Natural Science Gallery Symposium
Nuestro bosque es su bosque (pero no toque los arboles)
Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak Street Oakland, California 94607-4892
510.238.2200 telephone www.museumca.org
Oakland Museum of California • September 15 & 16, 2008 i Participants
Guest Participants
Rick Bonney Julie I. Johnson Director of Program Development and Evaluation, John Roe Distinguished Chair of Museum Leadership, Science Museum of Minnesota This unpublished document is intended to be a Cornell Lab of Ornithology faithful synthesis of the presentations and Darcie Fohrman Wendy Pollock Principal, Darcie Fohrman Associates: Director of Research, discussions at the Natural Science Gallery museum exhibition planning Publications and Exhibitions, ASTC Symposium that took place at the Oakland Cecilia Garibay Scott Sampson Museum of California on September 15 and 16, Principal, Garibay Group: audience research, Research Curator, Utah Museum of Natural History, 2008. It is meant to serve as a resource for those exhibition/program evaluation and Research Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah who attended and for the Oakland Museum staff. Terry Gosliner It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Senior Curator, Invertebrate Zoology, Nina Simon Independent Consultant, Museum 2.0 Oakland Museum of California or individual California Academy of Sciences meeting participants.
Participant comments have been paraphrased Oakland Museum of California Participants and the sequence of participant remarks have Administration and Board Education Department been reorganized. These are not exact quotes, Lance Gyorfi rather they are an attempt to capture the Rebekah Berkov Trustee, Chair of Renovation Oversight Committee Natural Sciences School Programs Coordinator content and meaning of the ideas presented. Lori Fogarty Amy Billstrom Executive Director Natural Sciences Program Coordinator Natural Science Department Barbara Henry Carson Bell Chief Curator of Education Curatorial Specialist Evelyn Orantes Gail Binder Cultural Arts Developer Preparator Susanne Pegas Lindsay Dixon Water Strider Coordinator Chief Preparator Scott Thiele Douglas Long History Program Coordinator Chief Curator of Natural Sciences History Department Christopher Richard P. Christiaan Klieger Curator of Aquatic Biology Senior Curator and Chair of History Carolyn Rissanen Louise Pubols Registrar Chief Curator of History Gavin Lee Tech Specialist Art Department Rene de Guzman Senior Curator Contents i
Background and Context ...... 1 Grounding: Givens, Assumptions, Goals, Organizational Process ...... 27 Project Consultants Guest Passions and Interests ...... 4 Exploring the Givens ...... 27 Mary Marcussen NSF Proposal Consultant Julie I. Johnson ...... 4 • The Dioramas ...... 27 Catherine McEver Darcie Fohrman ...... 5 • Attendance ...... 29 The Bureau of Common Sense, Documentation • Programs and Councils ...... 30 Rick Bonney ...... 6 Kathleen McLean • Space Considerations ...... 32 Independent Exhibitions Nina Simon ...... 8 • Cross-Gallery Stories ...... 32 Mary Jo Sutton Terry Gosliner ...... 13 Project Manager Key Concepts, Guidelines, Measures ...... 33 Scott Sampson...... 14 • Organizational Change ...... 33 Wendy Pollock ...... 16 • Project Assumptions ...... 34 Cecilia Garibay ...... 17 • Goals and Objectives for the Natural Science Gallery ...... 35 • Space Considerations ...... 32 Discussion: Democratization, Exhibit Approaches, Visitor Voices ...... 19 • Cross-Gallery Stories ...... 32
Democratization ...... 19 Concepts and Ideas: Goals, Process, • Scientists’ Attitudes ...... 19 Gallery, and Visitor Questions ...... 37 • Museum Professionals’ Attitudes ...... 19 Responsiveness to Visitor Questions ...... 37 • Democratization Based on a Foundation of Understanding ...... 20 • Building the Gallery Based on Visitor Questions ..... 37 Push versus Pull ...... 21 Addressing Project Questions ...... 37 • Transparency and Push Content ...... 21 Sustainability and Stewardship ...... 38 • Changing the Organizational Paradigm ...... 22 • A Mismatch with the Gallery ...... 38 Exhibit and Program Approaches ...... 23 • Being Explicit: Why We Care About This ...... 39 • Exhibits as Science Metaphor: • Cultural Connections ...... 39 Imperfect, Evolving ...... 23 • Screaming Opportunities ...... 40 • Conversation Starter: Backcasting • Making the Local Connection ...... 41 to the Future of Sustainablity ...... 23 • Public Policy and Advocacy ...... 43 Engaging Visitors, Eliciting Visitor Voices ...... 24 • Love and Passion ...... 44 • Ongoing Infrastructure for Visitor Voices ...... 24 Reactions to the Gallery ...... 45 • Visitor Voices: An Open Space Session ...... 25 • Decontextualized, Disorienting ...... 45 • Exploration Based on Visitor Questions ...... 26 • Orientation in the Gallery ...... 46 NSF Grant, Co-Creation, Welcoming, Human Atmosphere ...... 92 ii Organizational Change ...... 65 • Open and Welcoming ...... 92 The NSF Grant ...... 65 • The Human Connection ...... 92 • Innovation: Content, Audience, Format ...... 65 Visitor Engagement ...... 93 • Purpose of Proposal Funds ...... 65 • Ongoing Engagement, Sense of Community ...... 93 • What’s Not There ...... 46 • A New Type of NSF ISE Proposal ...... 66 • Guided Input and Engagement ...... 93 • Space Configuration ...... 48 • Timing and Parallel Activities ...... 67 • Keeping the Exchange Going, • Connections or Lack Thereof Between Exhibits ..... 48 • Staff Concerns/Fears About Grant and Opening .... 67 Responding to Visitor Input ...... 93 • Lighting ...... 49 • Making Sense of Models ...... 49 Co-Creation ...... 69 Potential Design Scenarios ...... 95 • Examples ...... 69 Gallery and Exhibit Ideas ...... 50 Design Group One ...... 95 • Taking a Leap of Faith ...... 69 • Links and Meaning Making ...... 50 • Strategies for Understanding the Audience ...... 95 • What Do We Mean by Co-Creation? ...... 72 • Surprise, Fun, Social Interaction, etc...... 50 • Q&A/Discussion ...... 97 • Setting the Stage for Visitor-Generated Content .... 73 • Sound ...... 51 • A Spectrum of Interaction ...... 73 Design Group Two ...... 95 • Identifying the Verbs for • Challenges and Approaches ...... 95 Social Objects and Social Interaction ...... 51 Organizational Impact/Change ...... 74 • Elaborations ...... 99 • Moving Outdoors ...... 52 • What is Required? ...... 74 • Making it Oakland-Based ...... 53 • Example: Staff Resistance at the CLO ...... 74 Design Group Three ...... 101 • Tapping Staff Knowledge Using the Dioramas ...... 53 • Staff Involvement ...... 74 and Existing Resources/Connections ...... 101 • Using Them As Is ...... 53 • Staff Diversity ...... 77 • Overview ...... 101 • Start with the Visitors ...... 54 • Alternate Strategies for Incorporating Diversity .... 78 • Added Comments, Discussion ...... 102 • Lack of Interconnections ...... 54 • Docents ...... 79 Group Discussion: Informing the Field...... 103 • Reconfigure to tell • Sustaining Organizational Change ...... 80 Stories of Biodiversity, Invasive Species ...... 54 • Evaluating and Testing Models ...... 103 • A Focus for Argument and Discussion ...... 55 Second Thoughts on Key Issues ...... 81 • Open, Collaborative Experimentation With Other Museums ...... 106 • The Dioramas and Stewardship ...... 56 Outlining Proposal, Priorities, Next Steps ...... 81 • Culling the Dioramas for • Foundational Steps, Timing, Getting Started ...... 81 the Stories You Want to Tell ...... 58 Concerns, Advice, Final Thoughts...... 107 • Scoping Out the NSF Grant ...... 81 Visitor Involvement ...... 60 Staff Concerns/Questions ...... 107 • Combining/Prioritizing • Ongoing ...... 60 Project Components/Goals ...... 83 • Process versus Product ...... 107 • Are We Saving the World or Just California? ...... 108 • Asking Visitors Questions ...... 60 Sustainability Revisited ...... 87 • Engaging Visitors in Conversations ...... 61 • How Can We Assure Wide, • Using/Tweaking the Dioramas...... 87 Diverse Ethnic Representation? ...... 110 Refocusing the Dialogue ...... 62 • Pinpointing the Goals/Focus • Use of Buzz Words ...... 111 • Grappling with a Mismatch Relating to Sustainability ...... 88 • Three-Course Meal or Stew? ...... 114 Between Goals and Dioramas ...... 62 • Cal Academy: Focus on Global Impact ...... 89 • How Do We Focus Resources • Conversation Off the Rails ...... 62 • Using Visitor Input to and Energy in a Productive Way? ...... 115 • Which Discussion Are We Having? ...... 64 Pinpoint the Focus and Push Content ...... 89 • Bringing It Home: Connection to Place ...... 90 Parting Thoughts ...... 117 Background and Context 1
Lori Fogarty, Executive Director
I’d like to welcome you all to this session and that were done at the Oakland Public Museum An Interdisciplinary Effort give you a little background on the museum in the early 1900s. • We’ve had a number of these sessions as part and where we are in this process. I’ve been When the museum came together in 1969 Kevin of our planning for reinstallation of all three of doing a lot of reading lately about the history our galleries. In our effort to be the truly Roche, a Pritzker Prize-winner who worked of this institution, including a paper I read over interdisciplinary institution that this museum with Saarinen’s firm on the St. Louis Gateway the weekend about museum spaces and is, we’ve invited people from our art and Arch, was selected as the architect. This was walking through museum spaces. It talked history departments to join this session. • Lori really his first major commission. Architecture Fogarty about Ellis Island, the Holocaust Museum, and critics have called this building the first truly the Oakland Museum of California. American museum in terms of its architecture. This museum was founded by bringing together It was designed to be integrated into the three institutions that date back to the early surrounding community, to be a kind of oasis 1900s. There was the Oakland Public Museum, and urban park. which was the forerunner of the history The 1960s were a very tumultuous time across department here and started in 1910; the the country but particularly in Oakland. Right Oakland Art Gallery, which was started in 1916; across the street in the courthouse building is and the Snow Museum of Natural History, which where the trials of the Black Panthers were was started in the 1920s. These were all small held. It was a very interesting time for this institutions in Oakland and came together in museum to come about as a kind of “museum the 1960s, leading to the opening of this of the people.” When it opened it was com- Background Materials building in 1969. pletely revolutionary, and the design of the Sent to participants prior to this session What was interesting about all three of the exhibitions was really unique. I’ve learned a • Gallery and Institutional SWOT Analy- sis, Lori Fogarty, based on prior SWOT lot about this from Kathy McLean and others predecessor institutions is that all were analyses, September 2008. founded as civic enterprises. There were no who have talked about how influential the • Bringing the Dead Back to Life: A major philanthropists or collectors who started design of these galleries was at the time, Community Inquiry and Co-Design these, they were initiated by the leaders in particularly the design of the Natural Science Project [to Revitalize Natural History Exhibits and Programs], Kathleen Oakland who intended to create museums for and History Galleries, but they have largely McLean, draft 9/9/08. the people. That has always been part of the been untouched now for close to forty years. • Current Gallery of California Ecology, There have been some enhancements and history of this institution, being a very commu- Natural Sciences Department, Douglas nity-minded and very education-oriented improvements to all three of the galleries, but Long, Chief Curator of Natural Science. enterprise, dating back to the school programs essentially they contain their original contents new way. We think we have a huge opportunity 2 and their original design and interpretive here. We have the only institution in the state philosophy. that is really focused on the full breadth of California, including art, history, and natural The big opportunity for this institution came a science. We have incredible collections. We few years ago when there was a master plan have this history of innovation in design and in done for the whole building. Then in 2002 the community connections. On that front, I should citizens of Oakland passed a bond measure by mention that Barbara Henry, our Chief Curator 75% of the vote to do the first major enhance- of Education, will be joining us and that the Recalibrating to Assure ment and improvement to the building and a Community-Responsive Approach museum has a really amazing history of school galleries since the museum opened. It was a programming and community connections, as • Lori Fogarty came into this process at a point bond measure that also supports Chabot Space well as four multicultural advisory councils of when the bond measure had already passed and Science Center and the Oakland Zoo. That and a plan for the galleries was established. long standing. So we have deep and long yielded $23.6 million for this project. We are Those plans have shifted significantly based on lasting connections with the community that currently in the midst of nearing what is now a Lori’s drive to make those plans more respon- we feel are very important to this process. sive to the community. As a semi-outside declared goal of $53 million dollars. What we have been doing with art and history observer, I have seen the plans shift a lot over The first part of the project was the creation the last few years. Everybody was marching to is rethinking how a museum like this is distinct of a new storage facility, which was completed one set of goals, but then those goals were from other institutions in this area, particularly a couple of ago, and all of our off-site collec- altered and the staff has had a difficult time as in our connection to community. I heard the tions were moved there. The second phase of people have had to retool. In the art and Director of the California Academy of Sciences the project is the redoing of the Art and history departments, once the initial plan was talking about their new facility and the fact far enough along so that the staff could really History Galleries and some major renovation to that over half of their anticipated attendance take a critical look at it, they decided it wasn’t the building itself, which is under way. The Art will consist of tourists to San Francisco. This what they wanted. They recalibrated and Lori and History Galleries are nearing completion of institution is very different. Maybe someday said, “We’re going back to the drawing board.” design and will go into reinstallation next year Oakland will become a major tourist destina- and open in early 2010. The next phase is the I think it is important to know this as we go tion, but this is really an institution that is forward so that you have a sense that this is Natural Science Gallery and some enhance- about this local community, particularly the not a lock-step marching forward. There are all ment to education spaces and other visitor East Bay. As those of you who live here know, kinds of dynamics in the institution that play amenities such as the store and other ele- this is the most diverse city in the country. into rolling out this phase of the project. ments. • Kathleen McLean There is no majority ethnic or cultural popula- We held a meeting a couple of years ago when tion in Oakland. That is a huge challenge also, I first started here and brought in leaders in and of course we know that in California in art, history and science to help us rethink and general, the demographics are changing at a approach the installation of these galleries in a rapid rate and will continue to do so. What we want to do today is think about how In discussions with Kathy McLean, Mary Jo this institution, with its interdisciplinary Sutton, and Mary Marcussen, we have felt that 3 connections and scope and particularly with its we have a situation here not dissimilar from a Natural Science Gallery, can reclaim that lot of other natural history institutions, in that leadership in innovation and maximize its we have this construct, the diorama, and opportunities with the distinctive characteris- specimens that are not living, and yet we have tics of Oakland, of this place, of this commu- this ambition to be more engaged with our nity. But we are even more ambitious because audiences. We think we have the opportunity we actually want to contribute to the field of here to test some ideas, to do some research, natural history and natural science. I think all to connect with our audiences, and to see if of us here have a history with National Science there are some new ways to approach natural Project Design Charrette Foundation grants. This institution hasn’t had a history content and collections in a different National Science Foundation grant for about way. • This session is a design charrette, but of a different kind. We’re not designing the thirty years and has not applied for one for exhibition, we’re thinking about strategic many years. With this effort, we want to not design of the project. Does it seem like it fits only transform our gallery and what we are for this institution? Have we left something doing here, but also make that kind of contri- out? Do you have concerns about it? Do you bution. think it’s relevant for today? Do you think it has greater impact than just internally at this institution? Where are the weaknesses? What has been left out? What are some of the problems? This is an attempt to look at the constraints and opportunities and to really try to nail those and be clear when we leave this meeting that the museum is on the right track. If it’s not, our hope is that you can help us get on the right track or that we leave with a list of homework and assignments that we need to do in order to get on the right track. • Kathleen McLean
Lance Gyorfi and Lori Fogarty 4 Guest Passions and Interests
JULIE I. JOHNSON ences. As a middle school teacher you either Introduction to John Roe Distinguished Chair of Museum love it or you hate it. I loved it because no day the Lightning Presentations Leadership, Science Museum of Minnesota was ever the same. Even though the bodies • We have asked our invited guests to prepare that showed up were the same, the personali- I should start by saying that my first career was what we call “lightning presentations” in which ties were never the same. Being nimble, on each guest will take approximately five as a middle school math and science teacher your feet, and responding to things on the fly minutes to talk about what they are really for the deaf. Although I transitioned from that was really important. passionate about. The time constraint helps field a long time ago, there are many things I people distill the essence of what gets them up take with me as a result of that. One is con- The other thing I took from that experience is in the morning, what inspires them, and what nection to people, connecting science with that pictures and images really do convey lots they’re thinking about now and for the future. people in different ways. If you know anything of meaning, and sometimes not the meaning We would like you to share with us why you are about trying to do something in a foreign we want. Having worked with very visual in this field and what keeps you going. I have found that kind of inspirational input really language, it really stretches you to think about helps inform us later, when we get more words and how to use language. Though there concrete as we hammer through logistics or are more now, at the time that I was teaching think through specific problems. Those are the there were not very many signs for scientific free-floating muses that keep informing us constructs. Every day I was recreating how to throughout our meeting. • Kathleen McLean think about a way to explain something like gravity, absent the words needed for the explanation.
How do you really think about experiences and ways of teaching kids who have different language ability or different language capaci- ties, when you yourself are working in a language in which you are competent but aren’t really fluent? The struggle between language and experience and learning is something I take with me from that experi- ence.
The other thing is that middle school students are one of those awful, lovely kinds of audi- Julie Johnson learners, I’ve had them explain to me why they create experiences for staff to learn. We spend think something is so just because of some- lots of time noodling and thinking about the 5 thing that they saw. How language supports visitor and an experience for visitors and how further understanding, or how images actually learning should happen for visitors and what’s distort understanding, is something that really needed, and yet we still work in institutions affects not just kids but adults as well. So I whose environments are antithetical to the take those lessons. work that we do. I spend a lot of time right now at the science museum saying, “Okay, if If I distill my passion down, it is this connec- you know this about visitors, what does this tion of language and image and learning, and mean as an institution about how we nurture the question of how we really look at that. The our staff and support its growth and develop- other thing that struck me at that time was ment so that it can actually do its work that even though I was working with kids who better?” were very visually oriented, I had some audi- tory learners who were deaf. It’s an interesting and a weird dynamic. We all have preferences DARCIE FOHRMAN for our learning style. Some of us are more Principal, Darcie Fohrman Associates: museum tactile, some of us are more visual, some of us exhibition planning are auditory, and there was this assumption My background is art education, and I taught that deaf kids are not auditory in their learning art in middle school. I also had frustrations and styles. That’s not necessarily true, so it caused it was the late sixties in Chicago and when King me to question and think about lots of assump- was assassinated the whole block by my school tions I would have about experiences in burned down. It was a really tough time and I learning. gained real insight into the way that art and tapping emotions can enhance learning. Then I For a number of reasons, not the least of which left the country, came back, and didn’t want is the bureaucracy related to trying to actually to teach any more and went into informal do authentic teaching, I left formal education learning and museums. and went to work at the aquarium. But this Darcie Fohrman notion of science and this notion of connection Through exhibitions, my passion even to this to people, this notion of learning and how we day is communicating without words and really think about experiences has always been tapping the emotions as an entrée to learning really important to me. It has shifted some- whatever topic. I’ve been doing exhibits for what in its direction from being focused on almost thirty-five years, and the first half of programmatic experiences to also encompass my career was in-house, pretty much exhibit- how institutions really think of themselves and ing artifacts and art and ethnography. Since I’ve been free-lancing I’ve been involved RICK BONNEY 6 with all kinds of different topics. We all know Director of Program Development and what a hassle it is to work with new groups of Evaluation, Cornell Lab of Ornithology people and not have that in-house relationship I’m not a museum person really, though I’ve that we build over time. I think the most done a fair amount of work with museums and rewarding part of what I do and what keeps me I love them. Some of my earliest memories are going is the creative, collaborative planning. I of being in New York City and going to the think because of my teaching, that collabora- American Museum of Natural History and tion element to creating a project means that looking at all of those dioramas there. I used to it is going to be better than any one of us be swept away by those. I never read the could do on our own. labels or tried to understand anything about the exhibits. Only recently, reading some of What happens in working with different the John Falk work, did I discover that was institutions in this struggle of collaborative okay, that I’m what he calls a “spiritual planning is to find out what is unique about pilgrim,” which is the kind of person who goes your story. When we’re in institution fatigue into an institution and just walks around and and go through museums and they all start to sees the cases and all the people learning and look the same, it becomes “so what?” The way having fun and walks out rejuvenated. So now I to hook people is by understanding and ad- realize that it’s okay that I don’t read the dressing what is unique about your collections, labels or necessarily get the experience I was Rick Bonney and Mary Marcussen your staff and your audience. That is what supposed to get. I just like being around really drives me. museums and I like being around all the people I am continually challenged and inspired by the who work in museums. I get rejuvenated from collaborative struggle, during the conceptual that. planning phase, to discover what will be In my work at the Lab of Ornithology, what I relevant to visitors. Finding ways to merge the try to do is help people become scientists. I content and design to get visitors to care? suppose it’s all because of my father. He was Always trying to create experiences and one of those very annoying people who would environments that will be emotionally engaging never answer any of my questions. I’d ask how and bring visitors’ voices into the exhibition. does such-and-such work, and he’d say, “Let’s figure that out.” He used to drive me crazy. I remember that science fairs would come along and everybody else was watering plants and comparing which grew better. I asked what I should do and my father suggested that I go the idea that amateurs or volunteers could out and study the animals in the woods. I grew make a huge contribution to science. The 7 up in New Jersey, but we had a lot of woods founder of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, around, so I would go out and I would make Arthur A. Allen, was the first professor of lists and I would make trails through the woods ornithology, probably in the world. He really and mark all the trees, noting that this was a always reached out to the community. He white ash and this was a black oak. Nobody started walks for the bird clubs and people Lab of Ornithology Exhibits: Object every looked at them, but I had a lot of fun would go on the walks, come together and Theater and Hands-on Sound Experience doing that. I kind of identified with contribut- report the birds that they saw. After about • You have an exhibit at the Lab. Do you want to ing to or understanding science at a really thirty or forty years there was a data base of describe that briefly? • Kathleen McLean young age. bird sightings. In the seventies, some of us • We had a building that was built in 1956 or ‘57 analyzed it and we realized that we can learn and by the time the nineties rolled around it Then I decided I would go to Cornell University. about bird trends from this data contributed by was literally falling apart. In 2004 we opened a After I’d been accepted I said I’d like to see it these bird watchers. new building and we did get an NSF grant to before I signed on the dotted line, so my build exhibits for that new building. We have father took me to Cornell. The first place we For those of you who follow what we do at the some pretty cool stuff in there. We have an went was the Lab of Ornithology, which I knew Lab, that idea has now continued to develop, object theater on citizen science that I’m about because of the Natural Sounds Library starting with Project FeederWatch in which pretty proud of. There are some funny stories that was there. We walked into the Lab and people were counting the birds at their feeders about that. It was built by the Science Museum went into this room there called the Fuertes and sending the data to us, all the way up to of Minnesota in a warehouse in Saint Paul and Room, which is lined with these beautiful oil eBird. We have about five different citizen then disassembled and moved to Ithaca in a truck. I learned quite a bit about exhibit design paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, who is a science projects going on now and get a couple in the process. pretty well-known bird painter. of million observations a month in our data base. It has really been pretty successful and We also have a really neat exhibit that is a You know what power spots are, right? A lot of recreation of one of our professional sound we’ve been able to get quite a lot of NSF us read all of Carlos Castañeda when we were studios, in which visitors can come in and use a funding to help make these data collection young. Remember the concept of the power version of our professional sound analysis projects educational by teaching people about spot? You step into it and you are there. I software to literally look at bird sound and try the birds that they’re seeing, but also about walked into that room and said, “Dad, I am to imitate it. They can also listen to a wolf the process of science: How do scientists think? howl and then they can howl and then look at never leaving this place.” That was about How do scientists set up projects? How are you their sound versus the wolf and try to get it to thirty-six years ago and I am still there now, so a part of that as a data collector? look more like the wolf. We have people who it was a power spot for me. stay in that exhibit for up to three hours. What I am really interested in now is not only What really worked for me about the Lab of • Rick Bonney how people can contribute to this process of Ornithology was that even though it was at an science, but how they can be part of the whole academic, scientific university that specialized process of science. Starting with an invita- in research, the Lab was always predicated on tional conference on citizen science that we get a bachelor’s degree, but then I was so out 8 held at the Lab the summer before last, we’ve of there and wanting to do science and math reached out to all of the people who were education and energizing, but not in schools, doing participatory research. We’re trying to though I really respect my friends who are figure out how people can really be a part of teachers and think they have much harder and not only collecting the data but helping to less rewarding jobs than I do. come up with the questions, helping to analyze The thing that I’m going to talk about that I’m the data, and helping to take that data out to really passionate about now is making social the local community. technology real. What I’ve been looking at This is where the museum connection comes over the last couple of years through a blog in. I haven’t done a lot of work with museums called Museum 2.0 and through some of the around the idea of bringing the public into work I’ve been doing with different museums is exhibits or bringing people into the creation of the question of how you create these partici- exhibits. I don’t pretend to know how that patory modules that work in museums. could be done, but I think the seeds of being able to figure that out are here in what it is that you are trying to do in this museum. I making social technology real really look forward to some more discussions about that.
NINA SIMON What I’ve been seeing develop on the Web and Independent Consultant, Museum 2.0 in science museums is analogous to a point. They both do push content, they both inte- I’ve been experimenting over the last couple grate multimedia, and they both have interac- of years in museums with some of what Rick tive content, but now I’ve seen a problem, was talking about in terms of visitors co- from my perspective, with science museums. creating and being the basis for the exhibitions Nina Simon Where the Web has really exploded with 2.0 being created. My entrance to science muse- towards a participatory social approach, what I ums was through a love of math and science see a lot of museums doing is going deeper and a hatred for compulsory education. I’m down the rabbit hole of more sophisticated one of those people who started reading John interactives that are very individually focused. Holt in high school and argued with my mom So while museums had the initial social edge for a long time about when I could leave. over the Web because there are other people Fortunately, from her perspective, I stayed to in the museum who you could potentially see that model because on the Web people are evolution of the Web talking about religion, they’re making peer-to- 9 compared to science museums peer loans of money, they’re engaged in a lot of town-square-type functions. I think there’s an opportunity for us to look at that as a model and say, “Hey, now we can really make that thing alive that we’ve been talking about in museums.” But that’s sort of an idealistic Forrester’s Social Technographics reason. www.forrester.com/Groundswell A Flash-based profiling tool that There’s also a more pragmatic reason that has classifies consumers into six overlapping to do with dynamic content. I think a lot of levels of participation: museum studies are showing that visitors want creators changing content in the museum and they critics and interact with, which is not true when you want, with science specifically, up-to-the- collectors are looking at the Web at home, now the Web minute content. Another thing that Web 2.0 joiners has gone way past museums in saying, “Hey, has really brought in is this idea of how you spectators the Web is becoming a platform for people to can be pushing out changing content, and how inactives engage with each other, not for us to push you can make anything, even a dead, stuffed content.” I became really interested in this animal, dynamic by and very passionate about the idea that there having a conversa- U.S. Technographics Profile could be ways in which museums could be tion that’s always physical analogs for what is happening on the changing around it. Web. I think museums are uniquely positioned So I think there’s a to do that because we are noncommercial, pragmatic side of informal learning places. what these types of I think there are a couple of important reasons tools can give us. we should care about this. One has to do with I pulled this from the town square idea. For a long time people Forrester Research. were talking about museums as town squares, There are a couple and frankly I think it’s mostly a lot of BS. One of things about what of the reasons it’s okay that we haven’t gotten I’ve been learning in there yet was that there was never a great this last couple of model to look at and say, “Oh! Here’s a really years of Web 2.0 high functioning town square. Let’s make our applied to museum museum like this.” But now I think there is that I’d like to share in this short period of There are people who are collectors, which is 10 time. One of them is about the way that actually pretty small on the Web but could be people engage with participatory media. I huge in museums because we have stuff. These think museums, when it comes to looking at are people who like to organize and tag things participation, would mostly focus on creators. and aggregate them and define what they are. So we tell visitors they can create a video as There are joiners, and this category has grown part of an exhibit or type in a message or add even since this profile was taken. If you are on to the comment book. FaceBook or LinkedIn, you are a joiner, you But what is being discovered about social want to connect with other people. media is that a lot of the people who partici- Then there are spectators and I think when we pate are not creators. They are people who design things for creators, we also think of like to rate things—critics who are willing to spectators because they are going to be the put a review or rank a five-star thing. ones who watch the videos other people make. But I don’t think we think about them enough, and I don’t think we think about them as being Clever Joiner Programs twice or maybe three times as many visitors as the creators are. So when you make a design- your-own-thing module in an exhibit, I think we’re thinking more about the experience for the creator than we are for all of these sec- ondary people who represent a much bigger part of the audience. That is one thing that I want to talk about.
The thing that I get really passionate about is not applying this stuff to our Web sites but applying it in the museum and as low-tech as possible. I want to talk about two examples related to joining and collecting. First there is joining. On the left is LinkedIn, a social net- work like ExhibitFiles, like FaceBook, where you can connect to other people. Functionally, what LinkedIn does is serve as a social object that mediates a connection between two people. Maybe I feel uncomfortable about calling Doug on the phone, but it’s easy for me search a museum collection you can now to find him and connect to him there. On the search through these “folksonomies,” these 11 right is a picture I took yesterday at my rock tags that have been designed by visitors who climbing gym. It is a very low-tech joining are thinking like you instead of searching by program. You can’t read it very well but it the taxonomies that work from the profes- says, “Need a partner today? Write your name sional perspective. and time of day on the board below.” So at my But there is a problem with tagging in muse- gym you can write down your name and if you ums, which is that most museums, Powerhouse need a partner you can look at that board and included, require you to go to their online find that person and connect with them. I collection to start doing tagging, and it’s an think there are ways like this to make this very activity that requires you to do something simple, but to still mediate an opportunity for extra or other than going to the museum. The people who are otherwise anonymous and photograph on the right below in the “Clever afraid with each other to feel more comfort- able.
The other example I want to talk about relates Clever Collecting to collectors. On the right are a couple of examples of collections. The top left one is on the Web. Delicious (delicious.com) is a site that people use to collect Web sites from around the Web. It’s like having bookmarks on your computer, but you keep them on the Web and you tag them, which means you assign key words that relate to them. So I can always go back and look for all of the things that I tagged “museum,” and it’s a nice benefit that because it’s on the Web, Christopher or anyone else can look at them as well.
There are a lot of museums, especially collec- tions-based museums, that are looking at tagging projects, and it has become big in art. The clip on the lower left is from the Power- house Museum in Australia. Tagging is a great idea in some ways, in that if you want to Collecting” graphic is from the library of the the library: When do you need the tags? You 12 Hague in the Netherlands. They have a brilliant need them when you look for a book, either by tagging project. This library decided, we want browsing the shelves or finding them via the to do tagging of our books; we want to know computer. But when you’re reading the book or which books visitors like, which books they when you’re returning the book, which are the would define as being appropriate for different times at which you would naturally tag, you’re audiences, and things like that. The end not going to the Web site of the library. None product would be these shelves that have the of us do that. different books as tagged by people. So here’s what they did. Instead of adding an But here’s the problem with tagging books in extra step where they required somebody to go to the library Web site they did something else, and I feel confident that any person in Dream Real this room could do this. They added extra book drops, and when you go to return your books you put them in the drop associated with different tags. The photograph is not from the Netherlands, it’s a photograph I made to illustrate this. Imagine if your library had just one additional book drop for books that you love. All you would have to do when you return books is put the books you love in that slot. Then the librarians can take those books, scan them, and add them to the list so that they are now tagged in the collection. They can also put them on a shelf titled, “Books that visitors love.”
