This is the beginning of my
final semester here at RIT, and also the beginning of the homeward stretch
towards completing my thesis. As this is my first post of the semester, I
thought it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to provide an update
on what I was able to accomplish over the winter break, and what I still have
yet to accomplish.
To briefly review, I am
exploring the ways in which the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s (RMSC) Native Peoples of the Americas exhibit can be redesigned to represent native
cultures more accurately and fully. This exploration will take several forms
including exhibit surveys, research into the history of Native American
collections and representation in American museums and suggested methods for
the redesign of Native American exhibits that have been put forth by museum
professionals, historians, and civil rights activists over the past 25 years,
an interview with the Senior Director for Collections and Exhibits at the RMSC,
and several visitor observation sessions. The intended result of this work will be a series of
recommendations for the RMSC’s collections and exhibitions staff to consider as
they work to redesign Native
Peoples over the next several
years.
Over break I was able to
return to the RMSC to speak with Kathryn Murano, Senior Director for
Collections and Exhibits, in order to gain a better understanding of the
thematic direction she and the RMSC see Native
Peoples moving towards over the
next few years. While I was there, I also conducted a brief visitor
observation session, which provided some interesting insights/considerations
for me to look into as I continue my work (for example, young children need
steps-ups to view the dioramas in the exhibit, however they are an impediment
to people who need to use wheelchairs or walkers-- this is important to
consider when making recommendations of how to better accommodate all visitors
within the space, so they can all learn from and enjoy the exhibit equally).
I also visited the Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, NY, which I intend to compare/contrast to Native Peoples,
not only because it offers an example of Native Americans representing
themselves in a museum space, but because it reflects newer trends in
exhibition design in general, and provides a number of interesting
solutions/ideas that could be incorporated into Native Peoples.
With regards to my remaining
goals, beyond the actual thesis writing process, I would like to visit the RMSC
again in February in order to complete one last round of visitor observations.
I intend to visit on a weekend, as I haven’t visited the exhibit during
the weekend yet (my previous visits occurred over a holiday weekend in the
afternoon and on a Friday morning), and I want to see if the museum attracts a
slightly different visitor pool on the weekends than during the week, and if
so, what their interactions with and in the exhibit are like.
In addition, I intend to
virtually “tour” several exhibits from the National Museum of the American Indian or NMAI (which has branches in both New York City and Washington, DC), in order
to see how a museum focused solely on Native American representation (some might
argue the museum of Native American representation)
presents various themes and topics, both from an intellectual (content) and
technical (design) standpoint.
I look forward to continuing
the thesis process and seeing it completed in the (very) near future.
