Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Thinking About Museums: Take 2
Given all the dynamics and complex issues at play with museums today, from the museum work "behind-the-scenes" to how museums connect with visitors and the outside world, how has your perception of museums changed now that you've taken this class? What was your favorite part of the course? And finally: what part of museum work most interests you as a potential career path and why? Please respond in at least four sentences with specifics by 5 pm, Monday, December 5, and thanks for all your posts on the Thinking Museums blog this semester!
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Prior to this class, I really just hadn't considered everything that goes into making an exhibition happen. I have always been interested in historical exhibitions, and I've loved going and experiencing them in person. I feel like I now have a much greater appreciation for the exhibition design. For example, when I went to visit the two exhibitions for the comparison essay, I found myself noticing so many details of the design that I had never considered or thought about as having significance. With that in mind, I think my favorite part of the class has been how much my eyes have been opened into the behind-the-scenes world of these shows that I have always loved going to. It's like watching special features for one of your favorite movies; having even more background information on this things that you enjoy can make the experience even more rewarding. In terms of a career path, I am most interested in working in museum public outreach. I'm not sure if this will mean the development (money) side or in trying to increase attendance/membership, but I would love to utilize communication skills to contribute in the museum field.
ReplyDeleteSomething I’d never really thought of before this class was how much consideration museums give to their visitors – from gallery talks and reward programs to the exhibition layout itself – and how difficult it can be to get people interested in visiting. Now, this is something that I think about any time I see posts from museums on social media, or hear of special events going on in a gallery space. Throughout our time in this class, my favorite part has been the overall hands-on approach to the aspects of museum work we’ve been discussing. For example, I remember so much more about registrar work and the process of filling out object condition reports from actually filling one out myself than I would take in if we only briefly talked about the report in lecture. In fact, that condition report got me thinking about registrar work as an option in the future – another thing I had never considered before. There’s something really appealing about the organization and attention to detail in the job, and that might be a direction I’d like to take working in a museum.
ReplyDeletePrior to this course museums seemed untouchable. Only focusing on one audience and not trying to connect with others. This class turned that around. I really feel like the behind the scenes try to connect everyone and even learned ways to do so. If I ever went down this career path I would want to work with a team creating community outreach and tying the museum into the community.
ReplyDeleteSince taking this class, my knowledge of the inner-workings of museums had drastically changed. I never knew how much goes into all the different aspects of keeping a museum, displaying its objects, storing them, and how many different job positions are needed to allow the museum to keep running successfully. My absolute favorite part of the course was going on the field trip to the Hirshorn and East Wing in Washington D.C. All semester our class has been learning about all the functions a museum serves when designing a space, and allowing it to be interactive for the audience. Visiting these two museums of art put me in the direct perspective of not only an audience member, but also the interpreted thought process of the museum staff. I was most interested in the overall design of the exhibits and how they were able to serve both symbolically and functionally. With that being said, the museum career which would interest me the most is definitely the role of exhibition designer. I have learned through this course that nothing in an exhibit is just loosely placed. Every object must have a thorough plan of where it must go and be able to enhance the visit of each person individually.
ReplyDeleteMy perception of museums hasn’t changed much since taking this class because I’ve talked about most of these issues in other classes before. However, I loved the condition report and the fake exhibition because I got to test out my knowledge of those areas of a museum in “real-life.” The exhibit really let me see which parts of the process I enjoy most and which I don’t think I ‘d want to do in real life. I know I don’t want to write wall labels or interpretation full time. I like curating and exhibition design the most. The exhibition design part surprised me a little even though it shouldn’t have; I built tiny villages and dollhouses and furniture my entire childhood, it just never occurred to me that exhibition design would be the same thing.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes have really been opened, and I feel like I have a better understanding of how museums operate and what it takes to run them. It was really exciting getting the behind-the-scenes look, and I now I feel like I have a better appreciation for museums and would definitely spend more time visiting them. I would have never considered becoming a member of a museum but now I would definitely think about it. If I was going to work in a museum, I would like to be a part of either the exhibition design or marketing departments. My major is graphic design and I would love to use my knowledge and skills to promote and design exhibitions.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this class was the field trip. Although I wasn't able to go on October 15th, I did go with my dad and we had an amazing time! Being able to visit a museum after learning so much of the behind-the-scenes work really made my experience better because I wasn't just appreciating the works, but also the building and employees.
