The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
Oh, wow.
When I worked at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, we talked about a lovely dream – to have a beautiful, state-of-the-art open storage facility. See, MSI’s collection is lovely, but the institution’s mission and vision have changed dramatically since most of the collection was acquired, which leaves a small amount of exhibit space in which to feature it. Open storage would enable the Museum to highlight items from the collection that are still relevant to the institution’s collecting mission, but may not otherwise be on exhibit.
Some museums are able to turn this dream into reality, such as the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elkhorn, Iowa. (As for MSI, I’m still hoping for “some day”. They do have “Out of the Vault”, which is along these lines.)
Anyhow, when it comes to “open” or “visible” storage, the Brooklyn Museum of Art does it right. The Luce Center for American Art (also, see here) is located just off one of the American galleries, and it allows students and visitors to view many selected items from the collection that they might not otherwise see. I highly suggest you make it a part of your next visit.
Per their website:
Welcome to the Luce Center for American Art at the Brooklyn Museum. This program allows you to access information about the approximately 2,000 objects on view in the Luce Center’s Visible Storage • Study Center and the adjacent American Identities galleries.
And, of course, the 2,000 items they curated for the space are lovely, just lovely.
I can’t wait for my next trip to the Brooklyn Museum of Art! We didn’t even see the mummy!
Well look who comes crawling back to Museum Minute …me!
I read somewhere that when a blog is silent, life is noisy. Or, something like that. Anyhow, it’s been a busy few months and I wanted to write, I just, well, didn’t. Please forgive me!
But anyway, something fun happened over Thanksgiving weekend that I wanted to share with you. My husband’s family lives on Long Island so I’m fortunate to get to NYC a few times a year. This visit, we visited the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which is just lovely – and large. We only got through a couple floors of galleries before having to leave for a dinner engagement. But while we were there we were lucky enough to see “Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties.” I love this time period – the art, the music, its legacy (which is not always accurate – see the “What did the Jazz Age look like?” section of the exhibit’s website) and more.
But one part of the exhibit surprised me more than I ever could imagine.
I turned a corner, and wha-la! I ran into the large, brightly colored, definitely unforgettable “The Birth of Venus” by artist Joseph Stella.
Wait, what? That painting is in the collection of Salisbury House and Gardens, here in Des Moines, Iowa! I’ve (kind of ) worked with that painting through my contract work and volunteer work over there! What a fun – and unexpected – surprise. Kudos to the curator for securing this beauty!
Oh, and Salisbury House is beautiful. Visit today.
Anyhow, in hindsight, I do remember the curator mentioning something about it going out on loan, somewhere, sometime, but who remembers stuff like that? 
*As for the post’s subject, some years ago Des Moines was referred to as “Dead Moines”. The city has worked hard to obliterate that reputation and they’re doing a wonderful job. And yet, the phrase remains…
The view from the top – at the City Museum.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit a good friend in St. Louis. It was our annual “girls’ weekend” and our hostess suggested we visit the City Museum.
She also suggested we wear pants and sneakers, dress comfortably, and leave our purses in the car.
Now, I’ve been to my fair share of museums and I have to say – that was a first.
But what exactly is the City Museum? I had recently heard that the “museum’s” founder, Bob Cassilly, had passed away, but other than that, I really didn’t know much of anything about it. And to be honest, now that I’ve been, I’m not sure how to describe it! (But I am certain that you all should go. Now. Make travel plans to STL, stat.)
As we approached the “museum” I saw a giant jungle gym coming out of an old shoe factory. For real. The roof is covered with climbing areas, a Ferris wheel, and a school bus that looks like it’s about to come crashing to the ground. The front of the museum is not much different; two airplanes, a fire truck, a giant caged area filled with balls, and climbing areas everywhere.
Looking down on “MonstroCity” from a school bus that’s perched on the roof.
For real.
See? School bus on the roof. And that’s an airplane on the left.
But wait, I though this was a museum?! Or is it a museum in name only? What IS a museum, anyway?
The bulk of the museum is filled with the tunnels, slides, cages, ladders and other apparatus by which folks of all ages can climb and explore. You don’t know where you’re going most of the time, but that’s okay.
And it’s a complete blast.