What I love about this project and this idea is that they didn’t say, “Okay, here’s this thing and here’s how it works on the Web, and let’s sort of shoehorn it into what we do.” They said, “Here’s this idea we want to do. We need to figure out a way to make it work in the flow of what our visitors and patrons do and make it a really clever, added experience that gives huge benefit.” I think that all of us in here, the forefront the research that goes on behind even those of us who would never tag some- the walls that the public rarely sees. 13 thing on the Web, could do this. I’m really One of the projects that I was involved in, enthusiastic about finding ways to do this in a which I think is why I was asked to come here, lot of ways in museums. That’s what I’m was the task of rehabilitating African Hall, passionate about. which has beloved dioramas that were histori- cally important, and yet had declining atten- TERRY GOSLINER dance and interest. I think I can best encapsu- Senior Curator, Invertebrate Zoology, late that by a conversation I had at a donor California Academy of Sciences dinner with one of our prominent donors. As we were sitting in African Hall the donor said, I first became acquainted with museums when “I had heard these dioramas were going away.” I was about four years old and we went to the California Academy of Sciences for the first I said, “No, that’s not true. We’re going to time. I was one of those kids who grew up in redo them.” suburbia and spent most of my hours climbing He said, “Oh, that’s so good, that’s such a up on the hill behind our house and going to relief. When we come to the museum we never the creek and raising tadpoles and doing all of go there, but we want to know it’s here.” that kind of stuff. I was pretty much pro- grammed to become a scientist by the time I To me, that was the most revealing thing about was five and knew I wanted to be a marine the challenge that we faced in terms of biologist by the time I was fourteen. redoing that hall and how to integrate those things and make it contemporary. As a scien- So I came to the museum world through the tist, I had increasingly learned that studying scientific door and, through the work that I did the natural world also means studying conser- at the Academy over the years, became vation and informing conservation because that increasingly involved with administration. As is the relevant aspect of the reality that we we embarked on this project to rebuild the are dealing with in today’s world. So it was Academy we spent a lot of time really focusing about trying to put that conservation story in on identifying those attributes that differenti- Terry Gosliner and Darcie Fohrman the forefront of everything that we do and how ate us from other institutions. Much like this scientists inform that conservation paradigm, institution has art, history and natural science, so you really are moving into the realm of the Academy has a planetarium, an aquarium sustainability rather than pure science. That’s and a natural history museum. We were then what the public needs to know about in terms tasked with how you would integrate those of their experience at an institution. They things in a really effective manner and bring to need to take away something that is going to SCOTT SAMPSON 14 help them as citizens make more informed Research Curator, Utah Museum of Natural decisions. That visitor experience has to create History, and Research Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, that environment in which people can get out University of Utah of the experience what they want in terms of meaningful tidbits that are actually going to be I’m a dinosaur paleontologist, which means relevant to their lives and to their understand- that I have a job that is the envy of most six- ing. year-olds. I was one of those six-year-olds and sort of never grew up at some level. I always As an institution that has a lot of real things wanted to work professionally as a paleontolo- and real objects, it’s important to have the gist and it was one of the first words I learned dead specimens but because we’re an how to spell. I ended up going to the American aquarium also, we have the opportunity to Museum of Natural History and worked at a integrate live things into our exhibits and that medical school, and ultimately I ended up as was one of the main things that we wanted to Chief Curator of the Utah Museum of Natural do. We also wanted to infuse technology as a History in Salt Lake City and a tenured profes- way of enhancing that experience and provid- sor there. I had the job of my dreams talking ing aspects that really couldn’t be brought to about dinosaurs, travelling all over the world bear using traditional specimens in their and digging up fossils. isolation. I still do dinosaur research, but unfortunately I I think we’ve achieved some of those things. got to the point where it just wasn’t satisfying, You never achieve everything that you hope and it took me a while to figure out what that for, but I think we have a much better sense of was really all about. It became about what kind of institution we are and how you sustainability. It became about the fact that I have to build on those core values and core didn’t think museums and universities were strengths of your own institutional psyche to doing enough to address key issues surrounding become unique and to become successful in sustainability. My work was such that I was today’s marketplace. buried in meetings and doing a lot of adminis- tration and I thought, I don’t want to do this Scott Sampson the rest of my life. I don’t want to train another ten graduate students or write another two hundred papers on dinosaurs. I’m willing to do that on the side, but I really want to do something else. My wife and I were planning to move to Cali- How do you go about doing this? I would argue fornia at some point anyway and we now live that it’s something that adults are not going to 15 in Marin County. I just finished a book for the do on their own. We need to bring kids into University of California Press on dinosaurs, but this and this is where education is absolutely it’s really using dinosaurs as a vehicle to talk key. Natural history museums have a really about how natural systems work and hopefully important role because unlike universities they get people to think about today’s world in a are integrative, they cross these disciplines, Utah Museum different way. they can interact with schools and formal of Natural History Renovation education and actually get the word out on I’ve begun work on a book that relates to my • Can you talk a little about the Utah Museum of what sustainability is. real passion now, and that’s the interface Natural History renovation? • Lori Fogarty between education and sustainability. It’s my Another aspect that has come through very • The Utah Museum of Natural History has just very strong belief that we live at probably the clearly in the last two years about what basically reinvented itself. It has gone from most pivotal point in human history. We’re sustainability means is that it is not an end being a little university museum to a $100- going to hell in a hand-basket, but we have the point. It’s not a situation in which you say, million-plus facility that will open in 2010 with chance to turn things around and if it’s going “Ah, finally, we’re sustainable!” It’s an evolu- brand new collections, facilities, and exhibits, and an overhaul of mission and vision. I was to happen, it’s going to happen in the next tionary process and it’s unique to every place. part of the leadership team for that project for generation or so. We don’t have time for me to Natural history museums have an opportunity most of the last decade and worked on every- write another hundred papers focused entirely to drive sustainability in their own communi- thing from fund-raising, to exhibit on dinosaurs. We need to do other things. ties, in their own bioregions, or however they development, to mission and vision. It has been What might that be? define it. I think that’s an opportunity that an exciting time to try and rethink what a really shouldn’t be missed and to this point natural history museum should be today and I I guess I follow the thinking of a lot of environ- really has been missed. There’s a lot of talk think the end product will be exciting. We have mental educators, in that the sustainability about this in natural history museums but very over 80% of the funding in place and we’ve revolution is really two revolutions. The first little action that I would call meaningful. broken ground • Scott Sampson part is what an educator named David Orrs • We’ll get to this later, but it seems like those called an “efficiency revolution” in which I’ve gotten to the point now where I’m not two things might be in conflict—the first part of we’re going to buy some time by conserving cynical, but I’m skeptical about the ability of your talk and then your description of the new energy and getting better at using the kinds of natural history museums and like institutions facility. I’d like to know whether you think all energies we have with new technologies. But to really change the way people think, at least that money was worth it. • Kathleen McLean that’s really a stopgap, and the real revolution by the traditional modality. I think one of the • I’d be happy to talk about that. • Scott will come in changing the way people think things we need to do is get people outside Sampson about the world—literally changing world more and we need to be driving that so that views. people are connecting with the natural world. As Terry said, when he was a kid he was This is, needless to say, a major challenge. outside doing this and that’s why he’s a scien- tist today. I could say the same thing. As a growth with an increasing focus on things like 16 natural history museum it’s great to bring the counting of attendance figures and square people in our doors, but I think ultimately that footage. I think this relates to the question has to be just a stepping stone to getting Kathy McLean was posing to Scott about the people outside and guiding their education direction of the Utah Museum of Natural there also. History.
Lately I’ve been thinking about slow food as a WENDY POLLOCK possible source of inspiration for museums. It Director of Research, Publications and Exhibitions, came out of the same era that this museum Association of Science and Technology Centers did, as well as the Exploratorium and the I’m more of the spiritual pilgrim sort in terms Ontario Science Center—all of the science of my interest in museums, and it has struck centers that we look to in our field. In the late me so much over the years how many people sixties some of the same cultural values working in museums have talked about the informed the slow food movement. People dioramas at the American Museum of Natural from the Bay Area are very familiar with Alice History and how influential they were. And Waters and others like her. In Italy, where it’s Wendy Pollock and Douglas Long yet, over the past thirty years I’ve been really headquartered, Carlo Petrini uses three watching science centers in particular grow, words, “good, clean and fair,” to talk about grow, grow. They have charted this enormous what is the essence of slow food. “Good ness” captures something about communal values and the importance of pleasure. The word Slowing down to catch up “clean” captures something relating to a concern about environmental impact and about People have become interested in the here and used to structure their lives, create meaningful eating locally. And the word “fair” looks at now again, in a continued space, where their routines and expand their horizons. People are social justice issues and a concern about the increasingly choosing for ‘slow’, with its bodies and minds can reach out for a pause, for producers. a place to slow down and reflect in order to attention to focus & detail: from cooking to enjoy life. These people want to be surrounded coffee making, from baby care to gardening we I think there are a lot of analogies for museums by the sensible and essential, and be inspired by can already observe its impact. More and more, that are interesting to think about. In this life’s enduring qualities. They want to reduce people repeatedly engage in activities that period of enormous growth in facilities, enrich their skills and refine their lives accord- the quick and temporary, and focus instead on finances and attendance, we focus on block- ing to their own personal rhythms. what really matters: the basics that have stood buster scale films and exhibitions. At the same the test of time. These basics are now being time, there have been moves within the museum world to think about slowness, con- From: “Slowing down,” Philips, http://www.design.philips.com/about/design/newvaluebydesign/slowing_down.page viviality and fostering conversation, and not necessarily in the old diorama or physical come. As I began to read I realized that there sense, but even in the kind of thing that Nina were a number of things that really didn’t 17 talked about that finds a home in the museum resonate with me. For example, even though I world. I think it suggests some inspiration for admired so many of the people who had done us. so much of that work, one of the things I can remember getting stuck on early on was some I do think that industry is paying attention to of the seminal research on who comes to this too. I noticed that Philips has this page on museums and who doesn’t and why. I remem- their Web site called “Slowing down to catch ber that one of the reasons given was that up” [sidebar, page 16]. I think there’s some- people who come to museums like to learn thing for museums to think about there. We’ve new things, and people who don’t come to been there all along, and maybe we have museums don’t value learning. I thought, no, opportunities to go back to those roots. as a lived experience, that does not make sense to me. CECILIA GARIBAY That was my light bulb moment in terms of Principal, Garibay Group: audience research, exhibition/program evaluation thinking about really questioning where museums were and the field of museum studies I do audience research and evaluation, but in particular. As I looked around I realized that that is sort of a tag that we can all use as museums really do have a long way to come common reference. I really think of my work with issues of diversity and so forth. That mostly as social justice and I’ll let you know became very central to the work I do, issues how I got there. I started doing research and looking particularly at ethnic cultural commu- evaluation primarily for social service agencies nities but also diversity in much, much broader and came to visitor studies through that route, terms. That is where I really began to focus my mostly because as a child growing up in Chi- work. cago in Lincoln Park, I could easily walk to what was then the Chicago Academy of Sci- So a lot of my research and evaluation is ences and the Chicago History Museum. This informed by something that the broader career sort of married both of those loves: evaluation field calls “culturally responsive and museums and research, particularly social contextual needs” relevant to evaluation, science research. which means that we look at the way we study visitors from a cultural perspective and realize Part of my education when I first started that that is really important. In a nutshell, it is work was to read lots and lots about visitor Cecilia Garibay and Kathleen McLean important to understand that lived experience studies and what we know about visitors, how matters and to honor people with lived experi- they interact, and who comes and who doesn’t ence within a research context or a visitor search initiative a number of years ago and are 18 study context or in museums in terms of what now doing one with the Vietnamese commu- they bring in the door with them. So for me it nity, and we are looking at those particular is this idea of the lived experience that is very issues. important in informing any of the work that we One of the questions we were asked to address do. was, what is the most pressing issue facing One of the areas in which I’ve then been doing museums today? I would say in the work that I a lot of research in my own work is around do it is two things. I’ve come to believe that issues of cultural communities and diversity our institutions can’t really serve a broader within museums, and I have been looking at diversity of our communities if we don’t that for a long time. So many of the projects change. Organizational change and serving that I take on really are projects that are not community absolutely go hand in hand and that only strictly evaluation but typically have a is where I think there is a big disconnect. I research component around serving cultural think one of the most pressing issues is that if communities or serving the broad diversity of a we’re looking outward, we need to also look place. For example, right now I’m doing a inward and understand what serving a commu- project at the Children’s Discovery Museum nity means in terms of what it is requiring of us where they launched a Latino audience re- as an institution and where that organizational change and development happens.
I would say that the other pressing issue is that words like “diversity’ and “community out- reach” and so forth have in many ways become such staples and such buzz words that they have no meaning any more. We really need to come back to explore very deliberately what words we use and what we mean by them and how we communicate externally as well as internally.
I think those are both real challenges for us and that we still have a lot of work to do around those pieces.
P. Christiaan Lieger, Douglas Long, Christopher Richard Discussion: Democratization, 19 Exhibit Approaches, Visitor Voices
DEMOCRATIZATION tween subjectivity and recognizing that we Visitor Participation in the Moving, are at best only aysmptotics at describing re- Uncertain Target of Science Scientists’ Attitudes ality. If we had the job done, we could go • I think what Christopher Richard said about the • Cecilia made me think of something I would home. There are still unknowns, there will moving-target aspect of science is what can be add. When you talked about looking inward, always be unknowns, and our picture always just a dramatic way that visitors can relate to you didn’t specify who the “we” are that are needs to be refined. science. Traditionally it has been presented as an absolute, and we will only present our re- looking inward. As some of us try to work for It then comes down to dealing with those cri- sults or what we know for sure. In whatever more inclusion and even use the term “de- teria for anointing emergent orthodoxies. subject matter, you want to reach conclusions mocratization of science,” that becomes And that is such a challenging thing. How do and those findings have traditionally been pre- terrifying to most scientists who are trained we manage to get people beyond saying, sented as fact. What a great opportunity to in a more traditional way. I think we have to “Sure, we love your observations, all your have visitors feel like participants in under- realize two things. One is that if we don’t bird counts, that’s great, that’s wonderful standing this moving target and your conflicts have a greater democratization of science, stuff, we can use it,” to get them to the and disagreements and how it’s changing and always moving, and how it is projecting in to then science as we know it is doomed. Sec- point of having the sophistication to get from the future—especially with climate change. I ondly, and this is where Julie’s expertise the raw data to analysis? • Christopher see it as something to grab and use. • Darcie comes into play, as we move in that direction Richard Fohrman the scientists have to be led almost gently to understand what the public is thinking about • That’s a really interesting idea, and I don’t science. So a tremendous amount of research Museum Professionals’ Attitudes think I’ve heard people be that optimistic about that before. I think you’ve hit on some- is needed into the scientists’ attitude to- Giving Up the Fun Part of the Job thing there. • Kathleen McLean wards science as well as the public’s attitude • I think that’s true in museums also. There are towards science. • Rick Bonney • As a non-science person it makes me feel less plenty of museum people who are also terri- intimidated by science, just knowing that. And fied about the democratization of exhibits or • As scientists we love to eschew subjectivity, I only know that through working on projects and that’s where the inclusion becomes a whatever. One of the things that I was always where scientists say, “No, we can’t do that. We little scary. That would be easy to do if we pushing when I was doing this co-creation don’t know for sure.” That’s cool. You don’t were really on firm ground, but simulta- project at the Tech was, we need to give know for sure? Wow, you’re human. That’s neously I feel science balances on a knife visitors the most fun part of our job. I think something that helped me. • Darcie Fohrman edge and it’s even a moving knife edge, be- that’s a really hard thing for people to do. We want to reserve the most fun part and outsource the part that we don’t like. When terms of democratization of sciences is that 20 I’m thinking about co-creation I always think, there has to be a certain level of under- are we giving them a job we wish we could standing of how science functions to allow keep, or are we giving them crap? I think that democratization to be really functional citizen science does do that in some ways and valuable. Otherwise that dialogue is sim- because you’re giving people the part of the ply conjecture and opinion, which is not the Preserving Expertise; Clarity re Uncertainty and Theory exploration and the observation element. nature of science. I think this is the kind of What I’ve heard you say is that there are dilemma that we are dealing with. I think • On this concept of democratization and throw- groups for whom there are other parts of sci- there is no opposition in the scientific com- ing things open to the so-called wisdom of the ence that would also be most fun that you munity to the democratization of science. crowds, there’s a lot to think about here. Yes, • Nina Simon we’re all for that, we did the book Visitor would like to unlock. There is only benefit that science gets back Voices. On the other hand, we’re living in a from that democratization. But it is how that political climate that denigrates what really Sharing Power - Visitor Generated Content process unfolds so that the discussion really has been established in the sciences and I is about the substance of science and there’s • I would add that from my perspective, part think we have to be very careful. We’re living an understanding of what those core prin- of the issue is that visitor generated content in a political climate where the teaching of ciples are to engage everybody. • Terry and so forth really means that we’re giving evolution is even in question. That’s unbeliev- Gosliner able, and I think museums have to be careful away power and that is a very difficult thing to do. Museums have traditionally been set in preserving a sense that yes, there is exper- Information as a tise. I know that’s not the sort of thing to say up as the experts where a lot of the informa- Catalyst for Democratization these days, but I think it’s very important. I tion resides. It doesn’t mean that isn’t true, think we have to be very careful about talking but what is the mechanism by which you • I think visitors are hungry for finding out about scientific uncertainty because words like share that power? That’s a pretty scary thing “uncertainty” and “theory” are used very dif- to do. Part of the problem is that I don’t ferently in the sciences and in the general think we’re honest with ourselves about conversation. • Wendy Pollock owning that this is part of the issue, and if • Not careful as in not using them, careful as in we had some of those conversations it might being explicit in not assuming that the ways in open up ways to think about this more cre- which we use words and understand them are atively. • Cecilia Garibay the same ways that other people understand them. That in fact, there are ways that people purposely distort how they’re understood. Democratization Based on • Julie Johnson a Foundation of Understanding
Prerequisite: Understanding Core Principles • One of the things that is problematic in Nina Simon and Mary Marcussen things they don’t already know, and that ex- the idea that we’re going on an adven- hibits and information can be done in such a ture, we’re going to meet somebody, 21 way that they are a catalyst and jumping-off they’re not in some dislocated, undis- point for democratization. An exhibit is not closed location. You can go to their Opinion versus Fact going to change your life. I mean it might, house, you can go to their place. in History, Science and Art but evaluation studies have shown that it’s They are democratizing, but they’re • Regarding the discussion about design details called not going to change behavior in any way. But attention to the ramifications of making a choice one doing push content. It’s radio. One of I think by presenting the information that’s way or the other. I think that’s really very important. the things they do, which I think is an- known so far and the background, you pro- It’s very easy to get into creating an analogy between other side of democratization, is a lot vide the jumping-off point and then it goes having an opinion about a contested historical era of transparency via supplemental from there. And if you can have a real scien- and having an opinion about something like the podcasts and blog entries about their theory of evolution. They are completely different tist on the floor or access to an expert to ask process. For me, as a fan of their show, and I think we have to be very careful about it. Oth- questions, that’s a key part of the conversa- erwise we’re falling into the kind of trap that I think tion. It’s not like it’s just an empty place. Julie was alluding to. • Wendy Pollock • Darcie Fohrman Definitions: • I think the difference between science and history is Push and On-demand Content more one of degree than of kind in terms of reliance on experts. That’s why we have footnotes. There’s PUSH VERSUS PULL Push content is a one-way interaction in actually something that we’re responding to, it’s not which the museum, the radio station, just all opinions. • Louise Pubols Transparency and Push Content whatever, is putting out content. There is this whole question about push • I just think we have to be careful in talking about ar- Push Content with a Transparent Twist content versus on-demand content. Are eas like evolution, as if it’s a pro or con with • Hands down, my favorite science program- you getting it because you asked for it, something like global warming and climate change. ming that I consume right now is Radio Lab, or is it just being pushed out? • Wendy Pollock a WNYC show. They do some great podcast Museums have this extra opportunity, • I completely agree, and we are actually having simi- episodes in which they talk about their pro- which is why I get excited about this lar discussions about authority and expertise in the social element. We don’t have to be cess and they talk about democratizing History Gallery as well. • Louise Pubols science in some really different ways, one of solely push content. If you put out a • And in the Art Gallery. You would be surprised at how which is a Mr. Rogers approach. They talk newspaper, if you put on a radio show, you have to go to other media to start our art curators find this challenging as well because about the idea that they think the single doing some of these more interactive it is dealing with the relinquishing of authority and most important part of the show is the fact things, but we have opportunities power and when people are trained with a specific that when they go visit a scientist, they al- because we have these physical sites expertise and have spent their whole careers learning ways include in the final tape a sequence of where people are engaging. It doesn’t about art, it’s fundamentally a big shift that we’re them knocking on the door and being invited have to be all labels and videos telling trying to make and it is very hard to figure out how into the scientist’s office. They talk about you this stuff. • Nina Simon you do it without relinquishing the real information, whatever the field. • Lori Fogarty I love seeing a lot of this behind-the-scenes are pursuing the other side of that equation. 22 stuff. • Nina Simon Beyond Push and Pull: Providing a Toolkit for I think one of the reasons American democ- • Push “one” to tell us we’re stupid. • Darcie the Process of Investigation racy works is that even though we only get to Fohrman • I think the question of this dilemma of push vote X times a year, we get to have a trans- and pull is, what can institutions like ours do? parent understanding of what’s going on. I We can help provide the toolkit that allows think that at the least we can do some of Changing the people to then begin that process of investiga- that and that will also make a big impact on Organizational Paradigm tion, but it is sort of like somebody is people’s feeling of being involved and being interested in building a house and they don’t Beyond Push and Pull have any tools or any experience. It’s not a aware of what’s going on in those confronta- question of authority as much as it is experi- tions and the challenges happening in • This gets back to what I think a number of ence, to share that experience and basically science. • Nina Simon you have talked about this morning in terms unlock the mystery of how science really func- of the organization. We have to be much tions in this particular case to answer questions Technology and Push v. On-Demand Content more self-reflective around who we are and that people are curious about. Sometimes it is what our responsibility is to our public and • This makes me think about cell phone tech- a sense of natural curiosity, other times they what our role is. There is lots of technology nology, which is changing so rapidly. Just in are looking for very practical things. coming our way, but over and over again we the last five years it has had to be really ex- We are the keepers of information regarding just figure out how to use it to push more pansive to make all of this happen. Now you what those tools are and which tools are appro- content down people’s throats. And we don’t priate for each of the things that people are can give and receive information just by dial- think there is any other way to get some- interested in exploring. If we can somehow ing a number on your museum floor, so you thing going that has real meaning to it. make that very obvious to people, that push can hear from visitors and you can dig Education is pushing information into and pull will be in a very good dynamic flux of deeper. It’s really going to be easier and people’s brains, and until we get out of that equilibrium. • Terry Gosliner easier for museums to be able to provide on- paradigm, which is a very powerful one, we demand content. And you’re working with are not going to advance. that right now, right Nina? • Darcie Fohrman The Habitat for Humanity Metaphor And the opposite is true. Wendy raised a cau- • I’ve been playing around with it. I think it’s • There is this Habitat for Humanity concept tionary note, which I think is absolutely interesting with cell phones. Unfortunately, I which is, I don’t have to know how to build the essential, that it’s not giving up the content, see museums looking at these new technolo- whole house, but I can still come and help it’s just thinking differently. Not pushing gies as just more ways to push. And obviously build that house. If I can use a hammer then isn’t the same thing as giving up the content, that’s what I’ll do all day. If I’m interested in you’re right. You could very easily imagine an there’s something else going on, but we tend learning how to use another tool I can do that, exhibition where, with every exhibit, there is to think in such black and white terms. If but I can still contribute to the whole without a phone number you can call and leave your we’re not pushing content anymore, then knowing every single solitary piece of it. • Julie comment or whatever. But more museums Johnson content is out the window and all hell breaks loose. That’s not the case. But we haven’t important, it is the next question that leads really thought that much and that deeply us further on. There is an excitement in that, Opening Up the Dialogue 23 about what other alternatives there are but we need to try to convey that in a way. via Programs; Capturing Everyday Knowledge other than these polar, black and white, push I think sometimes our exhibitions don’t allow • There are a lot of wonderful modes for having or pull alternatives. I think that’s the chal- people to understand that it isn’t actually dialogue sessions. MIT Museum does what they lenge, and this project is right in the middle about the answer, it’s about the next ques- call the “Soap Box,” bringing in lots of scien- of that challenge. • Kathleen McLean tion. And it’s okay to have more questions tists to talk and engage. And other museums than answers. I think there’s something in have lunch box science programs. There are a Museums as Libraries that piece that’s scary: I’m going to put lot of ways that you can engage meaningfully. • Wendy Pollock • One thought I’ve had listening to the push- something up that’s not finished. What is a pull idea is, what if museums were more like finished exhibition? And can we change the • Have you seen any of that done in the exhibits libraries? When we go to the library we don’t paradigm of what’s “finished”? Is it good themselves or mostly programmatically? • Lori read every book. We go to the section we enough? Is it good enough to provoke thought Fogarty want to go to, we get the thing that we and dialogue and questions? Is it not perfect? • I think programs are much easier to figure out want, we read it. We’re exploring or investi- Can we strive not for perfection, but for because you can respond on the fly and you’ve gating, and then we come back and that something that leads people to further en- got real human beings and real conversation. sparks us to do something else. That’s one gage and think about stuff? Not that being But I think there are ways of capturing every- idea I’ve been thinking about a lot over the perfect means being incorrect, just that no day knowledge. People do know a lot about a lot of things like gardening, auto mechanics. past year. • Julie Johnson exhibition is ever finished, it’s always a work There are a lot of things we do all the time in progress. Maybe if we think about things that I think can be reflected and captured and that way it frees us up from saying, well, we honored. • Wendy Pollock EXHIBIT AND PROGRAM APPROACHES can only do it if it looks like this. • Julie Exhibits as Science Metaphor: Johnson Imperfect, Evolving Something Active to Do/Seek • It’s all a prototype and formative. • I do know that my kids never wanted to go to • It seems that much like the concept of em- • Darcie Fohrman an art museum until they went to their first ploying sustainability as a platform we can one in Philadelphia that had a scavenger hunt. use whether it is a zoo, an aquarium, or a sci- Conversation Starter: Backcasting They were five or six years old them and the ence museum, it is also using the platform to hunt involved things like finding pictures with a to the Future of Sustainability think about the nature of science and asking bowl in them and they went off to find a pic- questions. It is asking questions that help us • It seems to me maybe this comes down not ture with a bowl in it. As soon as they were find out answers but more importantly, that so much to a question of pushing or pulling able to do something that was relevant to them, they would stop and say, “Oh, look at help us find out the next question. We have content, but to creating a conversation and that painting, it’s kind of interesting.” • Rick sort of lessened the importance of the fact how museums create a conversation because Bonney that is actually not the answer that is most traditionally, museums don’t do that at all. conversation. • Scott Sampson 24 They’re places where you go to get learning. So how might you start that? ENGAGING VISITORS, The issue of sustainability is a really good one to ELICITING VISITOR VOICES bring up in this respect because sustainability is never going to happen with scientists telling Ongoing Infrastructure people about how it needs to happen. It’s only go- for Visitor Voices ing to happen when you bring stakeholders to the • What Julie was talking about is something table from all of these organizations, with people that is happening a lot on the Web, releasing from nonprofits and business and science and Visitor Voices: Nanoforums things in beta. When I look at the project de- moms. It happens when you have everyone repre- • Another process example is the scription, the thing that comes to my mind is, sented and they talk about what’s important to Nanotechnology Informal Science Educa- gosh, if you’re going to do all of this great co- them and then you do that process of tion (NISE) Network, which is a large creation and working with communities to backcasting, where you figure out where you center funded by NSF. One of the things develop exhibits that then exist, that seems they are experimenting with are these want to go, you figure out where you are, and like you’re stopping too early. How can you nanoforums, which engage scientists and then you backcast. Instead of forecasting and create processes such that that can always be people from the community in a struc- talking about the future, you figure out your fu- happening on the floor? I think there’s also an tured dialogue situation. There is ture goal and then backcast to figure out how to element related to what Wendy was saying somebody who is presenting some infor- get there. Imagine if museums could start a con- mation of scientific import and then there about democratization. Another thing I would versation about how to backcast. are some structured conversations that argue that museums have not done well in in- visitors engage in with the scientists And imagine doing this for Oakland, where you tegrating visitor voices is creating intentional there. Usually it’s two or three scientists bring in community representatives from all dif- infrastructure for that. and sometimes they have complementary ferent aspects of the community and ask, what When I look at what is going on on the Web, a points of view, sometimes not. The point would sustainability look like in Oakland? You is working with communities to dialogue lot of it is actually pretty highly controlled in bring in scientists to talk about it, but you also with scientists there around various is- that the platform is controlling the conversa- sues. Now I have two scientists who have bring in environmentalists and teachers, and it tion in some ways. A very heated example is just told me two opposing things, what do has to include social justice as well as the envi- Digg (Digg.com), a Web site where people can I do with that? That might be something ronment. So you ask what it would look like, and thumbs-up and thumbs-down other things on else you want to think about doing. if we can get some sense of what it would look the Web so that on the front page each day • Julie Johnson like, where are we now and how would we get you can see the most popular things on the there? That is all about a conversation, and why Web. But there’s an algorithm behind how couldn’t museums lead that conversation in their things get on that front page, which is highly communities? Maybe this natural history exhibit controlled and somewhat secret, and there would be a way of doing that, of sparking that are a lot of questions about the idea that it’s not the most popular, it’s something else. Visitor Voices: What is it and who decides? And yet the cre- An Open Space Session 25 ators of Digg would argue that is what keeps • This discussion is sparking two things, one of Digg successful. which has to do with the process piece. I A simpler example would be how ExhibitFiles don’t know the whole entire process that (ExhibitFiles.org) is really nicely set up such you’ll ultimately go through and where your that it features case studies on the front. You voices will come from, but you need some get this idea, oh, I see that there are images, way to engage your visitors or potential visi- I should add images. It’s intentionally de- tors in a dialogue around these very questions Co-creation as an Ongoing Process: signed in a way to promote the kind of use that you have. I’m reminded of some work I Levine Museum of the New South that they want to see. I think that one thing did last year with the Ohio Historical Society. • An example of a place that has done co-cre- we can do is figure out, what are some infra- They did an open space conference. It was a ation and done it well is the Levine Museum of structures beyond just letting people write one-day event. The Ohio Historical Society the New South. That would be one group to check in with. My understanding is that their down their comments on wax things and at- has 100-some-odd sites across the entire process was very much co-creative and they’ve tach them to plants that could really start state, so they’re huge. They invited people done some really great work. Also, it didn’t getting the conversation that we want it to from far and wide to come for a day to dia- finish with the exhibition, it continued. It go? logue with their staff about what the museum wasn’t engaging the public to help create an I think that a place that is doing that well is could be. They started it with a half-hour exhibit and then saying thank you, you can go. the Holocaust Museum, where they have a lot overview and some questions that the mu- It was saying, we’ve finished this piece and of contentious content, and they have posi- seum was struggling with about how to make now there’s still more to do. • Julie Johnson tioned themselves in terms of online forums history alive, the importance of history, etc. as a place where those discussions happen. In the true tradition of open space, people They feel like if people want to express got to think about what questions or topics things that are totally antithetical to their that they wanted, but these were people mission, they would prefer having that con- from the community. So we put up the ques- versation happen on their site rather than tions, we saw who wanted to do what, we anywhere else. I think that’s an interesting put it up on the board, and then for the rest question for museums with topics like evolu- of the day it was this open space process. tion. Do we want to be the place that The people from across the state who had conversation happens, even if it means ac- come for that day, kids, adults, senior citi- knowledging and allowing ideas that are zens, volunteers, staff, and some of their fundamentally antithetical to our mission? board members, had this engaging conversa- • Nina Simon tion about history itself, and history in terms of what the museum could be. I don’t know what you’re actually thinking amazing what they’ll come up with, and it’s 26 about in terms of engaging various con- amazing the results that they’ll get and can stituencies in Oakland to help you think send to us for publication in our newsletter. about your questions. One of those ques- My favorite study so far was done in Monterey Starting with Inquiry, Visitor Questions tions could be about how science really Bay. One student in sixth or seventh grade • I work primarily with science programs, bringing happens. • Julie Johnson wanted to know about predator deterrents on school children in and going out to the classrooms fishing boats. She studied how successful and doing outreach. From the museum education something called the gull sweep was, and perspective, this whole concept of inquiry-based Exploration Based some people had fake owls on their fishing learning is really checking in with particular stu- on Visitor Questions boats. That piece probably would have been dents about where their baseline is and • The word “facilitation” is coming to mind responding to their questions with an experience. publishable in the Wilson Bulletin if she had For instance, one of the programs we do is a grip for me here. What is the role in facilitating just taken it a little bit further, and she was a and grab program in which we take taxidermy out the understanding of the science process? middle school kid. It started with her interest into the classroom. The children have so many When we wrote our first NSF grant to de- and her question, and the teacher used our different starting points in terms of understand- velop citizen science, we didn’t call it materials to guide her to the end. I’m sure ing, what is this that I am looking at? You have to citizen science then. The idea was we she did understand something about the pro- start right where they are. Is this dead? Is this need to help the public understand the cess of science. alive? Why is it in a vitrine? You’re building on process of science, and what better way to their own questions. It’s not necessarily that What I don’t know how to do is translate that do that than to involve them in the process we’re pushing an agenda. We have general goals, into something that is exhibit-based. The of science? We got very excited about the but it’s not specific in terms of: This is what I thing that comes to mind for me is trying to idea that people would go out and collect want the child to get regardless of where they’re start out with the kinds of thing that Cecilia beginning. • Rebekah Berkov data and send us data. is so good at doing, trying to figure out what Then we did our first evaluation studies questions the residents of Oakland have and surprise, they didn’t learn anything about the natural systems in this area that about the process of science because they the museum could help them study and in really weren’t doing science. They were some way connect that to what is here in the going out and collecting data to answer exhibit halls. I don’t even know what is in the our questions with our protocols and then exhibit halls, so I can’t go anywhere with that we were analyzing the data and feeding it right this minute. • Rick Bonney back to them.
