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

Experiments with Beads and Ceramics

Visible Storage Cases, with ollas

Visible Storage Cases, before ollas

When designing an exhibit, there are innumerable details, concerns, and concepts to keep in mind. These range from what is best for the artifact to how best to convey the exhibit's message to the general public.   The Imperial Valley Desert Museum acts as the steward to a collection of over 200 ceramic artifacts, locally called ollas, from Imperial and eastern San Diego Counties.  An entire blog post can be devoted to the conversations on how the ollas should be displayed for cultural sensitivity and education purposes(and hopefully I will write that post soon).  This blog looks at the purely physical and conservation aspect of creating an exhibit for breakable ceramics in an earthquake prone area.  

From the beginning of the design phase, we knew we wanted to mount the ollas in a sand-like material that would absorb movement instead of placing them on any kind of stand or shelf. While that would allow a larger number to be put on display and create interesting visuals, the threat of earthquakes ensured that we wanted to keep the ceramics all on one level.  We knew we wanted the olla display to remind people of seeing them out in the desert, with a large photographic mural by Michael Field as the background to help create that illusion.  

Thanks to a Preservation Assistance Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, we were able to have Dr. Nancy Odegaard from the Arizona State Museum act as a consultant on this project.  The original idea of putting the ollas in sand, as they had been found in archaeological sites and would have most likely been placed while in use, was vetoed.  Sand posed a number of problems from a preservation standpoint. It's abrasive, and would over time interact with the ceramics, leaching minerals from the clay.  Eventually, Dr. Odegaard suggested smooth, non-reactive glass beads roughly the size of grains of sand.  Dr. Odegaard and Jessica Brody worked with Swarco Industries, which manufactures "reflective glass beads for reflective highway safety applications."  After seeing several samples, one variety of glass bead (FP96 Ty-III glass beads) was selected to be used as the base for the ollas.  A grant from the local Bureau of Land Management, the NEH Preservation Assistance grant, and a generous donation of materials from Swarco meant that the museum was able to get 120 square feet of beads to stand 1.5-2 inches deep (180 gallons of beads!) to become the olla base.

The case was built and installed by Weldon Exhibits, with a panoramic photograph by Michael Field in sepia tones as the background.  Director Neal Hitch built the individual plinths that would create slightly different heights for some ollas without placing them in danger from earthquakes.  Then came the careful and nerve-wracking process of moving ollas from the museum's storage room to their new home in the permanent exhibit- which Dr Hitch and I spent over a week doing after the museum was closed for the day.  The beads cushion the ollas well, and can be moved almost as easily as sand in order to create small depressions for individual ceramics to rest.  

The end result was that over 100 intact or nearly intact ollas were able to be moved from backroom storage to being on display for the first time in almost 40 years.  While I'm hoping we won't have to test the theory anytime soon, they are in the most earthquake safe display we could develop.  The surprising result was how amazing the cases look.  The beads reflect display lighting and seem to glow and sparkle, making the ollas look as if they are jewelry on display.  The beads manage to look similar to sand, creating the desired "natural" desert look. They also, in the words of one Kumeyaay elder, "sparkle like quartz.  Those of us that are old believe in magic and we see that in the sparkles." 

Close up of glass beads and small olla

Ollas on display with glass bead base.

 

Outreach through OctoberCraft

Dia de los Muertos arts & crafts

Looking for ways to reach out to the community and prove that a museum can be a fun place for families to spend the day sometimes takes more than talking about the cool exhibits you have and what kids can learn.  Sometimes, you just have to focus on the fun and let the learning creep up on your visitors- especially the younger ones.

Learning to use a sewing machine

To get families excited about coming out over this last weekend, we put on our first- and hopefully not last!- OctoberCraft. A day of fun, costumes, arts and crafts. We advertised through Facebook, community bulletin boards, and word of mouth.  We crossed out fingers that we might get 20 people to come out. By the end of Saturday, over 70 people had come out and everyone seemed to hav a good time.

For the past 3 years Bob Diaz has come out for Halloween to do crafts and stories centered on Dia de los Muertos.  This year we also had exhibit designer, photographer, and bag-maker Michael Field and his wife Stephanie Bedwell come out to do bags.  Sticking with the Dia de los Muertos theme, kids drew colorful skulls on fabric, then learned how to use a sewing machine to turn their fabric into bags perfect for an evening of trick-or-treating.  For many of the kids, this was their first time on a sewing machine, and several took to it like pros!

