Exploring ideas and engaging in conversation

Month: February 2012 (Page 2 of 4)

Museums in the News

Welcome to our weekly roundup of news stories about museums!

Blues museum planned for St. Louis riverfront

An Artist Ends Ties to Museum in Harlem

Kenner Mardi Gras Museum items go on the auction block

Peabody Essex Museum to pay Salem $53,000 in lieu of taxes

Nice Mob Museum you got there; it’d be a shame if it’s not a hit

The Getty Museum has a new director but an old problem

Is New Flying Museum ‘Fugly’?

Books Recycled Into Decorative Tower in Washington Museum

History Museum Wants You to Mail in Your Old Underwear

New Vegas museum highlights Mob bosses, tommy guns

Cincinnati museum merger a model for other cities?

Obama to speak at African American history museum’s groundbreaking

The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies

Vandalism At Detroit Historical Museum

Thieves loot Greece’s Ancient Olympia museum

Weekly Jobs Listing

Welcome to our weekly roundup of museum job postings. As always, check ’em out right away on their own page.

  • Audience Engagement Specialist & Director of Interpretation [Cleveland Museum of Art]Audience Engagement Specialist & Director of Interpretation, Cleveland Museum of Art Audience Engagement Specialist Education and Interpretation The Cleveland Museum of Art seeks qualified candidates for its new Audience Engagement Specialis…
  • Director of Education [The Mattress Factory]DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: Education SUPERVISOR: Co-Executive Directors STATUS: Full time, Exempt Overview The Mattress Factory, a museum of contemporary art located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and hailed as the best facility for Inst…
  • Educational Director [Emerson Umbrella]The Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts seeks qualified candidates to fill the position of Director of Educational Programs. The successful candidate should be highly energetic, self-motivated, have the ability to work well within a community of …
  • Museum Educator & Visitor Services Coordinator [American Swedish Historical Museum]Museum Educator & Visitor Services Coordinator, American Swedish Historical Museum, Philadelphia Position: Museum Educator and Visitor Services Coordinator The American Swedish Historical Museum (ASHM) was founded in 1926 to preserve and …
  • Curator of Education [Mahoning Valley Historical Society]Curator of Education, Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Youngstown, OH The Mahoning Valley Historical Society ( www.mahoninghistory.org) seeks a full time Curator of Education to develop, coordinate and implement museum and outreach educational …
  • Visitor Services Manager [Providence Children’s Museum]Job Opening:       Visitor Services Manager Providence Children¹s Museum’s mission is to inspire and celebrate learning through active play and exploration.  The Museum opened to the public in 1977 and now serves 160,000 visitors a year i…
  • Education Director [American Craft Council]Education Director, American Craft Council *Director of Education* * * *Reports To:* Executive Director of the Council *Summary*: The director of education is responsible for creating a roster of thought provoking, strategic and …
  • Coordinator of Gallery Tours and Volunteers [Corcoran Gallery of Art]Coordinator of Gallery Tours and Volunteers, Corcoran Gallery of Art, D.C. *POSITION TITLE:              Coordinator of Gallery Tours and Volunteers* *Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.* ** ** *DEPARTMENT:*             …
  • Director of Education and Public Programs [Storm King Art Center]Storm King Art Center is seeking a full time Director of Education and Public Programs Storm King Art Center is seeking a full time Director of Education and Public Programs Storm King Art Center is a museum that celebrates the relationship betwe…
  • Ralph Bloom Curatorial Internship [Old Sturbridge Village]Ralph Bloom Curatorial Internship, 2012 Curatorial Internship Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge , MA Responsibilities: Old Sturbridge Village seeks a college student or recent graduate interested in gaining direct hands-on experience with histor…
  • Curatorial Intern [Old Sturbridge Village]Decorative Arts Trust Internship at Old Sturbridge Village Old Sturbridge Village, New England’s largest living history museum, in conjunction with the Decorative Arts Trust, is seeking to employ a full-time, one-year curatorial intern. The intern w…

Food for Thought: FailFaire

I’m going to make what I think is a fairly safe assumption and call most of you overachievers. Grad school is tough. Museums are tough. People who do both have a lot of passion and a lot of talent. Probably you’re not thrilled about the idea of screwing up.

