Raising Up Little Voices: Girl Museum

In response to a recent ExhibiTricks post about "small but mighty" museums doing things a bit differently than the "mega-museums" in the world, Tiffany Rhoades from Girl Museum reached out and offered to share some information and insights based on her experiences there --- first as an intern, and now Program Developer. 

Tiffany has worked on amazing projects that are pushing the boundaries of museums. Today, she’d like to share with ExhibiTricks readers what Girl Museum is, what they’re been working on, and tips for success in engaging with communities.

Girl Museum is…

Girl Museum is the first and only museum in the world dedicated to celebrating girlhood.  We research, preserve, and present the history of girls from all cultures and time periods, with an emphasis on letting their voices and stories shine. 

“But wait, isn’t that just a women’s history museum?”

Well, no.  While we do talk about women’s history a lot, Girl Museum is different because we intentionally focus our gaze on the experiences of females from birth through the age of 25.  Our work crosses into women’s history – because the voices and records of girls are largely lost to us.  We have to dig for them, but we know the girls are there because we’ve already found so much.

And all of this is accomplished by a volunteer team (not even our director is paid!), on a shoestring budget, and put online so it is freely accessible by anyone, anywhere, anytime. 

Girl Museum does…

In the three years I’ve worked with Girl Museum, we’ve produced projects that have reached new audiences and highlighted marginalized groups:

Surfer Girl looked at the history and contemporary culture of women in surfing, and was entirely contributor-led. It included videos on surf history by students, oral history interviews with female surfers of the 1950s and 1960s, and stories showcasing how surfing is giving girls better opportunities and a platform to advocate for equality.

Heroines Quilt 2016: Girls of World War II showcased the real women and girls who were impacted by the war, both at home and abroad.  Utilizing our blog as a platform for engagement, we invited visitors to discover a new story every day during Women’s History Month, and dive deeper through photo essays and our podcast series.

STEM Girls showcased the history of women in STEM fields, as a platform to explore how we can get more girls interested in STEM.  This exhibition was one of our most well-received to date and proved that exhibits can be platforms for changing the world.

Gamer Girl invited female gamers around the world to discover their long (and surprising!) history and advocate for better treatment and representation.  It featured contributions from well-known gaming professionals, while also giving a voice to girls around the world with our Why I Game participatory quilt – making it our largest and most popular exhibition to date.

This year and next, we’ll introduce exhibits focused on girls’ history, including Kindertransport and Ancient Girls.  We’ll also combine history with pop culture in our explorations of what it means to be a Warrior Princess and how girls have impacted music in Alternative Girls.  And there’s so much more in the works – including fashion, art, girl groups, more historical periods, and mythology.

Tips for Success

Though we’re entirely in the virtual realm, the lessons I’ve learned from creating these projects are integral to making museums more relevant and engaging to our communities. 

1. Let Your Community Guide You

When producing Surfer Girl, I started with only a rough idea of what I wanted.  I researched a lot, but what I couldn’t find was the actual voices of girls.  So, I put aside my notes and reached out to surfers, surfing companies, and academics for advice.  What I got were contributions from around the world that showcased exactly what I wanted: surfer girls’ stories, told in their own words.  My job was simply to put these stories together and provide transitions along the way. 

The result was an exhibition that engaged new audiences with our museum, used a variety of multimedia, and had other underrepresented groups emailing in to discuss possibilities.  We also made connections that have proved vital to keeping our museum funded.

2. Embrace Social Media

We live and breathe social media.  It’s the primary way we connect with our audience – sharing stories we find interesting, highlighting girl-related news, and connecting with people who can help bring our ideas to life.  We use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and a blog on a daily basis. 

In late 2014, we put together a Social Media Strategic Plan.  Within one year, we nearly doubled our social media following – and it’s still growing. 

3. Infuse Everything with Passion

Every project our interns are assigned is given to them because either (a) it was their idea or (b) they absolutely love the topic.  By empowering every member of our team to pursue what inspires and motivates them, we produce projects that tap into the hearts of our audience.  (Bonus: Many of our interns stay on as long-term supporters, advocates, and contributors!)

