Friday, May 25, 2012

Exhibits In An Archive: The Austin History Center


Steve Schwolert, the Exhibit Coordinator at the Austin History Center, recently sent along some interesting comments about the differences (and similarities!) between museums and archives that I'd like to share with ExhibiTricks readers.  As you'll see, Steve also sent along some cool photos and descriptions of a simulated Kinetoscope that he's made using iPods!

Enjoy what Steve has to say below:


The Austin History Center is not, strictly speaking, a museum.  We hover somewhere between museums and libraries.  We are, rather, a research institution that collects archival documents (records of all types, including over a million photographs, films and videos).  It is a distinction that most people miss who do not use archives on a regular basis.  Exhibits in our setting function to educate, promote our collections, and as a vehicle to encourage citizens to donate archival materials that record Austin’s history.  Through our exhibits, and Community Liaison program to underserved communities, we’ve unearthed a number of significant collections that record our area's history.  In many cases, it is unusual to have a vibrant exhibits program in archives, unless perhaps you are one of the big boys like the Harry Ransom Center or the National Archives.  Though we rely on the skills of all our staff for research, I am the entire “official” exhibits staff.  I do all the design and fabrication as well as the promotional graphics.

Figuring out how to make the distinction between archives and museums clear is something we at the Austin History Center are working on all the time.  We need better “elevator speeches” and have put some effort into marketing ourselves in the last couple years.  All that said, I get a lot of good ideas and inspiration from being a “fly on the wall” around people in the museum world.  So the long and short is that there is some crossover, but archives are still a bit different.  I will say that with the success of our exhibits program in the last few years, exhibits are now a core service whereas they used to be ancillary/optional.

Creating exhibits for an archive is unique in that we deal with 2D “objects” almost exclusively.  Any 3D artifacts are usually more complimentary of the materials we collect – photos, documents, letters, architectural drawings, maps, film and video.  I often joke that my world is one of arranging rectangles.  Coming up with ways to present the materials in a dynamic way is always challenging.  But we have found that exhibits serve to help us expand both our place in Austin’s cultural community and as a vehicle for expanding our collections, with our overall goal being to collect, preserve and provide access to the primary source materials that record our local history.

I am notorious for trying things I’ve never done before, so with our latest exhibit  called “The First Picture Shows: Historic Movie Houses of Austin,” I wanted to give our visitors a sense of what it was like to watch movies in a context that has vanished.  Giving a broader context in which to set the stories found in a local archive is something we try to do in each exhibit.  Reading the ExhibiTricks blog inspired me in this way, and so I thought “why not?” and built a version of the Kinetoscope – the first device created by Edison and widely distributed in the US for watching movies.  Edison actually imagined it first as a way to generate interest in his Phonograph, and thought movies would only appeal to a viewer more like an arcade entertainment.  Edison’s Vitascope projector came along in 1896 and was the first system that was commercially successful in the US.



Our Kinetoscope runs on iPods – two for digitized Edison films from the National Archives and one for audio, all set to loop continuously.  The iPods (Nano, 3rd and 4th generation) are AC powered using adapters and have been running continuously for well over a month now with no signs of quitting.  The two iPods for films are rigged in a box approximately 12” deep with a glass magnifying lens scavenged from older magnifying glasses inserted halfway between where the viewer looks and the iPod itself.  The boxes are then mounted into a sleeve inside the cabinet which I can remove as needed.



One concern was with accessibility, so unlike an original Kinetoscope, I made a window in the front of the cabinet for those who cannot look in from the top.  To loop the media, I simply put the films and music into a playlist on iTunes and set it to repeat.  The audio is a recording of an old piece of Ragtime piano music from our collections composed for the opening of Austin’s Paramount Theater in 1915.  Ironically, movies, not to mention music, are moving back to the individual experience of the personal device much like the Kinetoscope was in its day.  Maybe Edison understood something about film that only the technology of our era has been able to actualize.