What if someone gave you a glass of wine and encouraged you to talk about all the projects you tried to push through that just didn’t work? What if you could be in a safe, supportive environment and discuss with other smart people how to learn from your mistakes?

That’s the idea behind FailFaire, which encourages nonprofits to talk about technology projects that went belly-up.

How can you encourage more frank discussion of failure? Even better: how can you encourage more failure? If you’re 100% successful at everything you do, are you daring enough, or are you just that awesome? Do you have to talk about failures in order to learn from them?

***

This post is part of our Food for Thought series. To submit Food for Thought questions, or to write a response post to any of our questions, please leave a comment.

NEMA 2012 Workshops

The New England Museum Association has published their 2012 schedule of workshops. Take a look especially at the three workshops offered for young & emerging professionals; I attended all three last year, and really enjoyed them.

NEMA’s spring/summer workshop series is a popular source of professional development, providing you with in-depth learning opportunities that enhance your skill set and museum career.

For 2012, we’re offering 18 workshops throughout New England – more than ever! And to make them more affordable than ever, NEMA has created a special volume discount for members only.

Sign up for at least three workshops and you’ll receive a 20% discount off the member rate. And NEMA institutional members who send at least five employees or trustees to workshops also receive a 20% discount.

To take advantage of the discount, first browse the workshop listings below. Then click HERE if you’re an individual registering just yourself or HERE if you’re an institutional member registering multiple people.

I Do, I Don’t:  Functions at Historic Sites
Friday, March 16, 2012
Peabody Historical Society, Smith Barn
Peabody, MA
Historic Sites Management PAG
Register

Museum Evaluation You Can Use
Monday, April 23, 2012
Springfield Museums
Springfield, MA
Children’s Museums PAG
Register

Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Worcester Art Museum
Worcester, MA
Independent Museum Professionals PAG
Register

Outdoor Exhibitions
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Heritage Museums and Gardens
Sandwich, MA
Exhibtions PAG
Register

Building Support: From the Inside Out
Friday, May 18, 2012
Museum of Russian Icons
Clinton, MA
Membership, Development, Public Relations, and Marketing PAG
Register

Management Skills for Non-Managers
Friday, May 25, 2012
Connecticut Historical Society
Hartford, CT
Supported in part by the Connecticut Humanities Council
Administration, Facilities & Services PAG
Register

Hidden in Plain Sight: Examining Art from Alligatoring to X-Rays
Friday, June 8, 2012
Smith College Museum of Art
Northampton, MA
Conservators PAG
Register

Teaching Among Experts: Redefining Museum Education in Academia
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage
Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University
Providence, RI
College & University Museums PAG
Register

Exhibits for the Small and Medium Sized Museums
Monday, September 17, 2012
Historic New England’s Collections Store Facility
Haverhill MA
Presented in partnership with Historic New England
Register

Learn, Laugh, Love: Part II
A series of mini-workshops* from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Presented by the Young and Emerging Museum Professionals (YEP) PAG
* Each mini-workshop is $15 for NEMA Members, $25 for Non-Members. Members can register for all three mini-workshops for $40.
LEARN: To Museum Studies or not to Museum Studies? Considering Grad School and Your Career Goals
Wednesday, March 28
Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, Chestnut Hill, MA
LAUGH: From the Trenches: 10 Things I Wish I Had Not Learned the Hard Way
Thursday, April 12
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
LOVE: I Love My Job, But… Raises, Transitioning, and Advocating for More Responsibility
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tufts University Art Gallery at the Aidekman Arts Center, Medford, MA

Here and There: Never Too Old For February Vacation

Before I moved to Massachusetts, I had never heard of February vacation week. Do you feel as cheated as I do? Make up for lost time by joining in on one of these events on February 22.

Here: First, get yourself to the MIT Museum from 10-noon for the straw rocket challenge presented by the MIT Rocket Team. That just sounds cool.

There: Next, hurry to the Old State House before 4pm for the 18th Century Portraits program. Learn appropriate poses before using their backdrops and props to live out the dream of starring in your very own portrait. (It’s not just my dream, right?)

Visit the MIT Museum and Old State House for more information. Anyone who produces photographic evidence of themselves building a rocket and then posing in an 18th century portrait in the same day will be my hero.

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