After making their bags, the kids discovered that Michael wasn't just great on a sewing machine- he's pretty awesome behind a camera too! His seasonal exhibit: PHOTOLAB: Michael Field: Designer, Hiker, Photographer is currently on display in the museum, and they were excited to see the different hiking bags he'd made and compare them to the bags they had just learned to make.

Modeling their bags, and Michael's hiking bags in PHOTOLAB: Michael Field: Designer, Hiker, Photographer

And no craft event is complete without the chance to do some coiled clay! Kids in costumes ranging from princesses to skeletons to spacemen practiced making clay pots and 'spooky lanterns'. It was great watching everyone have fun, and also getting the chance to engage with the exhibits in between their crafts.  This was a successful event that brought families out to the museum and gave them a chance to see the full range of what we have to offer them in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

SAA Conference Session Success!

Caitlin, Anne, Jessica, Kelsey & Caitlin celebrating a successful SAA session!

Many of you know one of the reasons I headed to the Society of American Archivists national convention in Cleveland this year was to give a presentation.  Over the last several months I've been working with colleagues (and now friends) from across the country on a panel discussion called "You Do What? Nontraditional Outreach that Works!"

Caitlin Brennecke with Troy Historic Village; Caitlin Christian-Lamb with Davidson College; Kelsey Duinkerke with Thomas Jefferson University; Jessica Holden with the University of Massachusetts, Boston; and I gave a panel discussion moderated by the wonderful Michelle Ganz from Lincoln Memorial University, Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.  We each discussed specific outreach program from our institutions that step a little bit outside the box from "traditional" outreach.  Lectures are fun, but why not play with clay or historic medical instruments while learning?  Each of us explored the idea that outreach events should be fun and engaging as well as educational.  Being unique and going beyond the walls of our institutions meant that we could reach wider audiences and interest them in different ways. 

Between 125-150 people attended our session.  We were thrilled by the number of interesting and engaging questions people had. It was obvious people were already thinking of ways to bring our suggestions into their institutions.  This was also my first experience with "live tweeting" from audience members. It sounded a little intimidating beforehand, but we received some really wonderful comments from audience members: #saa #s303: 

"Lack of arts programs in community can be helped by local museums/archives. See Imperial Valley Desert Museum for good example"

"Just saw a fabulous session on outreach. Thanks to the panelists on #s303 #saa15!"

"s303 was a really great session on archival outreach! And they actually left plenty of time for questions."

"#saa #s303 Ceramics collection. Bringing hands-on programming TO the schools."

"Being a visible presence in the community is definitely an outreach goal of mine"

"Build outreach programs around the strongest most unique part of your collections- and if something works, be ready for growth!"

"Lesson: communities are often excited & hungry for engagement once they know what you have to offer- so let them know!"

"Outreach/service: If it's feasible, low risk/high reward, always say yes!"

Special thanks to the many people who sought us out after the session was over to tell us how much they enjoyed our talk. This was very supportive and helpful to a group of young professionals giving their first SAA conference presentations!  It was especially energizing since we were starting to look at the challenging process of turning our talk into an article for publication- your comments helped give us the push to make sure we will go through with that plan!

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!)

Behind the scenes: IVDM YouTube series

In December, we were awarded a Cal Humanities: Community Stories grant to integrate video into our permanent exhibit.  The grant has made it possible to include unseen interview footage from the over 70 hours of raw footage for the award-winning, Emmy-nominated documentary First People-Kumeyaay into our work.  Eventually some of these videos will be projected into the Lake Cahuilla Object Theater diorama in the Museum's new exhibit.  Hopefully, future grants will allow us to install projectors and computer equipment to even more seamlessly integrate the stories within the physical exhibit.

One of the main parts of the grant was that we would have 20 videos available to the public through YouTube, hosted on the Museum's website, so that even people who can't drive out to the museum can see and experience them.  We believe the videos will succeed in reaching younger audiences in particular, and teachers will be able to show the videos in their classrooms- hopefully encouraging an increased understanding, appreciation, and awareness by the students not only of Kumeyaay culture, but also the uniqueness of the Imperial Valley.

A new part of our website Kumeyaay Nation Stories of Change will not only host the videos but also provide background information on the project and, eventually, teacher resources for classrooms use.  The website will grow over the next several weeks as additional videos are posted.  But today marks the first video to go live and the official beginning of the online project.  We hope everyone gets the chance to explore this exciting and unusual series as it goes live and as new features are added over the next several weeks and months.

Click here to go straight to our YouTube channel and the first of the Kumeyaay Nation Stories of Change videos!