I’m A Museum Person: Rusty Baker

 

My name is Rusty Baker, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Like I always tell people who ask how I got into this, I had just graduated with a B.A. in English and a Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate in 1990, so naturally I was unemployed looking for work when I got a job offer from a friend’s dad to come work for his art gallery. That would be the beginning of a what has been a great journey from a commercial gallery to an art auction company outside of Philadelphia, to a job as a small art museum’s Director of Operations. A huge door opened for me when I moved from that position to Acting Director, spent a year convincing a sometimes insane board of directors I might be Director material, then was named Executive Director. After that position, I spent a small stint with one of the nation’s largest art shipping and handling companies, and then I relocated and joined Pennsylvania’s statewide museum association as the Marketing and Membership Guy. I was invited to become the Executive Director back in April when our organization restructured.

Why do museums matter to you?

Museums are magical places. We tend to feel forced to defend museums, to do research, to gather together ideas that somehow justify our existence. No one asks a car mechanic to do these things. The very word museum bears witness to the reason there are museums. Museums exist because they matter. It is wonderful that museums are an economic generator in communities. I am excited there are so many discoveries and stories that noodle out of art and objects and experiences with them. Real learning, whether you can test to it or not, comes in museums. Since I am a museum guy, the jobs created by this industry (and it is an industry) obviously determine whether there is food on my table. All of these reasons seem empty to me, just another Gen X whine I can bleat out. It is the magic of museums, the unspoken wonder of them, that really does it for me. I am certain I share this with other museum people. Museums are complex institutions, but once you get it, like tuberculosis, you can’t “unget” it.

What is your favorite museum memory?

(Editors note: Rusty really wanted to include two stories, but I liked his first one so much, I decided to let it stand on its own. If you want to hear more museum memories from Rusty, chat with him on Twitter at @rustybaker647.)

My first marriage was disintegrating, and I was working on an installation or just about anything else at work for twelve or fourteen hours a day. The curator had put together an amazing small exhibit of work that dealt with identity, and I was truly fighting a lot of demons at the time. We installed a small light bulb piece, two spooned bulbs by Felix Gonzalez Torres. We talked about what we would do if one of the bulbs burnt out.

“We leave it that way,” the curator said.

“We leave it that way?” I echoed.

“Sometimes love dies,” he said.

What museum would you love to visit?

This is a tough one. There are so many museums! Pennsylvania has something like 1,000 of them, and I haven’t seen them all. If the sky is the limit, I’d love to visit the Imperial War Museum, LA MOCA, and the Harley Davidson Museum.

What is your dream museum job?

Being a curator is the dream museum job. Everyone wants to be a curator, don’t they? I’ve done it, and when it goes well, it is like hitting home runs one after another. You just hope someone in the stands cheers, too.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

I’ve seen a few exhibits that were almost perfect, and I was completely blown away by the Carnegie International in 1999, still think about it all the time. I talk about it when I have captive listeners.

The perfect exhibit, no matter what is in it, art or historical objects, is an organic thing. It should appear effortless, and it shouldn’t make a visitor work too hard for the payoff. Great exhibitions look like they grew from seed in a space. They were always there, and they will always be there.

What is the most random item you have bought in a museum gift shop?

I lack the shopping gene, but I am sort of compulsive about Peanut M & M’s. I’ve bought those in gift shops.

What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

I’d do that at any motorcycle museum that let me ride the bikes to make sure they were all in good working condition.

I used to work crazy long hours, and I feel like I already spent a month straight in a museum. I don’t mean that to sound as if I am some kind of silver back gorilla beating his chest. From my point of view, the more time you spend with museums or museum objects, the deeper the impact they have on you. You might listen to a popular song you like over and over again. You re-read a book you liked while you are at the beach on vacation. You saw Star Wars seven times in 1979. You don’t need to go to extremes, but it will be better the second time around.

Tom Sokolowski once spoke about a survey of visitors to the Andy Warhol Museum. They answered they had definitely liked the museum. They answered no to “Do you plan to return?” Tom was outraged by this, and he asked. “Did you have sex? Yes. Did you like it? Yes!! Are you going to do it again? NO!!!!” This was funny as hell to hear, put this way, in a more common denominator.

My feelings about A Month at the Museum are fairly complicated, but museums are, too. A thirty day stay, as a stunt or a job, only brushes the surface of what these places are.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

The Philadelphia Museum of Art stands out for me. I have been there a lot of times, and I think that accounts for something.  I now have my favorite things to go see at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so my time is focused on the seven or eight works I really want to spend time with. They are old friends, these things. Ghost, that big Calder right in the entrance, that’s one of them. I love that Calder. I sometimes blow really hard and hope it moves. It never does.

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

I visited The Barnes Foundation maybe eight years ago, and that will be the story I tell my grand children. What a strange place! What a strange story! What strange stuff!

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Do you have a favorite?

The first Night At The Museum probably captured what I have referred to as “the magic” about museums better than most. I am also an Indiana Jones fan, and having delivered crates to the Smithsonian’s vast storage site, I have a special appreciation for The Lost Ark. I would tell you I saw it, but that wouldn’t be true.

I’m A Museum Person: Adam Rozan

Photo by zigazou76 via Flickr.

My name is Adam Reed Rozan, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a Marketing Manager at the amazing Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). I have the honor of living and breathing art on a daily basis. But that’s only part of the story. I live in San Francisco and I’m highly involved with the arts community in the Bay Area. I run an arts project called Broken Meter. It’s a full-color, full-bleed ’zine and a celebration of city life—more specifically, urban decay. I think of it as a visual recording of the activity, movement, and energy of the urban environment.

Broken Meter is the misspelled sign, the street preacher, the converted U-Haul cardboard trucks, recycled cans and bottles, the graffiti tag, the covered-up graffiti tagged, the re-tagging of the original piece. In short, it’s everything you’ll find in a natural urban environment seen through the eyes of artists.