As a museum, our job is to inspire people – and passion is the key to doing that.  We tell every exhibit like a story – one infused with real voices, real experiences, and real questions.  When we invite contributions, we make a point not to edit more than grammar.  When we produce a project, we ask how it is relevant to today – and we aren’t afraid to stand up, put in a call to action, or ask our audience the hard questions. 

In Kindertransport, we’re doing just that – showcasing the experiences of girl refugees during World War II, linking it to the refugee crisis today, and asking, “Are we willing to stand by and watch another genocide?  Or are we going to do something about it?”

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail.

We’ve failed – epically.  Several of our projects never go viral.  But no matter what, we keep trying.  We haven’t figured it all out yet – our budget alone could tell you that – but we’re not giving up.  Because what we do is important.  Because we know that we can change lives.  Because girls – from throughout time and space – deserve a museum entirely their own.  Because museums matter, now more than ever.

Tiffany Rhoades is a public historian and emerging museum professional, specializing in exhibitions, social media, and digital public programs.  She volunteers as Girl Museum’s Program Developer, and currently makes ends meet as an independent consultant for museums and museum-related organizations.

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One From The Vaults: Smaller STILL Is Better

Though I wrote the original version of this post back in 2009, it still rings painfully true today.  We, as an industry,  still seem to be preferentially creating institutions that are lumbering behemoths instead of small and nimble innovators.  As I mention at the end of this encore post, I'd really like to know about smaller, better cultural institutions doing great work to shine a light on them.  So call out great examples in the comments or contact me directly.   Thanks, and enjoy this post from the ExhibiTricks vaults!

So here's my two-part solution to solve the ever continuing museum money/funding crisis:

1) Stop building gigantic new museums.

2) Fund small "risky" projects instead of "safe" big projects.

Most big museums were unsustainable before the current "financial crisis" and even more so now. Not to mention that many gigundo museums are filled with pockets of mediocrity or just plain lousiness that gets ignored or excused or even overlooked because there are other flashier, newer segments of the rest of their elephantine museum building complex.

So why do people keep building giant museums? Sheer ego and "edifice complex" as far as I can tell. It's a lot sexier to say you're building the "world's biggest and best museum" than to actually set up the infrastructure to ensure a continually growing and evolving institution that makes best use of both staff and community resources.

If you really want to see Museum 2.0/3.0/whatever happen, then museum workers and museum organizations should advocate for more, but smaller, museums spread throughout communities like public libraries --- heck why not have every museum (that's not already doing so) partner with a local library or community center to work on exhibits and programs together?

Now, funding.

Here's a modest proposal for NSF, IMLS, NEH and the rest of the governmental alphabet soup of funding agencies: alternate every year between funding "big" projects and "little" projects.

This would have the benefit of breaking the cycle of perpetually funding "The Usual Suspects" of the same batch of museums/designers/evaluators who get funded every grant cycle.

Which would be fine, if the "The Usual Suspects" were turning out wonderful field-changing exhibitions. But mostly the funding process has turned into a gravy train for folks doing the same sort of mediocre exhibitions over and over again.

Why couldn't NSF, for example, deliberately fund 15-20 large exhibition projects one cycle, then 50-60 small exhibition projects the next?

I think part of this big vs. small dichotomy is also an issue of exposure. There are many amazing, innovative museums and museum workers doing their thing in remote or smaller outposts, so they don't get recognized in the traditional incestuous museum conference/funding world.

So, I'm going to do my part to help change that exposure thing, and I need your help. Do you know of some cool projects happening at smaller "non-famous" museums, or do you know an up-and-coming whiz kid who hasn't been able to find a real full-time with benefits job in the museum business yet?

Send me an email at info@orselli.net so I can start giving these small places and some NOT the usual suspects some publicity and the attention they deserve.

