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Dear Friends,
Welcome to the first issue of OnExhibit, our electronic newsletter for Jan Crocker LLC. I hope this newsletter is a place where you can get a glimpse into some of our new projects, make connections with interesting and creative friends, experience some of the places we've visited and contribute articles of your own. Please let me know your thoughts about this first issue of On Exhibit, and please, send me your suggestions and articles for future issues. We want to hear what's new in your world. Happy summer!  jan@jancrockerllc.com |
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Museums and Controversy:
A Two-Part Session at AAM
by Maureen McConnell
It is up to you to choose the traveling exhibitions for your museum. What would you and your institution decide to do if one these exhibit opportunities came knocking?
Example 1: You are the historical society of Columbine. The 10th anniversary of the
Columbine Massacre is coming up. Should you begin collecting artifacts
and documentation? How will you approach the community? Should you
consider developing an exhibition on this topic? Example 2:
You are a science museum and are thinking about developing an
exhibition about obesity in America. Will you do it? You have
approached some potential sponsors like Jenny Craig and Weightwatchers.
Weightwatchers has offered to fund the whole project in return for
prominent billing on all advertisements. What do you decide about this? Example 3: Columbian artist Fernando Botero's Abu Ghraib exhibition is offered to your art museum for free - you only pay insurance and installation costs. The exhibition contains about 100 drawings and paintings of prisoners and guards at the Abu Grahib prison. The paintings are based on written accounts of the treatment of prisoners by US guards and interrogators. Will you accept it? Why or why not?  At a double conference session at the American Association of Museums (AAM) conference last May, Gretchen Jennings, editor of the museum journal Exhibitionist, and I gave participants the opportunity to role-play the decision-making involved in these scenarios following a presentation from speakers who have experienced similar situations. In addition to Gretchen and myself, the AAM panel included Jack Rasmussen, currently the Director of the American University Museum in Washington DC, and Daniel Spock, Director of the Minnesota History Museum in St. Paul. The first session was a forum-type discussion among the speakers about the issues raised by controversial topics. In the second session attendees dove into the case studies. After drawing role assignments such as "board member", "museum director", "curator" or "marketing head" participants had to argue the decision from the point of view of their characters.  The Abu Ghraib case produced a particularly charged discussion. Unlike the other scenarios, this was not just a hypothetical venue. Jack Rasmussen was the only museum director in the United States to accept and display this controversial art exhibition. Jack brought catalogs from the Botero show, and joined the table of participants discussing the case. "The debate was remarkably similar to real discussions we had at the AU museum," said Jack after the session. "We nearly rejected the show. It was the fact that we were a university museum, and a university with a reputation for activism, that finally carried the day." Gretchen and I have proposed a similar session for AAM's conference in LA. It is our hope that ongoing practice in discussing difficult topics will keep us all from immediately turning away when the next opportunity knocks at the museum door. A PDF of The Unexhibitable: A Conversation published in Exhibitionist can be downloaded at: The Unexhibitable: A Conversation
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Deb and Lynn's Amazing California Adventure
in Two Parts
by Deborah Sovinee
Lynn Baum and I were making plans to head to California for a retreat on creativity and collaboration. Friends who always seem to be in the know told us emphatically that as long as we were headed that way we should be sure not to miss Maker Faire. We say, "Great, sign us up!" Somewhere over Indiana we finally ask the question "What is Maker Faire?"
Part 1: Maker Faire
As defined on their website, Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. They call these people Makers.
This definition does not even begin to describe the experience of mingling with thousands of people whose views of the world are made visual by how and what they create.
Held on the expansive fair grounds in San Mateo, Maker Faire brought together a huge diversity of people - from techies and machine tool folks to crafts people to homegrown foodies. Even the Mentos-and-Diet-Coke Guys showed up. As we walked through the grounds, giant metal sculptures moved in the wind, seesaws played music as they were propelled up and down, and a life-sized Mouse Trap game was put into action with full-sized bowling balls.
To me the most fascinating aspect of Maker Faire was learning about the Steam Punk Movement. Like Maker Faire in general this was new to me. I got the sense that Steam Punk is the meshing of high tech with steam technology wrapped in a Victorian aesthetic. Add in a bit of fantasy or science fiction and the results are some wonderful and inventive creations.
