Category Archives: Class assignments

My Museum Knowledge

Prior to taking this class this semester, I had a minimal working knowledge of how museum’s truly function and what their role was in both society and education institutions. I had conducted two internships prior to this course working with museums. The first, was with a History Museum that had a low budget and minimal staffing. The second was with the Palmer Museum of art that had, in comparison, a much higher budget and aura of prestige. Culminating my two past experiences with the knowledge gained from this class, it was interesting to contrast how these two separate institutions function, and how they each are viewed by their target markets.

I know realize that each type of museum serves its community through a different role. The history museum, whose collection centered around military memorabilia and weaponry, often catered to a much older demographic and thus its outreach and educational programming was structure heavily on integration with a much older demographic along with trying to target a very young demographic with education programs. The fine art museum seemed to have held a much more prestigious role in its community being that its targeted demographic was much wider. The politics and criteria surrounding funding was quite fascinating. How this funding effected the way the museum operated, along with its ability to staff, was a integral indicator of the future success of the museum itself.

Overall, my knowledge about museum function on a larger socioeconomic scale has vastly increased. With this new knowledge the fight for education and outreach through the platform of the museum seems more important now than ever. Whether the museum is large or small, history or fine arts, its value to the community it stands in is vital to our evolution as a society. Museums are progressive and are an excellent extension of experiential learning for all ages, demographics, and interests.

End of the Semester Thoughts

Before coming to this class I thought I had a general understanding of museums and how a museum functions as an institution. In hindsight, this course has transformed the way I viewed museums and showed me how intricate operating a museum really is. The class taught me how rigorous the process of lending and accepting art work is. Something I had learned that museums don’t always accept art work, whether it be by donors or other intitutions interested in exchanging art; there are multiple background checks and paper work determining other institutions credibility.

I also learned that the Palmer was a more intricate museum than I had ever thought. Before this class, my view of the Palmer was so small. This class taught me how lucrative a good operation is. And how the less you notice, the more work that had to be done to make it so seamless.  I had no idea how much efforts were made towards artwork exhibition and how lighting affects the work. The museum goes through strenuous efforts to pay attention to such fine detail.

I also enjoyed learning about about funding and asking people to join the team. What struck me the most was encouraging others to love the idea rather than to just get money.

 

What I Know Now

Before this class, I had a general understanding of how art museums run. Through a few internships, I became familiar with some day-to-day operations (though mostly in marketing/PR) and an overview of the jobs offered at museums. But this class went into much more detail about the functions of museums, the various roles of museum jobs and how they all work together.

It’s been so interesting to learn how museums have changed over time and what that means for the future. I really enjoyed our readings and discussions about modern visitor experience efforts and how new technologies like social media play into the museum world.  I think museums are at a really interesting point in history where they’re seeing contrasts between traditional practices and new strategies and innovations.

Since the beginning of the semester, I’ve started to notice a lot of these new visitor experience strategies at museums and galleries I’ve visited. It’s been interesting to see how what we’ve talked about in class plays out in the real world, and to be able to evaluate if something is effective or not.

Post-Semester Perspective Alteration

When I first started this class, I had a little of a background regarding the architecture and exhibition spaces of art museums. However, I had no knowledge about how a museum operates neither about any of the museological or managerial activities that take place in a museum setting. Every class, new information was added to my knowledge regarding the specificities and generalities of art museums. Now, I know details about how a museum operates. The parts that interest me the most were the ones we were discussing exhibition layouts and designs. I really enjoyed when we were introduced to the preparator and the senior preparator as they talked about how they prepare for new exhibitions. I gained great knowledge about packaging and handling two-dimensional and three-dimensional art objects with Bev. Conservation and preservation was also a niche that was interesting to explore specially paper conservations and prints. More specific details about museological practices such as loans, registration, and special exhibitions procedures were also very useful to discern. In the more general topics, I benefitted from our conversations regarding museums’ mission statements, and interpretation of material culture, as well as publicity and outreach of museums in the 21st century. Throughout the course of the semester, I was able to comprehend the various staff members that exist in museums and their roles. The structure of the museum personnel became clear to me as it ranges from directors, public relations coordinators, registrars, curators, conservators, and preparators. I believe it was a great opportunity to meet these people and hear them talk about their experiences. I always find it beneficial to hear stories from people working in the field rather than reading the general role of each position through a book. However, the readings were insightful in terms of familiarizing me with the progression and development of art museums through history as well as the path museums will most likely be heading taking in the future. I enjoyed the readings about specific objects such as the Caveat Emptor’s reading. Overall, I have gained extensive knowledge about both the general as well as the specific regarding art museums.

My understanding of an art museum has changed quite a bit. I knew there was an underlining structure but I was unfamiliar of how sophisticated and complex operating a museum really was. The things that seem to just fall in line like the installation of the works take a very certain attention to detail and lighting knowledge. The intense records and categorization the registrar takes on seems overwhelming but Bev seems to love it. I think the wide spread paper trail and documentation took me a little by surprise. Over all I think I have a new clarity over all. Museums are very complex but breaking it down departments by department really helped me gain an understanding of how each area works separately and as a cohesive organization.

Has My Perspective of Museum’s Changed?

When I first entered this class, the amount of knowledge I had about how museums worked was minimal. I thought that an Art museum could display any form of art, according to the specific exhibit. I already knew the idea that a museum needed a purpose on what to display to the public, and a motivation. I also knew about the idea of special exhibits that move from one museum to another. What I didn’t know about was that an exhibit can be denied to a museum depending on its funding and its size. Certain exhibitions call for large museums not just because of the size of the exhibit, but also because of the size of the artifacts. Not all museums can accommodate for the sizes of some artwork.

