New Klee-Shea Children's Museum Project!

I wanted to share this exclusive blog post with ExhibiTricks readers about the new Klee-Shea Children's Museum (KSCM) project which hosted a virtual reality groundbreaking ceremony at midnight on March 31, 2020.

Spokesperson Jay Ochs informed me that the full name of the new museum will be the Klee-Shea Discovertorium Incrediblarium Children's Museum, named after the renowned community leader and paper goods heiress Dr. Kleemona Necks (known to everyone by her childhood name, "Klee") and her beloved 63-year old pet tortoise, Shelly, affectionately called "Shea".

Billed as a "world-class" institution unique in the entire museum field, some of the exciting new experiences that will be featured in the first-ever LEED Adamantium building include:


• A Holographic Mini-Grocery Store Area: using state-of-the-art haptic laser projection equipment, young shoppers will be able to fill their carts with realistic simulations of grocery products, thus easily resolving the need for KCSM staff to keep re-stocking the shelves after excited children jam every object into their carts, and eliminating sanitation concerns.

• Bowling Ball Pit: highlighting the "outside the box" thinking of Brooklyn-based exhibit design firm Boughess, this one-of-a-kind experience will allow young visitors to test their cooperation and risk-taking skills while at the same time also participating in fun and healthy strength training.

• "Feelings" Room: During initial testing, Klee-Shea staff realized that on rare occasions, exhibits would break or malfunction. Rather than immediately repairing these components, the museum will gather the non-working components into a dimly-lit area where unsuspecting children can discover feelings of frustration by attempting to make these non-operational exhibits work.

As spokesperson Ochs explained how all visitors would exit through the Klee-Shea Gift Shop (with products ranging from rubber dinosaur erasers to multi-thousand dollar telescopes that nobody will ever buy) he shared initial thoughts on the Museum's upcoming "soft opening" party when the entire facility will be filled with foam pillows and bags of marshmallows will be given to the first 500 people in line.

To find out more about this exciting project, follow the link to the Klee-Shea Children's Museum website.



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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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Let's turn "Work From Home" time into new Museum FAQ Videos!

Now that COVID-19 has turned almost every museum worker into a telecommuter, I have an idea for something that could build a resource for colleagues around the world.

Let's use our "work from home" time into creating a set of Museum FAQ videos to share with each other.

A little background -- last year I started a short-video series called Museum FAQ to provide answers to frequently asked questions I often received from clients, peers, and Emerging Museum Professionals (EMPs).

Here's an example Museum FAQ video you can view on YouTube.

Now that so many of us are working from home wouldn't it be great to create a "reference library" of free videos on museum/exhibit/design questions like, "What makes a great museum label?" or "How can I shift static content into interactive exhibit activities?" or "What's a simple unguided Maker Space activity?"  You get the idea.

I'm happy to set up times to plan and record simple Zoom conversations between myself and museum colleagues to create new Museum FAQ videos to share freely on YouTube.

If that sounds like something you'd like to be part of, please email me at info@orselli.net so we can get started!



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"

Your Museum Moment of Zen #MuseumMomentofZen

Perhaps in this time of uncertainty and pandemic, what we need is a Museum Moment of Zen or #MuseumMomentofZen (like the image at the top of this post via the Denver Botanic Gardens.)

via The Broad Museum

Now on Twitter and Instagram you can search for #MuseumMomentofZen and find images that various museums from around the world have contributed.

via The Cleveland Museum of Art

So, take a deep breath and enjoy a moment (or several moments) of Museum Zen.

via The Whitney Museum of American Art

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"

Beverly Serrell's Big Idea eBook

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Beverly Serrell about the release of her new "Big Idea" eBook. You can find the video of our conversation on YouTube or embedded below. In the 20-minute video, Beverly discusses at length her reasons for making the eBook, the process, and many challenges of working in the digital realm.

The eBook is about the “Big Idea,” a tool for exhibit developers, whether you've been in the museum exhibition business for a long time or you are part of the new generation. With a good big idea, the development of an exhibition will go more smoothly from the start.

Beverly worked with Paul Rodriguez to create an eBook packed with 37 pages of colorful dynamic content, offering rationales, definitions, and examples, plus exercises and discussions. (And lemurs!)

You can order your own copy of the Big Idea eBook here, or enter our FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY! 

Here's how to enter to win one of two free copies of Beverly's new eBook --  either click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog OR send an email with "I want to win a copy of the Big Idea eBook!" in the subject line before March 20, 2020.  We will randomly select one new ExhibiTricks subscriber and one emailer to each receive a Big Idea eBook as their prize.  Good luck!




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"

Creative Juxtaposition: Nick Cave AND Nick Cave

Today's post is about two masterfully creative people, each named Nick Cave (pictured above.)

Nick Cave is an artist who is known for using sound in his work, most notably in his multifaceted pieces called "Soundsuits."

Nick Cave is a musician who brings an artistic sensibility to his deeply strange and personal musical compositions.

Here is a YouTube video of Nick Cave speaking about the artistic choices he made while creating a particular Soundsuit, now on display at The Smithsonian.  Nick Cave's work rewards careful observation.





Here is a YouTube video of one of Nick Cave's songs called "Girl in Amber." (You can read more about the background of the song on another Nick Cave website called "The Red Hand Files.")





After exploring each Nick Cave's work, I'm struck by some commonalities:

• The work of each Nick Cave is informed by their own personal experiences, shared in ways that resonate and connect them to their viewers/listeners.

• Nick Cave's work pays strict attention to seemingly small details, that really do add up to create a greater whole.

• Each artist creates a visual and sonic environment that defies easy categorization.  In fact, each Nick Cave is his own category.


And wouldn't we all like to bring these elements into our own creative work?



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"

Revisiting Hayao Miyazaki's Museum Manifesto

I am traveling through Belgium with my family this week, so here is a post that makes me think of a place I have yet to travel to -- the Ghibli Museum in Japan!  But really this "encore" post is a chance to revisit Hayao Miyazaki and his "Museum Manifesto."  Enjoy!

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".) He also has created one of my all-time favorite museum manifestos, which I think is worth revisiting from time to time.

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 Hayao 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?



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"