Analysis: The Night Of The Museum

The goal of any business is to make a profit, museums are no different. Capture hearts, attention, and pocketbooks. The museum curators must choose artifacts and things to feature in exhibits that will allure and attract guests and bring profit to the museum. The two problems facing museums success is “money and management’’ (source A, Rockefeller). The excerpt from an autobiography written by a fellow Rockefeller highlights the fiscal burden the management of a museum inflicts upon the owners. With the lack of support from trustees, who showed more support toward some “exhibitions, acquisitions, and programs.” rather than others, the Museum of Modern Arts floundered under pressure creating a endless financial cycle featuring deficits, debt,

When a museum has prestige on a national level, they can be under high scrutiny of exhibits or objects displayed by the public. Controversial topics, for example, the Enola Gay exhibit, has left historians hesitant and confused on how to create exhibits with correct history, but also not upsetting any individual who were involved with said history. Historians have a trying task of addressing both sides of a historical event, even though it might depict individuals in an unflattering way. A historian is not allowed to have a bias for events, this could have an impact on the way an exhibit is created. Another point that was brought to light in Bunch’s article was museums have the ability to educate the public, so difficult topics should not be

Cooper states that “museums came to understand that their unique educational ability was that of object-based learning...the possession of objects made museums different” (65). I tend to agree with that statement with some caveats. Firstly, object-based learning can happen without collections. Secondly, is the additional unique opportunity potential for lifelong learning. The museum is a place that can assist, contrast, or provide learning at every stage of a person’s life. For instance, the Mission museums in California are a resource for public elementary school curriculum (Dartt-Newton 97). As people of all ages from the public look to museums as an educational authority, the material presented needs to be as scrutinized as any other

This internship focused on education within the five part museum system. My role included giving tours of the Art on Campus Collection and helping with programming. Giving tours of the Art on Campus Collection allowed me to connect with students from different majors and teach them the practice and benefits of Visual Literacy. Facilitating these tours allowed me to develop skills to better accommodate the varying learning needs of students. This internship also consisted of helping plan and implement programs and events. I assisted in planning events and programs for the museums to connect students with art and helped in planning aspects of classes including one on

I have not yet had the opportunity to gain experience working in a museum; the ability to gain this type of knowledge is both something I look forward to and will be crucial when I begin looking for employment. Since the archaeology of ancient Greece and Rome had been by main area of study and I would enjoy an internship where I could continue to work in these areas. The many museums which Seattle offers are another contributing factor in choosing the Museology program. My experiences in both Boston and Greece have taught me the benefits of living in an area with easy access to museums and other cultural institutions. The ability to visit a museum, which has objects that pertain to what you are studying, allows for more in-depth learning and can be immensely helpful in

Overall, subjectivity is very important to this non-fiction article, it allows the reader to get a taste of what the museum may feel like, what emotions they may feel,

In Steven Lubar’s book, Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present, the recurring idea that museums are “more than the sum of their parts” plays a critical role in the overall argument (329). Lubar notes many aspects that make up a museum, the collection, for example is an essential part of any museum, but the community, as well as the experiences of the patrons create a lasting museum experience. Additionally, Lubar aptly utilizes real-world examples, contemporary and historical, highlighting the work of individuals in museums and establishing a connection between past and current events. Central to this narrative is the example of the lost Jenks Museum. Lubar uses this museum to argue that museums of the past can educate museum goers

To me, museums serve as trains that deliver goods that are arts to people. Art can be perceived as a mean to entertains our life, reflects customs and communicates thoughts, ideas and emotions and it’s museums job that bring them closer to people. There is a huge difference when it came to seeing the artwork in person and seeing the artwork from a book or website and magazine. You will never be able to feel a piece properly when you see it in the textbook, you will never understand how the color was put together and what is the meaning behinds it, you won’t see how the lines and curves are blend together to make the painting look perfect and how strong that art can affect you in emotion. Many people nowadays don’t even bother watching the art themselves, they rather listening to what critics have to say about the works in their own perspective and can’t even make a decision themselves whether or not they should see the arts. “An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance”, in my opinion, I think we will never know what is good until we see it