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.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Un(der)sung Projects and The GBER Re-boot

Most of the museums in the world are classified as "small" but you would never know it from the disproportionate notice and publicity their bigger museum "cousins" receive.   I've written before about how funders and professional museum organizations might give more "aid and comfort" to those small(er) institutions that don't usually end up on the AAM or ASTC or ACM letterhead.

ExhibiTricks has also previously featured a few exemplary projects from "smaller" places that haven't always shown up in the NY Times or been splashed around the Twitter-verse:

• The LEGO® Millyard Project at the SEE Science Center that combined community volunteers and over 3 million LEGO bricks to recreate and help tell the story of the historic Amoskeag Millyard.

• The Play Project at the Providence Children's Museum that got their local communities thinking about the "power of play" as well as the museum as a resource for playing and play resources.

• As well as several "small" community-minded art exhibits like the White Plains project or the work of the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

So, I'd like to do my "small" (natch!) part to highlight some more interesting and creative projects coming out from small(er) museums and organizations.  If you know of such Un(der)sung Projects, please leave a message I can follow up on in the "Comments Section" below, or send me an email message directly briefly describing the project or exhibition. 

I'll follow-up with postings here on ExhibiTricks (and my Twitter and Facebook streams) about these "Smaller Is Better" efforts in order to provide a little recognition, but also to, hopefully, provide awareness and encouragement for other small places doing great stuff during these tough times.


On a tangential note, I'd like to mention that I've completed another round of additions and HTML "nips and tucks" to The Great Big Exhibit Resource List  (or GBER for short.)

The GBER is a compendium of trusted resources for museum exhibit developers, designers, and educators looking for the "stuff" to make their programs of exhibitions successful.   Everything from "Fake Foods" to "Extrusions" and "Scent Machines" is there for the browsing along with quick links to websites and company contact info.

Check out the new, improved GBER re-boot and let me know what you think --- and whether there are some of your favorite resources we should add to the List!






Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog. P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

I (almost) lost my voice ...

In both a physical and metaphorical way, I (almost) lost my voice during the recent ASTC conference (the international gathering of science center folks.) My laryngitis is mostly better now, but I'm still mulling over why I felt like there were more hucksters and monument-builders dominating the conversation at the conference than usual.  Is it the effects of the poor economy, or an inexorable shift in the science center field itself?

It was a little sad to be surrounded by so many people (in presumably the same business as me) who seemed completely willing to rationalize bringing any off-message, off-mission, off-SCIENCE claptrap into their museums in the head-long chase after numbers. (Although it's questionable if either the money "numbers" or admissions "numbers" are real or sustainable.)

IMAX movies about giant robots taking over the world? Bring 'em on!  Exhibits about movie props without the annoying detail of including any difficult science content?  Call our ticket line right now!

And now onto to the trend of launching gigantic science center juggernauts...  I overheard the director of a newly-opened palace of mediocrity complaining that he would NEVER work again with the fancy museum design company that was one of their co-conspirators.  Well now's a great time to come to that realization, isn't it?  The checks have been cashed, the damage has been done --- and the fancy museum design company is on to another gigantic new museum project --- it costs money to pay for all that smart office space and furniture in the big city, after all.

When will the museum business stop building the institutional equivalent of Humvees? Do we really need more titanic, and in all likelihood, unsustainable (in both the business and environmental sense)  museum buildings sucking up resources, when we could do a better job refining and rethinking our existing museums? (Rather than building on top of their construction rubble ...)

Just as I was pondering how the sponsors of the ASTC conference possibly help to perpetuate this money-churning storyline that we need a constant stream of bigger (BIGGER!) projects to keep the science center world moving forward, the winners of the "Edgie" awards were announced.

The Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Awards are presented annually to ASTC members and/or their employees in recognition of extraordinary accomplishments in Visitor Experience, Business Practice, and Leadership in the Field that not only enhance the performance of their own institutions but also significantly advance the mission of science-technology centers and museums.


