What's up at the DMA

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are doing well! I wanted to take some time and share with you guys what I have been doing and something I have learned about myself.  The Dallas Museum of Art is currently working on a few exhibitions, the ones in which I have helped are called Divine Felines and a show of their Batik’s in the permanent collection. The Education department likes to call small tasks, “One offs”. So I have done a few for both exhibitions including finding pictures for the scent bar, looking up videos on how to make a mummy, and finding pictures for a timeline all to be used as contextual information for the Divine Felines Exhibitions opening in the Fall. On the other hand, for the Batik’s I have researched about them and have written a gallery guide for the “forbidden” patterns. 

I have spent a considerable amount of time working with the D3C team, which is a team of professionals researching objects in the permanent collection. Their work is part of a grant that was given to the DMA and will be uploaded online for scholars and researchers to find more information. It is a really large and nice project. It will be the only one like it in the country after it is finished. The information the team is in charge of finding is basically everything the DMA has written or said about the object ever! As well as teaching ideas, web resources, all sorts of stuff! I have been working on the Keir Collection of Islamic Art, which is in a weird place because it is on a 15 year loan to the DMA and the museum is going to consider it as part of their permanent collection. Therefore, it is outside the scope of the project but the Interpretation division desperately needed someone to create contextual information for the collection that people can find online when looking at it. I have created what is called content chunks that will be tagged with the objects in the collection ranging from what the 5 pillars of Islam are to Islamic Metalwork’s. I knew little to nothing so I have learned a ton of information.

So there you have it, some things I have been working on! On a different note, I have learned that I am not a person that can come into work and do the same thing every day for years on end. I cannot do it. My complacency kicks in and I have zero will or drive to get anything done and become bored out of my mind. I need a job that is changing all the time, which could be why I like scholarship so much. I am not sure yet if a job in a museum would change enough for me. It would obviously change year to year with the different exhibitions that are rolling through, but within the large institutors. I look forward to continuing my investigation into museums and if they are the place for me!