We conquered the blue metal slinky thing! That’s me in the middle.
I did eventually find a more traditional, natural history “museum” section, and by more traditional, I mean seriously “old-school” natural history displays: cases and cases of bugs* pinned and identified, animals that have been stuffed and preserved in jars, and archaeological artifacts dug up near and far. But I would be surprised if anyone ever visited the Museum specifically to look at that.
Old-School Museum Charm
So …do I think the giant-jungle-gym-with-a-little-museum should, technically be called a museum? Hmm. An art museum, perhaps, if you consider the interactive space to be a giant work of art.
Have you been? What do you think?! Let’s get this conversation started!
* Okay, so my husband and I are contemplating a trip to Ecuador, and many of the bugs on display were found in Ecuador in 1996. And they were BIG. Like, an 8″+ stick bug and gigantic beetles. Yikes!
What?!?
Do you have a wedding dress just “hanging around” your home or museum collection? Well today’s post is for you.
Today’s Museum Minute, written by my dear friend and colleague, Steven Rosengard, is all about wedding dress preservation. Take it away, Steve!
Calling all Brides!
Many of you may have gone through the trouble and ghastly expense of having your wedding dresses put in a lovely “heirloom” box with a cute see-through peek-a-boo top so you can gaze longingly at the dress you once wore…once. But while you’re taking your stroll down Memory Lane, showing your maid and children how thin you used to be, take a moment and really consider what’s going on right before your very eyes: your dreams, unless they were made of polyester, are rotting away from the acids in the box. So before your dress shatters into a million pieces like a mirror hit by a strong, ugly woman, take a moment and step back to think “how can I rectify this situation?”
The answers are quite simple, but if you’re a geek/nerd/know-it-all and want all the science behind it, read the next paragraph. If you’re not a geek/nerd/know-it-all and you’re just totally freaking out thinking about how your dress is being destroyed as you sit here reading this post, just read the headers and visit the links.
A friend, wearing a family heirloom
Get approximately 25 sheets of 30”x20” unbuffered, acid-free tissue paper with which you will stuff (gently, darling—gently) the arms, bodice and skirt folds of your dress in order to prevent and permanent creases.
This will also provide support for your garment so that there will be less stress of the various parts, which made lead to threads breaking (not to mention your daughters cursing you and your granddaughters crying quietly at night wondering why you couldn’t have been more thoughtful instead of being such a dolt as to trust a dry cleaner with the most important garment of your entire life). There are two kinds of acid-free tissue out there: buffered and unbuffered. Buffered paper has an alkaline reserve of calcium carbonate. That means that for a short amount of time (three to six years, depending on the pH level), the paper will draw out acids within a given piece. However, the vast majority of museums will tell you to use unbuffered tissue is the way to go for textiles regardless of whatever reckless storage spaces you have used previously. Why is this? Well, in case the acid gets drawn into the paper and you leave the paper in your dress well past its prime, all sorts of lovely things start happening and you may as well be blasting newsprint into your gown.
There are also a slew of other reasons that I’m sure a lot of you OCD museum professionals will know about, but there’s a limit to how absolutely fascinating a discussion on tissue paper can be.
Lindsey’s wedding dress …again
Get an acid-free garment box.
A brown cardboard box is not going to cut it. But just because a box doesn’t look like a moving box doesn’t mean it’s not just as toxic. When purchasing your box, make sure that it will be large enough to comfortably hold your gown without compressing it. After going through all this trouble of gently packing and folding, and packing folds, it would be foolish to jam your Princess Diana-sized gown and train and veil into something the size of a banker’s box. Even though you will most likely buy your box from a company that regularly supplies museums, they are most likely going to send you your acid-free box in …wait for it….wait for it….wait for it….YAY! you guessed it—a regular, acidic, brown moving box! Yes, life sucks. It’s not the end of the world. However, it is advisable that, if you’re not chomping at the bit, waiting for the postman to drop off your box so you can save your precious gown from further destruction, you take the box out of the shipping box as soon as you can. Yes, acids migrate, so when it comes time to store this box, don’t store it stacked on top of other acidic boxes.
At the Amherst Museum, 2002
Store it someplace where the temperature and humidity will be fairly constant, away from other acidic boxes.