With our classroom projects we do what Rebekah described, we start with their questions. What question do you have about birds here in your school yard? It’s Grounding: Givens, Assumptions, 27 Goals, Organizational Process
preexisting dioramas and exhibits that we EXPLORING THE GIVENS What Are the Givens? have there. There is an expectation that the The Dioramas majority of those will stay, but they will be • What are the givens here? We could sit here for two or three days talking about how the mu- recontextualized, reinterpreted. We don’t Visitor Studies seum experience could, should, or needs to be expect the addition of a lot of new ele- transformed for the 21st century. Or we could • There has been some research and visitor ments, but there will be installation of a lot say, here’s the audience the museum wants to study on the dioramas. It hasn’t been a full of new and emerging technologies to help reach out to. If it’s an NSF grant, that’s where summative, but mostly around changing the visitors better understand and interact with it has to start. And then what are the building content of the labels. There has been a tim- what we have. Those have yet to be fully blocks that we have that are in play? Which ing and tracking study. The hall is 29,000 identified. • Douglas Long ones are not going to change, which can be re- square feet and people are staying about done completely? I don’t know that I have a thirteen minutes. People are staying at most sense of that to ground the conversation a A Focus for Engagement of the components about thirty seconds. little bit. • Rebekah Berkov • There is a proposal on the table. In the spirit There are a few at which people are staying of sustainability, rather than gutting the gal- • Are there some givens? Here’s one: Are the di- for two minutes and I think there are two oramas staying? Is that nonnegotiable or is it lery and bringing in all new exhibits that this where people are staying up to four minutes. still up for debate? I think that’s a very inter- museum could not afford to do at the level A lot of what people are asking when they esting question. • Julie Johnson that these dioramas were done, most in the look in there are the names of the pieces, sixties and Aquatic California in the nineties, • I’d like to get a better understanding about where these are taken from in California, or could we not use these as the conversation what is known already about who belongs, who if they’re in California. That’s a huge per- comes, the community. There were some point to bring community people to the mu- centage of the questions. In terms of other things in the background piece about low at- seum and engage in dialogue, however we do visitor studies, they have been mostly around tendance for an institution this size. That it—through forums, workshops, that open trying to redo the text on the cases. • Mary raised more questions than it answered. space approach, all kinds of ways. And this is Jo Sutton What’s “low” and what’s “attendance”? not just the Oakland community, it is really • Wendy Pollock East Bay, so it is the broadest demographic of Recontextualized, Reinterpreted • My question is related. Has there been re- the regional community. search and visitor study on the current • Regarding the givens, my understanding is dioramas? • Darcie Fohrman that there are no givens but there are a vari- The idea is to use these dioramas as the en- ety of expectations in terms of the gagement tool because they do represent California as a biodiversity hotspot, with continue to decline. This is the challenge 28 many, many species on view in this gallery; that we all face. • Terry Gosliner to use those up-close experiences with all of these species and plant and animal commu- • I was going to say that visitors, but particu- nities as a way to engage in dialogue. The larly people who have a propensity for and new interventions, whether tools, ongoing interest in natural sciences, love that gallery, forums, or whatever they are that come out period. • Kathleen McLean of these conversations, will be the essence that animate these dioramas. It may not be • When I first came to the museum in 1988 exhibitry. You may find out in this process when I first moved to Oakland, I was amazed that it is all programmatic. because not only were there habitats that I’d never seen depicted in other museums, there Rather than say they’re a total given, I’d were species of plants and animals that I’d think we are testing the idea about them be- never seen in other museums. I was just ing a given with this group here. And if not, amazed that the original designers took the then what? • Kathleen McLean time and the effort to make these very de- tailed models that included critters that What Visitors and Staff Love nobody had ever seen or probably never An All-star Among School Kids • In addition to the averages, is there some- knew about or even cared about. Maybe I’m • A particular exhibit that school groups really thing in there that people really love, either biased because I have a science background, love is the wood rat nest. It’s really sort of a visitors or the people who work here? but I was floored by this museum because of star. • Christopher Richard • Wendy Pollock the incredible diversity of what it shows in terms of California wildlife. • Douglas Long • I think people are really amazed by the beauty and artistry in that hall. • Mary Jo • Examples of what kids will bring their fami- Sutton lies back to see are the bat cave and the egg case. • Amy Billstrom • Could I add something to that whole notion of what visitors love? When we were trying to • During the last session on the Natural Science figure out what we were going to keep and Gallery with local museum professionals, one what we were going to change at the Acad- exhibit that most participants talked about emy, we found that there was a hard core was the termite exhibit. It has live termites, constituency for everything in that building. so even though it’s small it has great appeal. If you respected all of those visitors’ wishes Another was the octopus, and the raccoon in nothing would change, and attendance would The wood rat nest. the storm drain. • Rebekah Berkov The Challenge: only one in the United States. There’s some- How to Effectively Use the Dioramas thing about that, getting back to talking 29 • In terms of the sacred cow of the dioramas about the specificity of the place, that is themselves, I was very compelled early on by here. something Kathy McLean said, which is really The staff had always thought about keeping about sustainability. You couldn’t recreate the dioramas and even adding more dioramas these dioramas or cases or this “real estate” to complete the curriculum in a way. I think today, or the quality, as Douglas said. They that’s up for grabs in terms of whether you are the museum’s collection. So is it money want to go there because they take up a lot well spent to just take them out and start of space and they cost a lot. Is it necessary The Issue over, with $9 million dollars, and what would to be more comprehensive or not, or like • So what is the issue here? If everybody loves you get for that? For us it’s really thinking new libraries, is it maybe about focusing this gallery, why not just leave it the way this about how we bring these collections and more and using the existing collections in is? • Kathleen McLean animate them and make them accessible for new ways? They don’t have a lot of money, audiences today. I think we would have to so it’s not like they can do everything. have a hugely compelling reason to say we’re • Kathleen McLean moving totally away from dioramas. I think that’s the challenge we’ve set ourselves, how to most effectively use these. • Lori Attendance
Fogarty Attendance Goals
A Library Metaphor • One of our greatest institutional imperatives right now is audience development. I do take Who Attends? • Just recently, I was reading the overview that to heart what Wendy said about not just • The current visitorship of the museum is Douglas Long wrote about the gallery. I know measuring by attendance figures. We are largely older white audiences (if you take that when the Cal Academy was renovating, right now at an annual audience of about away the school groups, which reflect the di- California as a biodiversity hot spot was a versity of Oakland). The goal is to make the 150,000 to 200,000 visitors, and that includes very big deal. It took me a while, but if in audiences in the galleries more like the popu- over 50,000 school groups that come here. fact you do think of this place as a library, lation of Oakland as a stated, specific goal. and the Natural Sciences Gallery as a library We want to grow our audience to 250,000 to The goals for attendance and diversity are of the species and habitats in California, 300,000 visitors a year at least. One of the aggressive. • Mary Jo Sutton that’s what it is and could be. It’s not a to- things we’re trying to do is particularly build tally complete library, but it’s much more our family audience, widely defined, because total than anything else out there and it does the East Bay is much more of a family- reveal or show why California is one of ten friendly place than San Francisco and the biodiversity hot spots in the world. It’s the number of families moving to the East Bay is large. And we want to grow the audience the main draw, and history programs have a 30 of younger adults. waiting list of a hundred trying to get in. Sci- ence has high quality programs which fill up, The interesting thing, and something that but we don’t have the same waiting list. In Budget we have put in our concept paper, is that my opinion the reason for that is because we • The budget is $12 million for renovating the the Bay Area is such an epicenter of con- have a niche, but there are plenty of science gallery. Part of that does need to go to the ar- servation, stewardship and environmental institutions in the Bay Area. Teachers know chitectural renovation because as I said, the education organizations. We do have a lot what we offer and we try to fill that niche by building hasn’t been touched in years. If it’s of lifelong learners—active docents, guild doing what we do best. We fill it nicely and comparable to what we’re doing in the History members, people who know a lot about Gallery, which is not a lot of expansion in we’re at capacity, but there’s no waiting list. science—as does the Academy. While cer- terms of building onto the building or doing • Amy Billstrom tainly trying to be more reflective of the major build-out within the gallery that will be around $3 million all-inclusive, with hard and urban audience in Oakland and the East • That is also because every fourth grader in soft costs for architecture. That’s all new Bay and the Bay Area in general, our chal- California has to take California history. They lighting, new floor covering, data and electri- lenge is to span from young children to always do a mission project, they always do cal. That leaves about $9 million for the older adults to these audiences that have a Gold Rush project, so we can hit the com- exhibit project itself. • Lori Fogarty greater knowledge and sophistication. plete sweet spot there. And there really isn’t • Lori Fogarty any other history institution in the Bay Area. • Lori Fogarty
Dollars and Square Footage versus Impact School Groups • Part of the issue, when you look at the size of • We do have a very strong field trip pro- Programs and Councils the museum and compare the attendance to gram and we anticipate that continuing. the annual operating budget and figure out Programs We don’t see it growing a lot because we cost per visitor, is that it’s really up there. • I was going to ask, what are the strongest They need to have more people coming in. And are actually near capacity on Wednesday programs and to what extent have they had also when you look at the square footage of through Friday when we are open for the gallery—25,000 square feet should have a school group tours. All of our school field any impact at all? I see the Fungus Fair and certain number of people coming through it no trips are linked to curriculum standards the Wildflower Show and Days of the Dead. matter what your budget is, and it’s nowhere and classroom curriculum, so we do very Are those the ones that have to do with the near that. If this place is to become more sus- well with the school group audience. natural sciences that are the most popular? tainable and more competitive in the market • Lori Fogarty • Wendy Pollock for funding and for community and tax payer dollars, they’re going to need to really ante up • Days of the Dead doesn’t relate to the natu- • School groups include grades K-12, with in terms of having a bigger impact regarding ral sciences, but it’s the one I keep using as the majority from third and fourth grades number of people served. • Kathleen McLean an example because it’s a community based because of California history. History is program. The Fungus Fair and the Wildflower McLean Show do relate to the natural sciences and 31 are very powerful and bring in thousands of • I think your distinction sort of breaks down in people every year. So this place has the abil- the examples that you’re using. If program- ity to really galvanize and draw people. The ming is like lectures, demonstrations, question is, how do they extend that pro- hand-on stuff, it’s when you have that and grammatic skill they have and that the exhibit component—all those mushrooms, Opportunities: Community connection to the audience and communities or all those flowers, which are ephemeral, Involvement, Advisory Councils that they have in a really authentic way into temporary exhibits. So it’s that integration of • This is one of the few museums that really the gallery? • Kathleen McLean that exhibit material with the programming. walks the talk in terms of community engage- • Christopher Richard ment. It may not be in the galleries, but that • What percentage of your programs bring walk has been happening. It has been in pro- people here versus outreach, and when you • But it’s still a one or two day thing, which grams, in the educational programs. The real thing now is to take that incredible asset, do outreach are there places besides schools makes it a program really. It’s not an exhibit. those four advisory councils that are tremen- where you’re going? • Nina Simon • Kathleen McLean dously committed to this place and have been around for a long time. They are doing pro- • I would say about eighty percent is here. • But I think it would be interesting to try and grams on a regular basis. • Barbara Henry develop things that are intermediate in For example, the Latino Advisory Council de- scope. If you could have something that had cided that the way they were going to • And mostly schools, not other types of orga- a month-long duration. • Christopher Richard encourage more Latino families in the East Bay nizations. • Lori Fogarty to visit the museum was to contribute to a kitty to buy them memberships and then have Advisory Council Input • So you’re not going out to malls, for ex- a buddy system so that when they came to the ample? • Nina Simon • Have you asked those groups what they museum, the Latino Advisory Council members would want to see changed in the Natural are here to greet them, make them feel com- • But I think Days of the Dead, the Fungus Fair Science Gallery? • Wendy Pollock fortable, walk them through the museum and talk to them about the experience and what and the Wildflower show are examples. If you can do here. That is an incredible program you set aside the school audience, the thing • There hasn’t been a lot of involvement of the and things like that are happening everywhere that brings the most people to this museum advisory councils with the Natural Science in the programmatic side of this institution. are the public programs, probably even more Gallery in recent years. Several years ago our So it is taking that opportunity of that deep than the exhibitions with some exceptions. I former Chief Curator of Science came and community commitment and somehow getting had a meeting with them to share the pre- think Days of the Dead brings in more people it into the galleries where it has never really liminary plans and get some feedback, but than any other program, and that includes been. • Kathleen McLean families, adults, everybody. • Kathleen not since then. There has been more with the other galleries, but we’re just about to start with this one. • Barbara Henry came up with on the history team. These are 32 spaces where people can sit and relax or so- Space Considerations cialize and check e-mail throughout the gallery. They are not just benches that you Changing Exhibitions Imperatives Across All Galleries: sit on to look at the artworks, but places Flexibility and Change, • Going back to the expectations or param- that might have additional content or games Programmatic Space, Tri-Lingual eters: Is there some moveable or changing or phones or who knows what? What could • There are a few things that we have as impera- space in the Natural Science Gallery, or is those loaded lounges have throughout? tives or guidelines in all three galleries. One of there another space in the building that • Kathleen McLean them is the need to build flexibility and serves as the rotating space so that part of change into all of the galleries. That is a big the year art gets the space, then history, • So these are mediation spaces. • Julie question: What does that mean? Our art cura- then science? In other words, how are you Johnson tors would say, “We’re always flexible and thinking about the change piece? • Julie changeable because we take things down and Johnson • Or even just lounges, social lounges. send them on loan,” but no visitor would ever • Kathleen McLean notice that. So it has to be noticeable flexibil- • There is a special exhibition space within the ity and change. • It’s the slow food idea. • Lori Fogarty We’ve put a guideline in place that there have Natural Science Gallery at the very back. to be programmatic spaces within the gallery. Typically that is a changeable special exhibi- Not huge lecture models, but enough to have a tion space. Then we have two connected Orientation Area gathering space for twenty or thirty people, galleries, the High Bay and the Low Bay, • Another concept that has come up for the not only for docent tours but knowing that available to all three departments. I would other two galleries is that of having an orien- programs enliven these gallery spaces. We’ve say that art does the most programming tation or gathering area at the beginning of been doing a lot of experimenting with tempo- there, history second and science third be- the gallery so that people coming in get a rary exhibitions to incorporate programming in cause of both ease and cost of installing art sense of the gallery and can get their bear- the galleries. exhibitions compared to history and science. ings. • Barbara Henry We are also doing multiple languages. We have It is also probably related to availability of an absolute commitment to doing three lan- travelling exhibitions in history and art that guages in all three galleries: Chinese, Spanish Cross-Gallery Stories and English. That will be done to differing de- are easier for this institution than history or grees and we are experimenting with what science. • Lori Fogarty • I think it’s important also that we’re looking techniques we will use, but there will be a vis- for opportunities to tell stories across differ- ible and graphic presence of all three Loaded Lounges ent galleries. • Douglas Long languages, so it’s not just handouts or audio • In the two other galleries, and hopefully it guides. That will probably vary a bit between • Yes, that’s another thing we’ve been working the three galleries. • Lori Fogarty will continue down here, there are “loaded on, how to make those connections between lounges,” which is a term Barbara Henry the three galleries. • Lori Fogarty KEY CONCEPTS ence development initiatives. We did a num- , 33 GUIDELINES, MEASURES ber of other kinds of training sessions including bringing in a consultant who did di- Organizational Change versity training with all of our staff, Visitor Profile, Visitor Goals? including guards and gardeners and frontline • I was struck by Cecilia’s comment, which was • What is your current profile of your visitor and staff. echoed by Julie, about how a lot of the where are you looking to make your shifts? If eventual outcomes actually relate to organi- The third really interesting initiative that there’s a central area you’ve located, that might inform us to then say, this is what you zational change. I wanted to ask you a little we’ve had in the last couple of years has should be looking at, versus some other con- bit more about that and tell you a little been a grant from the Irvine Foundation Ar- struct that might inform how we shape our about what we have been doing here at the tistic Innovation Fund. The Irvine Foundation feedback and advice. • Julie Johnson museum because I completely agree that is the largest foundation in California and that is fundamental. funds exclusively in California. This was an invitational program funding innovative It has been an interesting process over the OMC Mission Statement change for arts organizations. It was really past couple of years because we’ve had Our mission is to connect communities to less about the outcome of the program or three or four simultaneous processes happen- the cultural and environmental heritage in the project than it was about the structural ing. One is that we did do a new strategic California. Through collections, exhibitions, changes that are demanded when there is a plan and rewrote our mission statement. education programs and public dialog, we major new innovation for an organization. That was a big part of the visioning process inspire people of all ages and backgrounds Barbara Henry has led that project with a we’ve been involved with. In the course of to think creatively and critically about the team of educators and curators in the art de- that process we developed a new mission natural, artistic and social forces that partment and our outcome is really around characterize our state and influence its statement. transforming the Art Gallery. We put these relationship to the world. We also have a grant from ILMS around the measures of success in the Irvine grant. diversity initiative for the museum, and this A lot of what we have learned in this Irvine was all internally oriented. It included a project is definitely what you all have been number of enrichment sessions, bringing in speaking to, which is that it is more about Key Measures of Success leaders from other institutions to talk about the process and structural changes internally issues around institutional and organizational • Increase audience from current annual in the organization than it is about the final of 150,000 to at least 250,000 culture. We actually got a doubleheader outcome in the galleries. We recognize that from Julie Johnson the last time she was • Increase number of family visitors by at the new paradigm that we’re looking for in least 33% and increase the number of here because we had her involved with the multiracial visitors by 25% the Natural Science Gallery is going to re- reinstallation discussion, but also had her in- quire that kind of organizational roles and • 90% rate their overall gallery experience volved in a discussion about institutional as “good” or “excellent” responsibilities process change, and we en- culture change. We had one panel on audi- courage you to share your thoughts about those. • Lori Fogarty cludes: to develop multicultural respect and 34 understanding; to foster communication and • Is there a timeline of the measurements of understanding between communities; to un- success? • Wendy Pollock derstand California as a diverse and creative environment consisting of multiple voices • We haven’t put a specific date on it. I think and perspectives; and to develop a sense of we’re thinking probably within two years af- ownership over the museum as a place for ter the opening of all the galleries. Our me, my family and my community.” galleries are in phases, with Art and History The design guidelines are guidelines that we opening in early 2010 and Natural Science in have committed to in all three galleries. The 2012, so I would say probably about 2013. gallery orientation areas in each gallery are • Lori Fogarty not just introductory areas but will also be Key Concepts welcoming places for visitors to come in and Concepts and Guidelines • California identity be oriented and will have some level of visi- • There was some questions raised earlier tor amenities and context setting. • Lori • Diverse audiences about our institutional goals. The key con- Fogarty • Informed and responsible citizenry cepts outlined here are from the interpretive • Interdisciplinary learning philosophy that was developed by our educa- • Those community objectives came out of • Active engagement tion department in the early ‘90s and work with our advisory councils and that lan- updated several times. A lot of what we are • Community objectives guage actually came from our Multicultural looking for in our interpretive approach Council, which has representatives from throughout the museum in programs as well those three councils. It reflects, from their as exhibitions is reflected in these concepts, perspective, what they feel is the potential including stewardship and generating an in- of the museum for their communities, so we formed and responsible citizenry. decided to incorporate that into our philoso- phy and goals. • Barbara Henry Design Guidelines I’m going to read the full statement regard- ing community objectives because I think it’s 1. Thematic/interdisciplinary connections important: “The Oakland Museum of Califor- 2. Gathering places Project Assumptions nia recognizes its responsibility to provide • In terms of the Natural Science Gallery we 3. Gallery orientation and introductory memorable educational experiences to sup- areas have a number of assumptions and would like port diverse communities in developing a you to challenge those assumptions if you 4. Flexibility and change greater understanding of one another and don’t think they’re correct [see sidebar]. 5. Multiple languages and voices their role in shaping a multicultural society. Note that in relation to the first assumption, 6. Learning styles and interactivity The objectives of building community in- the dioramas are not depicting California as plore, we want to encourage them to under- it looks today, although there are places stand sustainability and stewardship, we 35 where you can find everything in the gallery want them to understand basic scientific out there somewhere. • Kathleen McLean principles, we want them to understand that what they’re seeing in the gallery happens in • Regarding that first assumption, I would real life in California—all of that. I think Assumptions question that it is before human impact. As that’s part of my conundrum: With this • The Oakland Museum’s existing natural far as I’m concerned, even at that point it breadth of audience that we have, what is history dioramas are accurate, comprehen- was already a largely cultural landscape. At realistic for us to deliver? sive, and could not be replicated today. the time portrayed there, which is sort of I think I agree with Scott that this is the mo- They provide a unique opportunity for the “Columbusy,” there was already ostensibly a ment that we have to compel people to act public to get up close to and experience a cultural landscape. • Christopher Richard wide range of California’s biodiversity as it and understand stewardship and understand existed before major human impact. that these issues of climate change and habi- • These five assumptions are what you are tat loss and the most critical issues in the • These dioramas need effective interpre- here to critique and talk about today and to- environment are happening right here, right tive tools in order to make them compel- morrow. • Kathleen McLean ling and relevant to a broad and diverse now in their neighborhood. As we approach audience. this project in terms of responding directly Goals and Objectives for to visitor questions, how far can we go on • The museum’s commitment to deepening the Natural Science Gallery that continuum? So we’re still working on its engagement with its local and regional those goals and outcomes. • Lori Fogarty communities, combined with the need for Visitor Objectives developing new models of authentic partnership, provides the perfect opportu- • Has there been any articulation of what the • Terry brought up the idea of a science nity to experiment with visitor and objective of this hall is in terms of its rede- toolkit, and that’s a term we’ve been using community co-design. sign regarding what the visitor will take as well, trying to come up with those impor- away? How will you measure success, other tant concepts that people would be able to • The project will be based on rigorous visitor research and evaluation. than the demographic and visitation param- use to further understand other scientific eters, in terms of understanding or action? concepts. As Lori said, we also want to get • What the Oakland Museum learns through Has there been any discussion or formulation people to go outside. I would like to see the this process will be of benefit to other of ideas on that? • Terry Gosliner museum as a central point where people museums with natural history dioramas, as would get motivated to go and explore well as to museums interested in the process of visitor co-design. • Yes, and one of the things we’re trying to fig- what’s outside the museum. ure out relates to the fact that we want to From: Bringing the Dead Back to Life: A Commu- There’s also the issue of citizen science or nity Inquiry and Co-Design Project [to Revitalize do it all. We want to encourage people to go citizen action. Now we’ve shown people Natural History Exhibits and Programs], Kathleen outside, we want to encourage people to ex- McLean, draft 9/9/08 what a great place California is, what the threats are, and it’s not all doom and knowledge or understanding. Other people, 36 gloom. There are a lot of horrible things local politicians, need to pass rules and that are happening, but there are also a lot regulations. So there’s a whole strategy in Adding to the Measures for Success of success stories, so it’s not fatiguing getting where it is we need to go. • What Doug said is not up there as a measure of people with the negative that’s out there At the Lab of Ornithology, since NSF made success. If in fact those three succinct statements but showing that there are ways that indi- us start putting audience first it has been are part of the measurement of success, I actually viduals, groups and grass roots awful. As we tried to acknowledge the fact want to see them up there so I get the whole pic- organizations can become interested and that there are diverse audiences and all ture. • Julie Johnson active and actually make a difference. audiences need to be reached, we have So it is having scientific information, get- tried to adapt our projects—with poor suc- Natural Science Gallery Goals ting people outside, and having a sense of cess because they end up just getting watered down. We can’t reach those origi- • Scientific literacy stewardship or action or understanding that they are part of the solution. I think those nal goals. Cecilia and I actually did a talk • Exploration outside of what they’ve seen in are three of the most important things that about this, “Changing or Adapting Projects the gallery I feel should be the outcomes of the gal- to Meet Audience Needs: How Far Do We • Stewardship and citizen action lery. • Douglas Long Go?“ And there is a tremendous amount of scientist push-back as we really try to help About Audience-Based Goals everybody understand all of these con- • Wholistically, those three are actually part of what you’d see under measures of success if we’re talk- • I’ve always been really glad I don’t work in cepts. ing about this gallery. • Julie Johnson a science museum and really happy that I So if I look at the key measurements of work at the Lab of Ornithology, which is success here and I think about trying to in- • That title is correct. These are goals. These aren’t measurables. We don’t know how to measure how very mission-directed towards understand- crease or double the audience, is it trying many times people have said, “Hey, this Mojave ing certain scientific concepts and to double the audience and having them all thing I saw in the museum made me want to go principles. We want to save birds. I’ve al- try to meet these specific goals of out there.” We can’t track what happens after ways welcomed that because it focuses me: sustainability and stewardship, or is it dou- people leave. • Douglas Long What do people need to learn, know and do bling the audience and having them try to
• Yes you can, you just have to design in a way so in order to save birds? do what’s relevant to them? It becomes that you can actually do that. That’s why I want We haven’t worried so much about audi- very circular after a while. • Rick Bonney more clarity about what you’re looking at as your ence because what we’ve tried to do is measures of success because in part, you want to figure out what it is that needs to happen, have the elements that allow you to say with some and then what do the audiences who could degree of certainty that you know people are be- make that happen need to do. Not every- coming scientifically more literate or doing something after they leave here and so on. • Julie body needs to do the same thing. Some Johnson people just need to have a little bit more Concepts and Ideas: Goals, Process, 37 Gallery, and Visitor Questions
RESPONSIVENESS But then we want to get to this attitude and TO VISITOR QUESTIONS behavioral modification around Potential Goal: sustainability. How much is really feasible? Links to and Advocacy for Building the We also know that we have this wide range Sustainability Curriculum Standards Gallery Based on Visitor Questions of audience. That has really been the di- • I was wondering if there is any kind of school lemma and why Kathy McLean started to • There’s a tension between something like a curriculum on sustainability and California be- attach some percentages to our expectation standards-based approach to California as a ing a hot spot. If there isn’t, the museum of visitor outcomes. Some people are getting hot spot versus local residents just wanting should take an active role in getting that into to a certain level of inquiry, question genera- school curriculum. Museums have done that. to know what’s in Oakland and what they’re tion and, hopefully, inspiration to explore • Darcie Fohrman missing. Somebody said something before the outdoors, but some other people might about a wood rat’s nest. Everybody can re- get to a different level. How can we do that • It is not currently integrated into the current late to that. Or termites. They want to know science standards. They’re several years old whole spread? • Lori Fogarty more about that stuff. If there were some now and have a strong ecological component kind of programming—”Now go home and but not from the perspective of sustainability. find a wood rat nest and then come back and ADDRESSING PROJECT QUESTIONS That’s one of the things that clearly needs to tell us more about wood rat nests”—the ex- be changed and that process is just starting to • If you look at the audience questions, con- hibit would then grow based on what they’re get under way. • Terry Gosliner tent questions and format questions, they bringing back to it, which would be pretty really merge a lot. One question is, if we say • You guys could partner and be a strong force. cool. • Rick Bonney sustainability and climate change and under- The kids that you want to come here are the standing what needs to be done as audience of the future. If you’ve got that • That is one of my fundamental questions. If interventions (and what needs to be done as many school groups coming and they’re forced we start with visitor questions and that re- to come in fifth grade for science, that’s interventions soon) is the primary goal of the ally forms the basis of the gallery and the what’s going to need to happen for the future. gallery, is that even a good fit to the diora- dioramas that would happen, we know from You can gear your exhibits and your programs mas? our research and other research that has to that group in terms of action and participa- been done that the questions can be pretty Then there is the piece about the balance tion. • Darcie Fohrman fundamental. Is it alive or is it dead? What that we strike between conveying basic, gen- does it eat? Who’s going to win in this fight? eral principles to a wide audience and then getting to a point where we’re actually hop- SUSTAINABILITY AND STEWARDSHIP 38 ing that this gallery will incite behavioral change in people who come through the A Mismatch with the Gallery doors. Is that realistic to think of at all? • I would postulate that you can’t do steward- Content Questions There is also the first audience question, ship and sustainability with anything that’s • The scientists we’ve spoken with where we have attached various percentages out there in the gallery right now. Right now maintain that issues of environmental there is nothing that has any relevance to a sustainability are the most important in to our expectations of audience outcomes. Is the natural sciences today. How can we that a good way to think about it? We don’t casual visitor. There are probably things that (and should we) focus on issues of have the answer and that’s a huge question sustainability in a natural science gallery The Right Questions? that is comprised of dioramas and for us. How do we focus something that’s habitat groups depicting plant and very broad, and is it even a match for what’s • The question that I think Kathy asked animal biomes in different regions of was, do the dioramas help us do this out there in the gallery right now? California? thing [sustainability] and Rick’s re- • Kathleen McLean • What is the balance we should strike sponse was no, they don’t. I’m still between conveying basic natural science trying to understand what the success principles of ecology and conveying piece looks like because maybe we’re environmental impact stories and asking the wrong questions. • Julie encouraging stewardship and conserva- tion? Audience Questions Johnson
• We assume that environmental learning exists • How do we address the range of audience From: Bringing the Dead Back to Life: A Community along a continuum, beginning with noticing, understanding and questions from our highly Inquiry and Co-Design Project [to Revitalize Natural then appreciating, then engaging in inquiry, diverse urban school children to our deeply History Exhibits and Programs], Kathleen McLean, and leading to behavioral change and active conservation-minded lifelong learners? draft 9/9/08 conservation. Where should we focus our conceptual and design energy and what can we • What are the potential roles for community expect as visitor outcomes? Do the following partners in this project? Should we be tapping goals make sense? into them for involvement of their members? Format Questions How can we collaborate with them on content 70% of visitors will notice things about the • We want to create a project that is production? How can we (and should we) natural world they never have before some combination of physical, virtual, showcase the work of local and community and and programmatic space. What has been regional environmental groups? What kinds of 40% of visitors will appreciate the unique- community partners would make most sense done before along these lines and how ness/beauty of those things they notice can we build upon the existing work in for this kind of project? the field? 20% of visitors will engage in active and • How can we engage the broader field in our prolonged inquiry with aspects of nature • What would be the value to the field of exploration of these issues, and how can we exploring the concept of animating 5% of visitors will change their behavior as a translate what we learn for potential applica- traditional dioramas? Beyond the use of result of what they have learned tion elsewhere? What museums and other typical technologies—videos, computer informal partners might we include? What are • What kind of processes might we actually use kiosks, etc.—how can we use new media some creative dissemination strategies to to generate visitor questions and input? technologies to enliven our static reach organizations outside of our sphere of project influence? displays? could be used, pieces that could be used, the Lab view, one of the things the museum but there isn’t anything at all right now that can definitely do is say, “Here’s what we 39 is going to make people say, “I care about think is important.” I wonder if there’s an this. I care about California. I care about extent to which X percent of visitors under- Oakland.” It’s very abstract. • Rick Bonney stand that there are people who work at the An Added Guideline: Transparency museum who care about this stuff, and • What Nina said about being articulate about • You say that it’s not there. Do you feel that it whether that’s so low-level in your perspec- why we care about what’s in the collection re- can be there with the kinds of interventions tive that it’s not even on the chart. I wonder lates to the issue of transparency. We should we’ve been talking about, or reinterpreta- in terms of awakening things in visitors, is it add that as a design guideline. That is some- tions or reconfiguration? • Louise Pubols useful to have an aspect so that they get it thing we’ve dealt with in the other galleries. that there are other people who care. • Nina For example, in the art gallery: Who picks this • If stewardship is as important as I think I’m Simon stuff, who are these artists, why is this in the hearing that it is (and personally, great, I museum? The same with history. We’re doing a think that’s a great thing for you to do) then Cultural Connections kind of history detectives activity about why it has to be made relevant for the visitors. Environmental Excess and Exploitation the stuff is here, why it is important to save, how did it get in here? Questions we know visi- You’ve already told us that most of the visi- • For the Natural Science Gallery one way of tors have about dioramas include: Is it dead? Is tors are from Oakland and the East Bay. I’m helping insure that people get the message it alive? Did you kill it? How did it get here? not seeing anything there that is really draw- of what their position is vis a vis what • Lori Fogarty ing me in to understanding what I need to be they’re looking at is being able to identify a steward of. As a couple of other people with something that is in the cultural envi- have said very clearly, you go through the ronment. Christopher Richard pointed out Design Guideline gallery and it looks like everything is fine. the ambiguity in looking at the dioramas, 7. Transparency: Who did this and why? • Rick Bonney which are really based on an environment that has been culturally adapted. We can’t Being Explicit: forget the native peoples here. That has to Why We Care About This be made more explicit, so people can really see themselves living within the natural sci- • The last time I was here, one of the things ences landscape. you guys talked about was the extent to which people don’t understand what’s in the California has many unfortunate examples of dioramas. I’m thinking about what Rick said environmental excess going way back: the and how museums rarely articulate why they Gold Rush, over-exploitation of the land, the care about what they have in their collec- fisheries boom and crash, the sea otter busi- tion. Why are we showing you this stuff? To ness. There are many, many examples where some extent, it seems to me that, following we can show what happens when humans and their agents of over-exploitation go awry were dealing with at the Academy with 40 and what results. I think some place in this transforming the African dioramas, which institution we have to have that message, represented pristine savannah habitats in the and if it’s not in history then it needs to be 1930s. To bring that into contemporary focus in natural science. • P. Christiaan Klieger you have to involve humans. • Terry Gosliner
Integrating Art, Science and History Putting People in the Landscape Ten Thousand Years of Humans in California • The other thing that is so exciting about the fo- • I want to follow up on that same line of • I don’t identify in there. You have to be able cus of this institution is that it does have the thinking. Using words like “stewardship” rep- to identify with nature. It’s not just about history and the art and the science all together. resents a major change in the way that learning the interrelationship of organisms The integration of those, to whatever extent people think about the environment from possible, is a great opportunity as well. • Terry and the environment, which you don’t really earlier notions of conservation, which I think Gosliner learn unless you really study the dioramas or the current gallery represents more—the re- try to read the labels on plexiglass, which lationship between people and the are really hard to see. You have to see your- environment is, we set it aside and don’t self in the natural world. I think the starting touch it. There aren’t any people in it. I point for that is something others talked think the notion of stewardship really brings about. Ten thousand years of humans in Cali- to the fore a much more active relationship fornia is powerful and how sustainably they between people and all of the environment. lived and how we could maybe go back to There’s not that kind of straight line. And I that in trying to get to a positive place with think that does mean the gallery has to look climate change. Somehow there’s some kind different and you have to see people in the of cycle of relationship with the land that gallery from now on because my interpreta- could be used. • Darcie Fohrman tion was not, that’s a cultural landscape before Europeans arrived. My interpretation is, that’s the nature out there right now that Screaming Opportunities people aren’t in. That’s what I see when I Existing Assets, Links to Natural Habitats walk around there. So if the message really • When I look at your hall the opportunities is stewardship, I think we have to see more just scream at me. You have the raw materi- people. • Louise Pubols als. You have things that are real places. Virtually every one of those habitats that are • Certainly the present condition is representa- depicted, I could tell you where they are in tive of a detached-from-human-interaction, California, and you can look at that today relatively pristine environment that func- versus the way it was in its pristine condi- Terry Gosliner in the gallery tions on its own. This is very akin to what we tion. You can look at the Peregrine Falcons because we thought that it was important. and they’re not just these wonderful birds of They wanted to see animals from other 41 prey with chicks underneath them, they’re places and how they compared to other really emblematic of the environmental places in the world. We kept the core pieces, changes that we have gone through and an but then we started to add other pieces and area in which we have realized some suc- talked about similarities and differences. If cesses. you live here, do you have a relative or friends there? I think that started to make a Stewardship and/or Dioramas There is the fact that you have real places difference. with real organisms there, and we have the • The other thing I would throw out is, if you privilege of being in the Bay Area where you But then there also were expectations from didn’t have the dioramas and stewardship was your main focus, what would you do? Are you can get to natural habitats very readily. You people about what they expect to see at an holding yourself to a particular thing because can walk to Lake Merritt from here and see aquarium. Some of them we could meet and it’s really about the dioramas, or is it really that there are Canada Geese all over that others we couldn’t. Sharks in spades, fine. about stewardship? • Julie Johnson shoreline that weren’t here ten years ago. But you always have the desire for marine There are real examples where you can talk mammals. If you’re an institution that is not • That’s the question, and that’s the schizo- about changes in biodiversity in people’s going to do whales and dolphins, you’ve al- phrenic aspect of this. • Kathleen McLean back yards in the immediate proximity of this ready crushed the hearts of many of your building. Those are the kinds of things that I potential visitors and are forever trying to think are the screaming opportunities, and make up for that. that’s great news, that you have the raw ma- One of the exhibits we did was about the terials. • Terry Gosliner Delaware River, a major body of water that has some amazing potential in terms of the Making the Local Connection flora and the fauna. We were located on the waterfront and felt that people needed to Addressing Indifference by Adding a Little Garbage know about the river on our doorstep. We had this exhibit and people would go right by • At the New Jersey State Aquarium, which is and never look at it. now under a different operator, we started out with the notion that we were going to One of our aquatic biologists went diving in showcase New Jersey and the aquatic envi- the river, found a whole bunch of junk that is ronment in and around New Jersey. If in the river, and put it in the exhibit. People anybody knows the story of the institution, stopped because it was like, wow, really, that did not bode well because in fact we there’s a tire in the river right outside? We didn’t really talk to potential audiences. have impacted it? We have done something That’s not what they wanted. We wanted it to the river? It changed how people looked at the river and what they talked about when proach. I start with what they care about 42 they were having lunch on the deck: “Re- and throw out ideas here and there and see member the tire in that exhibit? There’s junk if they stick and go with that. If anybody’s in there and we’ve got to stop throwing stuff interested, they made a short film called The into the river!” Hood Scientists and it’s on YouTube. I would love feedback personally. I do think that there’s this issue in terms of the collections/dioramas that you have. How When we were talking about this idea of do you bring it back into connection with hood sciences, they said to me at one point, what is there today and how do people see “Nobody would want to save the hood unless themselves in it? • Julie Johnson you’re from the hood,” direct quote. I think it’s very interesting as we talk about this Mapping and Saving the Hood here in this room and this idea that you can’t save it if you don’t love it. I don’t agree with • I’ve been thinking about urban nature and that statement that nobody would want to urban wildlife from the last discussion that save it unless you’re from the hood because we had. There was the idea of having a di- I’m not from the hood and I have that pas- orama that was an urban diorama and I was sion myself. But it was very curious that they very much in favor of that idea. I saw a fam- said that and I think stewardship is too lofty ily of baby raccoons just three blocks from a goal, whether it be mine personally. I’m far Scott Sampson in gallery here on Tuesday night last week. There’s more interested in any connection, anything wildlife all around us all the time. What if that helps you see yourself more. That may we had something like the Lab of Ornithol- in fact lead to stewardship, and sure I’d love ogy, where we were having visitors coming in it, but I’m also really interested in what we and recording wildlife sightings? Could we can offer people in Oakland that helps them Immersion in Oakland Nature map raccoons in Oakland, and might that be navigate their lives. • Susanne Pegas • There’s also this thing about what is nature, pretty interesting? I think the things we can and right outside this window is nature. Oak- learn and connect with around how wildlife Adding Value to the Already Known land is nature. It isn’t just Yosemite or has had to adapt to live in an urban world is Yellowstone, nature is everywhere. You could very much alive for people in the city. • I think, going along with what Susanne was have an immersive thing in there about Oak- saying, you have to find ways to unlock I also work with some interns in the museum land. And then, why would you want to save something else. I was also thinking about and will have a new set coming on, so I’ve Oakland? What is it about Oakland and places what Julie said and this tension if you show been thinking about high school students and like that? I think there are ways to connect the people what’s right outside the front door outside world and the inside world so that the question, what could possibly be inter- but don’t give them that additional, “and these become your conversation pieces. esting to you about natural science and the here’s what we dredged up.” It’s just seeing • Scott Sampson natural world? I take a very back door ap- what you already know. I think about growing keep wondering what you know about the lo- up in LA. My relationship with the LA River cal community and what they care about. 43 was that when it rained, we would walk • Wendy Pollock along it to see the furniture that was in it. That’s really what the LA River was for me Local Sustainability and Advocacy and it was sort of a fun experience, but I • I have a comment and a question. First of all, never thought about it in a nature way and I I think this museum seems ideally situated to could really imagine a value-added. I’m not address some of these concepts. Where the Mission Clarity and Goal Priorities interested in seeing that reflected. Maybe I’d Cal Academy is globally focused in some re- • It has been interesting to me in this conversa- want to tell my story, but I would want to spects and looks at ecosystems around the tion. You have to prioritize your measures for know more about why is the LA River this globe, this museum focuses on California. As success. I think that’s what Rick was trying to place that is just inches and then pianos. So I we’ve mentioned, California is a hot spot. It address in terms of knowing what you’re think it’s not just acknowledging where may be the state in the country that is most about. If sustainability is it, you can’t leave people are but going the next step also. amenable to changing towards sustainability global warming or climate change out of that • Nina Simon at this point in time. There is both the politi- and it hasn’t really been on the table.