I'd like to highlight and give a tip of the hat to two of this year's winners:  Klima X (a clever and thought-provoking look at global warming) produced by the The Norwegian National Museum of Science, Technology, and Medicine and The Coyote Point Museum  (an institution in the midst of carefully recreating itself to better serve its constituent communities.) In each institution's case, they are thoughtfully addressing critical issues of science with both rigor and creativity.

I say thank goodness for the Edgie awards, a welcome antidote to both the mindlessly conjoined  "numbers at any cost" and "bigger is better" museum trends that often seem to be dominating both the media landscape and the professional microphone.

There, my voice feels better now.

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

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"Smaller Is Better" Project Roundup

Here's a roundup of several "Smaller Is Better" (SIB) projects that were submitted after our recent post on the subject:

• Darla Abigt from the Western Center for Archaelogy & Paleontology sent info about a "SIB" exhibit called “Art meets Science.” It was inspired by the KEVA planks that are used in the Western Center's education programs.

It's an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to employ their imaginations and creativity by building with a simple wooden block.  In addition, themed competitions and events have inspired the community to work together and create truly unique and beautiful designs in the exhibit gallery --- all while learning the rules of gravity, balance and engineering. Take a look at their Photobucket Album or the photo above for examples of visitor creations.
 

• For another "Smaller Is Better" project, Alex Hayes wrote about how the "family business" (including his father David Hayes and uncle John Hayes) worked with the city of White Plains and local developers to install 62 Large sculptures around town. You can see an example below, or check out David Hayes' website to see more examples of the White Plains project, and other installations done throughout the country with smaller cultural institutions.

• Lastly, Michael Nugent wrote about his work with the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA.)

Here's what Michael had to say:

"I am an artist from Lafayette, Louisiana and have been working on contract for a local museum, the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA), as an Exhibition Preparator. It's a great and inspiring place to visit as well as work (although I am a bit partial). The AcA has had some impressive exhibitions, even somewhat controversial and progressive for the South. A performing arts theater is currently being added which will double the square footage of the facilities - in all about 50,000 sq. ft.

Artist Heidi Cody came through the main gallery with her collection entitled "Suggested Retail Value," and transformed the space into a wonderland of abstracted modern advertising. It was the most challenging installation we've seen at the AcA.

Probably the most famous artist from Louisiana, George Rodrigue, showed a retrospective of his work at the AcA. It was overwhelming to be surrounded by the $30 million worth of artwork - installing it was quite an experience as well.

A recent exhibit, the Southern Open, displayed work by artists from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Around 400 artists submitted nearly 1000 works of art this year. 59 artists and 72 pieces of art were selected. Eleanor Heartney was the juror for the exhibition.

The previous Head Curator, Rose Courville, was responsible for these and many other great exhibits. She recently moved to Maryland with her husband, and I will miss working with her."





Great work all around!  If you would like to share information about an exhibition doing more with less, please contact me so I can let ExhibiTricks readers know about your projects as well.




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

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like movies!)

The Play Project

In a recent post about "Smaller IS Better" I asked for suggestions of museums doing innovative things in remote or smaller outposts, that normally don't get recognized. Megan Fischer from Providence Children's Museum, wrote to tell me about her museum's Play Power project.

Here's what Megan had to say:

Last fall, Providence Children's Museum opened Play Power, an exhibit celebrating the power of children's play. We've always talked to our visitors about the importance of play, but we made the message more deliberate with this exhibit - through labels (paper & video), a parent resource area & sheet, supporting programs, and more. We've included our play message in all we do - all print materials, e-newsletter, including PlayWatch (stories observed & reported by Museum staff & volunteers) in our newsletter.

We've also been doing a lot of outreach/advocacy work to get the message out beyond the Museum's walls:

• using our blog to link to articles & resources and give a behind-the-scenes look at the interesting things staff are doing & talking about.

