It's crazy how fast these past 2 months have really flown by.
As my internship is drawing to it's conclusion, final edits are now being made to the Family bags I have been working on. I am sad to say that my project winding down and soon I will have to say goodbye to the Meadows Museum, but it has been so much fun and I am definitely coming back! I wish I could be here during their testing and trials with volunteers, but overall I feel happy and excited about the results of my work here. I can't wait to see how they turn out after production and after their release to the public in October.
I added before and after pictures to show you my initial idea of how to design them and then what they ended up looking like. Inside there are 3 different sets of prompts for families to do together, as well as a children's book, a materials bag, and a Family Guide sheet. Everything is multilingual, even the different bags (we have metal dog tags for the vision impaired), and that really feels like a major victory to me.
I recently got to sit down with the curator, Amanda Doseth, to talk about the future and possibilities of working within Museums. It was really awesome that I got to meet her and its great that everyone here is so open and willing to help guide those who are interested in the Museum field.
Overall, I have learned so much about the inner-workings of museums, like how many different departments have to work together before you can... do anything really. To get the family bags out in the galleries, we have to go through approved vendors, we have to get out marketing, our materials, the language we use, and everything that is written has to be approved. When I first started this project I thought that it would go by so quick and be so easy. On day 1 I had so many Ideas. . . But looking back now, after trial and error, writing and testing and rewriting, I see why some of the ideas that I thought would be perfect just didn't fit. And the education team here at the Meadows worked through everything with me and has taught me that it's okay, and very good for our plans to change and be refined and reworked. Now I feel like I have a huge inventory that I can use for the future, and have come up with a fantastic resource.
Virginia! Congratulations on your family bags! They look AMAZING! I want to dig in and try your activities! A huge victory, indeed! I hope you've taken lots of photos and notes so that it can be a part of your portfolio so that when you apply for jobs, you can show them a tangible thing you have created for a museum.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled you have learned as much as you have and that everyone at the Meadows has been so generous with their time and expertise. What a great team of people!
That's great that you go to see your ideas and work come to fruition. I love that you included metal tags and made everything bilingual. Yay for accessiblity!!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you. My internship also feels like it has just flown by. I thought I would be all homesick and ready to leave but I wish I could stay longer! I also similarly have had to deal with lots of rounds of approval changing plans, but ultimately it leads to a better result. The bags look great!
ReplyDeleteThat last comment was Annalisa by the way. Not sure why I coming up as unknown.
ReplyDeleteVirginia!! I'm so happy for you and all of your hard work at the Meadows! I'm glad you have had a good time there and that you were able to do something so awesome, the family bags sound super fun! You've worked hard and I'm super proud of everything you've done<3
ReplyDelete