Why do museums matter to you?

Museums are special places. They provide a connection with our past and our future. They are the keepers of our culture, and the intersection where we come to share ideas, talk, play, and dream.

What is your favorite museum memory?

When OMCA reopened in April, we hosted an online statewide conversation on California. It was held during the reopening party, and the social media staff members from all of the Bay Area museums as well as the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra joined in. We even had museums from as far away as Berkley and Los Angeles contribute. Through the shared hashtag #California we were able to cultivate a conversation between these institutions and thousands of online participants. It was a very powerful experience to be able to connect so many people.

Which museum would you love to visit?

My next trip is a weekend in Houston, so certainly the Rothko Chapel. I’ve never been there, but it’s been recommended to me as a place of deep reflection and inspiration. Another museum high on my list is the Menil Collection—not only do the outdoor gardens look amazing, I would love to see the installation of rarely exhibited canvases by Mark Rothko that are closely related to those he painted for the chapel.

Outside of that, any opportunity I have to go back to London or Paris to see those cities great museums would be amazing.

I do have a rule for any trip I take. It’s my goal to visit a new museum—especially if I’ve never been to that city or town. With every new visit, I discover something to build out my visual library. It’s a priceless experience.

What is your dream museum job?

My dream job is the Curator of Audience Development and Engagement. It’s an integrated position that strives to increase participation and interactivity with the exhibitions and permanent collection, both in person and online. Museum staff members need to find new ways to engage visitors, and transition our institutions into an active, regular presence in the lives of our audiences. Call it a museum 3.0 approach—the position and the person in it should evolve continuously, something the museum experience is doing already. My dream role takes all of these factors into consideration and seeks out alternative inroads to collections, exhibitions, and museums themselves; ultimately the Curator of Audience Development and Engagement opens up new, innovative experiences that visitors can have in a museum.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

Instead of a perfect exhibit, why not consider a perfect gallery or overall museum experience? Live music in the galleries in the afternoon, adult backpacks with supplies, coffee and Wi-Fi areas, book clubs, yoga … I guess what would make for a perfect experience overall is one that was lively—not whispering in a gallery where you can hear a pin drop.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

The answer is option C, the tweets from our Gallery Guides. They’re really funny. Our in gallery staff members use iPads all day at work, so they also tweet through the @oaklandmuseumca handle. Their wit makes them worth checking out.

What is the most random item you have bought in a museum gift shop?

Does a metal cowboy pin from the VMFA store count?

What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

I remember reading a children’s story in grade school about a group of friends who ran away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, so I would have to say the Met.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

Great question, but one that’s very tough to answer. I’ve had so many amazing museum experiences at so many different museums that I’m not sure I could answer that definitively. I can say that I always look forward to going to a new museum, and the opportunity to go back to one that I haven’t visited in a while, especially if it’s a trip with good friends.

What is the most bizarre museum you have ever visited?

Bizarre in what way? I live in San Francisco! On Market Street, near the Civic Center is an enormous storefront window with what seems to be an odd movie display for some lost or ancient land. The sign says “Superb Art Museum of America,” and is formed in foam rocks. You can’t visit the museum, but I imagine that it’s pretty bizarre.

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Do you have a favorite?

The Thomas Crown Affair, but really any movie that set in a museum, I’ll go to.

I’m A Museum Person: Betty Brennan

My name is Betty Brennan, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I own a planning, design/build exhibit company called Taylor Studios, Inc.  I’m an entrepreneur.  I started the company in a garage and renovated chicken coop.  Twenty years later Taylor Studios has over 300 projects in museums, nature centers, universities, visitor centers, corporate lobbies and anywhere a unique story needs to be told.  I also a humorous, farm girl, horse lover, animal enthusiast, nature admirer, traveler, goal setter, business player sort of girl.

Why do museums matter to you?

From a straight forward point of view, they matter because they support the business and my staff.  Beyond that, we love museums.  They tell the stories of our past, they preserve our history, they can transform you to another time and place, they can touch your soul, they teach, they inform, they are fun, they inspire, they increase knowledge, they are a window to nature, they envision the future, they are places of discovery and the human experience.  If through our exhibits we can touch someone’s urge to know, love or acknowledge the content we have in a ways improved humanity.  With knowledge comes appreciation and sometimes action.  Museums add this richness to people’s lives.  They can brighten our world of understanding.  What a grand thing!

What is your favorite museum memory?

We stopped by the Roswell UFO Museum.  I read a copy panel I have never forgotten.  It went something like this, “we were buck naked in the back of my pick up truck when all hell broke loose.”  I like to say it with emphasis.  Now that copy tells an unforgettable story.  It’s the best copy ever.  I’m still laughing when I type this.  Sometimes humanity needs to lighten up and laugh.  Museums can do that too.

What museum would you love to visit?

I have been to hundreds of museums.  It’s what I do.  I don’t have a particular one in mind that I must see.  My favorite time period is the Pleistocene.  So, I’ve always intended to visit the La Brea Tar Pits.  I have been to that area of the country many times and have never stopped there.  I would love to continue visiting museums every chance I get.

What is your dream museum job?

I have it.  To own a company that has 20 projects going at one time is quite amazing.  In any one day you could learn about trains, the civil war, prairies, African-American history, a particular fort, a particular time period, etc.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

It’s an exhibit that inspires and engages the visitor.  It provides something more than a book, the history channel or the classroom.  The content is well organized, relevant, thematic and has a point of view.  There is an easy flow.  The copy is concise and poignant.  There are more visuals than words.  The visuals are a variety of media: graphics, photographs, 3D objects, immersive environments and A/V.  If I had a pleasant experience and walked away from the exhibit with a different point of view, new knowledge and the desire to learn or do more, then it is perfect.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

I’ll go with NatHistoryWhale.  I mean whales are probably genetically prone to being more funny than a T-Rex.  Check out our tweets @TSIExhibits.  We are really pithy.