We’ve discovered that movies really hit a nerve with just about everyone, and so we have created a way for visitors to contribute their own “Movie House Memories” by giving them a place to post them in the exhibit.  I am periodically posting these memories on our Facebook page, taking that conversation one step further.   Our tagline is “Discover Your Story” and it is my desire to create experiences that bring viewers deeper into our shared history as a community by sharing their own story.  When a collection is donated to the archive and then used for research, this is exactly what is happening.  Figuring out how to reflect that in our exhibits is “the dream” you might say.  And I want that experience not only to be insightful, but fun.  That’s why I built the Kinetoscope – for fun.  Why not?

Thanks Steve!  You can find out more about the Austin History Center by visiting their website or by checking out their Facebook page.


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Friday, May 18, 2012

Hayao Miyazaki's Ideas About Museums


Hayao Miyazaki is a film artist who has created some amazing animated films for Studio Ghibli in Japan.  (Some of my favorites include "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro".)

To capture some of the spirit and history of the films and the film studio, there is a Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan.  I've haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Ghibli Museum in person (yet!) but as I was perusing the Ghibli Museum website, I noticed a link to "A Few Words from Executive Director Hayao Miyazaki"on the home page.

The Link leads to a mini manifesto from Director Miyazaki entitled, "This is the Kind of Museum I Want to Make!"

I think it is wonderful (and gutsy!) for the director of any museum to share the guiding principles behind the creation of their museum in such an up-front way, but I also thought some of the Director Miyazaki's thoughts were worth sharing here:

This is the Kind of Museum I Want to Make!
A museum that is interesting and which relaxes the soul
A museum where much can be discovered
A museum based on a clear and consistent philosophy
A museum where those seeking enjoyment can enjoy, those seeking to ponder can ponder, and those seeking to feel can feel
A museum that makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered!


To make such a museum, the building must be...
Put together as if it were a film
Not arrogant, magnificent, flamboyant, or suffocating
Quality space where people can feel at home, especially when it's not crowded
A building that has a warm feel and touch
A building where the breeze and sunlight can freely flow through

The museum must be run in such a way so that...
Small children are treated as if they were grown-ups
The handicapped are accommodated as much as possible
The staff can be confident and proud of their work
Visitors are not controlled with predetermined courses and fixed directions
It is suffused with ideas and new challenges so that the exhibits do not get dusty or old, and that investments are made to realize that goal

The museum shop will be...
Well-prepared and well-presented for the sake of the visitors and running the museum
Not a bargain shop that attaches importance only to the amount of sales
A shop that continues to strive to be a better shop
Where original items made only for the museum are found

This is what I expect the museum to be, and therefore I will find a way to do it



This is the kind of museum I don't want to make!

A pretentious museum
An arrogant museum
A museum that treats its contents as if they were more important than people
A museum that displays uninteresting works as if they were significant



What do you think of Haya Miyazaki's ideas about museums? (Let us know in the "Comments" section below.)

Personally, his words make me want to visit the Ghibli Museum even more now!

And Director Miyazaki's mini manifesto also begs a question: What sort of message to visitors does your Executive Director post on your Museum's website?



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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Portland Takeaways (InterActivity 2012 Impressions)


What do a Chinese Garden and a Children's Museum have in common? That's one of the things I'm thinking about as I ponder the conversations, lessons, and visits that have taken place this past week in Portland, Oregon as the annual InterActivity conference draws to a close. Over 800 Children's Museum professionals from around the world came to share the stories, triumphs, and challenges of their existing (or emerging) institutions.

Aside from obvious themes like the power of play in the lives of children, here are a few other common threads that I noticed during InterActivity:

The Maker Movement has definitely gotten the attention of the Museum World in general, and the Children's Museum World in particular. Many sessions and hallway conversations focused on how museums can form additional partnerships with all segments of the "maker" community (inventors, artists, crafters, etc.)  One big question is how to convince museum administrators to pony up the cash to hire and train additional staff to work in, and facilitate, museum maker spaces.

• Prototyping and testing: Several sessions focused on the many ways to prototype and test exhibit and program concepts with visitors.  My favorite takeaway about prototyping from one of the sessions I attended was that, as far as prototyping is concerned, something is better than nothing, no matter what your museum's size or circumstances.

