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.

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!

  
  
  
  

Project Completed! For now

Archiving, accessioning to PastPerfect, digitizing, & encapsulating photos and slides

It's hard to believe it's nearly the end of September already.  A month ago I began an intense digitization project at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum with the goal of scanning all photographs in the Harry Casey Collection that connected to geoglyphs.  In a collection of more than 8,000 individual images, I knew the bulk of them pertained to geoglyphs, but what did that mean? All 8,000? 7,000?





30 days, 230.5 hours, and 2 scanners later, the answer is 4,462.  That's the number of photographs scanned, although there were over 1,000 duplicate copies of individual images.

2 scanners worked hard on this project!

What's next? What was the point of becoming the Mad Scanner? I'll be working with photographer Harry Casey and Sunbelt Publications to put together Harry's manuscript with accompanying images for publication.  The museum will apply for grants to create an interactive digital exhibit based on the work.  After that? There are plenty more ideas waiting to be implemented- not to mention almost another 4,000 photographs of rock art, Nazca Lines, and desert plants waiting to be scanned and create exciting, interesting, and beautiful exhibits!

A special thanks to Dr. David Breeckner, Angelina Coble, and Marcie Rodriguez for all their help with this project!

Marcie examines a slide

Iteration, Iteration

Angelina Coble with new desert tortoise test panels

If there is one thing I've learned working with Neal Hitch these past few years it is "iteration, iteration, iteration".  Did something work? How can it work better?  What can you tweak to get more interaction?  Did something not work? Why not? What can you change?

This week I designed the second generation of our test sign panels to see what people wanted in outdoor signage. I took all of the comments and feedback we received from visitors on the original roadrunner panels and made a set of panels that took these comments into account, while still asking visitors to think of what it was they liked in different signs.  

Some comments were the same across the test signs: everyone liked the habitat range maps, the footprint examples (despite my bad artist's rendition!), and some of the fun facts.  While most people were leaning towards the flip signs by the end of the first test, it was still mixed enough that I decided to test both single panel and flip signs again to get a larger audience feedback.  

Angelina Coble writing sign prompt

The biggest thing that I changed was to include audience prompts.  Apparently it wasn't obvious enough in the first round of test panels that we wanted visitors to give their opinions of the signs, or certain features they liked best about the different signs, even though we seeded comments on each of the boards to act as prompts.  So, this time I wrote out specific questions on the top of each sheet.  The hope is that this will further prompt visitors to give the opinions I'm interested in, that will play into future sign design.  Hopefully it will also help people to understand that they are being given options to choose which they like best, something that seems to not have always been clear in the first round.  Even when docents explained the roadrunner signs and encouraged people to write down specifically what they liked, often they would simply put "I like this one best", leaving it up to us to guess what it was they liked about a particular test sign.  Visitors who toured the exhibits on their own seemed less likely to write on the panels, suggesting further prompting was needed to encourage people.

Prompt for visitor engagement

 These early test signs are certainly basic in many ways.  I'm no graphic designer, and personally I think it shows.  I've mounted the panels on cardboard and people will use basic sharpies to write their thoughts on paper.  But I don't think that early iterations are necessarily about sharp designer looks.  They are about engaging visitors in any way possible, and encouraging both staff, volunteers, and visitors to think about the content they want in a finished product.  And then taking those comments, sharpening the test product, and trying it again until you've got exactly what people want.

Ceramic Re-housing Project

One side of IVDM's Visible Storage Exhibit. Local ceramic vessels

While there is probably no way to be completely "earthquake proof", we've been working to ensure that we minimize the risks to both our visitors and our collections.  Now that about half of the ceramics collection held here at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum are in a permanent Visible Storage exhibit, we can begin to re-house the remaining ollas.

When I came to the museum nearly four years ago, the collection of over 200 ceramic vessels (locally called "ollas") were all being held in a back storage room in climate controlled conditions.  The plan was to build an exhibit that would allow as many as possible to be put into an exhibit that would emphasize the importance of the vessels and ensure that the public benefitted from the collection through education and research.  The back storage room contains shelves bolted into the walls, each vessel was on a stand, and each shelf had barriers to prevent objects moving off the shelf in the event of an earthquake.