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ReplyDeletePrior to taking this course, I was lost and confused as to where I was headed with a double major in Art History and Studio Art. This course has changed everything for me and has opened my eyes to the beautiful inner-workings of museums, something that I had never given much thought to previously. I have always loved visiting museums, but now I have a greater appreciation for all the effort that it takes to bring a show together. I loved every aspect of this class, especially the final exhibition project. I enjoyed collaborating with my other group members and using both creative and critical thinking skills. I am most interested in a curatorial or exhibition design path, but would love if there was a position that integrated both. As a studio art major, I see these two paths as parallel to the creation of a piece of art in that the curation of works of art or historical artifacts is similar to finding the mediums for a piece of art and putting them together to produce meaning. Further, exhibition design and the way you want your art displayed and interpreted for the audience is something every artist must consider. In this way, I believe that a path including some form of content creation and design is something I wish to pursue.
ReplyDeleteBefore taking this class I didn’t really think about the problems that museums faced and how much work and thinking were put into every single detail. I didn’t realize museums were competing for the free time of public (since for me and my family going to museums has always been one of the top choices for how to spend our free time) and were constantly trying to find new ways to attract more people. I think my favorite part was learning about different job opportunities in museums, and what those job positions entail. Just like the position of registrar, which I found to be quite fascinating and perfectly suitable for my introvert personality. It seems very interesting to work with actual objects, to be their "guard" so to speak and to be knowledgeable about every single piece in the collection.
ReplyDeleteMy perception of museums changed a lot after taking the class. I didn’t know that visitors play such important roles in museums. Museums have to consider their visitors all the time, knowing who the target audience is, how the audience learns in museums, and how to assess an exhibition’s impact on the audience. It’s also interesting to know that every person going to museums for different reasons. After taking this class, I paid a lot of attention to visitors’ engagement when I went to the museums in DC during the Thanksgiving break. I evaluated the effectiveness of interactive devices and took note of whether visitors can share their ideas in the museums. My favorite part of the course is the time in class. I really like the lecture, in which the professor raises many intriguing questions to stimulate me to consider the things I have never thought of. I also enjoy listening to the classmates sharing their opinions and experience in class. If I have chance to work in a museum, I’d like to be a curator. I’m in charge of writing wall labels and designing exhibition for the final project. I enjoyed doing a lot of research on the artists, finding connections among them and interpret every artwork to fit the main ideas of our exhibition. I really like the concept that a curator might see something that the artists don’t see in their own works.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot about the different jobs that are involved in museums that I did not know about. Where I previously knew about curators and design jobs, I've learned about registrars, development/fundraising, even education as all separate departments, which was very cool - I did not realize there were so many different jobs involved in museum work. My favorite part of the course was getting to design our own exhibit; I think it was a very cool assignment that allowed us to get a hands-on approach to the skills we learned. I also enjoyed the guest lecturers. Before the class, I was interested in curating. Now I'm also really interested in registrar job. I also really liked the fundraising and marketing jobs we learned about. I've taken stats and grant writing classes, and it's so interesting to see that those skills I learned could be applied to museum work as well.
ReplyDeleteI want to start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this class. My perception of museums has changed by thinking more heavily of the future of museums. It is interesting to consider the current condition and routine of museums compared to our modern world. Museums must change to accommodate the future. My favorite part of the course was learning about the education department because that is what I am interesting in. I loved learning about the growth the education department has experienced in the past few years and the importance of it in the future. The education/interpretive department is what interests me most in a career path because I am passionate about people experiencing art in the best way that they learn. I believe that everyone; regardless of their social class, abilities, diversity, and/or education; deserves a personal museum experience and this can be accomplished through interpretation. I am studying Art Education here and hope to teach on the high school level for a few years. Then I hope to be apart of a museum’s education/interpretation department to further develop and expand the museum experience.