• Attention to detail(s) Little human touches and details really add up.  In my visits to both the Portland Children's Museum and the Lan Su Chinese Garden  (pictured at the top of this post) you could find small details seemingly around every corner.  In both places a welcoming "human touch" was apparent. I especially admired the wonderful hand-painted murals and the thoughtful use of materials at the Children's Museum that said simply, "the person who made this really cared."

• This is your Brain on Exhibits:  Many sessions and speakers dealt with the work scientists and researchers are doing that help us understand not only "what" our brains learn, but "how."  Thinking about ways to translate brain research into exhibit development is fascinating.  (Plus I learned more about dopamine than I ever expected to at a Children's Museum Conference!)

• The Power of The Object. Last, but certainly not least, Susie Wilkening of Reach Advisors spoke about her latest study of museums, and the memories people retain of their museum visits.  A very interesting finding was how "sticky" objects are in visitors' recollections of their museum experiences --- even stickier than hands-on experiences!  What this means to the bulk of Children's Museums (which are not collection-based institutions) is something very interesting to consider.

Congratulations to the ACM staff for putting on a great conference, and thanks to the staff of the Portland Children's Museum for being such great hosts!

If you attended InterActivity in Portland, what were some of your takeaways?  Let us know in the "Comments" section below.

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Posting from Portland (InterActivity 2012)


I had a great day (and night!) in beautiful Portland yesterday to kick off the 2012 InterActivity conference for Children's Museums. 

The highlight (besides meeting old and new museum friends from around the world) was the evening PechaKucha event.  I'm a great fan of the 20x20 presentation style (each participant gets 20 slides of 20 seconds each to make their presentation.)

We had an incredibly diverse set of topics courtesy of 10 amazing presenters!

Amongst the highlights: 

Kari Jensen from OMSI started us off by talking about Green Exhibit Design (and sharing information about a great resource, The Green Exhibit Checklist.)

Sara DeAngelis from San Jose, shared her "hostess tips" for making museum visitors more comfortable.

Clifford Wagner  showed us the graphs of joy, and spoke about the power of learning and practicing new skills.

Becky Lindsay from MindSplash advocated for MORE loose parts in museums.


All in all, a great event and a great start to museum mania in Portland.  Many thanks to all the presenters (pictured above) and a special shout-out to my co-host Sari Boren.

P.S. Watch the Twitter-stream for ongoing conference updates this week by searching the #InterActivity2012 hash-tag.


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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Looking Ahead to Portland for InterActivity 2012!


 I'm looking forward to the gathering of the Children's Museum clans, otherwise known as InterActivity.  This year the conference will be in beautiful Portland, Oregon and will welcome folks from around North America and many international visitors as well.

I'll be giving both my brain and mouth a work out during the conference, and reconnecting with friends from Bulgaria as we start down the road to creating the new Children's Museum of Sofia!

I'm thrilled and excited to be co-hosting the conference kick-off event of PechaKucha on the evening of  Wednesday May 9th in Pavilion West of the Hilton (that's the main conference hotel.)  We'll have a great group of folks from around the country presenting in the zippy 20x20 format (20 slides of 20 seconds each for each presenter) and a cash bar besides.  Don't miss it!

Besides having fun in a cool city (check out Voodoo Doughnut!) the best conference experiences give us all a chance to have the opportunity to connect with other folks who are thinking deeply about the current and future direction of the museum biz.  Certainly two of my favorite Children's Museum "deep thinkers" are Jeanne Vergeront and Aaron Goldblatt (click on their names to find interviews I've done with each of them.)  Definitely attend one of their sessions if you can.

I'll do my best to do some live tweeting (follow me on Twitter @museum_exhibits or search this year's conference hashtag #InterActivity2012 for updates) from InterActivity and at least do a recap blog post as well.

This is a really interesting time in the museum world, and certainly Children's Museums are creating a big part of that interest, so stay tuned for postings from Portland!



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