Yes, your sainted grandmother’s dress was kept in the attic, and perhaps your mother’s was kept in the basement and I’ll bet that the vast majority of those gowns aren’t looking too spectacular right now. The fluctuations in temperature and humidity may dry out the fibers or cause mold to grow, thereby weakening the fabric and preventing your dream dress from being shown in a museum alongside Ida McKinley’s wedding corset a hundred years from now. If that sounds far-fetched then consider how weird it must feel for the long-dead Ida McKinley that a 34 year old guy in Chicago once saw her underwear in a glass case 140 years after she wore it.
Just saying. Strange stuff happens.
Here are some links to companies that sell archival supplies including unbuffered (a.k.a. nonbuffered) acid-free tissue and garment boxes.
Please note that this listing is not an endorsement of any of the aforementioned vendors. If they end up selling you faulty sh!t, don’t come crying to me.
A cast member of season four of Bravo’s Emmy-winning reality show, Project Runway, Steven Rosengard is a free-lance fashion designer of custom-made day and cocktail dresses as well as evening and bridal gowns. Additionally, he is the Assistant Curator for a well-known museum in Chicago and an instructor at the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation in Mount Carroll, IL. In his spare time he enjoys meowing back at his cats and cackling wickedly when the confusion registers on their faces.
Workflowy? What on earth is that?
Sounds funny, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly what I thought when my husband showed me a promotional video for Workflowy, a new, free, online way to (and I quote) “Organize Your Brain”. Workflowy allows you to create a list–a giant list–of everything you can possibly think of. It allows you to add as much information as you want, and also helps you search and tag your giant list so you can, well, organize your brain.
Some might say I’m the to-do list’s #1 fan, but even after watching some promotional videos, I hadn’t quite figured out a practical use for it in my life.
Until this morning.
I am working on an exhibit project with the Iowa Department for the Blind that has me drowning in amazing content, coming at me from all angles. I’ve been having trouble trying to figure out the best way to organize it so I can move to the next phase of the exhibit development process – creating a comprehensive outline of every aspect of the three exhibits.
Enter Workflowy.
Check it out!
I don’t know why I thought to try it this morning, but within two minutes, I was hooked. Finally, I had found an easy to use program that allowed me to organize all of my content, and also easily limit what I’m working on so I don’t get overwhelmed.
If you are looking for a way to organize your research, projects, or pretty much anything, I highly recommend checking out Workflowy.
…or perhaps I should have kept it my little secret, to give me an edge over my competition?
Nah, I’m too nice.
Today’s bonus post is a call for papers from my alma mater. We encourage the entire museum community to attend the conference, as it’s not just for EIU folks!
I’m hoping to attend, as it’ll be my 10 year reunion of sorts, although I live in Iowa and am presenting a photo preservation workshop for the Evanston (Illinois) Women’s Club that following Monday. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to survive all of the driving …but I’m sure as heck going to try!
Anyhow, on to the announcement:
Call for Presentations
Eastern Illinois University
Historical Administration Program Association
Symposium 2012
Universal Design in Museums, Archives and Historic Sites
April 14, 2012
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois
The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University defines Universal Design as, “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” You may ask, “Isn’t ‘Universal Design’ just ADA accessibility?” No, Universal Design goes beyond access for the disabled, though it is at the core of many of its principles. The principles of Universal Design are equitable use; flexibility in use; simple and intuitive; perceptible information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; and size and space for approach and use.*
How are the principles of Universal Design being incorporated into your institution? With limited budgets, the need to compete with technology for visitor’s attention, a growing generation of children used to technology in learning and a generation of aging Baby Boomers, Museums, Archives and Historic sites need to use the principles of Universal Design as they plan new exhibitions, renovations, educational programs, and interactives. But Universal Design in not just for our visitors; making the work environment more universal should also the goal of many institutions.
If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Leslie Mio for the Presentation Submission Form and return it to her by mail or e-mail no later than October 31, 2011. Submitters will be notified by November 15, 2011 if their presentation has been accepted.
If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Mio at ljsmio[at]yahoo[dot]com.