Gaylord archival fold-out box and padding

With almost half the collection now on display, this week we began a new project: putting the remaining ollas in safer housing.  We worked with Nancy Odegaard from Arizona State Museum and bought archival artifact boxes with slide-out trays and drop-out fronts.  Each of the smaller ceramic vessels would get a box, which would also be cushioned with non-reactive foam padding.

Edgar Bernal Sevilla applying label with photograph

Labels were made with not only information like the accession number, but also a photograph of the vessel.  Between images in the PastPerfect database and images on the labels, we are ensuring that minimal handling and moving of the artifacts will happen in the future.  Less handling and added cushioning increases the stability and safety of the vessels.  The boxes will also allow for more space-efficient storage, which will increase our artifact storage capacity as a whole.

Frank Salazar re-housing small ceramic 

Once back on the anchored shelves, shelf barriers are returned to cover the open sides of the shelf.  Until we can afford expensive shelving with fancy barriers or doors, this "poor museum's method" will increase the security and safety of those ceramics not on display.

New boxes on shelf, with labels, before shelf barriers. More space efficient & safer for ollas

The project is being done by myself; Frank J Salazar III, our Cultural Collections and Programs Manager; and staff member Angelina Coble.  Supplies for the project were funded through a National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance grant.    

Interpretive Planning & Roadrunners

One challenge every museum, gallery, visitor center, park, etc. has is: what do people want vs what do we think they want? Sometimes they are similar, but sometimes surprisingly different!

Over the last few months we've been working on our next 5 year strategic plan.  Everyone we've talked to wants to see walking trails, outdoor exhibits, art, interpretive panels, and learn about the geology, fauna, and flora of the region.  They want to know what they are looking at when they go out exploring on their own.  That connection between people and the desert has been at the heart of the new permanent exhibits we've designed.  Through different mediums, visitors interact with the desert inside the museum and learn more about what they see in their day to day lives.  Taking this theme outdoors is a perfect next step.

But what does that mean in practical terms? We know we want to develop easy walking trails that people can wander and explore on their own.  What do they want to learn about when they are outside? Is it the same as what we want them to take away from the experience?  Among the many plans are interpretive signs to identify native plants, their desert adaptations, and their cultural uses.  But what about local animals?

Local Greater Roadrunner

A roadrunner has recently moved into the museum neighborhood and become a big favorite on our Facebook page.  So it made sense to me to start thinking about animal signs inspired by our roadrunner.

Same info, 4 ways of presenting it. What do visitors want?

I have no illusions about my abilities as a graphic designer- I don't have any.  But that doesn't mean I can't start testing ideas to see what information our visitors want.  In fact, that's exactly what I should do before bringing in the graphic designers.

 A little roadrunner research later and I made 4 different versions of a sign.  All had most of the same information, with small changes. Two had a map of the Greater Roadrunner's range in North America, two didn't. Two were single panels, two were flip panels.   Which would people prefer?

Single panel with tracks. So far everyone likes the tracks idea

I invite all our visitors to look at the 'panels' and write their opinions on paper around the panel.  What do people like about each sign? After getting a decent visitor sample I'll be able to take these comments and adjust the panels accordingly.

 For example, only one of the panels includes pictures of roadrunner tracks.  That was something I was sure I wanted in the final interpretive panel, but would visitors want it too? So far the tracks have gotten the best response.

Single panel, no tracks. So far the least popular

What's been very interesting is how divided people are on the idea of single panel vs flip panel.










Some like the flip because it allows hands-on interaction as well as more space for more information.  Others hate the flip idea and just want a single panel they can glance at to see if they are interested.

Flip sign version 1- open to see what animal we're talking about

Which idea will win out? That's up to the visitors!