What is the most random item you have bought from a museum gift shop?

I buy a lot of museum magnets.  They are all over my fridge.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in? The High Museum of Art, Experience Music Project, Musee de la Civilisation, the Courtauld Gallery, and the Kuntskammer.

The EMP is in Seattle.  The rest would be a guess or Google search.  I guess I have a lot more museums to go see.

What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

I recently visited Paris and am tempted to say the Louvre given its size.  I could certainly find something new to learn every day.  However, I have a special place in my heart for Natural History museums.  Since, I have never been to London and their Natural History Museum is vast,  I will pick that one.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

The Field Museum in Chicago.

What is the most bizarre museum you have ever visited?

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Thanks to Betty for sharing her experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

I’m A Museum Person: SUE the T-Rex

My name is Specimen FMNH PR2081, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us about yourself.

Well, I’m a Tyrannosaurus rex who roamed the upper portion of the North American continent back when it was a tropical paradise (around the late Cretaceous). I lived to be 29 (old for my species), until I passed away. Scientists debate if this was caused by old age, arthritic gout, or some strange infection, but I like to tell everyone “Meteor Strike” because it sounds cool, and I’m trying to raise awareness of things falling from the sky, which is my greatest fear. After my passing, I was covered in sediment, gradually fossilized over the course of millions of years, trapped under glaciers during the ice age, and eventually discovered by my most favoritest mammals of all time: Sue Hendrickson and her dog Gypsy while they were waiting for their team to fix a flat tire. There was a bunch of other stuff that happened, and next thing I know, I’m here at The Field Museum in Chicago.

Why do museums matter to you?

I live in one! And I have twins that travel to several others on my never-ending world tour!

But if I could get serious for a second Ms. Museumist (can I call you “Mew”?) museums are important because you puny humans are always discovering new and exciting things about the past, how it relates to the present, and how you can apply this knowledge for the future. It’s easy to just slap up a blog post about something, tweet a short thing and hope someone will find it interesting, or even print it on a fancy glossy page in a book or a magazine, but it’s not until you come face to face with something, for instance history’s greatest and most beautiful apex predator (cough), that you really begin to appreciate it.

And another thing that makes it special to be here at The Field Museum: These folks aren’t just about helping the people who come in our doors learn something new, they also send scientists out into the field to explore the planet, and find news things humans didn’t know about before. As a dinosaur with a cantaloupe sized brain, I’m jealous

What is your favorite museum memory?

That’s easy. My Field Museum unveiling in May 2000.

What is your dream museum job?

I already got it. Sorry. (fist pump)

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

My 10th anniversary at The Field Museum was pretty sweet. Maybe for the 20th, we can clone me and have everyone get T.rex rides around Chicago. Wait, on second thought, I would probably not like that. Plus, I’m prone to “rampages.”

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…you or @NatHistoryWhale?

Is this some sort of joke? I love @NatHistoryWhale! Why are you trying to get us mad at each other? He’s just sitting up there, minding his own business, softly singing whale songs. Why do you have to make this competitive? Besides, I don’t like seafood. Grew up in South Dakota. Not a place to develop a taste for “whale.”

What is the most random item you have bought in a museum gift shop?

This package of green beans from The Field Museum store. LOL! I’m a carnivore! What am I going to do with BEANS! Hahaha!

(deep breath)

Enough joking around. Where’s my order of ribs for lunch?

To test your museum knowledge, which cities are the following museums in?

• The High Museum of Art - Inside the basket of a hot air balloon?
• The Experience Music Project - Let’s see… Jimi Hendrix made “Are You Experienced?” and he’s from Seattle, so… Seattle? I hope they have a big Sir Mix-A-Lot exhibit. He’s from Seattle too.
• Musee de la Civilasation - Oh, I loved that video game “Civilization!” It must be huge in France! Or Quebec. Or maybe New Orleans? Where else do people speak French… and love classic turn based strategy games?
• Courtauld Gallery - This sounds like a place those snooty Velociraptors would go to. (Shakes fist) Oh, Velociraptors! They think they’re just the bee’s knees because they’re smart and can open doorknobs!
• Kuntskammer - I would pay good money to hear a hadrosaur pronounce this. It would probably sound like Donald Duck burnt the roof of his mouth eating chili.

What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

Besides this one? Um, maybe the aforementioned (and totally imaginary) Museum of Meat? I would spend AT LEAST three hours in the “Hall of Bacon.”

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

If I was forced to choose anything besides The Field Museum? There’s so many of them. Costa Rica was nice. The Scientific Center in Kuwait City was really friendly. And I can’t tell you how accommodating the folks at the Nova Scotia Museum have been these last couple of months. But my homecoming visit to the Faith Community Center on Highway 212 in Faith, SD in 2008 was very special.

What is the most bizarre museum you have ever visited?

In just the last couple of years, I’ve had to play host to pirates, baby mammoths, the White Sox World Series trophy, and lately, horses—what I’m saying is The Field Museum can get bizarre enough. But in my adopted home city of Chicago alone, we’ve got museums for historical medical equipment and holography. Plenty of bizarre to go around.

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Thanks to SUE for sharing her experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

I’m A Museum Person: Shiloh Aderhold

My name is Shiloh Aderhold, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am currently an art history and museum studies M.A. student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I’ve been involved with museums for over five years, wearing many hats—visitor services, curatorial/collections and interpretation. Most of my experience is with historic house museums, specifically those of Frank Lloyd Wright. I currently intern in the curatorial department at the MCA in Chicago, and this summer I will be working at the Chicago Botanic Garden assisting with program interpretation and volunteer management.