cal will and an awareness in the population, It made me think about the Monterey Bay Public Policy and Advocacy and this is the Museum of California. Not Aquarium some years ago, changing their mis- only does it deal with natural history, it deals sion from education to conservation. Now Public Policy Involvement with culture, it deals with history, which are they’re going to save the oceans. And they • We just finished a study with the market re- all aspects of sustainability. don’t have a paragraph mission, they have a search group called Reach Advisors, looking sentence and it’s short. That’s a very hard More than that, there is really no such thing at the core audiences of science museums. thing to do, but if you can do that then you’ve as global sustainability, there is only These are people on their e-mail lists, so got your priority and you’ve got all of these di- sustainability in places, in individual places. verse visitors. A goal is to have your visitors they presumably have some connection. One You can focus on the state of California, you feel like they are your partners in that mis- of the things we wanted to get at was what can look at all the key ecosystems around sion. Then it doesn’t matter if they’re green or do people who are generally well disposed the state, but you can also focus on yellow or speak whatever language. This is a towards science museums think about the in- global world, we all have to do this. This is sustainability in Oakland or the East Bay. stitutions’ involvement with public policy what we can do as the Oakland Museum. It’s a You’ve got communities like Berkeley that issues that have a science dimension to little bit, we can do it, and you can help us do are close by that are very tied into all of this them? We had a list of issues and then an it. I think before you go much further you and could be brought into a project that open-ended possibility. Eighty percent felt should prioritize your goals. • Darcie Fohrman would be focused on making this particular that museums should be doing something area sustainable. about climate change and environmental is- sues, and the write-ins were heavily about So you create an awareness around one of environmental issues and energy policy. I the ecosystems around here. What is the bioregion that we are all part of? The Shasta interpretive philosophy. And if you can’t do 44 bioregion or whatever. Then you actually get it in Barbara Lee’s district, where else can people in an urban environment, the resi- you do it? We would be remiss if we didn’t dents of Oakland, to think about what it take a strong advocacy role. • Lori Fogarty would be like to have the city of Oakland be • I agree. • Lance Gyorfi sustainable and how would we get there. That’s my comment. I think this museum is Advocacy Separate from Exhibits ideally situated to create an identity around • The Science Museum of Minnesota has de- this that very few museums in the country cided to advocate for eighth-grade algebra. have the possibility for, and I think that’s Now, we have mathematics exhibits in our wonderful. galleries, but we’re not mounting an algebra The question, though, is a tough one, and exhibit. However, in the role as convener and I’ve personally had experience dealing with a place to raise issues of importance in edu- this issue where, when push comes to shove, cation, we are supporting eighth-grade either the director or the board isn’t really algebra throughout Minnesota. But we’re not willing to deal with advocacy. It’s okay to doing it through our exhibits. We’re doing it say, yeah, sustainability is a good thing and in other ways by saying, “Hey, we’ll be the let’s go and teach people how the environ- place where the Department of Education ment works, but we’re not going to advocate can hold it’s monthly meeting on X. And by anything because we don’t do that. One of the way, can I get a chance to talk with you the key things that would be important for while you’re here about why eighth-grade al- all of us to understand is where the leader- gebra is really important?” ship of this institution sits on the issue of We’re doing it through collaboration with being advocates for something. At some other entities. We don’t say to visitors in the level, if you’re going to take sustainability galleries, you know, we think 8th grade alge- and stewardship as your goal, then you are Rick Bonney and Cecilia Garibay inspecting bird eggs bra is really important. It’s a different level advocating that. So the question is, how far of work. I think your notion about advocacy are you willing to go with that? • Scott and the stand that you want to take may Sampson take some different forms other than just in the exhibits. • Julie Johnson • I think we’re very willing to take a strong po- sition. I don’t think this museum has shied away from much historically, and I think stewardship is absolutely embedded in our Love and Passion coastal habitat or whatever, and not exclude Yearning for the Stories people. 45 Immersive Environments and Field Trips • Rick and I had an interesting conversation. I said, “You know, • Several people, Stephen Jay Gould among You can take groups of people through, I keep wanting to see stories them, have said you’re never going to save whether they’re guided members of the pub- here. I keep thinking, if there’s a story, what’s lic or school groups and say, “Here’s the anything that you don’t love. If stewardship the story that this particular diorama tells?” Sierra Nevada and here’s how the ecosystem is about getting passion for a place, you need We kind of tried that a couple of times. Rick works and it’s fantastic, and here’s some of to think about how you generate passion. In came across these Red-winged Blackbirds and Edward O. Wilson’s book, Biophilia, he the impacts going on. And oh, by the way, he told me this whole little story of one being makes this really interesting thought experi- next month we’re leading a tour of the Si- dominant and so forth. It was a fun game to ment. He says, imagine if you could create a erra Nevada if you want to see it in person.” play, but it encapsulated for me something pristine environment that was absolutely You’d be able to then get people to really that could be a real tool, which is to think about what story you are really telling and beautiful, with a canyon and a lake, but it understand what these things are. then how you allow visitors to tell their sto- was all fake, all plastic, the animals and ev- So to my mind the dioramas are useful for ries. Potentially, that story could be many erything. What would that be? Would that conveying knowledge, but certainly not for things. It could be about something that re- strike a chord emotionally or not? His argu- generating the passion. That has to happen minds them of something in their back yard, or ment, and I would tend to agree, was that in another way. • Scott Sampson it could be a story about being in that particu- some ways it would be a nightmare. It’s not lar place and having an experience there. anything that would make you feel close to • Cecilia Garibay that place at all. It would almost be odd and REACTIONS TO THE GALLERY • I couldn’t read the lettering on the plexiglass eerie because there’s nothing living there, so I made up my own stories. What are my sto- Decontextualized, Disorienting even though it’s spectacularly beautiful. Di- ries and how do I find out what other people’s oramas are kind of like that. It’s very • The word I came up with was stories are? • Julie Johnson unlikely that they’re going to inspire passion “decontextualized.” I was disoriented, so as I and stewardship in the way that we would went through it was very difficult for me to want. But that doesn’t mean that they understand exactly where I was. I started couldn’t be useful tools. thinking to myself, gee, I wonder if I were If you could reorganize that area, I would ar- from California if this would be a very differ- gue for more immersive types of ent experience, but that’s kind of how it environments, even if you cut down the num- felt. I thought, surely there must be more ber that you dealt with and had maybe four here, so I kept trying to grasp onto some- or five examples of biomes in California. But thing but had a very difficult time with it. I you could make them immersive and then or- also had the sense of being overwhelmed and ganize trips so people could go and see those could completely see why other visitors
places, whether it’s a redwood forest or groups would sort of go through because What is the story on this Red-winged Blackbird? there was almost too much. I wondered if • “Decontextualized” is a good word. I felt the 46 you could strip it to just some core pieces same going through it. Any revamp would that you thought were really important and need some kind of orientation and I’m a fan emblematic for a reason and tell stories of orientation videos. If you’re trying to get around those rather than cover everything. people to think in new and interesting ways • Cecilia Garibay you have to orient them to think that way and give them things to look for as they’re Orientation in the Gallery having the experience. I felt there was very little to orient me geographically. If I was re- • Have you thought about the KQED Quest idea ally looking for it I could find the little of recording sightings and mapping it onto California map where things were high- Didn’t this the areas? That was one of my reactions to topographical map lighted, but I had to work at it and a lot of the gallery, I don’t know where I am. I know used to be better? people just aren’t going to work at it. there are maps and words and all that, but I • Scott Sampson was really pretty disoriented. It seems that could potentially be one approach, since • I was trying to find the story depicted in the KQED is already recording that. • Wendy “Current Gallery of California Ecology” hand- Pollock out you sent to us prior to this meeting to see how these themes presented themselves in the gallery. I don’t think as a visitor people will get that. Having an orientation The Topographical Map of California and map and some way of figuring out where you are is important, as well as how the • I have a long history with this museum, just as that big map in the front that gave you the a visitor. I did do a project here, Jungle Hill, geographic orientation to the gallery. It separate things fit together. • Julie Johnson working with the community, which was very projected images of the gallery plan over exciting. So I have a lot of baggage with that the state and came at it a couple of What’s Not There gallery and I was trying to come in there fresh different ways. It was run with five and I just can’t. But one of my memories of lik- Ektachrome projectors and slides and the Scales ing it better in the earlier days relates to that technology just was not sustainable. What • In terms of scales there was really nothing topo map. In the beginning there were projec- you’re seeing there is an artifact of being from micro to macro or how to access differ- tions that, in my memory, did orient me. unable to migrate the technology. ent scales. • Scott Sampson • Darcie Fohrman • Christopher Richard
• The missing piece of the projection is strictly • It was primitive, but it really did make a Evolution and Geologic Context the failure of an old interactive technology. difference. • Darcie Fohrman • The gallery could be a creationist gallery in There used to be a show that was projected on the sense that everything is just dropped there as if created by god, everything is just Tactile Experiences 47 beautifully laid out as is, and there’s no • Then there is the issue of touching. There sense of how it came to be. I mean, there were some places where it was clear you are four billion years of evolution that have could actually touch something, like the created the ecosystems that are sitting in woodpecker tree. Once I got there I thought, that gallery, but there’s no sense of history. well can I actually reach into those other di- Live Animals There’s no sense of geologic context, of the oramas and touch them? Who’s going to stop • What is the potential for live animals in your geologic history and the plate tectonics, of me? Granted, none of you would stop me to- gallery (live animals being the furry small everything that led up to California being day, but I don’t know if your visitors are things, not the people walking through the gal- where it is on the margin of a large continent allowed to get into the redwood forest or if lery)? I understand there’s a hidden aquarium with an impact from an ocean. You don’t get they do. But I’m all the way there [at the section back there. What is the ability to bring any sense of how life and environment have woodpecker tree] before I can actually touch live animals into that space as juxtaposition to interacted over time. Really, these things are something that’s real. It wasn’t plastic, I the stillness that’s there and a way for people just sitting out there in space and I couldn’t knew it was wood, I saw the shavings. to make some different kind of connection? I really get a sense of how to interpret them. do think it’s hard for people to make connec- The texture piece was really important. tions with things that are not moving. If you Now, do I think the elements in there could Then I went back and we had this whole con- want emotion and passion, you may need to be recycled into something else that would versation, “Are these redwoods really real? think of some other ways of doing that. I’m be more important? Yes, I think so. • Scott Let’s touch ‘em and break stuff off and let’s not suggesting that it takes over, but there might be some good plant or animal species, Sampson see.” or both, that would really add to the feel. Something that Makes [A staff member says, “By the way, you’re That relates back to Scott’s question regarding You Stop and Say, “Oh!” not supposed to touch the redwoods.”] the dreams for the area and therefore, what would make sense? • Julie Johnson • There was nothing to make me stop. I was I’m sure you’re not. However, if I lived in ur- thinking about the fact that visitors spent ban Oakland, as accessible and easy as it is thirteen minutes in a 25,000-square-foot ex- to get to nature, some people never leave hibit, and I think it’s partly because there their block. And so if my only experience is was nothing that made me stop and go, going to be here, I want to walk through the “Oh!” I was looking for the rat’s nest and the redwoods. I want to know what it feels like. bird thing and I walked right by them. There was nothing that actually made me stop, Coming back to this idea of an immersive ex- whether it be a physical barricade that I had perience, where are the things that are to stop and walk around, so I was like, okay, tactile that let me experience the things that are in the vitrines, and how do you bal- I’ll just keep walking. • Julie Johnson ance the two of those? It’s not only for people who are visually impaired, it’s for people who want to feel the texture of a are directed to those types of specific spaces 48 tree. I didn’t get the sense there were a lot to create more of an immersive experience. of places to do that, though I did do it today And yes it’s fake and we all know it’s fake, because no one was going to stop me. • Julie but that doesn’t mean it can’t be inspiring in Johnson some respects. • Scott Sampson
Digging Deep Live Research Uneasy Sameness Instead of Going Overly Wide • Where is the live research that people are • I felt as if I was in a glass case. I’m trying to • In your write-up of what you’re doing, it said actually doing reflected in this natural his- capture the feeling I had. It was a very un- that it teaches the principles of ecology. All of the things that were mentioned—adaptation, tory environment? I didn’t know it was based easy feeling being in that space. There was biodiversity, plant and animal relationships, in the 1400s, I actually did think it was rep- just a sort of sameness and this spread-out nutrient cycles, stories of survival, the inter- resenting today. Maybe that’s in the video quality and the sense of needing enclosures dependence of living organisms—are things introduction and people get that sense, but and variety and most of all, some sense of that you say you want to do in there or are do- my assumption was that it was today or connection with the world outside of there, ing in there. That’s impossible to do, let alone within the last two or three decades, not whether through live feeds, people bringing the fact that it’s not happening the way it is. I hundreds of years ago. So if people are actu- in sightings they can report from right think it’s just too much. ally doing research here at the Oakland around there, or human beings to interact There can be digging-deeper things where you Museum about sustainability, how is that with. I didn’t see a place where I could ex- get into that, or you can use humor and relate talked about with the exhibition? • Julie pect that to be happening there. I just had those adaptations to human behavior and Johnson this feeling, where am I, and what is the re- something that I can relate to. There could be lationship with anything living? • Wendy fun things that you could do with that, and Space Configuration Pollock then people might want to dig deeper and re- ally learn these fundamentals and principles of From Giant Room to Immersive Spaces science. I would like to be drawn in to how I • One of the other aspects for me is that Connections or Lack could relate to that. Mobile phones could be a you’re supposed to be depicting all of these Thereof Between Exhibits way to offer access to information without different environments, but it’s all in one gi- having to read a lot of text. • Darcie Fohrman The Aquatic-Terrestrial Divide ant room. So you walk into this large room • The first thing I noticed was the great divide and you don’t know when you’ve left one between the aquatic world and the terres- and entered another one. For me, I can’t ori- trial world, literally and figuratively. When I ent myself in any kind of meaningful way got to the end of the terrestrial world there then. was this great picture of this canyon in Anza- Once again I would argue for more dividers, Barrego State Park that shows the desert more immersive kinds of spaces, better use habitat, and then when you get to the end of of lighting, better use of sound effects that the aquatic one there’s exactly the same • I didn’t understand why I had the reaction I place, but there was no connection. One fo- did until listening to Darcie. When got to the 49 cused on the seeps and the stream that goes other end of the gallery where there’s an art through that valley and the other focused on and history exhibit, I wanted to go in there. I the things that were ten feet away from didn’t want to go into the Natural Science that, so there was this huge separation be- Gallery. It was too glary for me. I felt like I tween the aquatic world and the terrestrial was on the Starship Enterprise and had just world when they are intimately intercon- landed somewhere and was seeing what life nected. • Terry Gosliner looked like a million years ago. When I got to Furniture, Carpeting the end, the lighting was nice and my head- • I also have a real problem with the furniture • Part of the challenge with dioramas is that ache went down and I looked at all the that the dioramas are in. I love most of the di- you have all of these separate vitrines and pictures, and then I had to go through the oramas and agree with Scott about groupings yet they don’t exist that way in nature. They Natural Science Gallery again to get back. and knowing where you are. I think you should actually exist connected, so the experience • Rick Bonney keep them and I think you should change the in the gallery was disconcerting. • Julie furniture, at least the bases. They call too Johnson much attention to themselves. It looks like Making Sense of Models they’re from some exotic wood that wouldn’t be sustainable. • Darcie Fohrman • With exhibitions and dioramas, there’s an un- Lighting derlying assumption that people use models • It’s California walnut. We wouldn’t want to • Is there something different about the light- and understand how models are used. I’m throw it out. • OMC staff member
ing? It seems to me it may have been more not sure those assumptions we hold about • If you have to keep it you could at least change dramatic in the past. • Darcie Fohrman models are true, or at least true for a major- the lighting in the cases so it doesn’t call as ity of people. So I think to say that I look at much attention to the bases. And the carpet • The lighting is pretty much the same, al- this diorama with the Red-winged Blackbirds has got to go. I think you could do something though a number of the cases had the and can immediately say, oh yes, this occurs with the floor that would be interpretive that mansard tops with built-in fluorescent tubes in X kind of place, or have a fuller concept would help you know where you are. • Darcie and we replaced those with track lighting. about, is a flawed assumption. Fohrman • Christopher Richard It might be interesting for you to explore how people use models in your community • With those kinds of dioramas I think the track and whether or not you need to reconfigure lighting is just devastating because they some of those to really make them acces- need to be internally lit. You can’t have that sible in terms of models and what they mean glass and have lights reflecting off it and get to people and how people use them. any sense of intimacy. • Darcie Fohrman • Julie Johnson • I was here a couple of weeks ago for one of need some elements of surprise, so maybe 50 these meetings and that was my first time in put one thing in the diorama that doesn’t be- the gallery. I spent a lot of time thinking long there. Do something fun. Have a about what Julie brought up: How do you treasure hunt that gets you to notice things query a diorama? For me, as somebody with- in the diorama. out a lot of experience with that, I had a Think of ice breakers as conversation start- very hard time going from some of the 2-D ers. One thing that came to mind was a PBS information to the 3-D diorama. • Nina Simon or Discovery show about bringing tigers to Af- rica. It seems like such a stupid idea and GALLERY AND EXHIBIT IDEAS somebody is trying to do this and it made you talk about it. Why would they do that? They Links and Meaning Making don’t belong there. It’s the idea of trying Interpretation of Current Events things to get strangers to talk to each other • The other thing that kept going on in the and introducing social networking ideas. Usu- back of my head was, what’s going on in ally people talk to each other when these places right now? Where is the contem- something is broken and they can’t figure porary interpretation of what’s happening in out how to use it, or they want to know what our back yards, what’s happening in the it’s made out of. It doesn’t have to be con- Interpretive Wrappers trived. Around Dioramas deserts of California? When something ap- pears in a newspaper or on TV or the radio, • Another idea is interpretive wrappers. It was In that question show that we did at interesting to hear Darcie talk about the furni- this should be a place where people can Stanford, we raised a lot of questions and it ture. I was thinking there are some very strong come. How can this institution help people was similar in that visitors were asked about story statements you could make with wrap- make sense of that in a more meaningful what their questions were about art and mu- pers around these dioramas, some positive and way, not just physically but via the Web and seum practice. We built a whole exhibition some negative. I was imagining, for example, other tools? • Terry Gosliner about that and the gallery was lively and dioramas that are in shipping boxes because people were talking. It wasn’t the hushed they’re going to extinction and some of the museum. I think some of the reason was be- heavy metaphoric ideas that you can get away Surprise, Fun, Social Interaction, cause they couldn’t figure out what was with. Is it hidden and you have to get to the Immediacy, Dramatic Lighting, diorama? What is the way in and how could going on because we took such a wacky ap- furniture help people with that as opposed to Performance, Object Theater proach. In a way that’s bad, but in another being something distracting. Though I think • I tried to think about what would enliven the way you’re stirring things up a bit. these things could be distracting as well. space since I’ve had the advantage of being • Nina Simon There is also immediacy, live streaming vid- here more than some of you. I think you eos from these locations, or at least giving the illusion that they’re seeing that. Talk to out with a musician and recording the sound scientists, find out what the scientists are of water around the Twin Cities and then he 51 thinking about these places and what they’re composed that with them. There’s so much like now. that could be done with that. There was a need for some sense other than the sense of Then there is drama. Use lighting and projec- sight. • Wendy Pollock tions to enhance the experience. I love what they did at the Cal Academy, projecting el- Nature Exchange Corner ephants onto the savannah so you could see • You could have a symphony of sounds in there • At the Science Museum of Minnesota they have little elephants going by. That’s just a subtle that the visitors generate and they could go a place in the gallery they call Collectors Cor- ner, where people can bring things they find. little touch, but there’s so much you can do to this spot and they would know what You could have something similar with a nature now with projection and lighting to really sounds they were creating, even though you exchange. That’s another way to have a rela- help the experience. wouldn’t know until you went over there. tionship with the nearby community. • Wendy • Darcie Fohrman I also think having live performances in there Pollock would really be great if you could create a theater space. Lindsay mentioned the idea of Identifying the Verbs for Social creating an object theater. You might create Objects and Social Interaction a theater where you could actually sit down • During this visit to the gallery I felt a little and do it on your own or have some live ac- more free and was talking to people in the tion. • Darcie Fohrman gallery and realized how easy it would be to blow by and do the kind of visitor experience Sound that Mary Jo was reflecting in the tracking in terms of people not spending a lot of time • I wanted to mention the sound environment, deep in. As a nonspiritual pilgrim museum having worked on this exhibition, Wild Music. person, I had the unique experience of trying I know that your sound collection is such an to do that the last time I was here. This time asset and there are recordings in there, but when I reverted more to my standard, I you could do so much more with that, even found I was just breezing by. in terms of programming. People don’t have to be limited to contributing visual materi- Then I started thinking about the social ele- als, they can contribute sound recordings. ment of the dioramas. One of the things I’ve There was a youth project that preceded the been thinking about recently is social ob- Wild Music exhibition at the Science Museum jects. There are some interesting people of Minnesota, which involved local kids going talking about what makes an object some- Wendy Pollock listening in the Bat exhibit thing that elicits or mediates a social inter- people and offering programmatic experi- 52 action. One of the things people talk about ences outside? Are there opportunities to around that is, what is the verb that people really have exhibits outside? • Nina Simon do with the social object and how does it re- late to other people? So it’s not just the fact Linking to Lake Merritt, that I look at the diorama, but am I sharing Gathering Citizen Science Data with somebody else? Am I pointing something • Putting together a few of these things gives out? Are we having a discussion about our me an idea. I think it has already been said, Connecting Visitors to Nature at story around it? but I’ll say it again anyway. Nina was saying a Variety of Levels I think it would be interesting to imagine, exhibits outdoors. I think the exhibits are out • I was looking at these content questions and there and they’re real, they’re nature. Those hearing what you are saying, especially in what are the verbs that relate to the social are the exhibits that are outdoors. A terms of making the message very simple: Save engagement you want to see around these the birds, or save the ocean. I was also think- dioramas? • Nina Simon treehouse would be a great place to sit and ing about what is our distilled version of our watch it, but I understand that there’s a lake mission statement, which is about connecting near here. Let’s pretend for a moment that visitors to the natural and cultural environ- Moving Outdoors there’s good stuff out there at the lake and ment of California. Maybe we’re making it too A Treehouse and it’s easy to get to with a group of community hard by saying we have to do scientific literacy Other Outside, Off-site Installations members. There could be an exhibit in the and exploring the outdoors and citizen sci- • It would be so great to have extensions of exhibit hall about that lake. You’ve already ence. I put down, “partner with our visitors in this exhibit into the community. I was think- got a lot of stuff in that gallery that’s prob- connecting to the natural environment of Cali- ably at the lake. The ducks are some of the fornia.” ing about a treehouse. I am a treehouse fanatic. There is the idea that a museum is a nicest taxidermy that you have out there. You’re meeting those partnerships at a lot of dif- place to have a time apart and focus and see Get some raccoons. ferent levels. For some people it’s partnering new things. How neat would it be if the mu- in a way to just understand simple science Make an exhibit of the lake, but then take seum, as a gift to Oakland, had a treehouse concepts. For some it’s really making that con- people to the lake and gather data about nearby and you could sit and look at some of nection to the outdoors at close-by places like what’s out there. Take water quality samples Lake Merritt. For others it may be to go to that the things that are really in nature? At first I and count the birds. We’ll sell you an eBird level of stewardship. It’s like what Susanne was thinking it would be great to have these kiosk and you can come back and put all of was saying. If you’re getting them to connect kinds of interpretive experiences in the gal- with something in the natural environment by your data into the kiosk and compare it to all lery, but where it would really be great is not meeting them at their entry point, that could of the other data from around California in the museum but somewhere else. There is be, by definition, a lot of different levels. about birds you’ve been seeing. And then, a lot of good stuff that you can put into the • Lori Fogarty heck, you could compare that to all of the museum, but I think the challenge is, what is data from the last hundred years and look at some good stuff that you can put outside how climate change is affecting this area. Or other than some trail maps and encouraging get people out there and look at when the was not a bay but a valley. One was Alameda buds are bursting and come back and put the and one is Oakland, at least from about 53 data in the BudBurst project. where we are out to as far as West Oakland went naturally. Each of these two parallel I did a quick google on “citizen science San sand dunes had a grove of oak trees on them. Francisco Bay.” The result you get is, “Volun- “Alameda” means oak-lined boulevard. teer Citizen Scientists Dive in for Sex on the There’s also “Encinal,” which means oak Beach.” It’s about grunions. The point is, grove, which is a street over there. So that’s bringing the people into it. There’s a Alameda was named after the oaks as was grunion-greeter project and people are in- Oakland. • Christopher Richard volved in it, and there’s no reason that couldn’t be interpreted here also. • Rick A Jumping-off Point Bonney • I think this is your jumping-off point. You’ve got to deal with all of California and want to • That goes back to the question, what is the tie California to the world, but start the visi- research that is happening that you are re- tor with where we are. With a name like flecting? It also gets back to, why should Oakland, you’ve got a gift. • Darcie Fohrman people care? If one of the primary things you want is for people to think and behave dif- Art and History Links ferently, how does the experience lead to • The art department has a great painting de- caring? And is it only for the science gallery picting a section of Eighth Street about three that you want that to happen or is it one of blocks away. It was the horse and buggy era our intersecting threads? • Julie Johnson and Eighth Street was completely arched over by the oak trees. • Christopher Richard • I love the off-site idea. Our science staff has Kathleen McLean and Darcie Fohrman been thinking a lot about how we do that— • So you could combine history and art with “The museum has left the building”—and natural science. • Darcie Fohrman having exhibits that tie into Lake Merritt or make that connection. • Lori Fogarty Probably Not USING THE DIORAMAS • I’m throwing out this idea of using the diora- Making it Oakland-Based mas as-is as a rhetorical question because Using Them As Is what I’m hearing from every single one of you Origin of the City’s Name is probably not. • Kathleen McLean • If what we want to do is connect with visitors • There were two parallel sand dunes formed at a lot of different levels as Lori described, • Not if you want to do stewardship in connec- during the Ice Age when San Francisco Bay tion to the local area you can’t. • Rick Bonney we have heard all of the examples that they experience those areas that you’re cur- 54 people have been throwing out here about rently showcasing. I don’t know that Web what we could do to make that happen, and cams and kiosks are what you’re going to a lot of this has been based on experience in need. I think that’s a question you’re going understanding what really does engage to have to figure out. • Julie Johnson people and get people excited about this Installing a Diorama stuff. I go back to the question: Can we take Lack of Interconnections in the Art or History Gallery our assumption that we can use the dioramas • It would probably be worthwhile to take at pretty much the way they are, bring visitors • As to whether or not I think the dioramas can least one of those dioramas and install it in the in to talk about the natural world of Oakland be used as is, maybe some of them, but as I History or the Art Gallery of this institution, right now, and create interventions that use just said, they’re distinct and life doesn’t and then interpret it as a work of art or a work the existing dioramas to get those conversa- happen in distinct little plexiglass cases, it’s of history as an exhibition. • Terry Gosliner tions going? • Kathleen McLean interconnected. Unless you’re going to put • Or install it in the library or the YMCA. That’s two or three together to make something, I what I’d love to see. • Anon. • Knowing that we are going to do some other don’t know. How do you make it immersive things in the gallery in terms of the design it- unless you can open the door and walk in? self to address some of the things people • Julie Johnson were talking about. We’re definitely getting rid of the carpet, but some of the other Reconfigure to tell Stories of things we see as design techniques. • Lori Fogarty Biodiversity, Invasive Species • What I think needs to happen is that many of • Right, and doing Web cams and all kinds of the organisms that occupy those dioramas interactions and stuff like that around those need to be pulled out of them to tell com- dioramas. • Kathleen McLean parative stories of different places where the same thing is happening over and over again. Start with the Visitors What is really good about it, and what I think you want to preserve, is not the linear • I worry that you’re putting the cart before transect across California, which is currently the horse in the sense that you’re saying, the main storyline. What you want to do is well, we’ll add Web cams or whatever with- talk about California’s biodiversity, preserv- out knowing if your visitors want that. I don’t ing as much of that diversity that’s resonant know what you know about how your visitors in those, but interpret it in a completely dif- experience life in and around Oakland, how ferent way. Scott Sampson and Rick Bonney contemplate wood rat And some of those dioramas may function as A Focus for Argument and Discussion dioramas because I think you want to have 55 Like the Torah some element where you depict habitats and particularly those that are going to be most • One of the things I think about related to this familiar to the majority of your viewers be- is that I’m a Reconstructionist Jew, and cause I think that’s a point of connection for Reconstructionists are people who believe Is There a Torah? many of them. The other thing is that you tradition gets a vote but not a veto. You go • Regarding questions we’d ask of visitors, I want to take that diversity and tell different to those services every week and the Torah is wasn’t thinking we’d ask visitors what we the same. They think of it as an antiquated, species survival and success stories and cull should do, but ask them to come in and look at problematic document that they’re going to examples of that. these dioramas and these birds that are all la- spend every week grappling with and working beled and grouped, or these things that have One of the things that people have a real with. In some ways I think there’s an oppor- little chunks of land next to them, and see problem with is the fact that there is life all tunity to do the same thing with the where it goes. Not about what we should be around us, but some of that life is not ben- dioramas if they’re considered as valuable as doing, but what are your questions about these eficial to preserving the biodiversity that is this set of Jews think the Torah is—something things? And we could see if those questions unique to California. Somehow that needs to worth arguing about every week. don’t then give us a good starting point for come across, that if you have French broom dealing with those things. But that is based on and pigeons and eucalyptus all around you I think there’s an opportunity to say, “Hey, an assumption that we’ve got the Torah out there’s life, but it’s got nothing to do with we have some problematic stuff here, but there and it’s about refining the Torah, not the life that’s unique to California. Somehow we also have stuff that we think is important necessarily writing a new book. • Kathleen McLean that understanding has to come across and in some ways. How do we keep arguing and has to be fundamental to that sense of stew- red-lining that stuff?” I always think of these • There’s no Torah. There’s no Torah out there ardship. Otherwise you don’t know what ninety-year-old congregants who would be for most people to be understanding this. Most you’re trying to achieve in terms of steward- holding up their copies of the Torah that they people don’t understand ecology or evolution ship. You don’t know what the goal is. had crossed things out in that they didn’t or any of those key ideas that we want to be able to communicate so that you understand Somehow all of that has to come together in agree with. That was something that was how natural systems work. Most people don’t a new paradigm of creating that kind of un- part of this practice. I think there’s a lot of get that. If they don’t understand anything opportunity to be doing that kind of thing derstanding because that’s the fundamental about the Torah they can’t start to critique it with visitors, but that’s predicated by feeling connection that people have to make in or- in any way. It’s up to us to decide how we’re der to be able to become responsible like the dioramas have a kernel that is valu- going to present these ideas I think. • Scott stewards. • Terry Gosliner able enough to retain in some form, which I Sampson think they do. • Nina Simon