Flip sign version 2- picture on cover let's you decide if you want more info

Exploring Cleveland's Museum of Natural History

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

I'm in Cleveland for the Society of American Archivist's annual convention this week (and presenting on Friday! more about that later in the week).  In between sessions and workshops I actually managed a whole day with nothing scheduled.  So, after a little research online, I planned to spend the day at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  I'm probably not the person an average museum browser wants to go to the museum with.  I'm there looking at text panels and artifact mounting choices as much as the exhibits themselves- looking at what works, what choices I'd make in designing a similar exhibit, etc.  It means I take way longer looking at stuff than others want to, and I'm boring in what I focus on.  But I was going by myself, so I didn't have to feel guilty about being boring today.


The first room I went in consisted of dioramas of artifacts and animals - heavy on the taxidermy- similar to what you'd see in most museums.  I get it. You want to show the entire culture, history, archaeology, flora, and fauna of North America and you've got one room to do it.  There are limited ways that's going to happen.  There were a surprisingly large number of small children there today and the animals clearly grabbed their attention the most.  I enjoyed listening to the chatter between kids and parents- so very similar no matter what museum you're in! My favorite was a little girl asking if an animal was an alligator or a crocodile and her dad telling her to read what the card said, because when we read, we learn things.  She was very proud to discover all on her own that it was an alligator.



This museum has Balto.  The actual dog.  There was a very nice little explanation of who he was and why he was in Cleveland as well as a more modern (and I thought very well done), hands-on touch screen that let you watch silent film clips
from the news on Balto and the Serum Run; as well as a game where you got to pick your team of animals to pull a sled and see if you'd make it to Nome.  With an explanation of why you'd win the race when you picked the right sled animals or why you'd lose the race when you picked a team of chihuahuas or cats to pull the sled (yes, cats. Who wouldn't pick that team once just to see what would happen?).

Smilodon, a.k.a. Saber-tooth Cat

 The dinosaurs included interesting information and I got to see a mammoth and saber-toothed cat. There was a special, temporary exhibit looking at the "Largest Dinosaurs on Earth" which had some amazing science and hands-on activities to look at how giant dinosaurs might have lived. It went "beyond the bones" into the science of how animals so large could breathe, eat, move, etc.  Incredible, and well worth going to the museum just for this while its there.  And there was a table where kids got to put on their scientist hat and dig with a little tool kit. Very similar to what we keep trying to figure out how to fund with archaeology.

Be a paleontologist!

I was particularly interested in the geology, Earth sciences, and Gems & Minerals section since that's what we'll be designing next.  Cleveland has the coveted "shake table" we're cutting from our design. It was cool, well done, and the kids I watched really liked it- which means I'm going to have to come up with something interactive that's even better (well, equally cool. You can't really do better than an earthquake simulator) so I'm not disappointed in myself. That eternal challenge of limited funds and limited space!  But I'm working on a few cool possibilities. 

See volcanoes and earthquakes that have 'recently' been active? Those are plates for you

 Last, but by no means least, there was the outdoor Live Animals section.  Who'd expect that in a museum? It was great- otters, foxes, a bobcat, and a very tame coyote who was showing off some of her tricks for a photographer while I was there.  The information on each species included why these particular animals were there.  They made sure to explain that these particular animals were too tame to be set into the wild, but not good pets in general! I thought that was very well done. I can't wait to see the new habitats that are being planned!

Charcoal the Coyote shows off for a photographer

A little female red fox

Otters Linus & Lucy enjoyed a fishy snack and some play

Like any good museum staff, I was both thrilled and insanely jealous to see all of the plans the museum has for its renovations.  Added space! New exhibits! Fancy new animal enclosures! More hands-on interactive for kids and adults! Everything you want to see, they are working on.  I wasn't overly impressed with my first look at Cleveland, now I want to move here and design exhibits for the Natural History Museum.  It combines the personality and warmth of a small museum with the collection scale of a large museum into a wonderful learning experience for kids and adults alike.  I can't wait to come back and see the finished renovations in 2020 (unless they do hire me and I'm back sooner? I'll be watching their website for job openings!)