The New York State Historical Association (NYSHA), the parent organization of the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, contracted RK&A to conduct a summative evaluation of the Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection exhibition. The Thaw exhibition is a traveling exhibition of the artworks collected by Eugene and Clare Thaw, which were donated to the Fenimore Art Museum in 1995. The exhibition highlights art from a variety of tribes and geographic regions. The evaluation was conducted at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), the first museum to host the exhibition, so that the NYSHA could
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.New York State Historical Association
This front-end evaluation study provided information about how potential visitors to the Dena'ina exhibition (scheduled to open at the Anchorage Museum in 2010) might think and feel about the exhibition's themes. Twenty interviews were conducted with a diverse group that included people with Dena'ina and other Native American cultures. The key findings were: There was a lot of diversity about what participants knew, or didn't know, about the Dena'ina, and how the Dena'ina culture was similar to others. People knew about the effects of contact on religion, education, and dress. Non-Natives (as
Partnering with National Musical Arts, the Science Museum of Minnesota seeks to develop BioMusic, a 4,000 sq. ft. traveling exhibition that explores the origins of music in nature and the connections between music and sound of living things. This project is based on planning grant ESI-0211611 (The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music) awarded to NMA. The project is based on the emerging interdisciplinary research field of biomusic, which includes musicology plus aspects of neuroscience, biology, zoology, environmental science, physics, psychology, math and anthropology. The exhibit sections -- "Humanimal" Music; Natural Symphonies; Ancient Roots; Music, Body and Mind; and World of Music -- use both music and natural sound to explore biodiversity, cultural diversity, the physics of sound and the brain. BROADER IMPACT: The exhibition is expected to travel for at least six years, reaching some two million people in 18 communities. It is to be accompanied by a six-part radio series (Sweet Bird Classics) for young children. Because of the connection to music and many other areas of public interest, this exhibition has the potential to attract and engage new audiences to science museums and stimulate their interest in STEM.
In this exhibition review, Barbara Cohen-Stratner, the Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg Curator of Exhibitions for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, examines the "Abolition200" project, programs and exhibits that commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Parliamentary act that ended British participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Cohen-Stratner focuses on three major exhibitions--one that commissioned a new art work, one that relabeled elements of its permanent display, and one that combined these methods--to discuss how museums can develop exhibitions and reinterpret
This article highlights four controversial exhibits from various institutions who, in the end, used controversy to their advantage. The authors include Kimberly Louagie, Curator of Exhibits at the Outagamie County Historical Society in Appleton, Wisconsin, Saudia Muwwakkil, Public Information Officer at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Diane Perlov, Senior Vice President for Exhibits at the California Science Center, and John Russick, Curator at the Chicago Historical Society.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Kimberly LouagieSaudia MuwwakkilDiane PerlovJohn Russick
The article is a summary of the comments and discussions a session at the 2006 AAM conference that addressed what museums in the fields of art, history, and science might learn from each other and how museums might benefit from "cross-pollination." Panel participants were Eric Siegel, Executive Vice President for Programs and Planning at the New York Hall of Science, Benjamin Filene, Director of the Public History Program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Deborah Schwartz, President of the Brooklyn Historical Society, and Jennifer MacGregor, Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric SiegelBenjamin FileneDeborah SchwartzJennifer MacGregor
In this article, Andrea Douglas, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the University of Virginia Art Museum (UVMA), discusses UVMA's "Forming American Identities: Our Southern Legacy" project. This umbrella project incorporated "The Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art" exhibition, the "William Christenberry: Site/Possession" exhibition, "The Dresser Trunk Project" exhibition along with several public outreach programs. Douglas addresses how staff and visitors were prepared to interpret this difficult content as well as how the community responded to their efforts.
In this article, photographer Amy Dreher critiques the "Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition" at the Brooklyn Museum from a partipant's perspective. The exhibit is based on James Surowiecki's critically acclaimed book, "The Wisdom of Crowds" and features photographs depicting the "changing faces of Brooklyn" submitted by and evaluated by the public.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Amy DreherNational Association of Museum Exhibition
In this article, Sujit Tolat, Associate and Senior Designer at Gallagher and Associates, recounts her journey as an exhibit designer, traveling and working on projects throughout the world. Tolat describes two aspects of her journey: a literal move from New Delhi to Washington, DC and a cultural shift in her design perspective that incorporated elements of both East and West. Talbot concludes that museum and exhibit design provides a unique opportunity to enhance diversity and encourage exchange between cultures.
The on-line exhibition, Cloth and Clay: Communicating Culture, was a collaborative project involving the Textile Museum of Canada and Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The two museums with very distinct collections jointly developed the content for this Web site. The development team wanted to create opportunities to: re-unite material from common cultural origins; put objects into their context; find common themes; and, discover new relationships between the collections. They also wanted to reconnect indigenous peoples whose cultures and objects are represented with this material by having them
Revealing Bodies was an experimental exhibition that explored the messages and meanings found in biomedical and anatomical representations of human bodies. It further explored what happens when these images are removed from their original context and reinterpreted for other purposes such as arts, advertising and politics. The exhibition also examined how the culture and point of view of the original creator may have shaped the image and what happens to this intent with the iterations of time and societal change. The exhibition was approximately 4000 square feet. It was a mix of artworks
The Addressing Gender Barriers in STEM through Theatre of Social Engagement project responds to the need to educate the public about the careers in computer and information science and engineering (CISE) fields by educating high school students, parents, teachers and counselors about the barriers to participation that confront women and other underrepresented groups. In this Communicating Research to Public Audiences (CRPA) project, a dramatic play is used to communicate the findings from the PI's work which resulted in a theory about gender and IT to explain and predict gender (under)representation in IT fields. The play dramatizes constructs of the theory, particularly the ways in which gender, ethnicity, and class affect identity and career and life decisions. Drawing from life history interviews conducted as a part of the research, the storyline of the dramatic play centers on three young women who are graduating from high school and making decisions about their futures and possible careers in IT. Situated squarely in the realm and literature of "theatre of social engagement," this play, and its staged readings and ancillary website, extend access beyond the scientific community to new scientific research on gender barriers in CISE. Learning goals for the project include: 1. Awareness and knowledge about possible computer and information science and engineering careers; barriers and stereotypes that affect CISE career choice among women; and "significant others" such as partners, family members, mentors and teachers who can make a difference at key inflection points in career decision making. 2. Attitude change about the CISE fields being open to everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, race or class; how one's individual characteristics can be used to resist barriers to inclusion in CISE careers. 3. Intended behavior about learning more about CISE careers and educational opportunities; and responding to negative stereotypes related to CISE. Evaluation of the proposed project will include observations, talk-back sessions (focus groups) after readings of the play, pre-post surveys administered at the showings, and a second post-performance survey to be administered a certain amount of time after the showing. Dissemination will be through readings of the play for audiences in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with partnering informal learning venues, and through an associated website which will allow visitors to download and stage the play themselves. Advertisement for the play and the website will take place through websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and websites that promote diversity in computing. In addition, the PI intends to contribute to the scholarly literature on theatre as an informal learning approach and on the findings of how audiences respond to the play itself.