Why do museums matter to you?

Museums are laboratories of culture that provide personal connections to both tangible objects and abstract ideas. They are a place to establish a forum for knowledge, create relationships, and share ideas and experiences. It’s important to have places that do this.

What is your favorite museum memory?

When I was studying in Barcelona several years ago, I went to an exhibition at MACBA– this was one of my first exposures to contemporary art. The Janet Cardiff and Georges Bures Miller exhibition was up. How their installations consume all behaviors of the museum visitors is impactful. It changed my ideas of what art can be. It was amazing, very visceral.

What museum would you love to visit?

The Brooklyn Museum. I always seemed to miss this one when I’m in New York. But, it’s on my list for the next trip. I love their involvement with technology/social media and how they incorporate it into their collection, exhibitions, and programs. Plus, Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party.

What is your dream museum job?

Anything where I am able to be knee-deep in the collection: physically or conceptually.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

Interaction and stimulation. Physical or intellectual.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

I like Sue’s sense of humor. Plus, I live in Chicago, so I have to represent.

What is the most random item you have bought from a museum gift shop?

A tape measure featuring the designs of Wright’s Coonley windows. It was a father’s day gift.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in?

• The High Museum of Art- Atlanta! I went to high school outside of Atlanta. This museum was very formative in developing my passion for art and art interpretation.
• The Experience Music Project- Seattle. This was a question on Jeopardy a few weeks ago.
• Musee de la Civilisation- Paris, some where in France? Or Canada!?
• The Courtauld Gallery – London
• The Kuntskammer – St. Petersburg

What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

Probably the Isabella Stewart Garner Museum. Or any house museum, really. It would be amazing to be transplanted into the life and history of someone else. Plus, there will probably be beds there, ha.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

I think Calatrava’s Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias is pretty amazing. The architecture is a museum within itself. The science museum and aquarium are excellent spaces.

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

Museum of Death in L.A.

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Which one is your favorite?

You get to see the highlights of the Art Institute of Chicago in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is awesome. It also demonstrates different museum experiences, such as the children running through the gallery and personally relating to art. Its a little cheesy, but I like it.

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Thanks to Shiloh for sharing her experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

 

I’m A Museum Person: Steve Slack

My name is Steve Slack, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a writer, based in London. I write for museums and about museums. I can mostly be found in a museum or in the bar. Or in a museums that have bars.

After about ten years of working on museum exhibitions, I broke free and now work on my own as a freelance writer, researcher, curator and whimsical thinker. I drink a lot of tea and I like cricket. Yep, I’m British.

Why do museums matter to you?

Take a moment to look back over the millennia of human existence at all the amazing things we humans have achieved as a species: fire, wheels, agriculture, money, government, public art. We’ve even put a man on the moon and figured out how to wrap cheese in red wax. 

Doesn’t it appear strange that for some reason we’ve also ended up setting aside special buildings where we collect things together, put them in glass boxes and then invite people to come view them?

Maybe we’re just naturally hoarders. Maybe we’re scared of forgetting about where we’ve come from. Maybe we’re proud of all the amazing things we’ve achieved. Or maybe we like to root ourselves in time and place – establish ourselves in history for future generations to discover.

It seems to me that museums are incredibly useful time capsules. Today we look at Victorian museums almost as museum objects in themselves – they can tell us a lot about how people interpreted the past, in the past. And in years to come, the museologists of the future will look back at the museums of the first decade of the 21^st century and regard our modern art, touch screens, education suites and incessant tweeting through rose-tinted spectacles. So for me, museums are about the past, but they’re also about the future.

What is your favorite museum memory?

I saw Lindow Man on display in Manchester in 1987 – creeping up to the display case where the bog body was laid out was like a magical, almost mystical, experience for me. As a child I was quite apprehensive, but completely drawn in by the body. Even though I’ve surely forgotten many of the details of exactly how it was displayed I remember being fascinated by the fact that a human body had survived so long. Lindow Man had only come out of the ground a few years before, but it transported many people 2000 years back in time.

That stayed with me for many years and then, 20 years later when I was working at the British Museum, I ended up working on the re-display of Lindow Man. After a recent tour of the UK, he’s back on display at the BM in Gallery 50.

What museum would you love to visit?

There are some amazing museums in the world, but there are also some fabulous places opening right now.

I’d love to go and see the newly laid out National Museum of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. I’m also really looking forward to the new Riverside Museum in Glasgow (a little closer to home, so more easy for visiting.)

And in a few years time there will be a whole host of new museums in the UAE that I’m sure will be worth the visit.

What is your dream museum job?

I know it sounds cheesy – and I suppose I judge people who say it – but I genuinely think I have the best job in the world.

I currently run a solo operation, but perhaps one day I’ll be a museum guru with a string of books behind me and minions under me. Right now though, I’m pretty happy with where I am. I get to pick and choose what projects I work on –curating exhibitions, writing audio guides, undertaking research projects.

I’m about to publish a second book with Museum [Insider], the online magazine for suppliers to museums and heritage venues in the UK. I’ve also done some TV work recently and I’d like to do more of that in the future.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

I’m not sure there is a perfect exhibit. Just like there’s no one perfect book, movie or menu. I realised a few years ago that no exhibit can ever be all things to all people. And the museum-going public are rather picky, so pleasing them is rather a challenge.

Exhibitions that work well for me are all about balance. Whenever we’re putting an exhibition together we’re weighing up a seemingly endless number of variants – lots of text that explains the story well or less text that more people are likely to read? lots of objects to give a sense of breadth or only a few to make people look? how many computer interactives? what shade of pale grey will we paint the walls? how much light can we put on the objects? how much seating will there be?