• partnering with other local organizations to host community screenings of "Where Do The Children Play?" - a documentary about kids' lack of time & space for play, especially outdoors (click here for blog follow up to the most recent event)

• and just last month, launching a listserv that grew from the screenings - "PlayWatch: Connecting the Community to Promote Children's Play."

We've been able to bring together a lot of people who are having similar conversations to ours and the connections are great & growing. Up next - hoping to schedule a series informal community conversations, about various play & parenting topics that have come up on our listserv. I'm sending out a survey this week to find out what people are most interested in talking about.

Thanks to Megan and her colleagues for sharing their thoughtful approaches to advocating for play both inside and outside their museum.

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

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like movies!)

The LEGO® Millyard Project

Last week I wrote a post about "Smaller IS Better" and asked for suggestions of museums doing innovative things in remote or smaller outposts, that normally don't get recognized. I'm happy to say I got a tremendous response, and I will be sharing news of some of those interesting projects and people in future blog postings.

For now, I'd like to share with you some details about the LEGO® Millyard Project that's on display at the SEE Science Center in Manchester, New Hampshire. Douglas Heuser and Adele Maurier were kind enough to share the photos above and below, as well as this description of the project:

"Our LEGO Millyard project is a great example of what can be accomplished using volunteers and corporate partners. The project depicts the Amoskeag Millyard circa 1900, built with more than 3 million LEGO bricks and complete with running water and trains with mini-cams. We have created school programs around the project highlighting the science and technology of the mills. It has also changed the demographics of our visitors: older visitors are now coming to SEE, unaccompanied by children, just to check out the LEGO Millyard. "



More than 3 million LEGO bricks! I'd say that makes the SEE Science Center a "museum worth a special trip"! Let us know about some of your favorite "Smaller IS Better" museum projects in the Comments Section below or by dropping us an email.

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

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like movies!)

Smaller IS Better

So here's my two-part solution to solve the ever continuing museum money/funding crisis:

1) Stop building gigantic new museums.

2) Fund small "risky" projects instead of "safe" big projects.

Most big museums were unsustainable before the current "financial crisis" and even more so now. Not to mention that many gigundo museums are filled with pockets of mediocrity or plain lousiness that gets ignored or excused or even overlooked because there are other flashier, newer segments of the rest of their elephantine museum building complex.

So why do people keep building giant museums? Sheer ego and "edifice complex" as far as I can tell. It's a lot sexier to say you're building the "world's biggest and best museum" than to actually set up the infrastructure to ensure a continually growing and evolving institution that makes best use of both staff and community resources.

If you really want to see Museum 2.0/3.0/whatever happen, then museum workers and museum organizations should advocate for more, but smaller, museums spread throughout communities like public libraries --- heck why not have every museum (that's not already doing so) partner with a local library or community center to work on exhibits and programs together?

Now, funding.

Here's a modest proposal for NSF, IMLS, NEH and the rest of the governmental alphabet soup of funding agencies: alternate every year between funding "big" projects and "little" projects.

This would have the benefit of breaking the cycle of perpetually funding "The Usual Suspects" of the same batch of museums/designers/evaluators who get funded every grant cycle.
Which would be fine, if the "The Usual Suspects" were turning out wonderful field-changing exhibitions. But mostly the funding process has turned into a gravy train for folks doing the same sort of mediocre exhibitions over and over again.

Why couldn't NSF, for example, deliberately fund 15-20 large exhibition projects one cycle, then 50-60 small exhibition projects the next?

I think part of this big vs. small dichotomy is also an issue of exposure. There are many amazing, innovative museums and museum workers doing their thing in remote or smaller outposts, so they don't get recognized in the traditional incestuous museum conference/funding world.

So, I'm going to do my part to help change that exposure thing, and I need your help. Do you know of some cool projects happening at smaller "non-famous" museums, or do you know an up-and-coming whiz kid who hasn't been able to find a real full-time with benefits job in the museum business yet?

Send me an email at info@orselli.net so I can start giving these small places and some NOT the usual suspects some publicity and the attention they deserve.


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

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like movies!)