Thinking about Making & History

I'm on the road in California working with the fine folks from Folsom History and thinking about Making & History.

So what prompts me to make this trip to Folsom?  Well, Maker Stuff.  And by "Maker Stuff" I mean the eclectic group of artists, craftspeople, tinkerers, and engineers (amongst others) who get herded under the big umbrella term "Makers."

At a recent meeting of museum folks in Atlanta, it turned out that many of the other folks in the room were History Museum people. It's not that I don't like History Museums, or admire the people who work in them, but my museum "tribes" tend more toward Science Center and Children's Museum folks (and their respective conferences.)

Anyway (me being me) at a certain point I started to berate those nice fellow museum professionals for "completely missing the boat" on the Maker Movement.  It also immediately became clear that many of the people at that meeting had absolutely no idea of what a Maker Space or "makers" even were! YIKES!

I mean, what genre of museums is better placed than History Museums to engage people with the stories and stuff behind inventing, designing, building, and manufacturing things?  It's in their institutional DNA!  Not to mention the enormous opportunities for History Museums to tap into new sets of audiences and communities that are deeply engaged in Maker activities that would love to connect with such awesome repositories of the stories and stuff associated with Making.

I'm very excited to help the folks in Folsom think more about the possibilities of bringing making and history together. If you've seen or created interesting opportunities for making/history, include some info in the COMMENTS section below!

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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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Light, Color, and Beauty

Since the connected topics of light, color, and beauty seemed to come up so often during my experiences at the recent ASTC Conference in Pittsburgh, I thought I'd share some of my favorite light/beauty inspirations.

A wonderful example is Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel completed in the year 1248 in Paris.

It is amazing to step inside the chapel surrounded by multi-story stained-glass windows.  The light and color shifts and changes as you move around inside the space.  In some ways, it feels like you are actually inside a stained-glass window!

A more modern take on employing light and color in architecture is artist Olafur Eliasson's installation called Your rainbow panorama.

Situated on top of the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum art museum in Aarhus, Denmark, Your rainbow panorama invites you to experience the familiar (a city skyline) in unfamiliar ways. Olafur Eliasson's creation consists of a 150-meter-long and three meter-wide circular walkway in glass in all the colors of the spectrum. Your rainbow panorama is mounted on slender columns 3.5 meters above the roof of ARoS with a diameter of 52 meters.

Here's a quote from Eliasson about this work:

“Your rainbow panorama establishes a dialogue with the existing architecture and reinforces what was already there, that is to say the view across the city. I have created a space that can almost be said to erase the boundary between inside and outside – a place where you become a little uncertain as to whether you have stepped into a work of art or into part of the museum. This uncertainty is important to me, as it encourages people to think and sense beyond the limits within which they are accustomed to function.” 


Architect Keiichiro Sako takes the playful aspects of light and color into the design of this kindergarten building in China.

The lucky students are completely surrounded by rainbow colors -- on the stairs, in windows, and inside their classroom spaces!

Of course, the most fun is building and playing with beautiful light and color yourself. For that purpose, I'd suggest getting some colorful, translucent Magna-Tiles  (You can get them here at Amazon, or at other online stores.) I hope your days ahead are filled with light and color and beauty!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Off to Pittsburgh and the ASTC 2022 Conference!

I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new folks at the upcoming ASTC 2022 Conference in Pittsburgh!

POW! is proud to be one of this year's Conference Sponsors.

If you aren't able to attend this year's conference in person, you can check out my reports from Pittsburgh on my Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram channels.

However, if you will be in Pittsburgh, I have a special bonus for ExhibiTricks readers!  The first three conference attendees who find me each day and mention ExhibiTricks will receive a fabulous prize! (HINT: I've written about this project in a blog post during this past June.)

Looking forward to a fantastic ASTC 2022 Conference!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"