Roving Blog

In response to the challenge…what will you do tomorrow in your museum that is different from today?……… I developed what I call a roving blog.

I am a proponent of the belief that visitors to our museums are often involved in reminiscing as the main way they are connecting to our collections. It is the way that many visitors decide whether we, as an institution, are relevant to them.

Reminiscence is an area of much recent research and an international body, the IIRLR is based out of the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Its mandate is:

The International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review (IIRLR) brings together participants to further define reminiscence and life review as an interdisciplinary field of study in the areas of practice, research, education, volunteer and individual application. http://www.reminiscenceandlifereview.org/

My roving blog was a way to introduce personal reminiscence into the galleries. For example, this reminiscence of my walk along a Spirit Path in China was placed in the Chinese Sculpture court for anyone to read.

Roving Blog      May 24, 2012

My experience on the Sacred Way.

The early Ming tomb we visited in Nanjing, China is set out in a beautiful lush parkland at the foot of Purple Mountain.  It was a calm, warm day in October. Fresh from Mid-autumn festival activities, with moon cakes stuffed in our carry bags, we hopped on the connecting mini-bus from the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial. The bus snaked deeper into the forest along a winding road, leaving the hub-bub and crowds behind. My guide told me that most Chinese would not take the time to visit this grave of the first Ming emperor from the 13^th century. Of course, I was fascinated.

I walk daily amongst portions of a late Ming tomb half a world away.

And who would not adore these pair of guardian elephants. The kilometre long path was tranquil. What a fabulous place to have for one’s final rest. The Emperor and his wife are buried in a hillside behind this temple, with a water moat surrounding the compound.

These days small shops offering food and souvenirs are respectfully located along the path. You must step over a protective barrier to start your journey down the Sacred Way to the Emperor’s tomb.

end of roving blog………………

More on the uses and benefits of reminiscence in future blog postings.

Preview of Ultimate Dinosaur programming

photo copyright : Lorie Pierce

From a simple digital photo (above) to a 30 piece magnetic jigsaw puzzle (below).

Via http://www.headsuppuzzles.com

 

Centering

For many years, I have done two things daily to help remain calm and centred.

1. I have fossils around me. There’s nothing better than having the evidence of a life that lived on this planet hundreds of millions of years ago, to put my brief life in perspective.

2. I visit APOD* daily to see a new glimpse of the universe (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod). Love seeing Saturn up close thanks to Cassini space probe

APOD photo from archive March 2011

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* Astronomy Picture of the Day

The use of LEGO in museum programs – yeah or nay?

LEGO….seriously ?

As I set about looking for models to supplement museum program activities, the idea of using LEGO came to me. I didn’t have to go far to bring it to mind as half finished pieces pop up around my house on a regular basis. My spouse is a keen builder and I have several kits under my belt.

As engaging as most of the LEGO themes are, they do not impart the sense of accuracy that one would require in museum-based programming. Take for example the bazooka toting theropod wrangler in the latest Dinosaur series.

photo source : LEGO.ca

But the draw of kids to LEGO is a strong one. Those coloured little bricks captivate them. And I have seen shy children, initially apprehensive at joining museum activities, connect immediately when a LEGO model is in view.

For the record, I am not talking about the activity of LEGO construction at this point (although I have seen this done with pyramid building with great success). Rather, I am discussing here the use of already constructed LEGO models as a featured talking point in theme programming.

For a recent Ancient Egypt program, I used the central portion of the Ramses Pyramid game to represent the Step Pyramid of Djoser – the first stone pyramid ever constructed.

And for the Medieval Europe event, the LEGO Kingdom’s Blacksmith Attack will be used to illustrate the blacksmith’s forge and armour construction. It has a movable waterwheel and anvil.

The premise of this product is this scenario (taken from LEGO promotion) :

“Help! The village is under attack and the evil Dragon Knight is trying to take weapons from the blacksmith’s workshop. Can the brave blacksmith stop him from stealing them?”

Of course, arm to arm combat between blacksmith and knight is not the type of learning situation we want to incorporate in our event.  So we will edit out the ‘attack’ mode of the model and promote the close relationship there was between a blacksmith and a knight. After all, it could take up to one year to create a suit of armour, many fittings to tailor it to the individual and a whack of money to pay for it. That’s a more compelling story.

So should you use LEGO?

I would recommend it. Here’s how.

Take a look at all the products and see if there is enough in each kit to be able to use as a model to complement your theme.

1. Build the model as the kit recommends then take a good look at it in its 3D format. You may see it differently from what you imagined from the box photo. (note : some LEGO stores have pre-built models on display and some images on the website can be seen from several views)
2. Edit. Take away any extraneous parts of the model or game, leaving only what clearly supports your program theme.
3. Consider gluing some of the smaller pieces together so they do not walk away during your program. However, having some small parts that move or come open (eg. taking the top off the pyramid to look inside) can add to the interaction.

Have fun with LEGO. It’s a crowd-pleaser.

Programming as an adventure

I’m sure I learned about Medieval Europe in grade 9 or 10, but not much of that early training is memorable. Instead, I fall back on visual portrayals such as movies and TV shows for my knowledge of what happened during those times. So I probably owe most of my understanding to Monty Python’s The Holy Grail. After all, I attended its first showing in Toronto and was given a coconut on my way in.

So to consider staging a Medieval Europe event as an Outreach program for my museum was a bit daunting. But soon I discovered that the act of conceiving and planning the program was a process of discovery itself.

First, I took off for the European Gallery. What artifacts, signage and multi-media content could give me inspiration? Then I dug out the notes I copied down anytime I heard a curator speak on subjects like ‘motte and bailey’ castle design.

I turned to photos of my latest travel adventure in Ireland. Next came DVDs and books from the public library, and google-driven explorations into the cyber-world.

Blarney Castle photo copyright : Lorie Pierce

Slowly the program has taken shape. It will include:

• a three part challenge to become a Knight
• design your own coat of arms on a bristol board shield
• learn the Nine Man’s Morris boardgame and build one out of an old CD case
• learn about crown jewels and then decorate your own crown
• how castles were built for defence and how to use a trebuchet (catapult)
• online games to build a castle, enter a jousting match (via Wifi)
• plus a toddler’s area where castles can be built from plastic blocks
• a touch table of artifacts from the Medieval Europe Edukit (http://www.rom.on.ca/schools/edukits.php)

The program will develop and be refined as our Outreach team gathers tomorrow for our prep meeting and ultimately tests the activities with families at Ronald McDonald House. Of course, no program is complete without feedback afterwards. Not every activity will end up working as well as one imagines during the concept stage. Not to worry. There are always ideas to substitute. After all, the Medieval world lasted for centuries and included more than Europe. There is a vast vista yet to be discovered.

 

Welcome to Museum Talk

This blog is intended to connect people who work or volunteer in museums with ideas for connecting with their audience. You may wish to follow one or more of the tags.

New Directions

Give me encouragement and this is what happens. After a Director-sanctioned session on “No Idea too Ridiculous” I’ve become emboldened to try some things out.

I will be sharing my attempts at innovation in this blog…..but I will tweet them as they are happening @CreativeLorie

Program Ideas

Plus this will be a repository of thoughts, activities, approaches and links to new programming directions.

From the inside

From time to time, I will be blogging musings on my life within and outside the museum.

Hope you will join in the conversations.