What I also didn’t know about was the politics involved. This was the most mysterious aspect to grasp about running a museum. The connections between people that make a museum actually work is astounding. It actually extends on an international level sometimes, depending on the museum’s stature. As a person pursuing a career for historic preservation, I’m also surprised how running a museum and historic preservation are connected. For example, the restoration projects on certain art pieces to have them prepared for display. After everything, I can honestly say that my perspective of how museum’s are run has changed greatly. I had an idea about some points, but there was still whole lot more to the picture. It was truly worth finding out about!

Full Circle

Comparing my knowledge of museums at the end of the end of this course to the beginning of the the semester – I have learned so much more than I ever thought I would about museums. I learned a great deal about the educational aspect of museums, what it takes to run a museum and how complicated everything truly is surrounding museums today. There is not one specific thing that I can say that has not surprised me or made me think. I have always walked into museums and taken for granted that the pieces on the wall belong to the museum and no one else. I could not have been more wrong. We have examined everything from the broad topic of museums, to exhibitions and even specific pieces (in terms of acquisition, donation, gifts, etc.). I have learned so much more about the intricacies and “behind the scenes” scenarios in museums. I never gave a second thought to collections as a whole, let alone the massive storage facilities that some museums must have. The registrar’s position that we discussed over the course of multiple classes was of great interest to me. I cannot believe how much a registrar must know and all that they do.

The public side of the museum is also interesting. By public I mean, those seeking donations and those staffed as docents. Museums all over go through a roller coaster of financial security, but these people are integral for keeping museums afloat. The specific way they work with people throughout the years is amazing and I’m sure is the best way to do things. Being a past docent, I knew what that took. But I never thought about the people who gather all the training materials, make the schedules and ensure the public is truly getting the most out of the exhibits and all the environment has to offer is incredibly important…

Overall, this course has helped me really understand and realize the extent and intricacies that exist in the museum world. This has really renewed my respect for the staff and volunteers of museums.

 

That’s a Wrap

The biggest new understanding I have is how museums attempt to be an educational resource for the public. I had no idea that so much planning went into all aspects of the educational experience presented by a museum, from planning programming and events to organizing galleries with a specific flow to reaching out to the public beyond the museum walls and making collections available on the internet and technology. To me, the recent push to digitize and embrace the digital age is the most exciting thing that museums are beginning to tackle. Social media and the internet in general are integral to our lives now, and if museums want to stay relevant, I think it’s important for them to be current and keep up with this movement. Not only that, but these platforms can be used extensively for educational purposes, communication of ideas, and opening museums to many other new possibilities for sharing all that they have to offer with the public. The museum world needs innovative minds, like Nina Simon whose TED talk we watched, to continue to push boundaries and engage people in the wonderful things they have to share.

I have loved the learning and discussion that has taken place in this course. Previously unaware of how dynamic and intricate museums and their operation are, I feel like I will never be able to visit one without ideas from our discussions entering my mind again.

What I’ve Learned

Throughout this semester, I have gained so much new knowledge about the museum field. I’m very glad that this class had a great diversity of subjects and gave a thorough glimpse into the functions of a museum and the duties that each staff member fulfills to keep the museum running.

Although I found every class to be helpful and informative, I believe that I learned the most from the classes where we discussed the nature of different museum jobs and were able to hear first-hand experiences from staff members at the Palmer or the College of Arts and Architecture. As I would like to pursue a career in the museum field, I appreciated learning about the variety of jobs I could take on, as before I entered this class I thought I was limited to an educator, curator, administrator, or conservator, but now I am aware that I could also take on the role of a registrar, preparator, publicist, or member of development and donor relations.

However, I also learned a lot from our readings and in-class discussions, especially on the topics of technology, social media, and interpretation. Learning about the future of art museums has been very exciting, and it has also provided information that I have been able to discuss with my co-workers at the museum I currently work at as we are looking into updating exhibits and our website. Learning about interpretation and exhibitions has also taught me how to be critical of how information is presented by a museum. Completing the exhibition comparison was extremely helpful in this as well, as it made me look more closely at elements of museum exhibitions than I would have if I had visited casually.

Overall, I am glad to have gained a great deal of information about the museum field that is not so philosophical or abstract, but very practical and applicable to a museum career. I look forward to taking this information with me as I continue my search for the beginnings of a career within the museum field.

Chinese Tomb Figure

IMG_0515

Artist unknown
Chinese, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Tomb Figure (?), possibly Wanli period (1573-1619)
Earthenware with polychrome glaze
Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. Harold L. Tonkin

This object can be found on the last gallery on the first floor, tucked into an alcove that visitors pass before they walk up the stairs to the second floor galleries. It sits on a square pedestal that’s about 1-2 feet high and covered on all four sides by glass.

What I found interesting about the way this object is displayed is the fact that you don’t really see it when you’re entering the gallery, but it’s hard to miss when you’re exiting. Four flood lights from the ceiling provide the figure with just enough light to highlight every feature without glaring off the glazed surface. The figure’s furniture base matches the color scheme of the walls in the gallery, allowing it to blend into the background and not visually impede with the object.

While I think it’s beautifully displayed, some aspects impede viewing of the object. The glass covering creates a reflective surface that makes it difficult to get a completely clear, unimpeded view of the figure. Also, depending on the opinion of the viewer, the location itself can be seen as a positive or negative aspect. The object is isolated from others in the gallery and placed in a corner that less-observant visitors might miss.