Collection as Instigator of Dialogue • My take on this was, what if you go back to thinking about the gallery less as an exhibi- tion and more as what it actually is for the mas, one of which I was part of at the Chi- 56 Oakland Museum, which is a collection, and cago Academy of Sciences, which is well then beyond that to Julie’s notion of a li- known for its incredibly beautiful dioramas. brary? If we looked at the dioramas as a kind What we came down to is that what the visi- of library of living things and habitats of Cali- tors really got out of that was essentially a Telling New Stories fornia, that then could be the jumping-off restorative and emotional experience. in an Outdated Library point for dialogue. Maybe some of it is even I would be really hard pressed to think of a • Like Darcie, I have a lot of baggage with that contentious dialogue: “Who cares about study that has been done on what visitors get hall. I was a tech here twelve years ago and woodpeckers?” having been in museums for a long time, out of dioramas and think about that as there’s a lot of appreciation I have for the There are some scientists over at the stewardship and action. You could argue that technique of making those things. To me it’s a Exploratorium who say that these charis- it created a sense of connection. You could little like coming across a time capsule from matic megafauna have very little to do with argue that it created a sense of imagination the ‘50s or a library from the ‘50s, and no the bigger issues of life on earth, and yet we and putting yourself in a sort of pristine book has been written since then. I’m thinking all go around loving birds and furry things place. For people who have come a long of all the literature that has been written in when in fact they’re not the most important time, maybe they are the ones who could the last fifty-four years that in fact should be thing you should be studying. Well, you bring start thinking about issues of extinction be- in that library. All we have is that library, so in that school of scientists and they’d say rip cause some of those dioramas were old how do we make those stories visible? I’ve thought, well, you could have plastic washed out all of the dioramas because that’s not enough that they contained things that had up on those beaches. You could have the alba- what’s really important. long since died. But thinking about using the tross dying on those beaches because they’ve dioramas to get to this goal of stewardship But we’ve got to start somewhere. And if eaten the plastic. You could have people going seems like a hard sell to me. I’m struggling this doesn’t seem like a good way to go, we to those places and somehow the gallery is with the issue of whether that is really the need to know now. Does the notion of think- having their visit as part of that trip and they goal that you want, and that’s the ultimate could be good stories and they could be bad ing of those as provocateurs of conversation goal. • Cecilia Garibay stories. But there’s not the bridge to the out- or question instigators have any value? side and there’s not the bridge to the present. • Kathleen McLean What About a • Mary Jo Sutton Sense of ‘60s Eco Appreciation? The Dioramas and Stewardship • What we’re coming up against is diorama and stewardship. Stewardship has always been Study Findings: Restorative this parallel thing that everybody is really in- and Emotional, Not Stewardship terested in and everybody says the museum • I’ve been thinking about your goal and the needs to be dealing with. And then there are stewardship piece and whether dioramas are the dioramas. I think part of the idea of really the venue for that, and I’ve been thinking about the new gallery would be, thinking back on earlier studies about diora- what if you could forget stewardship, leaders or whoever were taking them out and sustainability and all of those pressing issues showing them the different kinds of pigeons. 57 and that wasn’t the goal of the gallery? In- They learned there were different kinds, stead, what if the goal of the gallery was they realized there was wildlife in the park, much more of a ‘60s ecological goal, which is they learned that not every bird was a pi- when these dioramas were created, involving geon, and they might have even collected an appreciation for the intricacies of these data, but they never sent it to us. habitats and these critters? That’s it—just an Visitor Research on Dioramas: So I had to go back and revise my whole appreciation for it. • Kathleen McLean Compelling, Visceral, Storytelling Fodder view of what was success in this continuum. • A bit of research that I found compelling dealt Getting data was wonderful, but having a kid • My answer would be the same. It wouldn’t with visitor questions in front of dioramas. go into a park and realize that not every bird Having been a parent with small kids around work that way. • Julie Johnson was a pigeon was huge, absolutely huge. It these dioramas I found this interesting. One is was the first step. And it’s actually the first that the dioramas themselves are really com- • One of the societal problems and dilemmas step towards stewardship. So your ‘60s pelling. These things were alive, they are real, here is that in the ‘60s people were probably awareness is stewardship. At least it’s step authentic things. Unlike other science institu- more connected to the natural world than one because without awareness you can’t tions where you’re seeing interactive they are today, and yet the necessity to have elements, there’s something very visceral have the next step and the next step. people have that connection is much greater when kids see these things. They were really now. This is why we are in such a crisis. We really need to come back to unpacking all alive, they’re not alive now, and they know People’s understanding is diminished and the of those goals and trying to figure out what that these really existed. Then it goes into this necessity to have that understanding is in- is achievable here in this institution and then incredible storytelling, even if we’re not going into scientific literacy. Is this the mom? Is this creased. That’s what we’re up against. do a gap analysis: Here’s what we want to the dad? Is this a family? Who is hunting whom? • Terry Gosliner do, here are the things you need to do it, Will it live? Can it kill it? Will it eat it? Does it and here’s what we have. You’ve got diora- kill it and eat it? It’s amazing, the stories that Gap Analysis: What Is Achievable? mas, you’ve got a talented staff that is you can tell. • I think that we need to unpack some things already bringing people in from the outside, So I would propose that there is something here. We need to unpack stewardship. Back and you’ll find out what you’re missing. Then worth building upon. We know there is a gap in the early days of citizen science, my idea your proposal or plan becomes filling in there, but it’s hard for me to think of another for success was data received at the Lab of what’s missing and putting it together with construct where there is so much rich fodder Ornithology. How much data was I getting what’s here. • Rick Bonney there for the storytelling and the authenticity. from the school kids or the pigeon watchers? There is a lot there that I think we can use. • Lori Fogarty It took me a while to realize that was abso- Climate Change lutely ridiculous because there were so many • I don’t think it would be real useful to have kids that were getting our materials, and these discussions about the dioramas until their teachers or Saturday morning academy you really know a little bit more about what you want visitors to go away with from the In my view that’s the most important. I’m 58 experience here, both in terms of learning prejudiced. That’s the bottom line. If I ran goals and emotional goals. this place it would be very advocacy driven about wanting to do something about climate One thought is that with the studies they’re change and at least being part of the move- now doing of how the climate is going to ment. • Darcie Fohrman change in regions and with new papers com- ing out constantly, there is so much more now than there was a couple of years ago. Culling the Dioramas People are making predictions and because for the Stories You Want to Tell of our Mediterranean climate there is real adaptation that is being talked about. These Deciding on the Stories First dioramas were created based on region. The • What if we think of the dioramas as “ecologi- climate in those regions is changing, what cal theater,” a term the researcher Karen would be in those dioramas is changing, and Wonders has used? Today was my third visit there are going to be new environments that in the galleries and I kept thinking, what is never existed before as well as different holding me? Why am I stopping at certain plants and animals. galleries? It’s because a story was told there, there was drama. Predator-prey was the It seems like there’s something there, to use most common drama there in the gallery. If those dioramas as real examples of place and we think about the theater of the diorama region, and how those might change and telling a story, every story is generated from what they might look like. That might mean something and every story is told in different even adding a diorama or letting visitors ways. It might be an exercise to think about imagine what a new environment might be how we’re generating the stories. They like. It seems there’s something dynamic would come from the visitors’ questions, here. Again there’s the issue that we don’t what’s relevant to the visitors, what’s hap- know for sure, but you can let that be part pening in science research, what’s happening of it. Here are these predictions and this is in the bigger world. Those are going to gen- scary, but it’s an adaptation that is already erate the stories. happening. Look how well it’s going or look what people are doing, using models of miti- Look at the dioramas and how a diorama gation but also models of adaptation. The could tell that story, and then you get to dioramas could be the starting point for un- thinking about how it would be told through derstanding climate change and its Web cams or iPhones or whatever—that’s way Wendy Pollock and Rick Bonney in gallery ramifications. down the line. I think the challenge is going to be generating the stories that are going to existing dioramas or elements of those diora- be told. You have visitors asking certain mas. There were two things that 59 questions, you’ve got a lot coming out of sci- immediately came to mind. When I was look- ence about the environment. ing at that great section of the intertidal zone that showed the zonation of different I think your challenge is back in the begin- organisms, we know that since 1975 that has ning about how to generate those stories. moved up a foot. That’s pretty incredible Then look at the dioramas and decide which given the time frame. ones to keep. You may not keep them all, but you might keep some that tell the story When I look at these little animals called pi- the best. • Mary Marcussen kas that live up in the alpine zone, we know that everything is migrating upward in the Switching Out mountains, five hundred to a thousand feet Vitrines to Tell Different Stories in the Sierras. Those pikas are at the tops of • You may have many stories to tell. Figure out the mountains. They have no place to go if it how you can make that a moveable, change- gets warmer. Those are the kinds of things able space even though it’s permanent. You that are immediately relevant stories about A keeper in the story inventory: the pika have a sum total of dioramas out there now. stewardship that have got to come to the Maybe you only need half to tell a particular forefront. Those have to be the things that story for a two-year period of time. Then you are in that inventory of what you’re going to change your collection and put the next part keep. You can still tell the splendor of nature of your story in. Think about the vitrines as story and then take it to the next level of moveable and you design them that way so the impacts and how that relates to steward- it’s not difficult to change them out. • Julie ship. I think that is the way I would inventory Johnson the keepers. • Terry Gosliner
• Right, they can be on wheels and move as Do Better Stories = Better Push Content the climate changes. • Darcie Fohrman as Opposed to Better Process? • I would push against that a little because Inventorying Stories while I think it would make this gallery bet- Related to Existing Dioramas ter, I don’t think it would make this gallery • One of the things that would be a really good what you talked about in the very beginning starting point, and maybe you’ve already in terms of making this place a leader in the done this, at least mentally, is to have an in- field and in innovation. There are definitely ventory of stories you can use with the better stories that could be told around this content, but that’s not enough for why we’re here. I feel going down that road is some- the cart before the horse. In some ways this 60 thing that a lot of museums are doing very project is about the process of gathering in- capably, but that this is a museum that has formation from our visitors and beginning to an opportunity to do something else. understand, what are those questions that I think it’s worrying less about goals and visitors have? What are those partnerships Is it dead? Was it alive? thinking more about conversations going on. and connections we can create in the com- If visitors are talking to each other and if you munity that are going to tell us what kind of can create infrastructures that gear the con- interpretive or technological or design over- versations in certain ways to certain levels of lay we would have, or intervention in the sophistication—not even necessarily about dioramas themselves? I think definitely the content, but what kinds of conversations idea is that we don’t want to build ourselves they’re having—you’ll be hitting these from a back into the same plexi box that we have different angle. If you tell better stories I here. So how do we have those conversations don’t see that as community focused, I see it be ongoing? • Lori Fogarty as better push content than what you al- ready have. • Nina Simon • And the change is ongoing. • Nina Simon
Asking Visitors Questions VISITOR INVOLVEMENT Caution: Asking Visitors What They Want Ongoing • I want to speak a little bit about getting • I have a comment related to questioning the opinions from the general public. When I was assumption of the format. I’m curious to in Utah we did this for the Utah Museum of hear what your timeline is. Do you expect Natural History. We went all over the state of that the visitor intervention time will hap- Utah and talked to communities and asked, pen, and then you will create exhibits based what’s your opinion of natural history muse- Audience Partners, ums, what do you think we should do? Of Off-Site Experiences on that, and those will then be pretty static? I would question that and say we should be course there was an entire spectrum of an- • A couple of the partnerships that we’ve swers. Many people had never been to a thought about in terms of the audience ques- looking at opportunities for intervention to tion includes partnerships with the YMCA or be an ongoing thing on the floor. • Nina natural history museum, many had no inten- Oakland Parks and Recreation or the Oakland Simon tion of ever going to one, but they had Library, where there are those visitors that opinions about what we should be doing. It we’re trying to reach, but where there are • That is the intention. And I think Julie gets to be the wrong question. also opportunities for off-site experiences as brought up a good point regarding putting At some point you have to decide up front, well as dialogue here. • Lori Fogarty what is our identity? What do we mean to Engaging Visitors in Conversation this community? You can ask the community 61 A Process Instead of a Message that to some extent, but at some level you have to decide for yourselves and it goes be- • In the title of my project overview, “Bringing yond your mission statement. Consider what the Dead Back to Life: A Community Inquiry would happen if you were to go and pick ran- and Co-Design Project,” the reference to domly a hundred people, your average Joe “dead” is acknowledging the visitors’ pri- on the street, and ask, “What does the Oak- mary response, which is universal across not land Museum mean to you and what would just these dioramas but all dioramas. Is it you like it to mean?” dead? Was it ever alive? Did you kill it? It’s the first wave of questions we’re going to Asking about Models and Maps You need to decide for yourselves. If it’s re- get around anything that has dead animals in • One of the questions you might want to ask is, ally about sustainability, and you polled it. how do you use models in your life? It has those hundred people and asked what it is nothing to do with the specific nature of the the museum should be talking about, It gets back to Julie’s question about models. content, but you really want to understand if sustainability is probably not going to be at Museum people, particularly people who care and how visitors use them because those are the top of the list. If you want evidence of for these and prepare them, think of them as going to be tools or elements that you might that, look at the current presidential race. perfect examples of the natural world. At want to put in your exhibition. I think those are much more valuable questions than, “What Where is sustainability there? This is a key the Exploratorium they would talk about do you think we should do?” because visitors point. We need to build awareness. In natu- their exhibits as natural phenomena and they know what they know and don’t know what ral history museums we do have the weren’t. They were models of natural phe- they don’t know. • Julie Johnson scientific knowledge to know that this is a nomena. A fan isn’t the same thing as the crisis that we’re facing. wind blowing outside. The air moves, but one is created by a fan and an- We shouldn’t expect people to echo that other by a real natural What does it eat? back of us and say, go do it. We need to go phenomenon out in the world. Would it eat me? out there and it’s not that we’re just passing down wisdom from on high, we need to en- These are not living ecosystems, gage them in the process. But you need to be these are models. These are very careful about the questions that you pieces of organic material and ask, and you need to do a lot of internal de- some plastic material and lots of cision making before you go out there and do paint and lots of stuffing. They that. I think that’s what I’d say from the ex- represent something that the sci- perience that we had. • Scott Sampson entists and museum people know, or at least have an inkling about, but that’s not the same thing as what they potentially represent to visitors. stuff out there that I think could generate 62 So it is pitching this as a project that is more really interesting questions that get us there What Happens to Goals? about the process of having conversations in a roundabout way. • Kathleen McLean • Are you approaching this idea of with people and seeing what comes out of the conversation with the possibility that those conversations and how those conversa- people might say, this has nothing to do with REFOCUSING THE DIALOGUE tions can be inspiration for intervention in this goal? • Wendy Pollock the gallery. That is a kind of opposite way of Grappling with a Mismatch • Yes. Well, I wouldn’t say this has nothing to do approaching these rather than saying, what Between Goals and Dioramas with the goals because the conversations is our main message and how are we going to aren’t about goals. They’re about, what is that deliver it? • The goals for the gallery [see page 36, thing and why is it in there? • Kathy McLean sidebar] are very nice goals. These are goals That’s where I keep coming up against this • But the museum is not going to disclose in this that every single museum articulates. They conversation that it has a mission here? idea of stewardship, global warming, are very broad and general and they can be • Wendy Pollock sustainability—that’s our message. There’s interpreted in many different ways. These
Conversation Off the Rails: What Are We Talking About? Visitor Process? The Gallery? Both?
• It sounds like we morphed a bit ago and I • It might actually be that the conversations with they see outside, stewardship and citizen ac- missed the morphing. I missed the turnoff. visitors shape that gallery and revise those com- tion and how that gallery gets you there, but There’s a project that you want to do around munication goals. • Kathleen McLean then, as part of the design process, you’re go- engaging people in dialogue, and then there’s • So where we started earlier was, you wanted our ing to be engaging the community in dialogue this project you want to do about your gallery. input and understanding about the gallery and to further shape what the gallery is going to We’re responding to “We want to do gallery now we’ve switched the conversation. We were at look like, that all makes sense. What it and here are the goals of the gallery.” And one level of input in talking about the gallery in sounded like you were saying with your last there’s a piece in this larger process about terms of these six measurable ideas, and then comments was, well maybe stewardship isn’t talking to visitors and engaging them in con- there was this slightly different conversation the point at all, maybe the end point of the versation. Is that correct? And we recently about a project that would engage visitors and gallery is to engage people in dialogue, which switched from talking about the proposal you define certain questions, which will reframe or do is when I started rolling my eyes. My question want to do, in which you want to talk to visi- something different. I feel we’re having two con- is, any old dialogue? And there was Wendy’s tors about stuff as part of this larger thing to versations at the same time. • Julie Johnson question, doesn’t the museum have a mission? get you to all of this other stuff, which we are I think that’s where this side of the table got still talking about. But somehow now we’re • I agree. It’s either two separate conversations or confused. • Catherine McEver talking about another smaller piece? • Julie two stages of one conversation and we need to be Johnson clear about what we’re doing here. If the goal of • We’re confused on this side of the table also. the gallery is scientific literacy, linking to what • Scott Sampson set you on a course: If you’re going to do ideas contained in those gallery goals. I think this, this is what you need to do in your gal- that is actually true, depending on how you 63 lery. define these ideas.
What I’m hearing from you is, if you want to The other part of it is that the staff of the do this, the stuff you have doesn’t really Oakland Museum are totally committed to map to this very well. What I’m hearing is, keeping the dioramas and maybe adding a The Goal: The Best Project Given the Time, maybe the best option would be to get rid of few more, filling in the gaps for things they Money and Materials everything and do something different. This don’t already have. That doesn’t change the • This may be mind-numbingly pragmatic, but I is something I think we’ve all been grappling problem. Adding a few more dioramas to think we are not in a blue sky situation. This is with a lot. Those gallery goals don’t map to flesh it all out doesn’t change the problem of not tabula rasa. We own what we own, for what is out there right now. realizing these goals. better or worse. We can keep, we can toss, we can modify, but we’ve got $9 million bucks and Underlying these goals—scientific literacy, One of the things we’ve thought about doing we’ve got something like a completion date. exploration outside, and stewardship and is taking a different approach, saying okay, From my point of view the discussion needs to citizen action—as we’ve heard from a num- these are our altruistic goals. These are the be, working with what we’ve got and the ber of you today, are pressing issues for this goals of all good science people across the money that we’ve got and the time that we’ve got, what’s the best project that we can put planet. We could forget everything else. planet. What we have to do then is figure on the floor for the people of the city of Oak- There’s this much time and we have to all this out. The idea of backcasting came up land? • Christopher Richard mobilize around this or we are not going to earlier. If we say one of the givens is the di- make it. We’re hearing that over and over. oramas in the gallery, and these are our goals that we want to reach in some form, and If that’s the case, and if the Oakland Museum we’ve got our audience in there somewhere, is really committed to that, then it seems how do we backcast from the dioramas and like you might say, we’re going to figure out with our visitors to get to those goals? what this means. We’re going to figure out how the group that we identify as the com- That’s kind of the way we’ve been coming at munity engage in the world. What are their it, to see if there’s a way we could think re- languages and tools in terms of models, ally differently about the problems, using maps, and questions about their own per- the depth of relationship with the commu- sonal life? How do we take this piece and nity that exists now in other parts of the that piece and put it together? museum to galvanize the community and the dioramas, throw them in the pot together, The dioramas are just techniques, and they and then see how we backcast to this. may not be the best techniques for introduc- • Kathleen McLean ing the Oakland Museum community to the Which Discussion Are We Having? 64 Three Distinctly Different Conversations • I think we’re having three different conversa- tions. First of all, at the loftiest level, are we going to engage the community in some- thing completely different or potentially different? Secondly, are we going to stick with those goals and if we were starting de novo, how would we go about doing that? Thirdly, which is where I think we are, can we modify the dioramas and their compo- nents as a basis to achieve that? I think we need to be clear which of those three things we’re talking about, and the solutions are radically different. • Terry Gosliner
The Scale of the Discussion: Gallery or NSF Proposal? • Then there’s a fourth question, which is, what is the scale of the discussion here with this group? Are we talking about helping you redo your entire gallery or are we talking about helping you do an NSF proposal? Those are two entirely different things • Rick Bonney
What message would this diorama send if there were trash on this beach? NSF Grant, Co-Creation,64 65 Organizational Change
THE NSF GRANT ask and then create an exhibition to answer those, it was more what Nina was talking Innovation: about. How do you truly engage in a dialogue Content, Audience, Format and conversation and have that be an ongo- ing one in which we’re not deciding the • I think perhaps part of the reason that we content to push, we’re actually letting our- shaped these questions the way that we did selves be open in this process to the is a conversation that we had a couple of questions of visitors? • Lori Fogarty weeks ago with Al DeSena, the head of NSF Informal Science, who said that NSF is look- • You can make that pitch to NSF, the way you ing for innovation on three fronts. One is just outlined it and as you’ve written it up content, one is audience, and one if format. here. You’re going to undertake this experi- Our questions step from that. Is the content ment with the idea that you’ll end up with a more about scientific literacy or steward- new approach to formats in a natural history ship, and where are we on that spectrum, museum that open it up on an ongoing basis knowing that from an institutional perspec- in a way that requires a new relationship to tive, we do have some level of goals on each the community. To me that makes sense as a of these fronts from a content standpoint? proposal. I realize you’re also dealing with Then there’s the audience piece. We know institutional issues and a whole other discus- it’s a very broad audience, it’s a very diverse sion. • Wendy Pollock audience, it’s Oakland, it’s California, it’s so- phisticated, it’s entry-level, it’s urban, it’s conservation-minded. So we have all of those Purpose of Proposal/Funds questions. How do you serve that full span? • I have a question about what the intent of And there are the format questions, which is the proposal is. Is it to find additional re- what Kathy was talking about and where we sources to support this renovation of the really started down the NSF road. Rather hall? Is it to get the prestige of having an NSF than doing this the traditional way, saying grant to add weight and relevance to the project? I just don’t understand how that re- we’re going to take the questions the visitors Wendy Pollock and Terry Gosliner in gallery lates to the other conversations we’ve been what we have institutionally set out to do in 66 having. • Terry Gosliner all three galleries is push ourselves to a dif- ferent level because we know, particularly • The money that we have budgeted for the for the community that we are in, that busi- gallery assumes no NSF money, so we’ll do ness as usual is not going to fly. So part of it the gallery at the $9 million level for the ex- is a self-imposed challenge that we have set hibit portion, separate from the ourselves to say not only what would be re- architectural portion, regardless. But I think ally different and really innovative, building on what has been done in the past at this in- stitution, but is there something that would A New Type of NSF ISE Proposal have relevance for the field as well?
• For those of us familiar with NSF ISE proposals, eracy or awareness to sustainability. So we I do think that’s part of what we’re asking of a challenge is to let go of our previous models. might not even have several goals, but might this group today. Are there issues and chal- This is not going to be a proposal where we look at the play or interaction between those lenges and questions that we’re grappling have eight learning goals and say that seventy- goals because it may not be linear. Because with that are shared by a lot of institutions five to eighty percent of visitors will walk you’re aware of something doesn’t mean out there with dioramas that they’re prob- away having achieved those after a twenty you’re going to care. One photo of a harp seal minute visit to the gallery. Even the struggle will get me to write a check. I don’t know any- ably not going to trash either? Or maybe they of us trying to conceptualize how to move thing about its natural history, but it’s so damn will at their great expense and loss. But is somebody looking at a diorama to think about cute you’ve got to write a check. there a way that we could be doing some re- global environmental sustainability is huge. search and visitor engagement and There is also visitor voices. A lot of people We can’t even articulate how we’re going to have talked about it, there are many examples community engagement that could be ben- do that, but we’re going to experiment with in your book about integrating visitors and visi- eficial to the field at large? ways to do that. tor-generated content and questions, but who Then I think, as part of that process, the This is very forward thinking, it’s very experi- has really done that and monitored it, espe- kind of work that we do either in visitor mental. I think it’s interesting to NSF because cially with a diverse audience, trying to move evaluation, visitor research, community part- there are a lot of the pieces that NSF is inter- them from awareness to global sustainabilty? I ested in. They’re interested in the audience, suggest that we pull back from the need to be nerships, new methodology in exhibition which is broad and diverse, and in how one so explicit because this has never been done design, or new engagement with technology gallery addresses all of these different people. with this combination to this degree, and it’s does set a new bar for us and we then con- They’re interested in the content. There’s is a going to be difficult to articulate it in a pro- tinue to push ourselves to be at that new big push among many if not most natural his- posal in a way that we can give some intent level. • Lori Fogarty tory museums to switch from regarding what we want to do without it being too loose or too confusing and promising more environmentalism as a goal to sustainability. • The way Lori describes it, it is using NSF in NSF is interested in that, even documenting than we can possibly do. • Mary Marcussen the way that the Irvine project influenced how you move someone from scientific lit- the Art Gallery, in that it really is about insti- front-end research started. There will be tutional change. And if you enter that realm some more front-end and maybe even some 67 of peer review and best practices, it chal- formative work over the next year. lenges you internally to do things in a • Kathleen McLean different way than you did before. • Kathleen McLean • We should be thinking as well about some of the questions we think need to be answered • We submitted an NEH grant for the History at the beginning, before you’ve even Gallery. I wish NEH was giving the amount of started. • Julie Johnson money that NSF gives, but it is a very similar process. • Lori Fogarty Staff Concerns/Fears
• Will you be able to use some of this to test About Grant and Opening NSF Grant Audience: out some things? • Julie Johnson • There is a pragmatic issue, which is how do Professional as Well as Public we design a gallery (and we need to start • As Mary was speaking about the NSF proposal it • Yes. The board has asked me, if we went for soon because it needs to open in early 2012) reminded me that if you look at the new NSF a $3 million grant, how much of that would and at the same time embrace all of the fall to the bottom line of the budget that we framework, they define their audience in kinds of visitor dialogue and visitor question- terms of public audiences and professional au- have for this gallery? I’ve told them it would ing that we’ve talked about? How do we diences. As Mary was talking, it seemed to me only be a percentage because a lot of that meet the practical goal and at the same time that you were talking about both, and it’s im- would be for visitor research, visitor evalua- open ourselves up to this experiment that portant not to lose that kernel that is about tion, and the process that we would engage we’re talking about? That’s my lay-awake-at- the professional audience in the conversation. in with our community partners to get to the night question. • Lori Fogarty • Cecilia Garibay place of figuring it out. • Lori Fogarty • My fear is that the timeline feels tight for Timing and Parallel Activities the opening. I’m assuming many iterations and would clearly like to do many • For the larger context, if you’re submitting prototyping levels to make sure we’re this proposal in December, the way things headed in the right direction, and that seems have been going there you won’t hear about like something that takes time. • Anon it until next October. What other work is still going to be happening related to this • Yes, it’s terrifying, but fear is a good motiva- project? • Julie Johnson tor. • Anon
• Before the grant goes in there will be some • Would it help if we pitched it as: These four years are experimenting with what it means there and it can help carry us all along. That 68 to do co-creation and to develop prototypes really gave me hope. • Wendy Pollock that are more engaging and have a longer generative life than just putting it out on the • If what we have at the opening is process floor and it starts to get old? To think of it as more than product, if we shoot our wad and a living thing that maybe really kicks in once all we’ve got is process and no product, we you open? It’s not like, okay, we’re done, ta- need a whole other wad to get from process da, and it’s perfect. It’s like creating a to product. • Anon place, a marketplace that’s thriving. Would that help, or is it scary? What does that • I think ideally visitors will supply that second wad if the process works well enough. We Time ≠ Decision Quality mean, a marketplace? • Kathleen McLean were talking about the idea of opening • When I did this project at the Tech Museum • I am very comfortable with ambiguity and empty so that you have something that is and we were trying to make an exhibit in five trying new things and not knowing what the fundamentally inadequate, with the goal months, people were saying it wasn’t enough time. I’d say, well, in other cases if we had outcome is, and yet not having a product in that it is then becoming full and being filled two years we’d just screw around and make mind or an example is causing some anxiety again and again. • Nina Simon other bad decisions, and maybe they wouldn’t in me. Although previously my fear was that be much better. I’m a person who’s thinks that we might not be innovative enough. All of • I wouldn’t be so concerned if it weren’t for speed lets you avoid making the bad decisions the ideas that have come up so far sound fun the financial concerns. If it was just the con- that take you a year to get to as opposed to and interesting and I’ve thought they would cept of developing a process and then the bad decisions that you make right now. Al- be good and entertaining for me, but that’s opening the doors and playing the tape, that though I think that by iterating you can make four years from now and it could be dated. would be fine. I’m just concerned about the plenty of good and bad decisions along the • Anon ability of our community to support some- way. • Nina Simon thing that would be a decade process rather • I had an experience around a political event than a four-year process. It’s not my respon- a few years ago that somehow seems re- sibility, but I get to live with the results. lated. My daughter and I were going to go • Anon and thought we should make a sign and won- dered what we should put on it. We had a • That is a concern. We are close to reaching plan involving what I thought was an unusual our initial fund-raising goal, but one of the quotation, but we didn’t get around to doing big concerns we have is that the more that it. When we got there other people had done you introduce pieces that need to be tended exactly what we had in mind. It gave me this and fed and generated and kept up, then it’s wonderful feeling. You don’t have to do it all really never ending. I think that’s been a big by yourself. There’s so much energy out challenge at this institution and why those galleries have stayed the same for so long. does the process of generating questions There hasn’t been the infrastructure to do move into something that is an exhibit pro- 69 much more than dust and do some basic up- cess? • Lori Fogarty keep. I think our whole model will need to change in terms of how you keep these gal- Jungle Hill and Monterey Museum of Art leries alive, particularly when you have that • Here at the museum we did Jungle Hill, and visitor-generated content happening and at- that was a year of weekly meetings with paid tempt to keep it current. • Lori Fogarty co-creators. We worked with them diligently to create an exhibition and try to have it be • Our group had that same question. Basically, can we afford to keep it going after it has started? Can the museum somehow guaran- Taking a Leap of Faith tee a sustainability piece for itself, if it’s about change? That’s very hard to do. • Anon • It’s kind of a huge leap of faith in a way that But when Jimmy Wales talked about what he may be considered ill advised or Pollyanna or did he hit some kind of nerve that got lots of out to lunch. I believe that if you do things people invested very quickly and they kind of CO-CREATION that are really compelling for people, if you took it over. Even though there are people who really are genuinely engaged with them, filter and manage and so forth, the power of Examples people are hungry for that in this society. the vision was stronger than all that and it re- Examples and Understanding It’s like when we did the Web Design for Inter- ally had a life. of Co-Creation and Co-Curation active Learning (WDIL) conference and invited Nina said she believed visitors would supply • One of the things we’ve been grappling with Jimmy Wales, who started Wikipedia. He was that second wad and I believe they will too. It’s is, what are these ideas of co-creation and talking about when he started it and what it like saying you can come and play in our yard, was like, and he said he just decided at one we have great things to do. Or join the band. co-curation and visitor generated content? point that the world would be a better place if But it does in some ways require a leap of faith. What might some of those look like? What all people on the planet had access to informa- • Kathleen McLean are the models? It was helpful when Julie tion and that information was free. He came • And money, staff support, and people to main- mentioned earlier the open space session up with this notion of Wikipedia. I think if he tain and make the changes that are necessary and the nanoforums. We’d like to hear more had been rational and logical and pragmatic, because the changes will have to keep happen- about some of those formats and processes he never would have done it. He said he really ing. You really need the staff with the vision because it’s hard for us to picture what those didn’t know where it would go, but he be- and belief and ability to carry it out and keep look like sometimes. We have some models lieved there was something important about on top of everything. • Darcie Fohrman we are using in art and history, so we have that idea. There are probably more of those that bomb. We believed that the WDIL project some history with that, and of course we’ve was going to have a life of its own and it all read the Visitor Voices book, but it’s still didn’t. something we’re trying to figure out. How their vision, but it took a huge amount of gathering data and getting up to speed with 70 staff time and preparator time. I’d say it was what was going on and working at Jungle Hill a lot of the teen vision that came into that going out and interviewing people. The teens project and we used a lot of community found out what the community wanted and people, but it involved meeting with the what the issues were and collected lots of same teens for a year with all of the issues data from the people who lived all around that teens have. They created a park out of the neighborhood. The exhibit was the result a vacant lot and the exhibit described the of this year-long project, so they were actu- process. ally involved for two years. • Kathleen McLean I did something similar for five years at the Monterey Museum of Art. We started with Art Gallery of Ontario teen interns and it was the same situation where teens applied, so these were the top • Those examples are one way to do it that are students in terms of being able to articulate very focused and have a big bang to the end why they wanted to be involved with this. of the universe kind of approach. You start it We started in the fall figuring out what their up, think it through, assess it, develop ideas, theme would be, took them through the and then try to fit what you do as a person whole exhibition planning process, and outside of the museum into a museum frame opened an exhibition in the spring. But it was in a museum that had never done this be- their topic, which is very different. fore. All of that is very cumbersome. But then you can look at places out there that So the only models I have are with a small have done this kind of stuff and are doing it group that really bought in. They were paid more and more. and this was a job. • Darcie Fohrman One of my favorite examples is the Art Gal- • What were you as a museum bringing to lery of Ontario, where they did the In Your them? • Mary Jo Sutton Face exhibit. They put out a call at the mu- seum, online, in the news and via snail mail • The opportunity to work at the museum and for people to send in their portraits, and the do this, and they got some school credit. On portraits had to be a specified size. There the Jungle Hill project it was just a job I was a London project that was similar, where think. They got paid. • Darcie Fohrman teens did self portraits about identity and then wrote about it. Again, people didn’t • But not much. I was on the first part of that know what was going to happen. They put the worm on the hook, threw it in the water Terry Gosliner, Lindsay Dixon, Julie Johnson project and we worked with them for a year and waited. • Kathleen McLean didn’t know how to do it, so I put a request on Craig’s List. I found an oil painter, a graf- 71 Minnesota Sesquicentennial fiti artist and an acrylic woman. The graffiti • Minnesota just did it for their sesquicenten- artist was the best story. Here was this guy, nial and they got a lot from the state fair, he grew up in San Jose, he hadn’t been to which is a smart place for them. It was for the museum since he was a kid. He came and the 150th anniversary, so it was about the did the graffiti at the shop in the museum 150 things that should be in this exhibit. and the shop guys loved it and we video Giving Criteria and Direction • Nina Simon taped it. Then he called the next week and • What I’ve found in these projects is, the more asked, can I come back and do more art at criteria you give—I heard this from Kate Rob- • That’s not co-creation, that’s somebody’s vi- the shop because you have this big wall? The erts when I interviewed her about MM150—and sion. • Darcie Fohrman guys at the shop said great, so this guy came the more you are able to clarify for visitors back with his friends for three weeks. what you are looking for, the more they feel like they have a real job to do that is valued The Tech He came to the opening of the show. I’ve by the museum and they understand what that • We found that at the Tech also. When we worked at Chabot with teens who were paid, job is. • Nina Simon were open to any kind of creative input, which is great, but this was different. When people were interested, but they were really he came to the opening he could not believe interested when I was able to say, look, it, and this was a guy who had no interest in here’s what’s going to make an exhibit that this museum any more. It was a place he we would actually put on the floor. That’s went in fourth grade and he was never going what they wanted to do. What we thought to go back. would be too much work to them, they kept This is of the things that I get excited about. asking for more and more of. Terry was talking about people wanting the What I found also doing that Tech project, dioramas to be there even if they’re never where we had people creating exhibit mod- going to visit them. People have this respect els virtually and we then selected them and for museums. I think of it like church. You build them for real, is that all along that pro- want it to be there, but you might not go. cess there were other opportunities for But then if you get called to sing in church, pulling in co-creators. I felt like I had free then it’s a big deal and you want to bring rein to do what I wanted. There was a time, your family to come hear you. I think we do for example, when we needed to take video have an opportunity with museums to of people painting paintings, and we were awaken this interest that people have and going to put this in as part of an exhibit. this respect or whatever and that authority- giving. But where I’m going more is that I needed to get video of people painting and there are these other ways to pull in co-cre- • Then why are you calling it “co-creation”? 72 ators. And with this Craig’s List thing, they • Catherine McEver weren’t getting paid, it wasn’t an ongoing relationship. • Nina Simon Creative Ownership • Nina’s project was wonderful, but it was What Do We Mean by Co-Creation? about her vision. She picked the artists, she made it happen, she steered it. • Darcie The Habitat for Humanity Model Fohrman • What about the model that Julie was talking about earlier, Habitat for Humanity, where • And that was a fundamental problem. The there is a house being built? You can pick up one-person aspect was a big problem with a hammer and you can do what you can do to that. • Nina Simon help build that house. I would say that Habi- About Making? tat for Humanity is a co-creation project at The Need for Definition (or not)
