Adventures While Not Looking

 Sometimes we have adventures, even life-changing ones, without realizing it. That is how the last few years have been for me and only recently has it occurred to me to return to this blog and muse on things.

I left the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. Covid-19 hit. When we were allowed to venture back out into the world I went back to working as a bookseller at Book Revue, one of the largest independent bookstores in the Northeast and where I had worked before going to grad school. Sadly, it became a victim of pandemic economics and closed. I helped open a new indie bookstore in Oyster Bay, Theodore's Books. When my parents decided they wanted to leave Long Island and move to Saratoga Springs, I decided to move with them. 

Any and all of these things could be long chapters full of stories, and they are. But they all also helped shape where I think my next professional adventure is going to go. Or at least, the adventure I want to take- whether it will be a success of not will be part of that adventure.

You've all seen that reading and writing have been as much a part of my life- both work and personal- as breathing. I helped my friend Harry Casey write, edit, and publish Geoglyphs of the Desert Southwest. I've been a beta reader for my friend Karen Odden for years now and grown and honed my skills as a developmental editor while talking to her about her books. I've written Core Documents for the IVDM and manuals for the Waterville Valley Historical Society.  I've been a copyeditor for the newspaper articles my team wrote when I worked at the IVDM. Now I've decided to make a new start in a new location and take Karen's advice. I'm going to become a freelance editor.

What does this mean? For me it means lots of work marketing myself as someone who knows what they are talking about in the realm of writing. I'm working with Amanda Stefansson and ShinerTalk Media to develop a professional looking website, which I hope will be finished and launched within a week or two. I have a business Instagram account (@annemorganedits) I'm working to develop and I'm debating with myself on creating a business Twitter or Facebook page. 

What does it mean for this blog? The focus will probably move away from museum exhibits (although not entirely!) and onto the adventures of building a business. If it works, if it doesn't. We will see! 

Ancient Adventures in London

"The Shield of Achilles" 1822. Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, from a design by John Flaxman

Last week I did something that- for me- is a bit crazy: I went on vacation.  A trip to London and Bath, a chance to visit with my good friend Kristin from Simmons College, and to explore some amazing new places- why not?

"Helen of Troy" ~1812. Antonio Canova

The adventure came about when I heard the British Museum was holding a temporary exhibit on Troy: myth and reality.  It started with "I wish I could see that" and eventually turned into "why not?".  Kristin was more than willing to go with me and we spent a day exploring the exhibit, as well as some of the Greek and Assyrian permanent exhibits the Museum displays.   Troy was a good exhibit, with pottery, statues, and paintings of different stories and interpretations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.  The exhibit design kept things simple: interpretations were basic ones stating the myth being depicted.  What emphasis and interpretation the viewer wanted out of the experience was up to them.  Was this an art exhibit featuring fantastic statues and pottery?  Were we meant to think of the incredible impact these epic poems have had across the Western world's culture? Debate war and culture, genocide and regrowth (the exhibit did remind us that Aeneas left fallen Troy and went on to found Rome). A brief section at the end (Kristin overheard one visitor remark: "Women at the end. Nothing's changed") brought up the idea of women in the story, while rather neutrally leaving us to debate feminism and female influence in a patriarchal world over lunch in the museum's cafe.

Mithraeum inner temple

The next day continued our Roman Holiday with a trip to the London Mithraeum- a place I accidentally heard about online before my trip and was thrilled that Kristin was also up for seeing.  A reconstructed Roman temple to Mithras, a "faithful recreation of the ruin that was discovered in 1952-54" on a bomb site according to their publications, the Mithraeum highlights a selection of 600 extremely well preserved artifacts from the time period.  They used technology to cleverly help visitors engage with the wall of artifacts: visitors could pick up a tablet and find any artifact on the wall mirrored on the tablet's main page.  Tapping the image gave visitors more detailed explanations of what they were looking at, and meant that people could move around and see things without slowing going from one artifact label to another.  It also clearly engaged children who might otherwise not have been interested.  When ready you descend into a chamber where you can sit and listen to archaeologists giving recorded talks or you could explore the interactive displays that explained Mithras, what was known about the temple and the ceremonies, and pointed out specific designs carved into the stone that would have been part of the alter.  Going into the recreated temple itself you experienced a well done, brief interactive: visitors stand along the sides and watch as the changing lights create the effect of seeing columns, hearing people chanting and moving about, etc.

Centerpiece design of Mithraeum. Museum of London

While reading about the temple we noticed that the statues themselves were on display at the Museum of London. We were interested and walked over the find them.  The Roman exhibits have clearly not been updated in awhile, but overall stood the test of time.  Plenty of families were exploring the exhibits when we were there, although we found the area for Mithras pretty quiet.  Having gone from the Mithraeum itself to this exhibit was fascinating, and really let us get the entire feeling of the site and the life worshipers might have been living.




Note: This blog post is not attempting to analyze the exhibits, or museums, in professional terms- although I may come back and do that in another post. The Mithraeum in particular left me highly impressed in terms of professional exhibits.  This is simply a general post to let friends and family know what I've been up to, and maybe encourage others to explore these museums.