Two memorable Steam Punk images are still with me. One, a steam-powered motorcycle with beautiful woodwork puttering around the fair grounds; the other, an elegantly displayed lap top computer fitted with beautiful, old typewriter keys rebuilt into an intricately designed wood-crafted case.
When wearing my designer hat I can't help but think that Steam Punk is to Hi-Tech what the Arts and Crafts movement was to industrialization. The Arts and Crafts movement was driven by people trying to reconnect with nature and beauty in reaction to the cold, impersonal sensibilities created by rapid industrialization. Steam punk seems to be an attempt to transport us back to a more elegant era where technology and beauty could co-exist.
Part 2: Creativity and Collaboration
Our time at Maker Faire set the stage for the second part of the journey - the Creativity and Collaboration Retreat organized by AAM in collaboration with NAME (National Association for Museum Exhibition) held in beautiful Asilomar State Park in Monterey.
The two-and-a-half days in Asilomar were very much a creative camp. Over 100 attendees arrived from the full spectrum of museums, large and small, meshing history, art, culture and science. Others making the pilgrimage came from a variety of museum-related independent companies. What we all had in common was a hunger to immerse ourselves in creative projects solely for the act of being together to play with ideas and think about things in new ways. Creative leaders from entertainment, gaming, science and art industries led the way presenting us with a feast of choices. Five extended workshops were offered. It was our challenging task to select the 3 sessions each of us would attend.
I really had a wonderful time in the workshop Making Metaphorical Machines led by Mike Petrich and Karen Wilkenson of the Exploratorium. We began with basic concepts that seemed mundane at the outset - the usual batteries, bulbs and wires. However, the introduction of unexpected materials - in this case severed dolls' heads, feather boas, stuffed animals and jewelry - created a jarring juxtaposition of concept and form.
However, the highlight for me was the workshop led by Burning Man founder Harley DuBois. Harley led a full day event with groups working in shifts to create a shrine devoted to loss. We were given pieces of wood in a variety of shapes and charged with the task of making a suitable edifice culminating in a group bonfire. It felt fitting for our group, many of whom were experiencing professional or personal loss over the past year, to honor each other in this way.
In the end we did, indeed, feel recharged and rejuvenated. Now we just need to keep all that creative energy going until the next retreat.
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Don Salvatore, Founder of Backyard Biology
by Lynn Baum
Don Salvatore has been a colleague and friend for many years. He has spent the last 30 years at the Museum of Science and elsewhere, captivating people with his stories about the natural world. With his special devotion to all things 6 and 8 legged, Don has come to be known as the Bug Man.
Most recently Don's focus has been on his newly developed website, Backyard Biology: Nature Stories from my Backyard and Beyond. His life-long goal is to help us all become better caretakers of our environment. Don believes that the first step is to take a closer look at what is right outside our backdoor.
Connected to both his work at the Museum of Science and Backyard Biology are his projects with Citizen Science. This is a "grassroots" initiative that lets everyone get involved with the environment by learning to observe the natural world and collect data on what they see.
I recently sat down with Don, in my bug-laden backyard one afternoon to ask a few questions.
Why did you start Backyard Biology?
In 1993 I started writing nature articles for the North and South River Watershed association. I wanted to introduce our readers to the really neat wildlife that was right here in the watershed. I wanted these stories to focus on things people might not notice. So I decided I was not going to write about birds and mammals. Instead I wrote about smaller, and less noticed creatures like insects, bacteria and plants. There are fascinating stories to be told about the parts of nature we tend to walk right by.
For example, did you know that trees can communicate with each other?
I learned that when trees are being chewed on by insects they will produce a chemical that gives off a scent. This scent will get blown downwind to other trees, alerting them and causing them to start producing their own defensive chemicals.
So I had all these stories and I wanted to share them beyond the watershed members. I hope, through my website, people will start to notice and appreciate what is in their backyards and beyond. Every living organism has an interesting story to tell if we pay attention.
What is Citizen Science?
Citizen Science refers to data -collecting projects that are happening all over the country. Non-scientist volunteers help scientists collect data for their research.
There are lots of different Citizen Science projects. The Audubon Bird Counts are probably the oldest running project. Right now I am involved with a citizen science project to collect data on fireflies that was initiated by Maureen McConnell of Jan Crocker LLC and the web team at the Museum of Science.
Why fireflies?