* For more on the principles of Universal Design: http://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/about_ud/udprinciplestext.htm
Har-dee-har-har.
Really, an Il-LUMA-nating experience? Just stop.
I’m sure the post title has been used to death but to be perfectly honest, my recent trip to LUMA — the Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago — was an illuminating experience! The museum is currently celebrating their fifth anniversary but I’m mostly familiar with them thanks to their active twitter account (@LUMAChicago).
Their location is both beautiful and ideal — they are quite literally across the street from Chicago’s famous Water Tower (you know, the most prominent and only public building to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871), which is a mecca for tourists and shoppers (and shopping tourists.) As I entered the gallery, I had no idea what to expect; to be honest, I figured it would be a small gallery that highlighted student and faculty work.
And boy was I wrong!
In addition to their permanent gallery, which I will mention in a sec, I wanted to mention that I was able to see the St. John’s Bible project for a second time — I first saw it at the Science Center of Minnesota while visiting their (amazing) Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. The Bible project set out to create a hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible. (See? It was an illuminating experience.) The result is a beautiful work of art that is amazing to see no matter your personal beliefs. (Ironically, a year or so ago the Bible was on display about two miles from my home in Des Moines …and I missed it.)
I definitely want to also mention favorite part of my LUMA visit – the Martin D’Arcy Collection of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Art. As their website describes it:
The D’Arcy is one of the finest collections of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art in the Midwest. It is particularly noted for its diverse holdings of three-dimensional objects that epitomize both the religious and secular aspects of European life. Devotional ivories, painted sculptures, and enameled liturgical objects feature among its medieval highlights; in covering the Renaissance, the D’Arcy is especially strong in objects commissioned to celebrate familial events such as marriage and childbirth. Among its Baroque pieces are Christ Among the Doctors by Matthias Stomer, a Dutch-born follower of Caravaggio, and intricate pieces of metalwork and woodwork, such as a collector’s chest by Wenzel Jamnitzer, the leading German goldsmith of this period, and The Flagellation by Alessandro Algardi.
I had no idea my short trip would be filled with such beautiful–and old–treasures. Click on the link above to view some highlights from the collection. Also, speaking of my short visit — I am definitely going to need to stop back soon and spend more time in the galleries!
Museum Minute is about to get a lot more exciting — there are now three of us on the Museum Minute Team. We’re planning to post 3+ posts each week and hopefully our diverse experiences will lead to some really neat entries.
I wanted to officially introduce our wonderful new contributors–be prepared to see posts from them soon!
Jamie Glavic (@NURFCjamie on twitter) is an emerging museum professional. As the manager of marketing and web communications at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC), Jamie is committed to using new technologies and unique campaigns to share the message of freedom and raise awareness about contemporary injustices around the globe. She has been an employee of the NURFC since 2007 and has played an integral role in leading the museum into the digital age, including but not limited to: developing an active social media presence, overhauling the Freedom Blog to encompass voices of various departments throughout the institution as well as website redevelopment.
Heather Stecklein (@hjstecklein on twitter) is an archivist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and has an MA in history from Loyola University, an MA in library science from the University of Iowa and an MA in Historical Administration from Eastern Illinois University (which is also my alma mater. I believe we both held the same graduate assistanceship at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository—Heather one year before me.)
I am really excited to have these two ladies on board!
Ah, boxes. If you’re a collector of something that comes in a box, then you know that preserving the box can be a key part of retaining the item’s value. Museum folks preserve boxes because, well, if an item finds itself in the collection, it needs to be preserved.* And still, other people wish to preserve boxes if they contain something special or if they’re still being actively used to hold things!
A long-time friend, game inventor and past Museum Minute guest-blogger, Kim Vandenbroucke, recently asked me to write about how her readers could best preserve their board game boxes, whether they’re collectors or active players. I was honored to write blog post on the subject, which is posted in full on Kim’s blog The Game Aisle. I was also honored to see an excerpt of my post on Global Toy News — now there’s somewhere I’d never thought I’d be published.
So this week, why don’t you hop on over to The Game Aisle and see what I have to say. What do you think? How would you preserve your old copy of Candy Land?
*That must be the shortest explanation of collections policies and collecting scopes ever. Eh?