• I’m trying to say that there’s a spectrum, it’s its best. • Kathleen McLean • Darcie, are you saying that’s the way it needs not just one kind of thing. It’s this really broad to be? • Kathleen McLean spectrum. And it’s not just making. We talk • That is really different though. I think about exhibit developers and people making they’re wonderful projects. Habitat for Hu- • No, I’m just saying that it needs to be de- exhibits. Maybe it is just making, like the Mak- manity is a collaboration. It’s a definition fined. There’s nothing wrong with doing it ers Fair. Maybe we forget co-creation and say thing, it’s semantics. Habitat for Humanity is this way or that way or any other way, but I that it’s about making. • Kathleen McLean a wonderful thing to participate in because think it would really help this project, espe- in a way it’s a metaphor for saving the planet cially for staff, to decide what you mean. for poor people by giving shelter to our • Darcie Fohrman world. By participating in that, you are big- ger than yourself and you’re really doing • Then I think we say, it’s a palette of things something for humanity. But you’re picking like this, this, this and this. If we say, “This up a hammer and are doing something you is what it is,” then it’s dead in the water. It’s are told to do. • Darcie Fohrman not a generative thing if you say this is the way it is. It’s something that you discover on • Which is what we do all the time when we the way to doing it. • Kathleen McLean are making exhibits—pick up a hammer and do what you are told to do. Let’s get real here about what we’re doing. • Kathleen McLean Setting the Stage laborating, cooperating with, co-creating 73 for Visitor-Generated Content with your visitors. I think you actually want a multitude of ways of thinking about those in- • I think the idea of the whole spectrum is a teractions across the continuum because of really interesting one. I think about the the pragmatic fact that you will not be able Visitor Voices book and the idea that there to sustain all of them at peak levels for a va- are certain types of experiences that are riety of reasons. That’s number one, and more likely to actually inspire visitor- number two, because certain things are just generated content. Advocacy is one of them going to perhaps lend themselves more to- that I remember coming up. This is less on wards collaboration than co-creation. I guess co-creation than on visitor response, but I would urge you to think about an array of Defining the when people really felt compelled to write a different kinds of experiences and label Process, Concept, or End Product letter to their congress person or governor, it them in terms of increasing degrees of com- was a time when people felt, I really want to • In the Vietnam War Memorial, design is essen- plexity. tial. It allowed for what followed to happen. do something, it’s not just my opinion. And somebody did design it and it is That’s the way that you want to do it, and it It’s setting the stage. The Vietnam Memorial somebody’s concept. Maybe she didn’t know shouldn’t only be because you’re going to came to mind. This was an artist’s piece that that would happen, but whatever you guys do, get an NSF grant, it should be because you was a granite wall of names. What you go to somebody’s got to decide what’s there and want to do it. The NSF grant, or whatever see there is not those names, it’s the experi- what’s in it. How are you going to get from grant, allows you the opportunity to play here to there? • Darcie Fohrman ence of those people who have lived through around somewhat, to get messy on someone this time and are leaving something behind. • Who knows? • Kathleen McLean else’s dime with some of these different That is so evocative because of the personal ways of interacting and engaging with your • So just keep it open? Then what do you ask NSF experience, the historical context, the time to fund? You’ve got to have something to say. audiences. So in the end it is something that in your life, the personal relationships. Even • Darcie Fohrman you do want to do and you’ve figured out if you weren’t directly related, there is that it does mean you need an extra person • There’s plenty to ask NSF to fund. In a way, I something you want to see and participate or you’re only going to do it at certain times, feel like you are saying, “What’s the end prod- in. uct?” In fact, there’s lots to fund that’s about or whatever those things are. • Julie • Lori Fogarty how you even find out what the end product Johnson is. • Kathleen McLean
A Spectrum of Interaction Models for Participation: Contributory, • But that is my fear, that we will not have an Collaborative and Co-Creative end product. • Lori Fogarty Playing With A Full Continuum • You’re using some of these different terms • This is a very fascinating discussion, and and I’m working now on an inquiry for the however one wants to define the thing, I Center for the Advancement of Informal Sci- don’t think you want only one way of col- ence Education (CAISE), which is an ASTC- The moral of this long ramble is that for me, 74 based project. We’ve been asked to look at the fear is that you would try to have that the impact of public participation in research empty hall and have the community come in and we’ve come up with a range of different and create the whole thing. You need an models for ways that the public can partici- empty room in the hall that you try to have pate. After sifting through a huge amount of them create. Then you have another room literature and looking at lots of different that you’ve got some stuff in, and you have The Tom Sawyer Model projects we’ve come up with three basic Nina with her technology ideas helping figure • My sense is that if we pick ten things and say models: contributory, collaborative and co- you out how to do something. And then you this might be kind of getting close, six or seven creative. probably have a bunch of other exhibits that of them might just flop deadly, but two or look just like they do now for the people who three of them might really work. It’s like you What we were trying to do was get away want those. For them it’s a work of art, and don’t know. That’s why I said it’s kind of a leap from terms like “community science” or for them it doesn’t matter if they don’t of faith. You know there are things out there “participatory action research” and come up move or talk or sing or whatever. There has that inspire people to come alive and partici- with adjectives: “contributory,” “collabora- to be the whole range of these different pate. And sometimes the participation just tive” and “co-creative.” The truth is, no one might be that, participation. things. • Rick Bonney of those is going to be right. You need the But I think if you step even further back it’s range. There are some people who are happy kind of like the Tom Sawyer model. I think the with contributing something. Those are the model of museum people sitting in a museum ORGANIZATIONAL people with hammers building with Habitat waiting for somebody to raise money to pay IMPACT/CHANGE them to do the work themselves, the fun stuff for Humanity. They are happy to look at the as Nina said, that model is dead in the water. birds and send us the data, but there are What is Required? We have to figure out ways like the other people who really want to create a ecomuseums in Europe did, where you become whole project and that’s what the co-cre- • From your experience of going through any the facilitators or ignitors that ignite your ative projects are all about. kind of project, major exhibition or new ini- community to gather and do the work. It’s like tiative, what are the organizational change My initial impact study suggests to me that the Tom Sawyer model, getting people to pay processes that you have experienced? • Lori there is a trade-off with these projects. you to let them paint the fence. • Kathleen Fogarty McLean People learn the least from the contributory projects and they learn the most from the • That’s what citizen science is all about. co-creative projects, but a co-creative Example: Staff Resistance • Rick Bonney project is a small number of people. It’s fif- at the Lab of Ornithology teen or twenty people, whereas I have eighty • Lori was asking about organizational transfor- thousand people doing the Great Backyard mation, and certainly citizen science at the Bird Count every February. We really need to Lab of Ornithology is one of those things. I have that whole range. remember when I wrote the NSF grant that ended up starting the program, it was ridi- this at all, they’re off studying whales or 75 culed by all of the other professional staff. other things. • Rick Bonney The director of the Lab asked me to show it around before I sent it to NSF and I did. • But what about the people who were origi- People said, “This isn’t science. Why would nally skeptical? • Kathleen McLean you want to reach out to the public?” All that kind of stuff. • Most of them are gone. Some retired, some have gone on to other places. Now people And the review panel said, “This is charming. clamor to come to the Lab because they This is how all NSF proposals should be writ- want to do this. I’m getting graduate stu- ten because this is a true collaboration dents now who are coming because they here.” I remember when I got that first want to study citizen science as a field, and grant, saying to the director of the Lab at you can’t do that anywhere else that I know The Easy Part: The NSF Proposal the time, we need to think about how we’re of except at Rutgers with Rebecca Jordan. going to reorganize the Lab of Ornithology • The NSF proposal, as Kathy said, is a process. • Rick Bonney because this is going to be big, and every- Julie said that too. It’s a way to experiment body laughed at me again. That was and play and come up with ideas and a model to find out what’s going to be in those differ- seventeen NSF grants ago and now we have Staff Involvement ent rooms. The scary thing for you is that you thirty-five to forty people working on it. So Allowing/Encouraging Staff Voices have to have some faith that there’s going to there was a huge transformation that started • I have a story about institutional change that be something in the rooms when you get with a risk, where we had no idea where we there. That’s going to take some faith. But if is not a happy story. I’ll cut to the moral of were going, and we still don’t completely you have a good staff and a community that the story, which is, if you’re going to ac- know where we’re going. • Rick Bonney cares, I think you’ll get there. • Rick Bonney knowledge visitor voices it is really important to allow staff to have their per- • How many of those original people are still sonal voice out there. In some cases it’s around, and are they still skeptical? • Nina positive and in some cases it’s fearful. I think Simon one of the interesting parts of this conversa- tion is when Wendy asked earlier, what voice • No, we don’t have skeptics, we have people does the museum have in the conversation who argue over what’s science and what we about sustainability or whatever it is and are can do with the data and how many claims you willing with a clear voice to say, here’s we can make with the data. But no, we don’t what we believe? To a greater extent I think have any skeptics. We have people who don’t it has to be the lots of different voices who care about it. We have a staff of 250, so work here. there are people who aren’t involved with When I came to the Tech to start this new ing to talk to the exhibit department today 76 process for how they were going to do exhib- and the research department tomorrow and its and involve all these other staff who were get their feedback and then nothing really mostly fabricators who were clamoring to be happens. You really need to take their feed- part of this, they were told because of the back and show them that you synthesized it. Staff Development Activities hierarchical structure, “No, you’re just going The same goes for talking to the general • At the Cornell Lab of Ornithology we did a to build this stuff at the end.” There was a public. You need to go back to people and let whole series of team leadership development real missed opportunity to have everybody them know what you’ve learned, and hope- exercises together including a ropes course, be part of this new process. and that changed everything. Before we did fully you’ll bring them back to the process a that, at the senior staff meetings and the fac- I think that when it comes to anointing indi- second time. ulty meetings there would be incendiary vidual voices that are new to the museum, It’s very easy for staff to feel alienated. arguments. Now there are disagreements those voices, if they’re in conversation with When things are changing people are always where people speak their minds very loudly but staff, can’t be in conversation with a mono- very clearly and very respectfully. We learned uneasy, it’s just their nature. People don’t lithic institution. They should be in that through about a year of coaching with like to change, even if it’s an exciting thing. conversation with individuals who work here some really good coaches. It just completely So you need to make sure everyone is on and have idiosyncracies and have specializa- transformed the Lab. And we only broke one board, you give them a chance to express tions. I think that’s a real opportunity, but shoulder at the ropes course. • Rick Bonney themselves, and then you listen to that feed- some people might not want to expose them- back and you use that as you go. • Scott selves in that way. And it might mean a Sampson diversification of what or who the Oakland Museum is that is not going to be entirely on mission. • Nina Simon Staff Diversity
Dealing with “Us” and “Them” Divisions Staff Buy-In and Meaningful Contribution • If the Oakland Museum wants to reflect a di- • I would echo that. Based on my experience I The Voice from the Top versity that is more in line with the Bay Area would say that first and foremost, if you are • In my experience it is the voice from the top diversity, what does it mean that the cre- going to do institutional transformation you that makes a big difference. It really is the ative staff is not as diverse as the visitors need buy-in from a significant portion of the voice from the top that will dictate how the that you are trying to get? It seems to me staff. A lot of what happens after that comes institution goes and whether or not people em- that as you talk about institutional change, body it. • Scott Sampson from the director in the sense that the direc- that is a huge piece of the equation. When tor has to lead by example, but the director people feel like they’re dealing with “them,“ also has to give people the power to go and it’s a different kind of process than when change things. You can’t just have a bunch of they feel like they’re dealing with “us.” That conversations with people and say, we’re go- “us” and “them” thing is so much a part of our reptilian brains. So who is the “us” and was a high schooler involved in that program. the “them”? I wonder if there’s any advice And I think the Queens, Brooklyn, is similar 77 from our guests about how you really start to to Oakland in a lot of ways. take that on. • Kathleen McLean It’s a formal program and they get paid for participation, and I think they’ve exported it Director’s Lead + Time Examples of Staff Buy-In and the to some other museums as well. • Nina Simon Effectiveness of a Simple Mission • I think that has to come from the director • To me, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is an amaz- too, and it takes time. Obviously it takes Capitalizing on ing example for a lot of reasons. In part time because people come and go and that’s “Us” and “Them” Interactions because I go there and the guy serving me how you gradually change it. ASTC’s director • If I understand the history of your museum, lunch is talking about conservation. How do has been very devoted to this and has done you’re not starting from zero in terms of they get these people? It’s amazing. Everybody an incredible job. It makes a difference having connections and ambassadors within there lives, eats and breathes their mission of conservation. That’s another reason to have a when you’re inside an organization like that. your various communities. You do have these simple mission. Everybody knows it, • Wendy Pollock councils. Regarding “us” and “them,” you everybody’s into it, and you can’t walk into could have “them” in the room and still not that institution and not get the conservation • The Director of the Museum of the New South pay attention and the voice is still not heard. message. has done that and it has taken a long time. The question, when it comes down to the di- She’s building up the staff and it’s a small It might be a challenge for this institution to chotomy of “us” and “them,” is more about think, what is our message that is so clear that museum. She recently hired a new VP of Edu- how you come to understand the dynamics when somebody walks in, they’ve got it, that is cation who is Latino, with English as her and the interplay of all of your audiences so our identity in this community? It’s a tough second language, who has a strong back- that “they” don’t have to be in the room to thing to figure out and to get enough buy-in to ground in community development but no be represented. make it happen. They’re an example that has museum experience. That was a choice. really done it. • Scott Sampson • Darcie Fohrman Whether it be experiences with your council or the thousand conversations you’re going • One of the things that we did is that the staff worked together collaboratively on designing to have that are going to be supported by Career Ladder Model our mission statement. You read us your mis- this NSF grant, how do those various experi- • Then there’s the New York Hall of Science ca- sion statement before and made some kind of ences allow you to make new connections reer ladder model, which has been so joke about how you should have it memorized. and start to build new bridges and new ways successful for them. It seems like they do Well you can’t memorize it, it was something of understanding? • Julie Johnson such a great job and from on the floor all the like three pages long. I think ours is thirteen words or something like that, and we talked for way up they have people who have gone a year about every word that was in there. through and graduated from this program. • Rick Bonney Visitors come in and they see themselves re- flected in the floor staff and then you meet people like the Director of Education, who Alternate Strategies for The teens felt very empowered to go and 78 Incorporating Diversity represent the museum and themselves, but it Teens as Community Interviewers took some coaching and it took some training in order for them to be able to do it. We • Earlier Julie was talking about several studies didn’t say, “Come to one three-hour session that they did at the Science Museum of Min- and now you can go out and do this.” Time is nesota. We were talking a lot about how required, whether it be for teens or other in- even thinking about going out into the com- dividuals that you want to engage, to have munity, it wasn’t that the staff just march Making Current Staff More Effective people become familiar with the culture of out and confront people on the street. One how things work in one’s museum. • Julie • There is a longer term goal. What does it mean of the programs they developed was training Johnson to move staff to be more effective? Unless youth to go out into the community to do they’re doing a bad job, you’re not firing those interviews and questions, so it was a them. Capacity building is an incremental Using Key Community Informants, more embedded process than museum thing, and there will be several ways to do it Community Advisors people saying, “Look at my gallery, isn’t it with different kinds of internship experiences, • This current project at the Levine that I’m etc. I think there’s a much more wholistic way great?” • Kathleen McLean working on is about the changing demograph- of thinking about it that you want to employ, ics in the south. There are 120 languages and that it’s not just along one dimension, it’s • There’s a project we’re working on with the spoken now in the Charlotte region. The title along multiple dimensions. • Julie Johnson Youth Science Center. Part of their effort was is, “Changing Places: From Black and White to try to understand the impact they’d had to Technicolor.” How do you represent all of over the first eight years and figure out those communities? It’s impossible, but for where they could go. We trained staff and the early planning and early evaluation and teens in a participatory group consensus pro- talking to communities, the museum found cess and they went out and did twenty key informants from the community. You’re community visioning dialogues over a period taking the word of this surrogate, and in gen- of about three months collecting the data eral it is someone who is very involved with that helped inform their strategic planning the community. You have that here. You have process. There are some twenty different these advisor groups, which is huge, so languages spoken in the Twin Cities and there you’re not starting from scratch. It seems was no way we were going to get the breadth that you should start there. • Darcie and depth of interviews we needed by hiring Fohrman individuals. Because we had people who knew us and were committed to us and wanted to do stuff in their communities, this approach made sense. Docents through and giving you Biology 101, but a 79 New Roles for a very different kind of experience. • Lori More Diverse Group of Docents Fogarty • We also have a major docent program with The Need for Advance about 400 actively touring docents. They are Planning for the Human Factor Combating Prejudice not necessarily representative of the commu- • It strikes me that even something like a do- via a “Living Library” nity, but it is something that is a great cent program means you have to start • There’s this very cool library project going on strength in this institution. One of the things thinking in advance. When the Chicago His- that is happening at festivals and things called we’ve started to do, particularly with the torical Society closed and changed its name “Living Library,” and it is specifically to com- History Gallery, is the human mediation in to the Chicago History Museum, they sort of bat prejudice. They have books that are addition to all of the technological overlays. people, so it could be a policeman, a homeless shifted their docent model. Part of the chal- person, a gay person—things where there are We’re realizing that the whole structure of lenge they had is that they really hadn’t loaded stereotypes. People who serve as li- our docent program is going to have to thought about it in advance. They had a core brarian facilitators have these catalogues and change dramatically because in these galler- set of docents very loyal to the institution you can go check out a “book” and then you ies that have had almost no interpretation, it who never got brought along with the spend half an hour with this person. It’s such a has been the docents who have led people change. What they’re dealing with now is cool program. It’s very human heavy, but if you through and essentially told the story, like a this still very loyal group of people who still had the people, you could be doing this “us” lecture. Now if you have technology and you think their role is to give you Chicago History and “them” mediation in such cool ways. have visitor voices and you have visitor re- 101 here and something else in the next gal- I think a lot of museums have the opposite sponse, what is the role of the docents? And lery. problem. They’re trying to have no people on how do you recruit and engage a diverse do- the floor: How can we use technology so much It has been a real interesting challenge for cent/guide program? that you never have to talk to a human being? the institution to figure out. It seems to me And human beings are the best thing you have, We do have a model there as well, which is that part of it was the planning piece that especially if you want to be doing things that the Days of the Dead exhibition. We bring in needed to happen well in advance. There are dynamic. • Nina Simon guides specifically for that show, which is for was planning for the closing and all of these a specific time period, and they’re very en- new galleries being changed and so forth, gaged with the subject matter. It’s a but the human factor and those pieces were different kind of experience. We’re experi- never really addressed at the same time. It’s menting now in the History Gallery with the something to think about and it’s important question, what’s a whole new model for do- to not forget that piece. Where does the hu- cents in a different kind of gallery? I think man element happen in your planning? we have the same opportunity in the Natural • Cecilia Garibay Science Gallery. This isn’t somebody walking • Maybe there’s even a piece in this grant Sustaining Organizational Change 80 you’re going to do, where there’s an element • Lori asked earlier for examples of organiza- in there with your docents. • Julie Johnson tional transformation and things we remembered that were important. There is A Treasure Trove this one notion I had working with this one • Christopher talked earlier about the docents group inside the museum. Most of the time and their experience in the gallery with when we do transformation projects, the these dioramas. They have to be a treasure Goals for Organizational Change goal is to get to the transformation. When trove of opinions and knowledge and visitor and Professional Audiences we go on vacation, the goal is to not only get questions and their own interpretation. to our destination but also to get home. • I was thinking about Lori’s question about orga- • Darcie Fohrman nizational change. My sense is that I don’t see When we do transformation projects, we for- that reflected in the organizational goals, and Docent Focus Groups get the getting home part. We get to the you might want to think about this in parallel destination, which is the change, but we with your audience goals. What are the inter- • I was thinking that during the next few don’t think about the return trip, which is all nal organizational goals? That is something to months as we do focus groups with our advi- of the other stuff after the change. For ex- think about in terms of the organization as a sory councils we should be doing this with ample, do we have a budget structure that whole and then specifically for the gallery. our docents too. They know more than any- Then there is also the NSF proposal, and helps support the fact that we now have ad- body but the science staff itself about the what’s not here is the piece regarding profes- ditional staff or additional costs for keeping stories that these dioramas tell that are hid- sional audiences. How would you flesh out the something fresh and new every twelve or den to many people. • Lori Fogarty goals for the professional audience in the NSF twenty-four months? Have we thought about proposal? • Cecilia Garibay losses in the sense that change represents • It would be interesting to see if they all have loss for some people? Don’t forget the return the same story. • Darcie Fohrman trip from the transformation destination, which involves the mundane stuff, the stuff • I can tell you they don’t, but that’s because that’s easy to forget. • Julie Johnson of the diversity of stories to tell within the cases. • Anon
• A lot of them probably have strong agendas too. • Nina Simon Second Thoughts on Key Issues 81
OUTLINING PROPOSAL, onto what we mean by co-design. • Mary PRIORITIES, NEXT STEPS Marcussen Foundational Steps, Goals: Sustainability or Clearer Goals and Direction for Duration of Meeting Timing, Getting Started Progressive Steps Along a Continuum? • In terms of content, can a natural history • I felt that on day one of this meeting we mean- Mock Charrette with Real Exhibit to Sort gallery really address sustainability, or are dered around and I’m not sure that we offered Out Difference Between Contributors, a lot of help to the staff here. Certainly we Collaborators, Co-Designers you talking about a connection to nature? I want to walk out of here today having done suspect there is some research out there. I • I have some foundational questions. Is this a something constructive. I think it would be im- know there is something called the “environ- project to design exhibits based on visitor portant for the staff to help guide us and make mental continuum.” I think what this project questions, or to invite visitors to the table as sure that we’re heading on the right track and will probably do is end up creating your own co-creators? That’s an area that I don’t quite not meandering. If today is about writing the rubric and not promise that everybody will get. I loved what Rick Bonney said regarding NSF proposal that’s fine, and if it’s more about walk out of this gallery with action items. In- envisioning the gallery that’s fine, but we need the difference between contributors, col- stead, you do your best to bring them along to figure that out. • Scott Sampson laborators and co-designers, and we will that continuum. The interesting part of this have all in this project. What I would suggest project is that you are going to look at that. is having the local staff team go through a mock charrette. You could do this after Day But I think this is a real issue. Are you saying of the Dead when you have nontraditional this is about sustainability, or is this about a visitors here. You could tap your docents. connection to nature which leads you to the Get a handful of questions that visitors might next steps along the continuum? • Mary ask. Go into the galleries and work through: Marcussen What do we mean by contributing, collabo- rating, and co-designing? Target NSF Funding on R&D Labs Within the Gallery I think what might come out of that is a re- •I have been thinking about the question of laxation in the tension that I feel in format. You have this gigantic gallery and addressing the question, what is co-design? NSF isn’t going to fund all of it. Maybe the Maybe we could sort that through by doing a whole gallery isn’t involved in this co-cre- walk-through with a real exhibit, with real ation or co-design. Maybe there are some questions. That might help everybody grab R&D labs within it. I know some museums do that. There are certain areas that are dy- bering the return? The destination is opening 82 namic, open, flexible, and meanwhile you the new gallery and then there is stuff after have your beautiful gallery and the cases that. It’s not like you’re building something that are the same. So many of the things re- that will stay fixed for the next forty years main the same, but NSF funds pockets of as is, it’s the beginning of a series of things. research labs. This may be a way to look at Starting with what you know best and con- this whole gigantic project and focus on necting people to the here and now is your what the NSF dollars are going to go for. beginning place. What Mary said about step- • Mary Marcussen ping through some progression of heightening and deepening kinds of experiences might Need to Identify and Schedule/Timing: Starting Now Elaborate on Educational Goals also be a way to think about it. • Julie • I had some feelings of panic in terms of what • Have we even really talked about educational Johnson we have to do now. I think the idea of a or curricular goals of the gallery? We said we mock charrette to define what we mean by want there to be stewardship and we want Learning from Other collaborating, contributing and co-designing there to be co-creation, but we didn’t really Museums Undergoing Diorama Renovation talk about what the educational goals are. For is really important. We need to look at the • I would advise you to conduct systematic in- example, are we trying to communicate the schedule. If the gallery is going to open mid- terviews with all of the other natural history nature of ecology or evolution? Those are 2012, that’s three-and-a-half years from museums that are undergoing renovation: tough things to do in galleries. Are we going to now. You could spend the first year on audi- the American Museum, Denver, the Field Mu- try to fit those into the current models that ence research and dive into that already if seum (which has done audience research), we have, and how do you do that with co-cre- the museum has the resources. What do you Alabama Natural History Museum, and Los ation? Those educational goals are a huge gap really know about the audience, and what that we haven’t dealt with. • Scott Sampson Angeles, where they have really reinvented part of that audience do you want engaged the natural history museum. The team could in the contribution, collaboration, co-design? divide it up with everybody taking two natu- Maybe you don’t quite know enough yet, and ral history museums and interviewing them you could dive into that now. • Mary about audience, content and format and Marcussen make sure we’re not reinventing the wheel and have carved a niche for this project in Planning for the that we’re doing something different. You Ongoing Journey and the Return Trip could do quickie interviews by e-mail start- • You guys have enough stuff for the next ing tomorrow. You could even do that to form twenty years, which is a good thing. The a conference grant, depending on what you question is, what do we do first? I want to want to do. I have lists of all of these natural push against this notion, are we planning the history museums, and Doug does as well. vacation or the destination and not remem- These are natural history museums, many of tion or co-design in this project. I think which are in California, that are undergoing the world has changed, the way people 83 dramatic changes to their dioramas. • Mary learn has changed, and the importance of Marcussen dioramas has changed. It’s not to teach which species are which but about ecologi- Grounding: Assets/Unique Elements cal concern, and people expect to be Why Visitor Response as • I started thinking about what makes the Oak- involved. It’s the way they learn now. an Element in Exhibitions? land Museum so different. The following Online or wherever, they expect to be in- things grounded me. volved. • To validate visitors’ experience, knowl- edge and emotions - The Oakland Museum is a unique I think my reason for bringing up the diora- • To support visitors in personalizing and confluence of diverse urban audiences. mas, visitor voices and co-design is because integrating their exhibition experiences - It’s a museum for the people with a sense that’s what makes this project unique. We’re • To redress a perceived imbalance in the of place—oak land. not giving up the dioramas and we’re not ex- content of an exhibition cluding the public. We need to just ground - Dioramas that are interdisciplinary with art • To enable the institution to engage a ourselves there and move forward knowing and history, which is unusual. I started wider audience those two things. Those two things are part looking through some different quotes and • To expose visitors and museum staff to of this project. • Mary Marcussen research papers about the value of diora- diverse perspectives mas. There isn’t a lot out there. There is • To open up possibilities for dialog and ex- enough that we can document the value to Scoping Out the NSF Grant change ecological education, but it’s really wide Audiences, Request Categories • To extend participation beyond a pro- open. I know that Kathy has asked around grammatic event • I thought about what an NSF proposal might to knowledgeable researchers in the field. look like, and I really think it’s a co-de- • To reinforce visitors’ intentions to take There isn’t a lot on how people learn from action signed, research-based exhibition. Yesterday dioramas, so that is a research thread that at one point I was thinking it could be just • To help people find others with common this project could really pursue. interests professional development. This could be all - A top-down commitment to connecting about the collaboration between staff and • To provide a constructive way for a com- munity to respond to a contentious or people with the environment, which is the community. It could be an exhibition to emotional issue also unusual. really build and prototype and play with things. I went back and forth. Well, it’s both, • To deepen museum staff’s understanding - Another grounding is the visitor voices. In of visitors’ experiences and what Cecilia was saying about the two the Visitor Voices book there’s a list of audiences is exactly right. • To honor public creativity why it’s important. I don’t think it’s an op- From Visitor Voices in Museum Exhibitions, tion to go back. I don’t think it’s an option We’ve got our primary audience, which I Kathleen McLean and Wendy Pollock, eds.; ASTC, to not have visitor contribution, collabora- think should be the public as contributors, 2007 collaborators and co-designers, and as infor- and how you can move them along in a di- 84 mal science learners. You’ve got two parts of orama-based exhibition. There’s not a lot of the public here, which is really important to research there and it’s wide open, so we can acknowledge. The secondary audience is mu- not only teach ourselves and better this seum professionals—those who are project, but it will also be extremely useful reinventing and reinterpreting dioramas, and elsewhere. The second one is co-design. those interested in co-design. There are What is it? We haven’t even defined it among many in each of those groups, and maybe ourselves, and I doubt there are many others they overlap and maybe they’re separate. So who can. This includes the expectations, pro- we’ve got subgroups within the public and cess, culture and outcomes, and how to the professional audiences, but I really think remain dynamic and keep the people in- engaging the public is really what it’s about. volved. The Technology Component Then I thought about what you would ask NSF The fourth thing you could ask NSF for is pro- • All of the “ask NSF” categories you just de- tailed had to do with people. Maybe this falls for. If they could give you a nice amount of fessional development in two parts. There is under exhibit design, but it seems to me that money, what would you spend it on? I think your internal staff and your organizational there is a technology development element to there are four parts. The first is what I would change and what it takes to do that. The creating exhibit components that support dy- call participant support, and these are your second is your broader field, and something namic, continuous input. I think that is going community people. I would give them sti- we haven’t talked about is how to engage to be a big one that’s about stuff. • Nina Simon pends, I would give them transportation, other natural history museums in this. Should • And you’re assuming that does come under ex- food, memberships. I would create events to they be here at the table with you as advi- hibit prototyping, program design and bring them here. I would just pour money sors? Can they help you prototype things? implementation. • Kathleen McLean into getting these people here to work with Can they help you disseminate things? you. Have family nights with pizza after ev- • As would a citizen science element and docent Those are four pieces of NSF investment. I erybody gets off work. That’s how you start, training. There’s all of these other parts that didn’t go into what the outcomes might be we’ve talked about that are not just about re- and that’s a big investment. as a result, but they would be significant to building a diorama. They’re all pieces. • Mary The second part is the exhibition design and the public and to the field. • Mary Marcussen Marcussen development. The designers, the curators, • But I think Nina’s right. That’s important to the fabricators, the prototyping. Honing the NSF Request to Select Pieces; pull out separately. What’s the infrastructure Approaching Others for Targeted Funds for supporting this kind of engagement with The third part is embedded research. There • I’m not sure everything on your list needs to the community and making sure that it are two threads, and there might be more go in one NSF proposal. People at the Sci- continues over time? They’re using that term, that come out of the conversations today. I ence Museum do this all the time. I tell “cyber-enabled learning” all the time. What think one of them is about this whole issue of them, take something out of there, focus it does it mean in a museum? It would help NSF behavioral change—where people start from move forward with that also. • Wendy Pollock more, pick one of those ideas, not five of them. Focus it and go deeper with it, don’t Combining/Prioritizing try to do a scatter-shot thing. To that point, Project Components/Goals 85 you may decide that all of those are really Visitor Voices vs. Diorama Learning: important in the next twenty-four months, Which Wins in a Fight? but NSF is best for one of those things. Some • And are we assuming that you really can do of those other elements might be better for both? What I’m hearing is that there’s the di- other funders. orama/learning about science/behavioral Laying Out the Big Picture When we did the Race exhibit we were a change side, and then there’s the visitor • In response to what Julie said, as proposal re- subcontractor to the American Association of voices side. I’m wondering what if, at the viewer, I and others have been impressed by mock charrette, everybody just wants to talk Anthropology, but there were other pieces proposals that lay out the whole big picture about, “Here’s where I want to go with the we felt were really important. For those we and then show how the proposal fits into it. went to local funders because it was about dioramas,” and nobody talks about their con- And it’s even better if you can show, for this engaging visitor voices and our community, nection to nature, sustainability, or part we’re going to this source and for that which is not something NSF would fund, but behaviors towards nature in real life? What part we’re going to that source. • Rick Bonney was important to the Twin Cities funders in wins? Is it the visitor voices or the educa- thinking about how to engage communities. tional goals? • Nina Simon • That’s why it’s important, though NSF won’t fund organizational change, to assure them In fact, we ended up getting funding from Marrying and/or that this project has that top-down commit- places that would not normally fund us. They Mapping Five Disparate Components ment and that you’ve undergone significant fund community engagement and interac- • Mary’s synthesis of this was fabulous because change and are continuing that process. That’s tion, but not necessarily science museums. it pulls it together, but it gets back to Nina’s an important overlay. • Mary Marcussen question and to Scott’s question earlier The notion I want to put forth is a strategic about educational goals. In my mind there funding plan. Look at all of the things you are five major components that we have to want to do and then figure out who are the somehow marry. The question is whether best people or entities to go to. Maybe even they would be interested in getting married one of your community councils would ante or whether they would hate each other from up the money to do a piece of something if day one. you could be really clear about what that piece is. For example, NSF is not going to I was hoping to get here early enough to post fund organizational change. • Julie Johnson this on the wall, but imagine a big sheet with lots of little boxes on it and a horizontal ar- row that says west to east. It’s the dioramas, the transect, the walk through California. It’s the gallery as it is right now, and it’s the gal- lery in terms of the content that it has right Then, as a result of NSF, there’s the impact 86 now, which is really focused on communities on the professional audience. What’s the in- and interdependence. We didn’t discuss this novation piece? What’s the rest of the world much yesterday, but it’s organized around doing out there? Why should we care at the the notion of communities and the interde- Oakland Museum? Well, if you want to get pendence of living things. That’s one thing NSF money, or if you even want to be a and it could stand alone. It has integrity in player in the world of museums or start col- and of itself. laborating with other organizations, you need to know what everybody is doing and Then we have another sheet, which is the be ready to engage at that level and