Throughout the experience, I learned the importance and care of working with an artifact along with operations within a museum. As I toured Heartland Museum, I witnessed all of the items that are stored behind the scenes because museums only keep a small percentage of the belongings on display. I also learned about the process of creating a display, which includes piecing together many details like attraction, relevance, and of course history. Museums must worry about the community’s interest in the displays. Lastly, I learned about the importance of an artifact by working with some of the items. It is important to handle artifacts with care because of the fragility of the item. After the information I learned at the museum, it was my turn to experience the public

While some may view museums as homes of the dusty, decrypt, and decaying, I think back fondly to the memories I've made in them. When I was four and living in a small apartment in Shaker Heights, Ohio, my father would take me to the Cleveland Museum of Rock and Roll on the weekends when he wasn’t busy working on his MBA at Case Western Reserve University. Every time we visited, I would tell my father that I would grow up to be just like Elvis, to which he would laugh and scoff affectionately. When we moved to Glen Allen, Virginia when I was six, we would occasionally drive up to Washington, D.C. to the Smithsonian Museums. On some Saturdays, we would walk for hours through the halls of art I didn't understand (and still don’t really understand) at the Museum of American Art. On other Saturdays, we would go to the Library of Congress, where I would press my forehead against the glass of the observation deck—much to the dismay of security guards. But perhaps the most significant "museum" I've been in is just a short three-minute drive or seven-minute walk from my suburban home: the Twin Hickory Public Library.

What would it take to work in a museum? What jobs do museums have to offer? What is it like day to day to explore the history of the world? These and many other questions filled my ecstatic searches. Despite my enthusiasm, I emerged from my research disheartened. The average salary remains disappointingly low, about $20,000 less than the average national income. The job and all it has to offer would be worth taking, but the income is significantly lower than I would ideally make. I have been grappling with this drawback for the past three years. After about two years of mulling over the prospect, I finally decided to volunteer at my local natural history museum. With every visit, my devotion has grown. I can feel myself growing closer to my aspirations as I grow closer to museum workers. Between each visit I see the changes in exhibits and hear about all of the exciting discoveries made in the field. I talk to enthusiastic museum goers about their amateur fossil finding exhibitions and speak to the devoted curators about what they are developing for the museum. History comes alive in places like this, and the more I see of museums, the more I want to bring history to life for other people. I still find myself concerned about what my financial future will look like, but I will enter the field aware of its drawbacks, and in love with its

In her speech “How art gives shape to cultural change” (2009) Thelma Gordon, a curator of art for Studio Museum in Harlem and the Whitney Museum, provides insight into how curators, art, artist and museums are catalyst for culture and change. Her speech guides viewer through her exhibitions and events in history that resulted in the rewriting of history and personal growth. She studied art and artist at a time when museums included fewer people of color and is an advocate for cross-culture dialogues, creativity, innovation, and defining culture through exhibitions. She believes in using art and the museums to change the way people think about themselves and culture and realizes the effect art has on people internationally and in a community.

The overall environment of the museum was very calm, quiet, and welcoming. At times it became a bit awkward to talk too loudly to one another because of how empty the museum was. Only two other individuals were at the museum while we were there, therefore, not many employees were around. Although, the employees that we did have very short encounters with made sure not to overbear us or be too assertive, they knew when to ask questions and when to approach us to offer help. This makes complete sense because the ultimate goal of the employees was to answer questions and explain artwork at the visitors’ discretion. Different employees were more educated on specific rooms and art pieces. This allowed us to

Collections play a crucial role in fulfilling a museum’s mission and purpose. A museum’s collection is defined by its collection policy past and present which in turn helps to shape the museum’s goals and direction. As stewards of collections, museums are expected to maintain the highest professional standards legally and ethically.

The information contained in museums is meant to represent changing and new ideas that are present within a given society. Whether museums contain historic artifacts, modern art, or other pieces, they are meant to represent people living in the past, present, and sometimes future. As such, they also act as educational modalities to help students and adults understand more about the world around them. An important component of museums in many instances is the extent to which they are able to engage their community, and the extent to which the community is able to contribute to the success of the museums. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, community is defined as “a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society” and “a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests” (“Community”). These institutions work to understand the needs, assets, and concerns of communities. Therefore, museums are tied into the cultures of the neighborhoods and regions that contain them, and this contributes to the unique nature of each individual organizations.