Launching a Book Tour

If you've been following this blog over the last few years then you may remember my ongoing project of digitizing and archiving the aerial photographs of Brawley native Harry Casey.  The project  was not just about an archival collection for the Imperial Valley Desert Museum (IVDM), though obviously that was a huge part of it.  It was also about highlighting these unique images for everyone to see- not only researchers but visitors, teachers, and archaeology enthusiasts across the globe- in the form of a book.  When Harry donated his photographs to the museum, he asked me to edit his research manuscript and help him get it published.







I worked with Harry and Sunbelt Publications for several years to ensure the manuscript met their professional standards, was as accurate as possible, and get it published.  Finally, this spring, Harry's dream (and mine!) came true and Geoglyphs of the Desert Southwest: Earthen Art as Viewed from Above was officially released April 13, 2019!

with Harry Casey, photographer and co-author

I traveled back to California for a book launch tour and ended up presenting to six different groups in the San Diego/Imperial Valley region in the space of a week.  Harry came out the the IVDM for the official launch and signed books, but was very adamant that I would be the one doing any public speaking, as that has never been something he was comfortable with and his health makes it difficult now.  

Being back at the IVDM and sharing the excitement of this project in its final, published form, was amazing.  The support shown by the staff, my colleagues, and board members, museum members, visitors, and friends, was one of the first times I really felt that the book was really finish and ready to go out into the world.  Besides a wonderful launch at the IVDM I presented to the San Diego Natural History Museum's Family Day, the San Diego Rock Art Association, the San Diego Association of Geologists, and the Colorado Desert Archaeology Society at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  Sunbelt Publications also set up an interview for me with KPBS Midday Edition radio host Maureen Cavanaugh.

With Maureen Cavanaugh doing an interview for KPBS Midday Edition

A week touring and promoting the book, helping spread the word about how amazing the deserts and people of Southern California are, was an incredible experience.  And more addicting than I expected: I'm already looking for my next research project to write about!

Interested in buying a copy of Geoglyphs of the Desert Southwest? It's available through Amazon.com, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, or contacting me through email, Twitter, or this blog. Copies bought through me will be signed and I can personalize them if you'd like.

Exhibit Expo-ration

Marcie, David, and me discovering a shadowbox in Phoenix, built by a company out of Germany, showing a video from Imperial Valley

One of the most impactful parts of my experience at AAM's convention this year came not from professional sessions (although I went to many very good presentations) but on the Expo Floor.

If you've never been to a museum conference before, it is probably similar to any other professional conference in that one large area is given over to vendors so professionals can wander their booths and discover new trends and topics.  We all secretly go there the first time to see if any vendors are giving away good swag, but there is a quiet hope- unexpressed, like a wish, so that it might come true- that we will see one new idea that we can bring back to our museum.  This year's conference did not send me home with one new idea.  No, it was more a case of- what can we do first because there are so many ideas!

Marcie explores a VR world

The big trend being pushed this year by vendors was clearly AR and VR.  Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology have been around for awhile, but are now becoming less expensive (comparatively) and are something that even smaller museums can begin to realistically experiment with.  Marcie and David tried out some of the VR, flying over New York City and walking on the moon.  Those experiences got us brainstorming on how to bring VR to our museum.  Would our visitors want to 'fly' over the Coyote Mountains or the Salton Sea?  Virtually walk Painted Gorge with the bighorn sheep?

Touchscreen graphic rail for exhibits- I want this!

It was exciting to see some technologies that we've been trying to incorporate and get to be very hands-on with them.  One of my personal favorites was a touchscreen tabletop computer that allows people to overlay maps, watch videos, and anything else you can think to upload onto it! The company now even has smaller touchscreens that would work as highly interactive rail panels in future exhibits.  One of the hardest things about building new exhibits is editing down text for a panel- imagine a setup that let people access as much or as little information as they wanted on a part of the exhibit they were looking at!

Walking on the moon- in Phoenix

People always tell you not to let yourself be limited- that if you can imagine it, it can happen.  The Expo Floor this year reminded me that if I can imagine it, someone can build it.  Never say 'can't'.  There is no 'can't'; there is only the limits of the human imagination. And even those boundaries are forever being pushed.  After all, 100 years ago, people said 'can't' to the idea of walking on the moon.

Virtual Reality: What you see vs what they experience

Presenting AAM 2018

(As is usual for me, it takes me a few days to decompress from going full blast at a conference and then I can start organizing my thoughts into blogs and ideas.  Not sure why, but it's how my brain seems to work- which is why this blog and the next few are coming to you a week after the conference!) 

Heritage Square, Phoenix AZ

May 6-9 was the annual American Alliance of Museums conference, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona.  I've been to many other conferences and presented at conferences over the years (I actually connected with the IVDM at my first Society of American Archivists conference just after grad school) but this was my first AAM convention.  I met some great people, attended some good sessions, got blown away every time I walked onto the Expo floor, and am now trying to piece it all together in 'real' life.