As interpreters and designers, if we can strike the balance well and get the story we’re trying to tell across to the visitor then that’s our job done. I think it’s also important that exhibitions continue to push boundaries, so when I go to a museum I’m particularly impressed if I see a new display technique that isn’t necessarily from the collection of display set pieces we’re used to. Write text on the floor; project images through a tank of water; create a soundscape. Make me stand back and think.

And while I like an exhibit that is intellectually robust, I also love a sense of humour.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

Sue is hilarious. What a great idea to have a museum object tweet. I’d love to see the Walrus at the @HornimanMuseum tweet sometimes. I’m sure he’d say wonderful things.

What is the most random item that you have bought in a museum gift shop?

I was quite proud of the ash tray in the shape of Mao Tse-Tung I got from the Forbidden City in Beijing. Ironic, as Mao was a keen smoker. But it got broken, alas.

A few weeks ago I got a particularly ugly fridge magnet from the National Museum of Art and Culture in Minsk, Belarus.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in?

• The High Museum of Art – Atlanta, I think?
• The Experience Music Project – no idea!
• Musee de la Civilisation – hmmm, I have a hunch it’s Canada, so I suppose if it’s French, then Quebec?
• Courtauld Gallery – right here in London
• Kuntskammer – Berlin. (Oh no, I just looked it up, it’s in St Petersburg. It sounds German, no?)

Huh, I thought I was pretty good at geography. Guess I need to hit the books again on museums of the world.

You may have heard of the Month at the Museum contest recently held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

The Hermitage is massive. I don’t think I even stepped foot in half of the rooms in the palace in one day, so I’d love to go back and see more of it. And if I was in St Petersburg, I’d go and check out the Kunstkammer and find out what on earth it is.

I figure it’d get pretty scary at night in most museums though. Maybe I need somewhere more comforting – I know a really good couch in the V&A in London that’s good for a mid-afternoon snooze, so perhaps I’ll just go there.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

The Vasa Museum in Sweden is pretty amazing. It’s a massive ship which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, before it had even left Stockholm harbour. But the entire thing – or what’s left of it – was raised in the 1960s. The body of the ship takes up most of the space in the building and the various floors of the museum are at the different deck levels – right up to the crow’s nest. It’s a story about personal pride, museum conservation and loading ballast – things we could all do with knowing a bit more about.

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is Los Angeles is one of the most peculiar museums I’ve visited. The strange and spectacular come together with the bonkers and bizarre here. Don’t try to understand it – just go with the flow.

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Do you have a favorite?

I love it that Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) insists on making repeat visits to the museum to see the dinosaurs. I imagine @SuetheTrex in the Field Museum would be delighted to see him creeping around the place doing an impression of the T-Rex.

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Thanks to Steve for sharing his experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m A Museum Person: Bob Beatty

My name is Bob Beatty, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been “history geek” since elementary school. It is a mantle I wear proudly and one that was confirmed in various family vacation photos I recently looked through. There are images of me in costume in an old time photo booth, standing by cannons at various sites, and looking at the Gettysburg statue of General John Buford, an ancestor. Our vacations could be tracked in the family station wagon trips we made from south Florida through the Southeast and up the Eastern Seaboard. We took trips to St. Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, Richmond, the Civil War battlefields in and around Northern Virginia, and to Gettysburg. We visited forts, antebellum homes, battlefields, just about anything historic that I had found in some random guidebook or had seen on one of the brown signs by the highway (you follow the brown signs too, right?). I developed a very deep and personal connection to historic sites through these visits and a love for not only the sites and artifacts, but for museums and cultural institutions as a whole. I felt a connection to the history I so loved to read in books that continues in me to this very day.

I am currently Vice President for Programs for the American Association for State & Local History. My primary responsibility is to direct AASLH’s professional development program including onsite/online workshops, the annual meeting, affinity groups, and publications. Prior AASLH, I was Curator of Education at the Orange County (FL) Regional History Center.

I have a B.A. in Liberal Studies (I usually say my major was “college”) and an M.A. in History in 2002 both from the University of Central Florida. I’ve been an adjunct instructor of American History at the university and community college level, including teaching a History of Rock & Roll course at the latter.

State and local history is one of my particular interests as I truly believe that the discovery of local heritage helps in the building of a strong community. This is reinforced by my work at AASLH, the History Center, and research for my thesis, “Legacy to the People: Community and the Orange County Regional History Center,” which examined the ideal of community service and in the context of the history of the American museum movement. I’m also the author of Florida’s Highwaymen: Legendary Landscapes about a group of African American artists in Florida in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Why do museums matter to you?

I think museums are positively critical to the country and to their communities. What I learned in doing my graduate research is that this is the historic function of the American museum, to provide an essential community service (this was/is distinct from prior museums worldwide which were for much more elite audiences). This was also early in my museum career so it was really inspiring to know that I was literally standing on the shoulders of giants (my hero Charles Willson Peale, John Cotton Dana, Theodore Low, and the authors of Excellence and Equity), that the work I was doing was important and did matter in the overall grand scheme of things. In fact, one of the talks I give is called “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” and looks at the history of the American museum movement vis-à-vis community service.

Museums are a place where not only our heritage is preserved, but also a place for reflection and for connection to our own pasts, but also to our present and future. I am working hard to make sure my own children catch the bug as well.

What is your favorite museum memory?

I have several. One is going to Gettysburg with my father on a summer vacation. He and I drove from western North Carolina all the way to Gettysburg, and took a tour with an NPS guide in the car. That was awesome for a seventh grader (as was taking a photo at the statue of my ancestor General John Buford)!

One that really stuck with me, though not at a museum, came during a trip to Florida Caverns State Park (if memory serves). The caverns were lit, emphasizing the beauty of the natural formations. As we toured, our guide implored us not to touch anything. “You’ll have the chance at the end of the tour.” And have our chance we did. At the end, there was one stalagmite/stalactite formation that had grown together into a single column (I’ve since forgotten what that’s called, I got a “C” in geology in college). The guide encouraged us to touch it. It was black and disgusting. This taught me a lesson that has remained with me for almost 30 years now. Without careful care or handling, our precious past would cease to exist or become sullied and almost unrecognizable.