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ReplyDeletePrior to taking this course, I had a sort of vague understanding that museums had a number of interactive, working parts, but that they essentially required some sort of basic business-like structure involving marketing and donation or collection of work to simply function. For whatever reason, I didn’t realize how similar in structure non-profit (and even for-profit) museums are in terms of organization to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Apart from learning just how multifarious and interactive the individual jobs within a museum network can become, I really enjoyed the condition report as well as the section on exhibition design and creating a scale model of our group’s exhibition. Relating to that, I think exhibition design stands out as a possible career path of interest due to the fact that at its root, the designer is creating an experience for the viewer in a visible way, just not to a degree wherein that experience interferes with conveying the artists’ intended message.
Going to a museum will never be the same after taking this class. Before, visits were pretty straightforward: admire the artwork, read about the artifact, and follow the flow of the exhibit. Now, I feel like I have a greater understanding and especially an appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into the museum. Instead of looking the objects for what they are, I see them as representations of a team of museum employees collaborating to think of the best way to share this artifact or painting with visitors. My favorite part of the course was designing our own exhibits because it was learning in application. Hands on assignments always take the learning process to the next level because you really have to think critically about readings, lectures, and assignments in order to apply them to your project. I’ve always thought the curatorial department was for me because I like to handle the “stuff” and really would like to inspire visitors with the objects on display, but now I’m really interested in the education department. They seem to interact with a wide variety of people – not just students, but also adults. I like the idea of creating school programs and public events or even writing curriculum in order to share what a museum has to offer. It is an up and coming department, and one I think holds a valuable space in the museum world because of the impact it can have on the learning process of younger kids and also to re-inspire adults who may have lost touch with certain parts of culture.
ReplyDeleteMy perception of museums has changed greatly by taking this class. It has opened my eyes to all the different career opportunities and the numerous departments within a museum. Prior to taking the class I had no idea of the many different paths I could take and the work required behind the scenes. My favorite part of the course was the exhibition project because it allowed us to be creative and take what we learned in lectures and discussions and get the opportunity to really learn what it takes to be a part of different departments. It also taught me about the important aspect of collaboration and teamwork that is required in museums. The part of museum work that interests me the most is the curatorial department because I enjoy writing and researching the background information about objects and art works placed in the museum. I am also interested in the marketing department because I love the idea of writing promotional material and helping to bring attendance into the museum to ensure its success. This class has been enjoyable and I have learned a great deal about the hard work required of museums in order to be successful.
ReplyDeleteI think I've learned a lot about the dynamics of a museum. There are a lot of factors I hadn't considered in the daily function of a museum. My favorite part of the class was the field trip, but I also really enjoyed the exhibition project. Because of this class I'm interested in possibly being a registrar one day.
ReplyDeleteI've learned a lot about the ins and outs of the museum world. There are so many roles played in a functioning museum. My perception has definitely changed on museums, the job opportunities are very diverse and require so many different skill sets. It was fascinating to learn in detail about the different positions within a museum. I thoroughly enjoyed the field trip, as well as the condition report. It opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming a registrar, or something related to collections management. I'm very organized and enjoy analyzing work, so I feel it might be a good fit for me. I genuinely enjoyed this class, and feel like I learned so much relevant and valuable knowledge that can apply to my future.
ReplyDeleteAfter being in this class my perception of museums has grown immensely. I came into this course knowing little about the how museums really function and how they connect with visitors in order to engage as many people as possible. I now see how challenging and complicated, but also very rewarding working in a museum can be. My favorite part of the course was the Exhibition Project. I liked this the most because designing our own show allowed us to be involved in all aspect of a museum. We got to explore the different positions within museum that are necessary to its success. After learning about the many fields of museum work I honestly feel like I would be happy and continue to grow and learn in any position but the curatorial department interest me the most. Being able to handle and interpret objects, create and design shows, and interacting with artists would be an influential career path. I also feel that being a curator allows you to dabble in some of other museum work fields like exhibit design, and education.
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