I was honored to be included on  a panel where I got to share my experience developing field trips from scratch alongside other small museums.

"Small Museums/Large Classrooms: Three Solutions for expanding field trips at your institution"

This session was moderated by Jennifer Hance, the Director of Education at Heritage Square in Phoenix.  She put out an email last year about the topic because she was looking for ideas on how to expand her field trip programs and wanted to see what other places had done.  Megan Murphy, Visitor Services and Interpretation Coordinator at Golden History Museum & Park, and Tiffani Egnor, Curator of Education at Chandler Museum, presented as well.  Unlike other conference presentations I've done, this one was more of a 'talk show' format instead of each person getting up and talking about their institution by themselves.  We didn't stand in front of a podium but took the mike and stood at the front of the stage to talk-granted, a little awkward when you're looking at notes to remind you of something you wanted to mention, but much more conducive to spontaneous thoughts and (I think) it encouraged the sense of connectedness we were trying to make with the audience. We probably had about 60 people attend out session and it was really encouraging the number of questions and feedback we got towards the end, and the number of people who stayed after the session to talk with us.  I loved getting to meet these incredible women, share ideas with them, and present with them!

Tiffani Egnor, Me, Jennifer Hance, & Megan Murphy- AAM Presenters!

I'm not going to repeat the entire session here, I don't think that's what people want from me at this blog. Though if you want the slides or more details, feel free to email me (ivdmuseum@gmail.com). Each of us presented on what I think were good ideas at our institutions, but the main messages we wanted to send were:

Hands-on, interactive- and in nature! 

• Don't be afraid to try new things.  Experiment.  If one idea doesn't work, get feedback from co-workers and teachers about how to turn it into something that does work. 
•  Don't talk at kids, talk to them.  Be interactive.  
• If you think it's boring, guaranteed the kids do to.  Don't be boring.  Learning is fun, and the more fun it is the more you learn and remember. 
• Start out with your grade learning objectives, but as you go along listen to what the kids are asking.  Be flexible.  As long as they are asking questions and being engaged, they are learning and you are succeeding in your field trip.

  

  Interactive is the key to a successful field trip!

  
  
  
  

Hiking to the Bottom of the Ocean

My view of the Coyote Mountains may be one of my all time favorites, and I love hiking in them, but this was the first time I've actually hiked up the mountains.

I knew going in this was a bit of a stretch for me- I tend to be one of those people who needs to slowly adjust to altitude, and I haven't been hiking much in the last year or so.  But I'd never done the famous hike to the bottom of the ocean before and the first day of Spring seemed like a good time to give it a try. I admit, by the time I got back down to the car my legs were pretty tired, but I wasn't nearly as wiped as I had expected to be- and the day after I was still capable of walking, so that seems like a win to me!

Unbeatable view of Imperial Valley

Trace fossils from when this was the bottom of the ocean

 When I'm out hiking, I always try to read up on some of the geology of the area I'll be in and while I almost never remember more than 1% of what I read before any given hike, even that little bit of information I manage to retain increases my appreciation for what I see along the way.   Hiking up the Coyote Mountains, for instance, you are going back 4-10 million years in time, and if you look (one of my excuses for always being slow) you can find amazing evidence remaining that 10 million years ago this entire part of California was a part of the ocean.  When kids come to the museum asking what dinosaurs we had here, we talk about whales, sharks, coral, and oysters.


The entire hike I marveled at the views: the rocks around me, the trace fossils of so many different shells, the fresh scat as evidence that bighorn sheep had recently passed this way- not to mention the breathtaking view of the valley when I turned and looked behind me.  It was a great reminder of why it is so important to get outside some days.  I was not only enjoying nature on a lovely first day of spring (and feeling sorry for my friends and family on the East Coast dealing with their fourth nor'easter in two weeks) but renewing my enthusiasm for the incredible history and geology of the area, and why I encourage visitors to the museum to go take a hike!

Next Step: Publishing

Getting the book on geoglyphs published will be my first publication available in bookstores, museums gift shops, and online- a lasting work that I hope will inspire a whole new generation of archaeologists, ethnographic research, and interest in the desert Southwest and the people who have lived there for thousands of years.  I'm working not only with Harry Casey, the photographer and author of the manuscript, but with Sunbelt Publications.

Sunbelt Publications produces "well-crafted, award-winning books" that "celebrate the relationship of the land and its people."  Their books help "to discover and conserve the natural, historical and cultural heritage of unique regions" and focus on California, the Southwest, and Baja California, Mexico.

What does that mean? It means I'm very lucky that they are interested in working with me to get this book published!

Now that the manuscript is ready, the photographs have been digitized, all that's left is to raise the money for publishing.  The entire process will cost $10,600.  I need to have the first half ($5,300) to Sunbelt by October 30.

So as a true 21st century, social media answer, I've started a GOFUNDME campaign! Any help you can give is amazing, whether that's donations or sharing the campaign with others who can help. Anyone who donates will be thanked in the book. 

Part of the famous 'Blythe Giants' complex 

Thank you all for your support as I work to make this dream a reality!