Another was two trips probably 10 years apart to Drayton Hall that I referenced in a guest blog post for them awhile back (http://draytonhall.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/432/). In the 1980s, I visited Drayton Hall in South Carolina for the first time. I remember initially being unimpressed by its bare-bones interpretation. I was so used to antebellum homes dressed out in all their finery that Drayton Hall’s interpretation and emphasis on historic preservation was initially lost on me. But after spending an afternoon there in the early 90s, I was hooked by what they were doing. I recognized that history doesn’t have to be gussied up to be interesting or to convey something important about the past, an idea I have carried with me philosophically ever since.   And to this day, I still covet the rice spoon that my mother got on that visit!

The last two are from my own career when the History Center held an exhibition of the original manuscript scroll of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road (Kerouac was living in Orlando when the book was published) and another time when Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham and a true hero of the Civil Rights Movement, spoke at the museum for a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Brown v Board decision. I literally choked up introducing Rev. Shuttlesworth. I consider both highlights of my museum career.

What museum would you love to visit?

As for the biggies, probably the British Museum because of its role in the history of our field. (When I was in London I didn’t make it there and I still regret it to this day!) If I could travel back in time it’d be Charles Willson Peale’s original museum in Philadelphia again because it has such special meaning in my own career and in our field.

For current museums, I’ve yet to visit the Big House Museum in Macon, GA, since it opened as a full-fledged museum about my beloved Allman Brothers Band and I have yet to visit the Experience Music Project and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And I really want to see the National WWI Museum and also the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, both in Kansas City.

What is your dream museum job?

I could probably say I have it now, engaging with so many tremendous history and museum professionals across the country on a daily basis. That is a very cool part of my job. But as for a true “museum” job, it’d probably have something to do with music or music history. I am a music geek as much as a history geek so combining those two I’d be in heaven!

When you think of a perfect exhibit, what is in it?

Fantastic artifacts that move a story along are always crucial to me. I like lots and lots and lots of artifacts, visually that is so engaging to me. Many years ago when I attended the AAM conference in St. Louis, their exhibit on St. Louis in the 1950s (I believe) really sucked me in. I particularly remember a typical suburban living room scene with the TV, chairs (I think), coonskin cap, etc. I loved it. I also love exhibits that make me recall a certain time or place. The entire Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, is like that for me. (Hard not to be with all those toys!). For subjects that are a bit more complex, I like well-written exhibit labels and photos, but always like the story to relate to the objects. But simplicity and “place” can also make a perfect exhibit. I loved the Restoration Room at James Madison’s Montpelier and the interpretation of President Lincoln’s Cottage in DC.

What is the most random item you have bought in a museum gift shop?

I’m embarrassed that I don’t have an answer to this one. I usually gravitate toward books or Christmas ornaments. Does it count if I say I sometimes adapt keychains as Christmas ornaments if I don’t like the selection (or if the museum doesn’t have an ornament)?

You may have heard of the Month at the Museum contest recently held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

Oh, the Met to be sure, ever since reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in elementary school. My oldest daughter is reading it now by the way.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which is your favorite?

This is one of the major “perks” of working for AASLH, I get to see so many cool museums when I travel it’s almost unfair. Here are a couple that immediately come to mind: Strong National Museum of Play (if I’m ever within five hours of this with my kids, we’re going), Pratt Museum (Homer, Alaska), USS Yorktown (got to sleep on it when I was a kid, a history geek’s dream), Baseball Hall of Fame, City Museum (St. Louis), General Lew Wallace Study and Museum (Crawfordsville, IL).

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

Probably the Indiana Medical History Museum which is one of the site visits for our Developing History Leaders @SHA program we hold each year in Indianapolis. Amazing collections in an amazing old building (though the room with the brains is kinda creepy).

I’m A Museum Person: Paul Orselli

My name is Paul Orselli, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

For nearly 30 years, I’ve worked to create inventive science museums and playful children’s museums around North America, mostly in Exhibits departments. Now I’m the President and Chief Instigator at POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) an exhibit design and development corporation that I founded.

I’ve also been the editor and originator of the three best-selling Exhibits Cheapbooks, published by ASTC, and been happy to serve on the board of NAME (National Association for Museum Exhibition).  I live on Long Island with my wonderful wife and “in-house exhibit testing crew” of four children.

For more about my museum POV, check out my blog about exhibits and other museum-related stuff at: http://blog.orselli.net/.

Why do museums matter to you?

Aside from the fact that I’ve always made my living from museum work, museums continue to fascinate and enthrall me with the classic combination of real ”stories and stuff.” You can see the Rosetta Stone or a Lunar Lander on the Web or TV, but it’s just not the same as being in the presence of authentic objects. (At least for me!)  Especially if the “real stuff” is placed within a carefully crafted environment supported by the stories and authentic voices surrounding them.  I love exhibitions with a “Big Idea” and a compelling narrative thread.

What is your favorite museum memory?

That’s easy.  It would have to be when I was a little kid growing up in Detroit during the 1960s.  Even though I’m the oldest of three siblings, for some reason I remember my father taking only me to visit the museums in Detroit’s Cultural Center.  (Note to smarta$$es reading this — yes, Detroit did, and still does have a Cultural Center!)

Anyway, we spent an amazing day looking at mummies and suits of armor and the Diego Rivera frescoes in the Detroit Institute of Arts, then walking through the “Streets of Old Detroit” exhibition in the basement of the Detroit Historical Museum and finally playing with the exhibits at the old Detroit Children’s Museum.  (In those pre-PETA days, the Children’s Museum had a pet squirrel(!) running through the building  in a sort of DIY tubing system made of hardware cloth that snaked through the building near the top of each room’s walls.)