People love fireflies. This makes fireflies a great way to help people connect with the natural world and provide some needed data collection at the same time. People are noticing that they are not seeing as many fireflies in their neighborhoods as they did in the past. With this ready interest we partnered with some researchers to begin a Citizen Science project helping people to really observe some neat things about fireflies. For example, did you know that they are different kinds of fireflies that have different color lights? Or that they send out light signals to deliberately confuse other fireflies? The website has more information and the directions to sign up.
How did you get interested in natural history and, especially, bugs?
I grew up in and around the water and I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist. When I was in college I got a job at the Trailside Museum in Milton, MA and was told I had to lead nature walks. I didn't know anything about nature except marine life, which didn't seem that useful for walking in the woods. I figured that people didn't know about insects and ferns so that is what I would learn. What really turned me on was reading a book by Henri Fabre - Life of the Hunting Wasp. He taught me that there is so much more to natural history than learning the names of plants and animals. It is their life stories that make nature study so interesting. Every living organism has an incredible tale of survival to tell. The fun comes in discovering these stories.
What was one of your greatest natural disasters?
When I was a young college kid at the Trailside Museum we had a red squirrel named Linus who was quite tame. He would stay on my body running around in and out of my pocket, treating me just like a tree. While I walked around the museum talking to visitors Linus would be with me.
On one particular day I was chatting with two elderly ladies who happened to be visiting the museum. For some reason Linus fell off me and ran up the leg of one of these ladies - right under her dress. She was quite upset as you can imagine. Moments later Linus ran down her leg, looked out and ran right back up. What should I do? Help or run? As with many traumatic events, to this day I cannot remember how I separated Linus from the woman but the memory of the incident is with me forever.
Do you ever have an impulse to stomp a bug?
If it is seeking me out for a blood meal I am happy to stomp it out, like deer ticks, mosquitoes - other than that - no.
For the youth perspective of Don check out his interview with The Kids Post of The Washington Post. The interview appears on July 21. |
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Designing a webcast for the
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vermont
by Maureen McConnell
A maritime museum in Central Vermont?
That was our first response when Larry Koolkin, Vice President of Jan Crocker LLC, first proposed the idea of designing a webcast for the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM).
We thought of Vermont as a landlocked state. But, as Larry explained, in colonial times Vermont's Lake Champlain provided a water passage between the St. Lawrence and the Hudson Valleys. Later, the construction of the Champlain Canal allowed commerce to travel by water all the way from New York City through central Vermont to Montreal, Quebec.
Commercial water traffic was heavy in the 18th and 19th centuries, and our fascination grew as Larry explained that because of the preservation quality of the cold depths there are actually more well preserved wooden shipwrecks at the bottom of Lake Champlain than in any other body of water in North America.
Over 300 shipwrecks have been identified in Lake Champlain, and LCMM is the steward of them all, locating, recording, cataloging and filming them using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to monitor their preservation status over time.
Working with the educators and archaeologists at the Lake Champlain Museum, our task was to help design and produce the first in a series of webcasts for schools in the Vermont and New York state area. This first webcast would serve as the guiding template for future programs. Funding was provided by a grant to the Museum from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to build digital archives of the Lake's wrecks and to make that material publicly available.
At the museum's invitation, we joined a boatload of 3rd and 4th  graders
on one of the Museum's unique
ROV Shipwrecks! Tours. Our quarry was the Champlain II, a steam paddlewheeler that ran aground in 1875.
Once the shipwreck site was reached, and the ROV deployed, the robotic camera sent back real-time video to an on-board monitor. Along with amazed teachers and students we shared the vessel's dramatic story as told to us by Sarah Lyman, LCMM's Director of Education.
November's webcast will include a virtual shipwreck tour for the school audience tuning in from their classrooms. Adding to the significance of this first presentation, the webcast will visit a shipwreck never before seen by the public, the schooner, Sarah Ellen. This ship was lost in deep water during a dramatic winter storm in 1849. Upright on the bottom, with masts intact and her painted name still legible on her stern, the Sarah Ellen will be the centerpiece of the webcast's exploration of the history and nautical archaeology of Lake Champlain.
In addition to the underwater tour, this first webcast will include a brief tour of the Museum grounds, an historic storytelling of the sinking of the Sarah Ellen, and a peek inside the labs of the Museum's Nautical Archeology Center.
The first webcast will take place November 2009. The webcasts will be archived and accessible on the LCMM website.
For more information on the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, its Shipwrecks! tours and webcasts, visit their website.
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