have museum and all of its audiences and all of its something to offer to that larger community. hoped-for audiences. In the small group I was As in science—scientists don’t practice in iso- in, we spent all of our time talking about au- lation—you build on what others have done. diences, including who they are and how That’s the foundation of science. So thinking might we connect with them. I was going to about this and being a model for the field is do that one as more of a picture of the mu- another box. seum with a gazillion tags, some of them bigger than others: African Americans, And then there’s a final box, which relates to Latinos, families, young adults, science what we heard when we gathered a group of phobics, science geeks, school kids, Asians, scientists here, and to what Scott so elo- Caucasians, docents, stakeholders, commu- quently and passionately pointed out earlier, nity activists, politicians, scientists, and so and to what Al DeSena said when he was on. That’s your audience piece. here. He came out to do a sustainability tes- timony to the National Science Board at UC, Then there’s the NSF sheet. My sense from and it was all about climate change, yesterday and the questions that everyone sustainabilty, and the urgency of the crisis had is that it is about organizational change. we are in. As Darcie Fohrman has stated, it is One of the reasons why Lori wants to go for unethical for the Oakland Museum not to the NSF grant is the desire for the museum deal with it. And that doesn’t mean dealing to be a major player. What does it take to be with it as a by-product of scientific literacy a major player? It’s doing things differently. or stewardship, but as the major focus, as an It’s thinking about audience, content and advocate. format in the way NSF delineates those. It’s thinking about impact, collaboration and in- Well those five things don’t all map together. novation. That’s all the NSF informal science For me, in thinking about visitor voices, in Nina Simon, Scott Sampson, Darcie Fohrman education. thinking about the gallery, in talking about the dioramas as a library, in talking about seum is saying or whether it’s additive. It’s bringing in people to ask their questions, thinking about using your specific goals in 87 that all works really well in a world where terms of the content you want to give as an we say the goal of the gallery is for visitors opportunity to provoke the visitor experi- to understand that communities exist and ence, rather than trying to have the visitor that all of these living things are interdepen- experience create or in some way align with dent and we’re part of that. That’s a very those goals. • Nina Simon solid foundational idea. That is not the crisis at hand. They can map, but it means you re- ally have to be tweaking. That community SUSTAINABILITY idea is one thing, that idea of crisis is much REVISITED bigger than that. And I haven’t heard the Visitor Stages: Between Science staff say that the most important thing in Using/Tweaking the Dioramas Phobic and Connection to Nature that gallery is that we’ve got to get people • One concern I have is sustainability and how • Kathy McLean mentioned science phobic to understand the crisis at hand—not really. people as one of the audiences. I think there’s to deal with that, and what it means when a stage between science phobic and connec- What if what gets done in that gallery de- we say it here. To me it means adapting to tion to nature. We’ve found in our experience, pends, as Nina said, on who wins? It’s really climate change. I think the fact that you particularly with recent immigrant groups that prioritizing these things. What is the most have the dioramas offers a unique opportu- come the museum, that of the three galleries important thing here? • Kathleen McLean nity to address it. Everybody is making up the one they connect to the most is the sci- these stupid climate change exhibits with ence because of that connection with nature. Push Content as Provocation; Visitor graphics and words and interactives and how • Barbara Henry Action/Reaction in Pocket Spaces carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere. • I have an idea that connects to what Mary You’ve got dioramas that are showing exist- was talking about in terms of doing pockets ing bioregions, habitats, and and it connects to this challenge relating to interdependencies and if you’re willing to the content we want to push versus the ex- change them and tweak them, there are perience we want people to have. Every ways to use that to show different scenarios participatory experience has a call to action regarding what’s going to happen, who’s go- of some kind. I’m wondering if there’s a way ing to be living where, or what’s going to be that some part of the museum push part of growing where. I think there’s a great oppor- the gallery can be provocative and direct and tunity there. • Darcie Fohrman be that call to action. Then by the time people get to these lab or pocket spaces they’re ready to be active as part of it, whether it’s reactive against what the mu- Pinpointing the Goals/Focus forever. You’ve got to really target and fo- 88 Relating to Sustainability cus. But I think everybody out there is Focussing on Clear talking about this and the question is not so Goals Along the Continuum much either/or, the question is, where does • I think that we really have to focus our goal this museum focus and put its energy? more. Stewardship is great, but it’s huge, • Kathleen McLean and I think we need to be a little bit gentle Connecting to Nature with ourselves in using the Habitat for Hu- manity model. Let’s think about what the • I think there’s a problem in that I’m hearing museum can do with this as a starting point that sustainability and connection to nature or somewhere along the line in the con- are two different things. Or that the mission tinuum of working towards stewardship. The here and what the dioramas can do is con- goal of helping people feel connected, of nect people to nature, but can we do helping them get to that point of loving the sustainability? We don’t know that. The thing before they can save it is a worthy world is in such big trouble because people goal. Maybe if we think of wielding a ham- aren’t connected to nature. Maybe others mer instead of building the entire house, we are teaching sustainability in the wrong day. They’re giving people things to do, telling Adding Delight to the Mix can get there. So I think we really need to them to go home and recycle, and so on, but • I think the museum has to push the delight focus and find the heart of the project and how can that work if you’re not connected to part of it too. It can’t just be the icky part we stick to it. push or the change-the-world part. There has • Lindsay Dixon nature? to be a pleasure piece in the gallery that is So maybe this connection, which dioramas stronger than what is there currently, and it • The continuum is pretty well acknowledged can do so well, is foundational for teaching has to be enough to make you go, “Wow!” in all of this activity. The real question is, do about sustainability. The Santa Cruz Museum There has to be a little bit of a gasp in there we try to do it the way we articulated it that makes you connect. I think it really is of Natural History declared sustainability as originally, taking the whole continuum and about that connection, and you don’t get that the overarching goal for the renovation of then get realistic about putting 70% of our connection unless you’re touched in a way that their galleries. The Cleveland Museum of isn’t just in your head. • Mary Jo Sutton efforts towards connection to nature and Natural History joined up with a local eco only 5% of our efforts towards behavioral nonprofit and created the Center for Envi- change? Those are the questions the museum ronmental Sustainability at the museum. Is it will have to decide because you can’t do all action sustainability and we’re forgetting 100% for everybody. During her opening pre- to help people connect to nature so that sentation Nina talked about the concentric they eventually get to sustainability? • Mary circles of audience and the fact that you Marcussen can’t just keep trying to reach everybody Cal Academy: natural world. In general that’s a true state- Focus on Global Impact ment. 89
• Let me share an anecdote about the Califor- People who work at natural history museums, nia Academy of Science. The decision was to especially big ones, are exactly the same. do the California Hall with climate change as The talk about passion and enthusiasm and the focus. Our first idea was to start with the wonder or reverence, let alone spirituality, is California we love—the connection with na- something to which most scientists will re- ture, what we love in the first place about spond, “No, I’m not going to go there.” it, and relating it to human activity so that’s • Scott Sampson Simple, Clear: You Are Part of It part of the jumping off point. Half-way down • I also like a clear simple mission: save the the road the administration made us change • They won’t write about it, but they will talk birds, save the ocean, etc. Lindsay and I were it and have it focus on climate change im- about it. • Darcie Fohrman talking about this earlier. We really want pacts. They wanted to get the global impacts people who come here, no matter what gal- in there because it’s more dramatic. • Darcie • If you get them going, but they still don’t lery, to know that they are part of this Fohrman feel comfortable building an exhibit about it. community and humans are part of the envi- It’s much easier to do carbon dioxide ronment, whether we like it or not. If we just • Why do you think they did that? • Kathleen buildup, so I think that’s part of the reason. look at you, as an individual human, when you enter the gallery you are part of it and every- McLean • Scott Sampson thing else stems from that. • Amy Billstrom • I think it’s because in many cases there are conservative forces working within museums Using Visitor Input to Pinpoint on boards and so on, that are afraid to take the Focus and Push Content an advocacy position. It’s easy to report on • I was starting to let this go, the question the science of climate change and carbon di- about whether the focus is connection to na- oxide buildup and everything else, but it’s ture or sustainability and stewardship another thing to say, we advocate this, and because I actually think that’s going to come we advocate people doing this and this. Even from our visitors. Last night I went home and getting people’s passion up is not something my fifteen-year-old son’s assignment in that people typically do. Most scientists are American History was to compare the poli- not passionate. Most scientists are not con- cies of Obama and McCain in about five nected to the natural world at all. We know areas. He went to their Web sites and had about the natural world, but we’re not con- this chart comparing their two positions and nected to it at all. We’re some of the worst then went to factcheck.org and checked on ambassadors out there in connecting to the these. I’m looking at this thinking, he’s fif- teen years old! The kids have a better understanding of all of this. His whole school it’s just a small place. 90 is green now. They have read An Inconve- Our evaluator was Beverly Serrell, whom I’m nient Truth. sure a lot of you know. One of the first things Now this is not every kid and this is not every that she found in her front-end evaluation Oakland urban youth, but I think if part of was that people didn’t want to learn about our co-creation and collaboration contribu- birds and bird ecology. They wanted to learn tion comes from kids we will go right to that about what the Lab of Ornithology is doing advocacy place. It won’t be about us pushing and what’s there at Sapsucker Woods, espe- the content, that content will be pushed at cially if they’d traveled a long way to get to us. Sapsucker Woods. Now this museum may be different, you may not be a pilgrimage desti- Example of Visitors So I kind of let it go a little bit. We can do Pushing for Content/Input nation like we are there, but I found that connection to nature, which is our mission pretty interesting. • I have to admit I had a significant moment statement. What is memorable to me about teaching eleven-year-olds in the gallery. We our two-sentence mission statement is that We built a theater and we put several films have a program of fifth graders in which we it’s about connecting community to into the theater. When I was doing the teach them to teach their peers. I had a group California’s culture and natural environment. summative evaluation I had to force people in the high alpine, teaching what I love, gla- ciation, talking about water storage in If we live that mission in this gallery, I think to watch the films that I needed to evaluate glaciers. Then I slipped in global climate sustainability will be there from our visitors. because all they wanted to watch was a film change issues and California’s water situation. That’s my sense. • Lori Fogarty on life at Sapsucker Woods, which wasn’t They said, “Well what can we do to stop global even funded by the grant. I had to pretend warming?” Bringing it Home: that it was broken so that I could get people I was taken aback. I asked, “Where do you shop? Connection to Place to watch the stuff that was funded so that I Where do you buy groceries? When you go to could look at the audience reaction. do errands, tell your parents you want to walk • I have another story about the Lab of Orni- or bike.” thology. When I wrote the NSF proposal that I was on Sanibel Island in Florida last year, where I go every year in February and March. One of them said, “We live across the street gave us the funding to do our exhibits, the from the grocery store,” and I said, “Well you big idea that I focused on there was helping I went to the weekly lecture at the Audubon get credit! You’re already doing it.” • Amy the public understand about birds and bird Society and there was a guy talking about Billstrom ecology because we are the Lab of Ornithol- diving and sharks. He had a lot of underwa- ogy and we’re an international center. I ter photography and it was really amazing. thought, I’m not going to say we’re going to He was showing us all of this shark footage, talk about the Lab of Ornithology because and then he told us where the footage had why would they give us $2 million to do that? been taken. It was under the bridge that we Or to talk about Sapsucker Woods because all drove across every day. People said, “There are sharks down there? Hey, we swim shopping at a certain store or driving less, in that!” My son won’t go in the water any it’s what we can do about this wood rat. I 91 more, but other than that it was a really cool want more wood rats. The answer may be to lecture. This is happening right here and we drive less, but they’re not driving less for didn’t even know about it. this abstract reason, they’re driving less be- cause this poor, cute wood rat is going to The point I’m trying to make is that I know die. I don’t know if they really are, there you’re the Oakland Museum of California and may be more wood rats with global warming, I know that you are trying to interpret all of but you get the point that I’m trying to California, but if you really do have a strong, make. Bring it home. Focus it on home. Then local, East Bay audience they probably want I think that a lot of the visitor voices stuff to know more about what’s right here and to and the evaluation comes from finding out try to connect to what’s right here. what people connect with, what they’re go- I was talking to my wife on the phone last ing to connect with when they come here. night and I was watching the Black-crowned • Rick Bonney Night-heron right outside, and she said, “There’s a Black-crowned Night-heron at the • I want to echo what Rick said. I think the museum? Where’s the museum?” That’s idea of teaching about place ties in directly pretty neat. with many of the other concepts we’ve been talking about, including sustainability. I agree that some of that advocacy probably Sustainability, as we were talking about it will take care of itself if you can connect earlier, is a place-based thing. If people are people to this area. If there are wood rats going to become sustainable they need to here, then do something with that wood rat know about place. Moreover, there are books exhibit. It has a pretty cute look on its face. like Place-Based Education by Dave Sobel and It’s even carrying a branch. Do something others, and a lot of research now showing with that and make people have empathy for that the best education is focused on place, wood rats if they lived here or if they used to that it’s constructivist, that it’s interactive. until global climate change came along. Don’t put up exhibits about how much car- You could tie into all of these things, like the bon dioxide there is in the San Francisco Bay Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley and many Area because they know that already from other pioneering groups located in the Bay everywhere else. Connect them with some- Area and the East Bay. You could link up with thing that’s local here. them and you could do a nature tour of Oak- land. Most people don’t even think there’s Then in terms of what can we do, it’s not Connecting to nature right much nature in Oakland. We were just look- outside the door: the Black-crowned Night Heron ing at birds outside the museum last night change, but it won’t change unless the gate 92 and there’s nature all over Oakland. You is down. could tie that in and make that part of your What brought it home to me was dropping mission—part of what the gallery does is just Barbara Henry home last night. There was tie people directly into this place. this welcoming entrance to her little house, I think that teachers in elementary schools and she told a story about this little boy she and high schools are often intimidated by found in the garden. • Darcie Fohrman this concept because they feel like they don’t know enough about even their own • This little boy who lives up the street is from place. The natural history museum can help Russia and he has adopted my garden as his them by providing materials, by providing special place. One day while I was sitting by curriculum, by making them feel more confi- my fountain he just came into the garden dent. So that can be a major focus of and started playing. I think he thought it was programs too, which can literally change the a park or something. He told me it was his way that schools do what they do. • Scott special place that he comes to every day. Sampson Sometimes I’ll go out and find that some rocks are arranged differently, and I enjoy it and like the fact that he considers it his spe- WELCOMING, cial place. • Barbara Henry A Special, Welcoming Place HUMAN ATMOSPHERE • I think this building was designed to be a spe- cial place and a welcoming place in this Open and Welcoming The Human Connection community, and the fears and problems in this • I want to echo the idea that several people neighborhood have put up fences to this being • Another concern I have is that working at have brought up, including Darcie and Mary a special place. Maybe it would take a huge se- the Cal Academy on natural history exhibits Jo. It’s this idea of humans as interpreters curity staff dressed as greeters and welcomers there are lots of problems we’ve been deal- for the natural world. I think that human to initiate this change, but you need to have ing with. At the reception I went to last connection when a visitor enters the gallery this feel like a place people could just walk week, the thing that was so impressive and has so much impact that it can make or into and go to the garden. There are contacts overrode the problems was the people, the and information and things out there, and you break the experience. greeters, the feeling that you belonged can look at Lake Merritt and learn something there, that you were welcome. There were I have an anecdote that relates to that. too, but I don’t think this community connec- people everywhere helping you do and know tion can happen without that. When I was doing some work in the Art Gal- and see. When I walk around here the guards lery before it closed, I was here for Days of I think that’s really bigger than some of these are always friendly. Unfortunately it’s usually other things, like what people are going to do the Dead and this was one of my first times in the gallery. • Darcie Fohrman empty when I come. I think that’s going to collecting data and trying to welcome people into the gallery and get them to give me didn’t directly ask why, but I was intrigued their data, so of course I was smiling and by this. I was able to ask her what it was 93 saying hello and so forth. Granted, there about this contact, even though there was no were a few who saw me with my clipboard program she was doing and she was just see- and took the long route around me, but by ing some of us. She just felt such a part of and large, most people really wanted to en- this community. I don’t know whether it was gage. They wanted to ask questions, they education or art or what it was that reso- wanted to offer me ideas, they wanted to nated with her, but that happens a lot. Some tell me how long they’d been members. I of the people who participate in the pro- didn’t have enough paper to write down all grams, the advisory councils have been of the information. engaged for ten years now. I think that is a given we have here and it is strong. People For me that was really powerful as a museum Resonance and Wonder have a strong sense of community. • Amy employee because I saw how important that Billstrom • There is an article by Stephen Greenblatt that human connection was. And maybe it was has really inspired me in the museum field. It’s just me making eye contact and smiling, but about resonance and wonder and the idea that that could have been the resonant experi- Guided Input and Engagement those two feelings that have to be evoked ence for that visitor in the gallery, so I do • I have a comment about the push/pull thing. when you go into an exhibit. For me, this is something that has shaped my experience in a think that kind of ambassador, person-to-per- I’m a pusher from way back. I’m old and I’m gallery. It could be a visitor services person son experience is really critical. • Rebekah adapting. I used to take my installation shots who says, “Hello, how are you?” or something Berkov without people in them. It’s a struggle for along those lines. It could be the exhibit itself, me and in my recent exhibitions over the last it could be an animal that I recognize, it could ten years or so, I’ve made sure there’s visi- be any number of things. • Rebekah Berkov VISITOR ENGAGEMENT tor-generated content or at least visitor Ongoing Engagement, contributions, even if it’s just Post-its. In my Sense of Community experience, which granted is limited com- pared to what’s happening on the Web and • Something that has always resonated with all, the most powerful visitor-generated con- me in the years since I’ve been here is that tributions to exhibitions are when they come many people who participate in our programs in response to direction from the museum: develop a deep relationship with the mu- You ask a question, they’ve had some experi- seum. ence that serves as a catalyst for their For example, in our artist-in-residence pro- contribution, and they know your opinion gram there was a quilt artist who would just first. You say, “This is what I think, what do keep coming back on her own to visit. I you think?” I think that there’s always some fear when I I’m going to leave and you guys can talk 94 present these ideas in the planning process amongst yourselves.” It’s true that we are that the visitors are going to come in and lousy dinner hosts in that we ask questions just randomly suggest stuff that’s not guided. and care very little about the answers. I’m sure that can happen, but I think the I think it would be great to see a project that most powerful stuff has direction. • Darcie really then said, what’s the next thing after Fohrman the visitors have had their powerful output? Back and Forth What’s the next thing after that? • Nina Simon with Visitors at the OMC Keeping the Exchange Going, • The art and history departments here have Responding to Visitor Input • In the show we’re doing we have a talk-back been doing some of this kind of work already. • I think what I haven’t seen in these projects booth. Granted, it’s going to be harvested by They did a prototype that involved putting is the museum then responding and picking the museum, but we’re putting powerful comment books next to very provocative or up on the visitor part of the conversation. footage back into the exhibition and there troubling artworks. People made comments Kevin VonAppen at the Ontario Science Cen- will be this PBS show. • Darcie Fohrman and then the curators responded to the com- ter has this wonderful analogy: When ments and signed them as curators, so there was this very interesting dialogue that went museums want to invite visitors to talk they on. • Kathleen McLean say, “Okay, here’s how it’s going to work. We’re all going to talk for ten minutes, then • However, I would say that the response from curators could have gone deeper. Often the re- sponse from curators was something like, “Oh, it’s great to see you all responding.” The cura- tors took the first step, but I think they could have taken the content further. • Barbara Henry
• There were a few where the curator responded and then the visitor comment that came back provided another petri dish with that back and forth quality that we want to get to. • Kathleen McLean
• And “argue with the curator” is really different than “ask the curator.” • Nina Simon
Cecilia Garibay, Nina Simon, Julie Johnson Potential Design Scenarios 95
DESIGN GROUP ONE I mentioned that at the Science Museum, one Group One Members of the things we’ve come to understand is that Kathleen McLean, Julie Johnson, Terry Gosliner, Strategies for purely demographic information is not helpful Douglas Long, Amy Billstrom Understanding the Audience Julie Johnson reporting
We spent most of the time focused on what the institution really understands about its current The Task for Small Design Charrette visitors and what are the kinds of questions that need to be asked in the next few months • We are asking each of the small groups to work The real goal of this exercise is to continue the conversation of getting grounded in terms of to get a better understanding of who comes, on the project design and this question of backcasting, knowing the following: where this project should rest, given the con- who doesn’t come, and who almost comes. In tinuum of things we have talked about today. the “almost comes” category are those who - what we’ve got in the gallery; What should we really focus on, and what could - that we really want to be more inclusive and visit the Art and History Galleries but never be some good examples of things we should do? that that is a very realistic thing to do given make it to the Natural Science Gallery. Appar- Which groups should we really be focusing on? the track record of this museum; ently that does happen. This is not a project in which they are going af- - that we want to do something that is really ter everyone or trying to reach the most The idea is to get a better feel for that so that focused on the authentic process of visitor difficult—those who have not and have no desire whatever happens in the gallery or whatever engagement or community engagement and to go to a museum. The idea is to reach those processes or activities you implement, you’re prototyping ideas that come out of these who might come if the museum reoriented it- able to identify which group makes sense for dialogues with the community. self, and who could benefit from coming. • Kathleen McLean which kind of processes. This gets back to the What might this project be? What do we need question of whether they are participating, to be concerned about, aware of? How might • You just listed three things: NSF, gallery, and contributing, or co-creating. The notion was, we scope this project out? This is a design goals. Is each group going to take one of those not everybody is going to do everything. How charrette that involves the conceptual design or do we all have to swim in that whole ocean? do you understand which levels of engagement of the project instead of the design of an exhi- • Scott Sampson might be important for which audiences, and bition. We have staff and invited guests what will work for whom? divided into three different groups. We are go- ing to ask you to articulate what you think this • If you decide you only want to tackle one of We talked about possible ways for the institu- NSF project could be. What could this NSF those you can, but I think you can’t talk about tion to find out more about and engage this project look like given what you now know any one of those without talking about the other two. They’re really so interconnected. variety of groups, both those that you know about the gallery? • Kathleen McLean and know you well and those that don’t know you. to us in determining which groups to go after. low-income, middle-income or high-income. 96 In fact, it’s more about identifying some of the It is those kinds of characteristics that we’re commonalities across the groups. For example, trying to look at as opposed to just demograph- we did a study last year that involved 600 in- ics. Some of that is predicated on work that is tercepts, within the museum as well as focus done in market research in companies that tar- groups in communities outside of the museum get specific groups, such as the group they (those were the “who doesn’t come”). Typi- affectionately call “soccer moms.” It is a cat- cally, our museum is 80% Caucasian, pretty egory of people. The way that those individuals high income, and what we were finding out tend to operate in the world that makes them Tapping Science Museum of Minnesota was that there were some cluster profiles that Audience Research more likely to do certain things, and it doesn’t more align people than separate them. • I made a note to remind us to get in touch with matter where they are socioeconomically. For example, people who spend time with their the Science Museum of Minnesota and with What are other things you can find out about Julie. They have the summary of the report families on weekends are more likely to go to your audiences that help you look at similari- and the instrument they used (which is up on museums, and it doesn’t matter if they’re in ties across strata? If you say you want to their Web site) so we don’t need to reinvent the low-income group or the high-income increase Latino participation, probably only a the wheel. • Kathleen McLean group. If they’re more inclined to do things certain sector of the Latino population is going with their families on weekends, then they’re to include the ones you want to attract be- less inclined towards museum-going experi- cause it is where the energy expenditure will ences. If they’re families that tend to go to be easier. Unless you use different ways of sporting events, by and large they do go to mu- looking at your audience you don’t know if seums, and it does not matter if they are you’re expending the right energy on the easi-
Terry Gosliner, Kathleen McLean, Amy Billstrom est, the low-hanging fruit, or not. So our whole discussion was around different ways to look at understanding your audiences. Some of the strategies we discussed included:
• Intercepts at the museum,
• Focus groups,
• Open space sessions,
• Science cafes (there are a lot of coffee shops in Oakland), • Going places where people are to engage Q & A/Discussion them in some conversations. 97 • Is it really a conversation or is it more asking As I said during the small group work, you’re questions? • Darcie Fohrman kind of embarking on “one thousand conversa- • At the Science Museum there were two dif- tions.” Yes, these are data collection, but all ferent things. First there was the survey and Structuring the NSF Proposal of these are conversations. then there was this piece about taking • We thought once you understand your audi- We also talked about some of the types of people through the galleries. I was suggest- ences better, maybe part of the NSF proposal questions that you want to address as you en- ing that that way of collecting data might be is to help you test out some things. If, in fact, gage people in these conversations. While you different from certain other pieces of survey you have the money to do the exhibitions, want to get to a value question such as, “Don’t material. • Julie Johnson what do the NSF grant funds provide you the you think these dioramas are really impor- opportunity to do that’s unique? But you can’t • It would really take a talented person to do do a lot of that unless you really understand tant,” that’s not the question you start out that kind of conversation. • Darcie Fohrman your audiences. • Julie Johnson with. You really need to look at object-level questions because the way we think involves • Yes it would. • Julie Johnson • That relates to what Mary said earlier about processing data and information, reflecting on doing some small experiments in the gallery. • We realized that because we have a very di- it, and then making interpretive judgments • Kathleen McLean verse audience we need to have a lot of about it before we make a decision. That pro- different ways to talk to people, so it is do- cess may happen in a split second, but it’s still ing the questions, maybe using the open a process that we go through. space technique for a couple of day-long If you’re were going to do some walk-throughs meetings, informal meetings with people in with people, engaging them with the dioramas their own places, like parks and gardens, to get their feedback, you would want to talking to people about why they are into structure the conversation so that when you that. We can experiment with different pro- get to the interpretive question they’ve actu- cesses for different groups. • Kathleen ally reflected on some things in the gallery. You McLean get a much richer answer than you would if • It’s going to be a lot of work. It’s going to be you started out with the question, “How is this exciting. I would prefer to start everything valuable to you?” from audience just to get direction and grounding in terms of what we work on. • Amy Billstrom
• The question I had as we discussed this was, what is the audience? If we are the Oakland Museum of California, how far away from the Group One: Julie Johnson, Douglas Long epicenter do we go? Do we try to contact au- stewardship, so how do you do that? Another 98 diences that live in some of these areas, parameter that is a constraint involves the ob- such as people who live in the desert areas jects that we have, the dioramas. With those or up in Tahoe, or do we just want to look at three things, how do you even begin to do the the local community? And if we do decide on kind of project that’s been asked of us here? the local community, what are the ways in How do you co-create with these constraints? which we reach them? It’s easy to reach those members of the community who are Connecting to Nature museum goers, but those members of the in Immersive Environments community who don’t come to the museum At first I think we were despairing that this are going to be very difficult to reach. That’s wasn’t going to be possible. Then we had what going to be a whole other avenue of discus- I think was a breakthrough that came up this sion. What is our audience? How do we reach morning in some of the conversation, and the them? And then, of course, there are all of breakthrough was connection to nature. On the the subsequent questions regarding how we one hand we think that the dioramas could be co-create and work with them, both in the used to reflect, as they do now in some ways, short term and for the long term. • Douglas the biomes or communities around California. Long Maybe you want to narrow it down and instead of the twenty-six or so that are in there now, you do four or five and you do them really DESIGN GROUP TWO well. Group Two Members Mary Jo Sutton, Nina Simon, Cecilia Garibay, Challenges and Approaches Maybe you do some of them immersively and Scott Sampson, Lindsay Dixon Scott Sampson reporting you have more walls and create resonance- Challenges: Audience, Balancing types of experiences in there with that kind of Sustainability and Co-Creation, Dioramas content. That is then about the sustainability of these places and you are the Museum of We started out stumbling a lot over audience California, so you can still reflect that. That because we felt we didn’t really have a de- could then be tied in with some of these issues fined audience and that was difficult for us to we talked about like global warming and so on. go beyond because we didn’t have a lot of pa- That’s where your science content is, with con- rameters to nail this down. Then we stumbled nections. because we felt there was almost a conun- drum. On the one hand we want to co-create Collecting Personal Stories with the community, and on the other hand we for the Human Connection have this mission about sustainability and The inspiring part for us was this concept of not trying to bite off the whole thing and get Elaborations everybody to start living sustainably. Instead, 99 Crafting Questions at Various Levels let’s start at the base of this and work on con- necting people with nature, and maybe • One of the things we talked about was that particularly with kids. One way of doing that is the question, “Tell us a story about your con- Including Evolution to go out and ask the public. Basically it would nection with nature” is a hard question and involve a program in the Oakland area in which the need to ask people different questions You could also talk about evolution. Douglas and I talked briefly earlier about the possibility of you go out to the general public and ask them related to where a person is at. For example, doing evolution and talking about the history of what are the things that connect them with “Have you ever been to a party in a park?” Questions would range from those more California as well. I think it would be difficult to nature, so you are getting local stories coming start mounting mammoths and dinosaurs and around general social experiences and the in. Maybe you have a contest with that every things like that in there, but you could put some outdoors to much more sophisticated ques- year. things in there and still talk about the amazing tions so that you can work with people at Beyond that, you can go to communities history of the place that leads up to it, and we their level. It would involve really experi- around California, talk to people who live in think that would be important as well. • Scott menting with questions that make people Sampson these places that you’re representing, and feel comfortable and make them feel like have them talk about experiences they’ve had they’re in a safe spot. • Nina Simon in those places that are resonant with them and connect them with nature. Now you’re in- Going Beyond the Standard jecting this human element, this very strong Evaluation Paradigm human element. • Another thing we talked about was the visitor Group Two evaluation paradigm. I ex- Crossovers to Art and History pressed discomfort that it Maybe you can also tie it back into art and his- was easy for us to slip into tory. There could be a contest every year for saying, “Let’s do an evalua- which they do paintings or poetry or nature tion about this,” or “Let’s writing or journaling about places that show test this.” We sort of got their connection with nature. I don’t know if stuck there to some extent you’d split these things up by place or what- in feeling like how we do ever, you could decide all of that, but it would this kind of project is by be a way of this museum reaching out to the evaluating what people want local community and to communities around and then we deliver on that the state and tying it all back into this connec- in some way. We talked a tion with nature and linking in art and history little about how we could as well. get past the standard model regarding how to do this. • Nina Simon nia. The museum is a meeting place. It’s not 100 just a museum, it’s a bridge. • Mary Jo A Phased Process Sutton and Leveraging Resources • We also talked a lot about a phased process. The Relief and Creative Stimulus in You have to think about this in phases of a Starting with the Connection to Nature project. Maybe there’s this early piece about • I came into the group just as it was making what it means to work with communities and its breakthrough, talking about the connec- Identifying Beginning Points you deepen that. We started with the idea tion to nature. Scott was reminding us about that if you’re thinking about your NSF pro- E.O. Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis. It was pal- • I felt coming around to the beginning points was really critical for us. Focusing on what the posal you need to think about who your pable, I could feel it in the group, that sense true strengths of the gallery might be is the audience is, and we never really got back to of relief in being able to move on. Instead of place to start. It was a relief to get to that that. We all agreed that you need to better asking how we do sustainability it was point—the beginning. • Lindsay Dixon determine that. backcasting to, how do we start? Once we talked about the connection to nature it be- In addition to thinking about this in terms of came a really free conversation and I could phases, you also need to think about what see the creativity beginning from there. you can already leverage. There are your • Mary Marcussen community advisory councils for example. Right now they’re a mystery to me because I Emphasizing California as a Hot Spot and don’t feel like we know how you’ll tap into Defining Co-Creation Creating a Community of Biophiliacs those for this project. I think you have such a • To wrap up from my perspective, I think the • We also talked a lot about, what is co-creation? good starting point that the first phase may We need to define that. The research piece knowledge side of it is focused on the hot not be about reinventing processes, it may could be, here are the six or seven kinds of co- spot idea. This is the Museum of California be leveraging what you already have. creation on the spectrum, and which are most and California is this amazing global hot • Cecilia Garibay effective and why they’re most effective. That spot, and most people who live here don’t could be one of the focuses of the grant itself. even know that. That’s worthy of being • Mary Jo Sutton An Evolving Space as a Bridge to Nature hyped and you have the collection with • We asked ourselves how the space relates to which to hype it. That’s on the knowledge this potential conversation regarding co-cre- side. On the experiential side you have this ation. One idea was that maybe the space idea of biophilia, love of nature, connecting could open half-full, with the assumption people back to nature. Let’s try and create a that it will continue to develop as we try to community of biophiliacs • Scott Sampson think of the museum as this home base: Come here and learn about nature in Califor- DESIGN GROUP THREE 101 Tapping Staff Knowledge and Overview Existing Resources/Connections Darcie Fohrman reporting The Koi Story • What we focused on was how to write the Levels of Co-Creation What we heard from the staff about what’s going NSF proposal, which may or may not be use- We got hung up with the co-design issue, at- on in the koi pond outside is more interesting ful. For me the most interesting part of it tempting to define co-creation, so that took up than anything I saw in the gallery. • Overheard at dinner was listening to Christopher and Carson. I re- some time. My experience with it is limited so I ally welcomed the opportunity to get their was bringing that to it, where you pay them input regarding what was happening here, so and work with them intensely. That led us to my suggestion is to put them on the spot and the different levels of contributing, collaborat- Group Three Members have them tell you what happened in our ing and co-creating that Rick brought to the Darcie Fohrman, Rick Bonney, Wendy Pollock, group because a lot of this is really going to table earlier, which I thought was a great way Christopher Richard, Carson Bell hinge on the interest and desire from the of looking at it so that it’s not just all one staff to carry this through. • Rick Bonney thing.
