DeCordova’s Learning and Engagement Department is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated graduate or college (juniors and seniors only) student for assistance in researching and developing exhibition-related programming for Fall 2018. Responsibilities will vary, but may include: researching artists and exhibition-related content, assisting in the development and …
Is it via attendance or admissions fees? The size of the collection or the amount of funding it receives? By almost any measure, the Philadelphia History Museum has not proved its worth, for it shut down indefinitely at the end of June. The museum, which is designated …
Like many museum lovers, a visit to an unfamiliar city is a chance to discover new museums. Being in the museum field, those visits are an invaluable chance to find inspiration, see museum trends in action, and gain new ideas for future practice. Never have I found this to be more true than with a recent visit to Indianapolis and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. This one-of-a-kind museum exemplifies what it is to be a modern museum focusing on interactive displays, shared authority, and visitor experience. But more importantly, the Eiteljorg is a decolonizing museum, representing indigenous people and cultures not as relics of the past, but as contemporary and still here.
The Eiteljorg Museum was founded by Indianapolis businessman and philanthropist Harrison Eiteljorg in 1989. Originally conceived as an art museum, the institution made an early commitment to a shared authority with indigenous people. As founding curator Mike Leslie wrote, “The museum’s overall programming emphasizes not only the historical importance of Native American art and artifacts, but also their importance in a modern context. We must not forget that Native American cultures are still flourishing artistically.”
By 1991 the museum had formed the American Indian Advisory Board, this board would work directly with the museum’s administrators, curators, and collections staff to provide guidance, assistance and direction in all matters associated with the art, history, and culture of native peoples of North America. One of the main takeaways from the advisory board was the need for the museum to create a distinction between ownership and stewardship in relation to sacred and sensitive objects.
In 2002 the museum continued to indigenize museum spaces with the opening of a new permanent gallery, Mihtoseenioki: The People’s Place, created in collaboration the advisory board and representatives from local tribes. The exhibit was opened to interpret the Miami, Potawatomi, Delaware, and other tribes who were and still are an important part of the state’s history and culture.
It was in this exhibition I felt the most inspired, intrigued, and moved. Mihtoseenioki tells the stories, both past and present, of the original Miami people as well as that of other tribal groups that moved into the current state of Indiana as the result of European conquest and expansion. The written panels were written by members of native communities and curated by Ray Gonyea an Onondaga Iroquois. While many museums have been accused of presenting indigenous people and cultures as historical and ethnographic this exhibition leaves visitors with the knowledge that indigenous people are still here and that tribal cultures are still being practiced. This same theme was carried through the rest of the Eiteljorg’s art galleries. The gallery space was organized not chronologically but geographically with historical and contemporary art side by side.
While I was most affected by the Eiteljorg’s decolonizing efforts, the museum further impressed me with their commitment to improving the visitor experience. This was made clear through the incorporation of different evaluation tools throughout the exhibition, encouragement of visitor feedback, multiple hands-on, participatory, and interactive exhibit elements for visitors of all ages.
As museum practitioners, I encourage us all to keep and eye on the Eiteljorg Museum and any future innovations they may take.
Two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that over 2,300 children were separated from their families along the Mexico-U.S. border under President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Although he has since reversed this order, parents and children remain separated in detainment centers, and it …
I’ll admit it. Oil portraits are not my thing. Yes, I am a museum studies student, and yes, I think there’s something to love about pretty much all museums. But if you take me to the Met or the MFA, I am not dragging you …
The Gibson House Museum is currently looking for part-time, fill-in guides to occasionally cover tours. Candidates should feel comfortable with public speaking and have a strong interest in history, architecture, or decorative arts. The museum is open Wednesday –Sunday, and tours are offered at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00. The position pays $38.50/day, and hours are approximately 12:30 to 4:00. Responsibilities include opening and closing the museum.
Located in Boston’s Back Bay, the Gibson House Museum is a time capsule of daily life during the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, reflecting three generations of Gibson family occupancy (1859–1954). Since 1957, it has been operated as a house museum, displaying four floors of Victorian and Edwardian decorative arts. The Gibson House is a National Historic Landmark and is registered on the Massachusetts State Register of Historic Places.
Interested applicants should send their cover letter and resume to Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator: info@thegibsonhouse.org