a synopsis of each program that could eventually be used in millage campaigns and grant applications.  For this, I will need to attend as many programs as possible, take some snapshots, and talk to some of the participants.  By combining my words and thoughts with those of the participants, the idea is that I will communicate the value of the program to the museum and the community.  I'm especially excited about this project because it means I get to GO to all of the programs that I'll be profiling.  I'm stoked!

 

The second project came from Larry, who is the head of Public Programs.  I was just headed out the door-- almost outside-- when he called my name and told me about this gem.  This year is the DIA's 125th anniversary!  To celebrate, they will be doing some guerrilla outreach that sounds pretty wild.  They're making reproductions of the most famous paintings in the DIA, framing them up in elaborate faux-gold frames and installing them all around the greater Detroit area.  I'm told there will be more than 40, total.  Once they've been installed, someone (read: an intern) then needs to GO to all of these locations to talk to people about  the art and why it's there.  The first painting to be installed will be Watson and the Shark, which I'm told is very popular with visitors.

 

Watson and the Shark, John Singleton Copley (1777)

On the whole, I'm really excited about these two additional projects.  Everything seems to be in line with my interests (which isn't hard to do, as I love pretty much everything about museums) and I'm thrilled to be involved with projects that will have a measurable impact on my community.

The Big Picture

I had a fantastic meeting this afternoon.  The "Program Inventory Task Force" are definitely my people.  Not only did they compliment my shoes, but they're also involved in some really interesting stuff.

For a number of purposes (but it appears mainly to be for funding issues) this team has been assembled to inventory the programs that the museum conducts.  I don't have much more information about this group because we talked mostly about me and my own project(s) for the duration of the meeting.  See?  I told you it was a fantastic meeting.

As I said, I am working with the AAMD to create a map of the museum's "partners", with each "partner" represented by a colored dot on the map. 

Sample AAMD Partner Map

The people in the meeting with me had LOTS of thoughts on this, and it eventually turned into a discussion / debate about the definition of the word "partner".  Are corporate sponsors considered partners?  What about wedding receptions?  How about those community entities that we've reached out to, but have yet to ever use the museum's resources?  All good questions.

I couldn't come up with a concise definition either.  I guess I'm thinking of it this way: In a time when Detroit is so downtrodden and people are reluctant to support museums and other cultural institutions... what would you want to show those citizens to convince them that the DIA is out there, mixing it up with the community, and thus worth their support?

Do people care that we have deals with all of the area  hotels?  Maybe.  Do they care that we send a docent to School X every month to lead interpretive activities?  Probably.  I think it might be logical to identify those "partners" that hit home with the public (be they churches, schools, retirement homes, etc.) and emphasize our relationships with them.

The task force is working amongst themselves to compile a list of viable "partners", which I will later submit to the AAMD.  Their policy at the moment is to call almost everyone a "partner" and then look at my finished list and eliminate any that stick out or seem not to fit.

I don't have a better plan, so this sounds fine to me.

This first week of interning has been a little slow in terms of sit-at-the-computer work, so Sondra gave me permission to do a number of different things with my free time.  She told me I could feel free to tour the museum on my own and just wander around.  I also have permission to crash any of the public tours, which occur daily at 1pm.  And I was also invited to tag along on any of the school tours (only about 1000 kids every day.  No big deal.)

I took a public tour yesterday, another one today, and then a school tour.  I loved all of them for very different reasons.

The school tour was awesome. It was a combined group of 5th and 7th graders from the burbs, and it was a really good group of kids, so that helped.  The docent informed them that she would be using a method called Visual Thinking Strategies, and talked briefly about it before moving into the galleries.  It was really great to see VTS in action, but I noticed that the docent "cheated" (her words, not mine) a few times along the tour.  She later confessed to me that she wanted so badly to discuss the meaning of the art with the kids, that she just couldn't help herself--and ultimately dished a few historical details that are not VTS approved.  However, the group had done really well with interpreting the works, so her few comments did more to help than distract the kids.  I told her that I thought it worked well.  Also, I was unfamiliar with a few of the works she chose to present to the kids, so I was able to enjoy the tour in much the same way the students did, which was pretty fun.

My two public tours were also great.  The title of the tour is "The Big Picture" and it's a 45 min - 1 hr overview of everything the DIA has to offer.  In other words-- it's impossible.  I would actually say that it's more of a taste than an overview, especially since each docent gets to pick their own route.  I saw completely different galleries with each docent, which I thought was great.

Docent # 2 won me over with her interpretation of the Rivera Court.  It's a place I have been millions of times, but she still managed to show me new things.  That alone was impressive.  Another thing I liked about Docent #2 was her use of VTS.  Our group was all adults, but she still used the VTS methods.  Though, after she asked us "what's going on in this painting?" she then followed it with the "answer" and provided a lot of history.  This group of generally well-educated adults (many seemed to know a LOT about art) wasn't really at risk of becoming frustrated by hearing that their answers were "wrong"-- whereas that can be detrimental to a child's development of art appreciation.  It was an interesting combination of VTS and traditional interpretation methods, and I really liked it.

Here's something scandalous:  When the education director at the DIA first suggested that VTS should replace their current interpretation method, it did not go over well.  Many people in the museum perceived VTS as a threat to what the DIA represents.  After all, it's an art museum-- and VTS teaches NO art history at all.  But I give the DIA a ton of credit for taking what they viewed to be a very risky initiative and reinventing their education strategy.  Lucky for them, it now means they are on the cutting edge of museum education.