• I was picking up from Christopher and Carson a sense of energy around things like the heron out over the koi pond and the local en- vironmental groups and some of the projects sustainability is good that Christopher was talking about. It’s just thinking in terms of going where the energy already is. We had an animated conversation about what was going on in the koi pond out there and subsequent conversations about how to break down the outside-inside barri- ers here and how whatever goes on inside can take advantage of that. • Wendy Pollock
• Using what resources we already have, using the connections we already have to the com- munity, how can we tap that? There are lots of groups that work with the museum. How can we talk to them and what information can we get out of them? • Carson Bell Sustainability terms of step one, based on what Christopher 102 Of course we want people to connect with na- said, you have these four advisory groups that ture, and maybe that is something possible to are so committed to this museum that maybe do. Our statement, “sustainability is good,” you could just start there and find out where just means the museum is taking a stand on the people interested in natural science are in that. It’s not just connecting to nature, it’s those advisory groups. So you could build on that there’s a reason to connect to it. We those. didn’t talk about what that meant and that is What I drew from our conversation includes the one thing I came away with, the idea that we idea that you should have your first conversa- need to define sustainability because that is tions with the individual advisory groups. Get also something that means something different all of the science/nature/sustainability in- to everybody. clined people into a room and have a cross-ethnic group conversation and see where Ongoing Community Input the common goals are across those groups. We thought it was important to get community Then get the key informants from their com- Outcome input during the planning process and ongoing. munities brought in. Those recommended key The outcome or goal is to come up with a plan It can’t be gratuitous, it has to be something informants from various ethnic groups who are that resonates with the community. that is maintained, and your greater commu- already involved in organizations related to the nity family keeps building. We also talked environment and nature could suggest the about how to engage them meaningfully, and teachers and students and other people who talked about the conversations as a tool and as might not even know about the museum. It an end result. seems like there could be a trickle-down that would be very practical so that you’re not Evaluation, Informing the Field starting too broad. I just see these time and Rick came up with some wording: “Develop an money challenges and that would be a way to evaluation model for professionals—how to focus. plan an exhibition about sustainability with community partners using existing infrastruc- Added Comments, Discussion ture.” In addition to informing the field, this would measure the success of the project as Using Existing/New Advisory Councils well. • Barbara, do you think starting with the advi- sory groups is a workable suggestion? Starting Point: Advisory Groups • Kathleen McLean
Carson Bell, Wendy Pollock, Rick Bonney I start wondering how all of this is going to happen and I get to the practical too soon. In • Yes, we do this now and have the groups public, but I think there’s so many people in come together for dialogues around different the Bay Area and from Stanford, and they 103 topics. Years ago when there was discussion should be involved in this before you elimi- about the natural sciences here, one of the nate the sustainability issue completely. topics that came up across councils was, will • Darcie Fohrman Keeping Sustainability on the Table you deal with medicinal plants? Or there was • I wouldn’t say we should eliminate the idea of folk tales, such as a traditional GROUP DISCUSSION: sustainability either, and some of the earlier story about a humming bird, stories I was conversations we had about this have been told as a child, and then relating those to the INFORMING THE FIELD very much based in recognition of the Bay Area gallery. So I think that would definitely be as its own hot spot of sustainability. There’s a helpful. • Barbara Henry Evaluating and Testing Models lot of activity here. • Mary Jo Sutton Experimentation with Co-Creation • I suggested that we start an additional advi- in a Way that Informs and Illuminates sory council on sustainability, whose affinity • Rick described a project that he’s recently is that they’re involved with sustainability is- been involved with that is working on a sues. • Christopher Richard framework for evaluation. Two projects were evaluated in the course of it as an actual, • Those of us who don’t work here were won- concrete outcome, so they themselves as an dering whether there was a science advisory organization got something accomplished and group also for this gallery. • Wendy Pollock ended up with a product. But the way they did it was to be thoroughly self-aware and • There isn’t, and we should have one. self-examining and to thoroughly document • Christopher Richard the tools and techniques they used to devise the framework for the evaluation, conduct- • We’ve definitely talked about that in terms ing the evaluation in a completely of the NSF grant, that there would be a sci- transparent manner. At the end of the whole ence advisory group. • Wendy Pollock thing they had a framework for evaluation using these two very concrete examples, • A close friend of mine in Monterey happens with all of these tools and techniques that to be the Associate Director of the Nature could be shared with the field. Conservancy for California and she was the Conservation Advisor. It’s a different per- He was suggesting this as a possible way of spective and I get a lot of my advocacy from looking at attempting to experiment with co- that perspective, from the Nature Conser- creation, and now we’ve got these three vancy. It’s different than dealing with the levels (also suggested by Rick) of contribut- ing, collaborating and co-creating. As we’ve really develop something based around that 104 said, everybody is grappling with how we’re issue. • Cecilia Garibay defining it, what it means and the different levels involved. You could hone in and be Testing Co-Creation Models very specific about the idea that you’re con- • In our group part of what we talked about ducting these one or two experiments with was, is there a model you use where you ac- co-creation with this intended outcome, in- tually test out different ideas of what it clude a definition of the different levels of means to co-create or to co-design and really co-creation you are utilizing, and focus on have almost these different treatments and how a museum with traditional dioramas co- try out and understand and evaluate what creates with the public. Throughout, you can each of these give you, what the experience Example: CLO Proposal be very conscious of your documentation and is like, what the outcomes are, so you’re re- • That was beautifully stated, but a clarification: your process and the tools you’re using so ally creating different models. But that That is a proposal that is pending. It’s about that you can share that with the professional would be much more in a rigorous evaluation developing an evaluation framework for com- community. I thought that was a great idea. sense than documenting process. • Cecilia munity science or public participation in • Catherine McEver Garibay research, so it’s a way of getting NSF funding to do something that needs to be done, which Process Documentation The Need for How-To Info and Resources is develop this framework, but also get my versus Rigorous Research and Evaluation projects evaluated at the same time. But I • But it’s a little bit more than what you just • I think you have to be careful of the idea of have to warn that it hasn’t been funded yet. said. My frustration is that as a practitioner documenting process versus actually having a • Rick Bonney in this field it’s really hard to find something rigorous research and evaluation design, and that says, “Here’s how to do it.” That’s they’re two slightly different things. I think partly because there’s no one right way to do you have to document process regardless be- things. That’s one of the reasons why the cause it’s an interesting experiment and Web site for the Exhibit Files project exists. that’s useful, particularly to practitioners, to It’s an attempt to give people a how-to-do- understand at some level how it is that you this, how to develop exhibits. That’s what undertake something like this. our Citizen Science online Web site is about— But I think if you’re talking about research here’s how you develop a Citizen Science and evaluation design, that’s slightly differ- project. I know that it has been welcomed by ent. I think you have to come up with some the field. People are using it and are so sort of understanding early on of what the grateful for it because the references are theory of change is or whatever the under- there, the database of projects is there, and pinning is, what your assumptions are, and there’s step one, step two—it’s all right there. I have a huge frustration that there isn’t • So it’s more than documenting the process. I more of that in this field. I’m on an advisory think we’re maybe talking about two differ- 105 board right now helping to create a ent things. I was addressing more the aspect practitioner’s guide for the field. It’s a joke of what the project does and you were think- so far in terms of being able to actually use ing more about the professional development it to do anything. It has tips for practitioners for the field that you would get. We’ve had in it, but it’s useless. Everyone in this room this discussion before because I’m an advisor knows every one of them. It doesn’t go deep on that proposal, but we have a somewhat enough. philosophical issue around how much you can actually have cookie cutter evaluative tools. What I was trying to get at here was to cre- I’m not saying there isn’t some value there. ate something that could be used by other Certainly in psychology, for example, you institutions. There’s a balancing act. You have an array of different assessments you want to focus it down, which is what Mary can use, so it’s not that. It’s just that you The Practitioner’s Need: was trying to do earlier, describing different have to be really careful about what that Something Useful ways we could approach this proposal, and balance looks like. • Cecilia Garibay • It’s an important push and pull here because I then Julie said it’s too big, you’ve got to fo- hear what Cecilia and Kirsten Ellenbogen, who cus on something. What I was trying to do • In the Are We There Yet? book we say, you was another one of my advisors, are saying, was focus on something that would really be may want that but we’re not going to give it but I’m sorry, as a practitioner I need some- useful and doable, but the trick for an NSF thing. Give me something I can use. • Rick to you because you have to do a little extra proposal is that it has to be narrow enough Bonney work. You can’t just take a checklist or to be doable and broad enough to really be cookie cutter thing and think you’ve done useful to enough of the field so that NSF will enough homework to do a good job. find value in funding it. • Rick Bonney • Kathleen McLean • So why wouldn’t testing out different models be useful to the field? • Cecilia Garibay Design Pattern Library Model
• I didn’t say at all that it wouldn’t, but what I • One model I’ve seen that I think could be an was going to point out was that if my pro- extremely useful thing you could do for the posal gets funded, what happens when it field is a design pattern library model. Yahoo gets done is that there will be a lot of stuff does these design patterns for user experi- there that you can actually go and use. ence. For example, they have a whole set for There will be survey instruments that you participation online. How it works is, you go can customize, there will be strategies that there and you want to know about ratings.
you can borrow for your own evaluations and They have a design pattern around how rat- Rick Bonney that sort of thing. • Rick Bonney ings impact the use of different kinds of different experiment going on every week 106 sites, whether it’s a shopping site like Ama- and it’s documented on a wiki so that people zon or another type of site. They’re very can post what they got, and everybody can simple, they’re one page, and they always feel like they’re supported by other people have bullets about, “Here are the things rat- doing this wacky thing at the same time. I ings support and here are the things ratings feel that kind of thing could be of huge value prevent from happening.” in terms of a collaborative element with oth- ers in the field. • Nina Simon I think that my frustration is that the Visitor Voices book is a great starting point in terms • A couple of places, like The Field Museum of seeing case studies, but there has been and the American Museum of Natural History, very little evaluative work done, such that are really interested in that kind of thing be- somebody could say, “Oh, if I want this kind cause everybody knows they’ve got to think of participation, I should look at this kind of differently about this stuff but they don’t pattern.” I’m not giving you a specific evalu- know how to get started. Having a project ation tool, I’m giving you a vocabulary. Here where there might be some collaborative ef- are the different ways that this could apply, fort may do that. • Kathleen McLean you can mix and match. You could say, these things align with my goals so I’m going to ap- • Or maybe there’s a month where the expec- ply these patterns and I’m going to look at tation is, each week each museum signs on all of these examples. • Nina Simon for the equivalent of ten hours of an experi- ment and there’s a sharing hour at the end of • I love that term, “design pattern library,” be- each week. I think it could be pretty low im- cause that’s what we were referring to when pact and you would be serving them a lot of we talked about testing out different treat- content that they could just start playing ments and seeing the outcomes. • Cecilia with. • Nina Simon Garibay
Open, Collaborative Experimentation with Other Museums
• In support of the transparency goals that you have overall, I would love to see you setting up an experiment set that is open. You could invite other museums to go along with you on Nina Simon an eight week adventure in which there’s a Concerns, Advice, Final Thoughts 107
STAFF CONCERNS/QUESTIONS end up doing both. It may be a little early to Pressing Questions decide either/or, but that doesn’t mean you Process versus Product can’t be really mindful that, okay, right now • What are the pressing questions that the staff has at this point, given that we’ve been to- Which Drives the Project? we’re talking about process and we’re going gether for some time and they’ve heard our to come back to product. You may have to be • The other big thing that is troubling me is thoughts. It would be nice to know what’s on a little schizophrenic for a bit, but just be the process focus versus the product focus. the top of their minds, and that could focus really clear in your schizophrenia: Today That’s where a lot of the ambiguity comes our conversation. • Cecilia Garibay we’re doing process, tomorrow we’re talking up. Are we doing this component here be- about product. And then reflect at periods of cause we are really focused and driven by time and come back to it. I think it might be what that product is going to be and we will a little early for you to say it’s one or the do whatever it takes to get to that product, other. • Julie Johnson or are we being driven in this component be- cause we have an idea of a process that we Chunks and Phases Along a Continuum want to run, so this one is going to go wher- ever the heck the process takes us? • One of the things I’ve done is sketch out the • Christopher Richard four big chunks of this project. One is the visitor conversations and the visitor re- Clarity re Parallel Journeys search, and understanding who our visitors are and talking to as many visitors and non- Kathleen McLean • I wonder if you might allow yourselves to visitor groups as we can. Then there’s the take a parallel journey for a while so that in design and fabrication part of the exhibit. fact you look at both simultaneously. I think Then there are the community partnerships, there are intersections between the process which I see as related to but a little different that you’re going through right now to get to from the visitor conversations. We’ve talked a product or series of products—one is the about possibly partnering with environmental grant proposal, one is the curriculum. You organizations, as Wendy was saying. Maybe may need to do this sort of back-and-forth we’re showcasing their work in the galleries piece to finally come to where they intersect that relates to a specific habitat, or maybe so that you can say, “Okay, for this particular we’re inviting their members to be part of a path we’re going with a product and for this program that is happening. And then the last one we’re doing a process,” and you may part is research and evaluation. 108 The way I’m envisioning it is phase one, collaboration and contribution, it’s not like phase two, and phase three, and we’re doing we’re going to gather all of that and pump it different things in each of these categories out at the end into the exhibit. That is going in these different phases. I feel the need to to be an ongoing process. approach this in a very practical-minded way So one thing that I think would be helpful is also, and we do have to deliver an exhibition if we look at this in different stages along on a budget and on a schedule. But what this continuum. • Lori Fogarty that looks like and how it is continually fed and enlivened and how it incorporates visitor • And you may, in order to enable you to be engagement is part of the ongoing develop- sane in your schizophrenia, have some visual ment. In terms of visitor co-creation, that helps you know: Today we’re here. It can be in a place where people can periodi- cally go to see, okay, we’re still there. Some Are We Saving the World or Just California? way to help you keep track of where you are would be really important so that you’re not • Are we saving the world, or just California? gets bigger. That really works. trying to carry it all in your head. • Julie What’s our goal? • Anon I didn’t even know I was starting a Citizen Sci- Johnson • I’m intrigued by this question. I would say that ence program when I began, I just had an you can’t save the world without saving Cali- idea. I wrote a proposal to try something out. An Institutional Paradigm Shift And now it has gotten pretty big and we can fornia, and you can’t save California without • As someone who is coming in fresh to this, it saving Oakland, so it really comes down to: document it and it is fairly successful. But it seems to me that part of what is happening You’ve got to start where you are. That re- just started out with trying to do something, here is that this is really about a paradigm minds me of a couple of things. One, my to do one thing. You don’t have the option of favorite book is Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits doing one thing because you have to recreate shift in terms of the way you develop exhibi- of Highly Effective People, which you should a gallery, but you certainly have the option of tions, the way you engage with audiences, all read if you haven’t. One of the things he saying you’re going to try to do something and in terms of where you go as an institu- talks about in there is the sphere of influence. new and just try to figure out the starting tion. I think that’s really important to keep place. Keep the big picture in mind, but with- Everybody has a sphere of influence and for in mind because why is it not possible to do out getting swallowed by that big picture. some people it’s very small—it might be a both process and product? We think about it Just ask, where do we go from here? Then couple of friends or family—and for some as either/or because that’s the way we’ve people it’s very large, such as an elected offi- look around and say, okay, where do we go been wired to think about it. So you might cial over a large area. But it is as big as it is from here? I have this sense that maybe we’re think about the fact that you are engaging in and it can get bigger or smaller. The only way all being a little overwhelmed by how big this for it to get bigger is to do something. If you is, without just trying to think of a couple of a conceptually different shift for the entire do something, then people notice it and it steps to take along the way. • Rick Bonney organization, and that really has to inform what you’re doing. • Cecilia Garibay Defining the New Product (the Gallery) hibit design process. But I had to start know- 109 and Creating a Process to Get You There ing that I wanted a plot twist to come up • I’d like to speak briefly to the process or with the process by which to get it, even product focus because this is a sore spot for though it was a new process. me sometimes. The reality is that of course So I think there are two stages to this project there’s a product focus and it’s the gallery. I and the first stage is defining, with your au- Design as the Connector/Facilitator think that you had a traditional process that diences, what the vision is for that product, was going to lead you to a traditional prod- • I’ve been thinking that one of the connections and then what processes are going to get you between process and product is in the design. uct. You decided that in some way that there. And if it’s a dynamic product, that’s One of the challenges is, how does the design product was not right for you, so you said, great, but that’s not a process, that’s a dy- facilitate all of those other things you want to you know what, we’re going to put this aside namic product, and that’s something I think do? Maybe that’s a way to think about con- and find a new way. If you think about sepa- you’re shooting for. • Nina Simon necting them. In what way can whatever gets rating stages, I think defining what the new built facilitate these relationships with those product is will to help you in feeling confi- Documenting the Process and Sharing it community partners or facilitate ongoing con- dent that you are creating a process that’s with Others as Part of the Proposal versation? • Wendy Pollock going to lead you there. I think you may need • I agree with Nina when she said she thought to use visitors to get to that new product this product/process question was a little bit concept, but having that there is really going bogus. For me, you can’t have a product to help. without a process, and if you have a process My example is when I was working on Opera- you’re going to have a product. What I was Rick Bonney, Nina Simon, Mary Marcussen tion Spy for the Spy Museum. It was going to trying to get at yes- be a pretty different kind of museum experi- terday was a ence. It’s a narrative, game, hour-long strategy for writing experience with choices. There were a lot of an NSF proposal be- new process things that I did in doing the de- cause really, that’s velopment for that. I always felt confident, what I do, I write even though they were weird from an exhibit NSF proposals. And design standpoint, that they made a lot of not to belittle writ- sense given where I was trying to get. I knew, ing NSF proposals or for example, that a plot twist in which visi- NSF, but it’s a game. tors felt like they were on top of it and could Writing proposals is have the “Aha” moment was important, so I a game, it’s a fun learned about plot twists and figured out game, and I love it. ways to experiment with plot twists, which is What I’m trying to something I wouldn’t usually do in the ex- get at here is that 110 this is a paradigm shift. There’s absolutely no the urban Latino community in Oakland is question that this is a paradigm shift. The probably going to have very different out- world is not the same place it was when looks than the Latino community in those dioramas were created. It’s a different Watsonville, which is going to be more rural. Goals: How place now and they may be relevant or they When we talk about the Asian community, Does the Community Define Success? may not be relevant, and you’re trying to really we mean Chinese, when in fact in Oak- What Are Staff and Organizational think of a way to make all of this relevant. land you have huge numbers of Lao, Thai, Goals? Vietnamese, Cambodian, and even a huge All I’m saying is that as you work towards • Julie has already touched on this and we talked expat Burmese community. If you look at about it yesterday quite a bit. Beyond the or- what that new product is, lots of museums Berkeley or Newark, we have large Pakistani ganizational outcomes you need to detail, you want to do that. You want to document it, and Indian communities, but we don’t think might want to not just think about these goals you want to build a tooklkit, you want to of those so much as Asian. as long term, but about two other things as have a publication or Web site: Here’s how well. How do the communities you serve ar- we did it; you can do it too. For me it’s all I’m really concerned about the inclusiveness. ticulate success? It might not be the way you part of the proposal writing game. And that’s If we really are reaching out to these groups, are envisioning it. So you might think about “game” with a small “g.” It’s a positive game I’m worried about narrowing them down into your outcomes and goals from that a commu- nity perspective and how they see success. like chess, it’s not a manipulative game like what we think they are, rather than the di- politics. • Rick Bonney versity they represent. • Douglas Long I think the other piece is to think about what your outcomes are for staff and for organiza- • As an outsider I would say that I think your tions, and I’ll give an example. Working with How Can We Assure Wide, the Vietnamese audience development initia- Diverse Ethnic Representation? education staff and the work they’ve done tive at the San Jose Discovery Museum, they with your advisory councils do not narrow had goals that looked very much like yours—a Distinct Audiences Within Ethnic Groups them down to those big groups. They’re very, 20% increase in Vietnamese audiences and so • I have many, many questions, but one of the very broad and probably a good model for forth. As we were looking through the evalua- ones that really got to me was from the dis- the rest of the field. You guys [Natural Sci- tion piece and really examining that, we found cussion that we had in our group with Julie ence] haven’t interacted with them that that no, they haven’t achieved that and it was Johnson. The Oakland Museum has always much to see the kind of work that they’re clear that it was an unrealistic goal. But one of doing. Given that, what’s the question? If, in the key pieces is that they as individuals and talked about reaching out to under-repre- staff have deepened their understanding of sented ethnic groups, and Julie said that fact, they are not addressing the groups in that community so much, and have created demographics may not mean as much as you the way that concerns you, what’s the ques- these relationships they hadn’t had, and had think. tion? • Kathleen McLean done X, Y, Z things. I consider those measures One of the things I was thinking about, and I of success that were just never captured. • I guess the question is, how can we assure hope I’m wrong, is that the Oakland Museum Those are the kinds of things you might want that we really have a wide, diverse represen- looks at ethnic groups as being homoge- to look at. • Cecilia Garibay tation? • Douglas Long neous. If we look at the Latino community, An Institution-Wide Issue about the path that you are on. • Julie 111 • This is the one question that is not the sole Johnson responsibility of the natural history collec- tion, it is an institutional question. I just Use of Buzz Words Diversity: want to remind everybody that while there Need for Clarity and Shared Definitions An Internal Learning Process are definite things that you will try to do to engage people specifically and understand • One of the things that was really bugging me • In terms of diversity specifically for this en- gagement, I could talk for a long time about their perspectives for the Natural Science was the use of buzz words like how you might do that in terms of very spe- Gallery, I would also imagine this is some- “sustainability.” I kept track and it was men- tioned twenty-seven times this morning and cific, concrete steps. I think the important thing the Art and History Galleries and your nugget is that you have to start some place, over fifty times yesterday without a single whole institution are thinking about. As an and there are places where you can already do definition of what “sustainability” means or institution, how are you going to approach that, such as your community advisory boards. more importantly, how it can be applied to this? And in this particular effort we’re un- But it has to start with an internal piece. I dergoing around the natural history our gallery. A community garden might be an would challenge you that each of you should collection, how can we be mindful of under- example of sustainability, but it really has be able to tell me a whole lot about your com- standing the nuances of those checkbox nothing to do with California biodiversity per munity and what that looks like. Not only in terms of ethnicity, but in terms of families, in categories? Because you’re right, just saying se. • Douglas Long terms of the kinds of recreational activities “Asian” is not enough to understand the • It doesn’t? • Kathleen McLean that people do, in terms of what you see as depth and diversity within that one group of the major issues that Oakland is facing. people. • I would say no. It has a lot to do with getting It’s going to be a learning process. Part of The other thing is something I said last night. people interested in maybe gardening. You reaching diversity, ultimately, is how you as an Achieving diversity will not be resolved when could get them to use native species of institution are learning that so you can then you open this particular exhibit, and it won’t plants. It’s a tenuous link. But to get back to begin to focus: What does it mean to serve this be resolved three years after you open this the point, what I would like are definitions. particular community? How do you even define community? And so forth. • Cecilia Garibay exhibit. That’s why I’m a little concerned We’ve talked about co-creation and it seems about one of your goals, though you didn’t to be pretty unanimous that nobody really put a timeline on it. It’s the thing you never knows what co-creation really means and totally achieve, and I think you need to un- that there are a lot of interpretations about derstand that. It is the thing that you work what it might mean, how it might work, and towards and it is a moving target. what approaches might be used. I’m sort of a nuts-and-bolts guy. I would like to know spe- Something that would be really important is cifically what words we are using for what spending time not just within Natural Science approaches we need to take. • Douglas Long but with your entire institution thinking 112 Defining Sustainability The Concept of Stewardship • Definitions are something that people don’t • With regard to stewardship, that’s a really like to deal with. Very quickly, because complicated thing. I don’t have an easy, off- we’ve been talking about sustainability so the-cuff answer. All I would say is that we much, the definition that most people use need to be very careful with that. It’s too comes from something called the “Bruntland easy these days for people to say, we’re go- Report.” It goes something like: meeting ing to take care of nature and make sure present needs without limiting the ability of that we keep these nice little pockets and future generations to meet their needs. I they’re going to keep on going ad infinitum. like to think of it more simply as living Well you know that’s just not possible. You Definitions and Intentionality within earth’s limits or living within the lim- can go outside and pick up a handful of dirt • Looking at the definition question, the process its of the place, however you define it. and there’s not a biologist on the planet who you’re embarking on is really one of intention- Banks talk about being sustainable in the can tell you how the ecosystem works in that ality. If you can think about being really clear long term. Obviously that’s a very different handful of dirt, let alone an ecosystem any- about what your intent is, a lot of this can be kind of economic sustainability. That’s not where on the planet. So for us to say we’re answered through this process. It’s similar to the type of sustainability we’re talking going to run things is completely mistaken. your mission. You have to be so clear about it about. We have no ability to do that. and you have to really understand what is your intent and your process. Is it really ultimately One of the key aspects of the sustainability What we can do is two things. Step back and about engaging the community? Is it about how we are talking about is that it is not a prod- let nature do its own thing because it’s got you position the museum within Oakland and uct, it’s not an end point, it’s not a place four billion years of wisdom built into it. The the larger California area? I think you have to that you get to. It is a process. So getting to other thing is a really amazing movement the be really intentional in what you’re doing be- the process/product question, clearly an ex- museum might think about learning about or cause that will help clarify your definitions. • Cecilia Garibay hibit is a product and you are going to create tapping into, and it’s called the biomimicry this product. There will be aspects of it that movement. It’s this ability to learn from the might have processes in it, but you still need lessons of nature that have been carved out to create this thing that you open to the over all of these millions of years of evolu- public. But the institutional goals that you’re tion and put them to work today; to talking about are process-related. Just as understand how ecosystems work and apply Julie was saying in terms of diversity, them to cultural systems, human systems, in- sustainability is an ongoing thing. You never dustrial systems, etc. I think those are two get there, you just keep working at it. things that relate to the concept of steward- • Scott Sampson ship. • Scott Sampson How Do We Present Depressing comfortable for their existence in any way. Stuff (Without Being Depressing) That sounds obvious in terms of respecting 113 Avoiding a Bummer people but, for example, we talked about whether we could have a carbon calculation • How do we present climate change, habitat of how much energy you expend if you come loss, and extinction without being depress- Part of a Hopeful, Cross-Institutional, to the aquarium that day. Then we thought, ing? I don’t want to go to an exhibit of a Cross-Disciplinary Movement oh, we don’t really want to add that addi- natural place that has garbage in it or trash • Five years ago there was a different way to tional cost to coming here. But there it’s that’s been dredged up. I don’t want to go look at this. Now there are all of these positive really focused on the positive aspects of there and I don’t want to look at it. • Gail things going on and there are going to be more people coming together. • Nina Simon and more by the time you’re opening. Muse- Binder ums including the Cal Academy and Chabot and the Monterey Bay Aquarium and others as Empowering Visitors to Do Little Things • So you’re saying the little things you do can well are grappling with these issues. It seems as Part of a Larger Movement make a difference and then success stories. • Gail Binder to me it gives the issue of the climate crisis a • I’ll speak to how to present global warming place. If it can somehow feel like you guys are and climate change without being depressing in partnership with each other to help people • And creating ways for people to identify that because this is something I’ve been working connect with nature and understand how it’s they are part of a community of people doing on at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with sev- going to change and understand their role in little things. So if you make a commitment in eral exhibits that will open in 2010. We’ve it, and people have a place they can be part of the gallery to doing a little thing, you really and come to and it’s connected to other recognized that there is a positive, uplifting see yourself as part of this larger group. places, it gives a sense of being part of a message in the cumulative impact of many • Nina Simon movement and gives you hope. You all weren’t people coming together. This means in some around in the ‘sixties when we had this. way demonstrating with an exhibition that Solace: Doing Good I think there is some kind of a movement and not only does your little thing make a differ- Work in Your Own Community it is institutional, it’s not just the responsibil- ence, it’s in a whole pool of other people • One thing I think you’ve got to acknowledge ity of the natural history museum. Art and doing little things and that has some real is that it is depressing. You can’t pretend it’s history can play into it because you have to power, along with some examples of how understand the historical perspective, art in- not. • Wendy Pollock some groups have done that. That’s what terprets it—there is great potential. • Darcie we’re banking on to do this. Fohrman • I think everybody knows that already. • Gail I would say that one of the interesting parts Binder of that process has been that we heard that question most clearly from people on the • Yes, but how you do it is the art of that, and marketing side of that museum. They felt what solace do you provide? When people like it was acceptable to challenge visitors in talk about reaching out to the community, I certain ways, but not to make them feel un- always translate that to, how can this be 114 uniquely useful to the community? I think it’s you get that with the positive. • Scott one of the ways to address issues like this Sampson without being depressing because it’s not just delivering this depressing message, it’s Three-Course Meal or Stew? Using Humor and Anger: “We’re big, also what’s already going on out there. we’re pissed, we’re polar bears” Tackling Major Aspects in Combo or in It’s related to what Nina was saying about Sequence: What Drives What? • I would say another effective message that was the fact many people are already doing many not appropriate for the Monterey Bay Aquarium • The biggest problem is the mapping problem. things. How can this place be helpful to the (or they were not comfortable going there) is Kathy identified five different aspects of this people in this region in getting some of this using humor and anger. There are these very project earlier. The question is, are we try- good work done? I’ve been frustrated all funny bumper stickers that have a polar bear ing to get all of these in? Are we going for on them that say, “We’re big, we’re pissed, through this because I don’t understand well stew, where everything is all on top of each we’re polar bears.” I think in terms of climate enough your local communities. I agree this other and relatively homogeneous, or are we change you could do some really funny stuff, is a good first step, to get more involved. Do going to niche partition here and say we’re but with their dedication to an earnest ap- you have lab space they could use, do you doing the meat dish, we’re doing the carrot proach it was not really where they wanted to have meeting space? What would be helpful? dish, and we’re doing the peas? • Christo- go. • Wendy Pollock pher Richard But I think the other thing besides depression that people feel about global warming is, oh Giving People Something to Do • And they’re each in a separate tray. my god, “Save the world,” this is so earnest. • To build on what Nina was saying, I think the There are opportunities to take some alternate • Kathleen McLean Monterey Bay Aquarium is an excellent ex- paths. • Nina Simon ample of not making depressing stuff • Well, they might not be in separate trays, depressing. To my mind, the way they do The Dark Humor but we have to have some clarity about of Environmental Collapse that very successfully and have done so for which principles are driving which compo- years is that every time they present some- • Because your existing dioramas show ecological nents as we go through this development thing depressing, like contaminants in balance, there’s got to be a way there to show process. • Christopher Richard how some small instability in that environment Monterey Bay, they empower people by say- could collapse the whole environment. There’s ing, “Here’s what you can do to decrease the • So this is really getting back to the content an opportunity for visitors to imagine that, and contaminants in Monterey Bay.” You’re not question that Scott brought up earlier about there’s something there for using the diora- just left with this, oh my god we’re going to the foundational focus of the content? mas. • Darcie Fohrman hell. It’s hey, I can just change this one little • Kathleen McLean • Maybe that’s where Nina’s reference to dark thing in my life and the bay gets better, and humor comes in. Make it a challenge to do they can spread the word about that. So to Avoid Rushing to Solutions YouTube animations with the dioramas showing my mind it’s about empowering people as • I think this question comes back to the pro- different outcomes. • Wendy Pollock well. You’ve got to balance the message and cess that gets you to figuring this out, or at least getting to the point where you say, “All How Do We Focus Resources and 115 right, we’re going to put our stake in the Energy in a Productive Way? ground.” You have enough stuff for the next The Question of Focus millennium, but at some point you can say, • For me the question continues to be one of “Okay, we’ve engaged, we’ve had dialogue, focus. I think these are all ways of getting at we’ve gotten enough understanding to say that focus: the language we use, the scope we’re going with the three-course meal.” I of our reality. The thing I keep thinking think all of those things help you get at this about is the idea of the institution being the question and the final question below, “How place where the sustainability message is do we focus energy and resources in a pro- carried. And we need to think of ourselves as ductive way?” being part of the institution and the institu- My word of advice would be, try not to get to tion is helping us get that message out, but this question and the one below too quickly. we can focus on what we can focus on in the This is similar to what I said earlier about Natural Science Gallery. The question is, how to engage visitors in conversation. We what is our true focus? Where can we best skip over the data and the reflection. We apply our energies to make what is a real just want to get to the decision. My advice contribution? Given what we have, and given would be, allow yourself to be in a place reality as a starting point, how do we focus where you don’t rush to the decision too the energy that we have towards these quickly. I understand you have a grant you larger goals in an actual, productive way? have to write. That’s why I kept asking ear- • Lindsay Dixon lier, how do this proposal and the pieces within the proposal fit into the larger 24- to A Warm Friendly Place 36-month plan? There is this tension between to Share, Showcase Work, and Increase Spheres of Influence figuring out the answers for this grant and not letting that restrict the larger picture. • I sit here and think, what would I want in a That’s why I’m saying don’t get too fast to, museum like this? I have no idea what the “It’s got to be this,” because you’ll cut your- community is really like here, but as a mem- self off from other ways of thinking. • Julie ber of a community, as a parent of a family, Johnson what would I look for in an institution like this? Again, this is not the same world it was when this institution put those dioramas out there. A lot of what those are trying to do you could probably get other ways. You could probably go online and find out about the Al fresco exchange of ideas biomes of California. You could go to NetFlix 116 that is the beginning. You don’t have to re- and probably get a PBS documentary that ally reinvent the wheel. You have to think of would bring it home in a way that might be the exhibits as the catalyst for continuing more palatable for some people. that work and not have it be two separate things. You want people to come away from But what you don’t have is a place to go and an exhibition with that same energy and con- share all of this with other people, a warm, nection that they have when they come away friendly, community-based place where you from a program. And programs need to hap- are showcasing the work of other people in pen in the galleries, and the galleries need the community, showcasing the work that to have the life that programs have and feel some kids are doing in their school or in the animated, even when there aren’t a lot of Girl Scouts about studying raccoons or wood people in them. That’s a design challenge rats in the area. A place where people can and it’s doable. come together and share and try to increase their sphere of influence by working to- I agree that you have to identify the end gether. product and backcast to connect these two things. And keep it simple and don’t make it I don’t pretend to know whether dioramas too complicated. In 30,000 square feet that are a part of that. Maybe they are. But right means organizing the experience in a way now that gallery is not a warm, friendly that’s easy to grasp. You need emotional place to come and share and I have a feeling goals and you need to create kinds of experi- that’s what’s need in order to try to move to- ences that are contemplative, that are wards sustainability of any definition in this participatory, that are visitor generated. In area. It is something this place could prob- some places those will be mixed, but it’s a ably uniquely do because you’ve got the real conscious decision and you have the space, you’ve got community, you’ve got the space to do it. You could have a theater. So I reputation. • Rick Bonney think the goals for that product grow out of Building on What Exists to the community connection that you want to Create Programs and Exhibits make. • Darcie Fohrman with Energy and Connection • I would think that the education programs and the education department and the publi- cations and invitations and announcements that come out of this museum and the dedi- cated community that already exists from Amy Billstrom and Wendy Pollock PARTING THOUGHTS This place was built on the blood and sweat of a lot of people pushing for community. In 117 The Central Importance of fact, the first director who worked on this Community Ownership museum with Kevin Roche and all of the powers that be was forced to step down six • One of the things that came up for me as a weeks before the museum opened because parting thought got mentioned by a lot of he insisted on having community participa- you in different ways. It’s something that al- tion in the museum at a time when ways gets mentioned very gently and tends community participation was not appreci- to not take center stage, and it’s something ated. He was forced out and was not able to we all need to keep in mind no matter how even celebrate the building of this museum difficult. I wrote down a few of the phrases because he insisted that the museum include and words that came up over the course of community participation. this morning. They relate to the question, “How do we serve our audience?” What I learned here is what has kept me go- ing in the museum field all of these years. When I worked at this museum years ago the This museum is paid for by local tax payer department that I was brought into was cre- dollars. We are all here to serve those ated when the people of Oakland shut the people out there, and this community is so in museum down because it did not reflect this need of a place like this. We easily forget community—the people whose money it was that in all the power politics that go on and that built this institution. The museum in wanting our own names in lights. We for- opened in 1969 and six months after it get that we’re actually public servants and opened it was picketed to the point that it this museum is in the service of the commu- was shut down. My department, which at the nity. People said that all around the table time was called the Special Exhibits and Edu- today. cation Department, was where all the multicultural weirdos went to do very Wendy said, “It’s not thinking about what we strange things. It was the place where all of should tell visitors, it’s thinking about how the ethnic and community affairs guilds got we can be useful to the community.” Those formed, where the Black Cowboys came kinds of comments just slip on by. How can riding in on their horses, where the Japanese we be useful to whoever we define as this internment people did their exhibit about community? the camps, where the Chinese people did The other idea that kept coming up was how their exhibit about Angel Island. It goes on we can facilitate engagement, the idea that and on. Mary Marcussen, Kathleen McLean, Terry Gosliner 118 we’re facilitators. That’s really why we’re on, and only if this place is useful for those here. We’re not here to tell people what we people out there. think or show people how smart we are. We Hopefully you’ll stay with us and help us and have to keep reminding ourselves that what stay connected, and hopefully this museum we really should be doing is facilitating. At can really engage and facilitate and show the some point we’re going to be gone, and rest of the museum world that it’s possible. hopefully this museum is still going to be • Kathleen McLean here. And it is only going to be here if the public buys into it and owns it and takes it
A Useful, Idea-Rich Session • This has been incredibly helpful. There is so much to absorb and this has been an honor and a pleasure to have you here. I think many of our instincts and things we’ve been talking about have been reinforced by this, but we’ve also heard so many new pieces of wisdom to think about. I want to thank you and we hope to have your continuing involvement in this as we proceed. • Lori Fogarty
• I want to say thank you on behalf of me and my staff for allowing us to participate and work with you people. I’ve got this quote from Rick Bonney here, “Give me something I can use,” and there have been plenty of things we can use. • Douglas Long