It was definitely memories of that day, and many other family trips to museums that helped me choose the museum field as a career right out of college.

What museum would you love to visit?

Ah, so many museums, so little time!  I think I’ll give you two answers:

1) The Ghibli in Japan: The official museum that features the work of Studio Ghibli and the director Hayao Miyazaki, probably best known for animated features like “Totoro” and “Spirited Away”.

2) The Te Papa Museum in New Zealand: I’d like to go to those places because they seem like cool museums, but also because I’ve not yet been to that part of the world.

What is your dream museum job?

Whichever job is my current job! Honestly, while I might grumble now and again about a client or project or museum, I really do need to get sincerely excited and find the way(s) to “fall in love” with each particular project to do my best exhibit design and development. You could call me a “serial monogamist” as far as my work goes.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

As I mentioned above, great stuff and great stories wrapped in a compelling environment.  Also, I love to be surprised or challenged in any exhibition, so if you can make me look or think about “familiar” things in unfamiliar ways, you’ve hooked me.

I recently saw the “Infinite Variety” show put on by the American Folk Art Museum inside the cavernous Park Avenue Armory space, and it blew me away.   On the surface, I thought, “650 red and white quilts — who cares?”  But it was an amazing use of colors and form and space.  Even with minimal interpretation (as far as labels and text go) it was fantastic!  Tip of the hat to Thinc Design in NYC.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

Recently I’ve been more of a @BronxZoosCobra man myself, but if forced to choose @NatHistoryWhale all the way!  (Hey whale! Show me the love and follow back: @museum_exhibits).

What is the most random item you have bought in a museum gift shop?

A “Mr. T in Your Pocket” talking key chain gadget (with six authentic Mr. T sayings!)  from the American Visionary Art Museum.  I recommend bringing this product to boring planning meetings.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in: the High Museum of Art, the Experience Music Project, Musee de la Civilisation, the Courtauld Gallery, and the Kuntskammer?

I’ve been to the first four in person, so: Atlanta, Seattle, Hull (on the border between Ontario and Quebec) and London. Rather than cheat via Google on the Kuntskammer, I’ll just guess: somewhere in Germany — Berlin? Munich?

You may have heard of the Month at the Museum contest recently held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

Honestly the idea sort of creeps me out.  But, if forced to choose, I’d go with the Exploratorium.  I’m sure I could earn my “room and board” by playing and prototyping with the Exhibits folks there.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

I keep coming back to my visits to the City Museum in St. Louis.   It’s just filled with wacky, unexpected, and sometimes a little scary things.  I remember nearly getting stuck in one of their underground tunnels, but it was still big fun!  Where else can you see giant aquariums covered with amazing mosaic tile work next to an exhibit on historic toasters or doorknobs?  Eclectic and kaleidoscopic in a good way, and worth a special trip to St. Louis!

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

In a positive way, The City Museum. (See above.) In a negative way, The Creation Museum in Kentucky.

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Do you have a favorite?

Well I’m not sure what it says about me, but I’m a sucker for museum heist movies like “The Thomas Crown Affair” or “Nine Queens” or “Hudson Hawk” or more recently “The Maiden Heist.”

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Thanks to Paul for sharing his experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

I’m A Museum Person: Lisa Junkin

My name is Lisa Junkin, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I work at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago, IL. I manage a staff of museum educators and organize public programming and special projects. My ongoing projects there include a film series about sex, tours of an urban farm, facilitated dialogs about immigration, and a history project with a local gang. I hail from Virginia, and I worked at a few great museums in Washington D.C. before completing a master’s degree in arts education here in Chicago.

When I’m not thinking about museums (rare), I’m volunteering with a food co-op and making ceramic sculpture. I sporadically tweet about museums @ljunkin

Why do museums matter to you?

Museums are special places. We go to socialize, to learn, and to be exposed to new ideas. For me, museums are communal spaces, where I interact with the ideas of others through art, history, science, and more.

Part of what makes museums invaluable is what I call “the thrill of the real”… the experience of visiting a museum is something different than what can be offered by schools, digital media, most other sites of learning. That said, I think museums have done a poor job of making themselves available to broad audiences. I would like for more museums function as thrillingly accessible spaces for talking, eating, playing, thinking, and making, in addition to looking and learning.

What is your favorite museum memory?

During high school I spent some Saturdays wandering the galleries at the Hirshhorn Museum (where I later interned!) just to be surrounded by weird art that I didn’t understand. I also have an early childhood memory of seeing that giant whale on the ceiling at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum and feeling really small.

What museum would you love to visit?

I’ve heard wonderful things about the District Six Museum in Cape Town. Like Hull-House, they are a member of a neat organization called the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

What is your dream museum job?

I always wanted to become a director, though once I learned how much fundraising is involved, the novelty wore off.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

Something that surprises the audience and gets them talking. Some kind of participatory activity. Links between past and present. Poetically written labels. Fabulous design. And cool artifacts! Perhaps supplemented by a tour, led by a clever docent?

What is the most random item you have bought from a museum gift shop?

I’m a sucker for weird postcards. Recently a friend in London bought me the perpetual postcard calendar and a carefully curated selection of postcards from the Tate Modern. Some are mildly inappropriate. I love them all.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in? The High Museum of Art, the Experience Music Project, Musee de la Civilisation, the Courtauld Gallery, and the Kuntskammer.

• High Museum of Art: Atlanta!
• The Experience Music Project: Seattle!
• Musee de la Civilisation: I said Paris. Google said Quebec.
• The Courtauld Gallery: London!
• The Kunskammer: Apparently St. Petersburg. I’m feeling like I should have known that one.

I’m A Museum Person: Sarah Stierch

My name is Sarah Stierch, and I’m a Museum Person.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m currently a Masters student in George Washington University’s Museum Studies program, slated to graduate in 2012. I arrived in the museum world after working many years in the retail and cosmetics industry, deciding to obtain my undergrad and explore opportunities in history, art and culture – three things that often culminate in the museum world. My interest and passion lies in research – I have a curatorial background working in the private sector of fine art and I love sharing of information and working to provide opportunities for those who have not had the chance to have their voices heard.

Work wise I provide historical and cultural research services for private and public institutions. Currently I am providing research services to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, working with a remarkable team to research and utilize the great fine art collection that will be exhibited upon opening on the National Mall in 2015.

My main research work involves Wikipedia and opportunities to utilize the free encyclopedia and other open-source web 2.0 interfaces in museum, curatorial, cultural, collections and conservation practices. Specifically in public art and Indigenous communities. My current goal with my research is to become the first Wikipedian-in-Residence in a Washington based institution.

I live and work in Washington, D.C. and when not geeking out over research I love traveling near and far, eating and drinking great things, collecting art by emerging artists, exploring the monuments, museums and landscape of the District, taking photographs and listening to tons of music…oh, and I live with a fabulous cat named Mersey.

Why do museums matter to you?

Aside from playing the role as repositories for cultural objects and ideals, museums have provided myself and so many others rare opportunities to explore art, history and culture in many arenas. As a young person born and raised in Indianapolis, a city with amazing institutions such as the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Indiana State Museum, and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (among others), I was lucky to not only have internationally acclaimed institutions at my reach, but, a family who loved to travel to historic sites, museums and places. These trips and places helped shaped not only who I am and how I think as an adult, but, provided the influence for me being where I am in my life – which ten years ago I never thought would be possible. And now I have the opportunity to do with museums for others what museums did for me, or, at least I hope.

What is your favorite museum memory?

I have a few…

1) When I was a kid I was in the Museum Apprentice Program at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. This experience changed my life – I worked in the nature area handling snakes (I remember the king snake named Elvis!) and other animals for visitors to pet, then, when that area closed I got to open the exhibit called “What If…?” (it no longer exists). That area had an oceanography themed area, and two of my favorite “kid topics” – ancient Egypt (with the mummy Wenuhotep) and dinosaurs. It was the coolest thing ever in my mind, and I got to meet one of my idols – paleontologist Jack Horner. He autographed all my books. That MAP program and the opportunities it gave me as a young person changed my life, and I credit it for being one of the reasons I’m in the museum world today.

2) From day one of getting a car at 16 I practically lived at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, up until leaving Indianapolis. One year about 50 of us gathered on the grounds, having a picnic surrounded by the gardens and sculptures. Playing bocce ball in front of the Lilly House is a memory I’ll never forget.

3) There’s also the first time I went to the Phillips Collection. It was a religious experience. The Rothko room and Miro’s The Red Sun. Just remarkable.

What museum would you love to visit?

The Heard Museum in Phoenix.

What is your dream museum job?

Curatorial work. Again, I love sharing information and working with others to examine and exhibit that information with the public. I also do not want to weigh out opportunities in higher level administration or perhaps working at a non-profit gallery environment as well.

When you think of the perfect exhibit, what is in it?

That’s a rather broad question, I really can’t give a solid answer without getting overly theoretical or frustrated. I must say, in regards to the art world – we now have Thornton Dial feet away from Alexander Calder, things are changing, albeit slowly. I hope I live to see the day when Rick Bartow hangs next to Cy Twombly at a major institution. Overall, there can never be a perfect exhibit, in my opinion.

Who is the funnier museum twitterer…@SUEtheTrex or @NatHistoryWhale?

I don’t follow either. Guess I should now! Museum geek #fail!

What is the most random item you have bought from a museum gift shop?

Historical societies and county museums generally have some weird stuff. I bought a postcard of the world’s largest oldest edible cured ham at the Isle of Wight County Museum and a stuffed pig made out of Smithfield Ham packaging.

To test your museum knowledge, what cities are the following museums in? The High Museum of Art, the Experience Music Project, Musee de la Civilisation, the Courtauld Gallery, and the Kuntskammer.

The High is in Atlanta. EMP is in Seattle. I have no clue about the other three without cheating. Boooooo….guess I need to revisit “Museology 101.”

You may have heard about the Month at the Museum contest recently held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. What museum would you move into for a month if you could?

I always wanted to be like Lisa Simpson when she runs away from home and lives in a museum. I’d say the Exploratorium. Those poor people would come into the museum and find crazy interactives that have little scientific value built by yours truly. Or the Met, so I can photograph everything they have and persuade them to release the images into the Creative Commons world.

Out of all the museums you have visited so far, which one is your favorite?

Evil question! Just one? HA! I spent a month interning at Colonial Williamsburg. My internship there changed my life, and makes major impacts on peoples lives in so many ways. I love that place. The American Indian Initiative is groundbreaking and the memories I have from there are invaluable, while there is always room to critique, there are efforts to make a real difference in public history, programming and community involvement. And from a purely fun stand point – an excuse to drink beer out of giant stoneware mugs, say hello to Martha Washington and boo Benedict Arnold is totally awesome. Then, there is the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Whitney. I love those places.

What is the most bizarre museum you have visited?

I suppose the Mutter, at this point. That place is educational and nauseating at the same time. They also have a great gift shop.

There seem to be a million books and movies set in museums. Do you have a favorite?

I don’t really read much fiction…but oh man, I love Woody Allen films, and in Manhattan.. it’s so classic. I wonder if Woody Allen is a member of the Guggenheim?

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Thanks to Sarah for sharing her experiences. If you’re interested in participating in the “I’m A Museum Person” series, send us an email at editor@museumist.com, and we’ll get your story up on the site.

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