Armistice on the Horizon

My paper and poster are both finished and handed in on time. I have to thank all who helped me out editing and adding to the paper as this was a massive project that I am glad to end my college career with. This paper was the product of months of research and effort, I can only hope that my work will translate into a good if not great grade for the semester.

The poster for the project was also an enjoyable experience as I was able to make a visual representation of my paper available for all to see with images and graphs to help give a physical representation of what my paper is about. The people who served, the equipment made for the war and the factories and schools that helped win the war are all represented on the poster.

With just one more week left of school and the review by our professors coming up I can honestly say that this war for a college degree is almost over.

Like a Feather in Air (Directionless, but Beautiful)

“It's the hope of my thoughts that I travel upon
Fly like an arrow of God until I'm gone, so I'm

Drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keeping it vertical forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that is greater”

- Nujabes, feat. Cise Starr. “Feather”, Modal Soul, 2005.

I really like Lyrical Rap music. It’s like listening to poetry. I’m a fan of all genres of music (yes even country, classical, metal, and the like) but lyrical rap music—the kind that tells a story— is my favorite. Since rap often get a bad name, I thought I would share this with all of you.

It’s the end of the semester, and during this time I am feeling flooded with a lot of different emotions.
I am anxious and a little fearful for what the future may hold for me (or if it holds anything at all). That being said, I am happy that I’ve made it this far, because there were definitely some days where I feared that I would not.

Completing a senior thesis has always been an incredibly daunting task in my mind since I started at RIT. I saw it as something I’d never had the skills or resources to achieve. I remember many instructors stressing its importance and hearing their suggestions to take lighter course loads, so that I could focus on my thesis. But that wasn’t an option for me.

I look back and I see all the places where my thesis could be better, where I could have really struck gold if I had only had more time, resources, or support networks to get it to where I had originally idealized. Sometimes I really feel down on myself, when I look back at these shortcomings.

(Above: me, standing in front of an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum for my 22nd Birthday).

But then I realize that I have achieved some really great things: in the span of 18 months, I’ve volunteered at the RMSC, demonstrated at the MAG, and worked at the The Strong National Museum of Play. I got the opportunity to work at the Cary Graphic Archives as part of my work study, which gave me the wonderful chance to use printing presses over a 100 Years old. I got to present my research in front of museum professionals from all over New York State at the Museum Association of New York Conference. I also got to interview with the director of film archives for the National Geographic Society. I also wrote a 42-page Senior thesis (67, with the appendix).

   

(above: pictures of me at the Strong Museum of Play and the MANY conference, wearing the same dress.)

( above: me in Rome. Excited because I saved up enough money for me to go to Rome.)

I did all of that. While taking 18 credits. And not having a computer at home. And while navigating the harder side of adult life (paying all your own bills and dealing with stressful family matters)...

Are my grades where I would like them to be? No. Do I feel really unaccomplished, useless, and/or worthless sometimes? Yes. Am I afraid for what comes next? Absolutely. Do I feel like quitting altogether and giving up?

Absolutely Fucking Not.

I have made progress. I have accomplished some things. And it is my hope that I will accomplish more. It is my hope that I am able to come back in the fall and complete this last semester, so that I continue to move forward into the next few chapters of my life. And I’m going to try my smartest to make that happen. I may not know exactly how yet, but I’m more than willing to try.

Life can seem daunting, and often isn’t fair. But that doesn’t mean I should give up before even starting. Right?

I can do this. I can do this. I am doing this. And will continue to get better at doing this.

Until my last blog post next week, I will leave you with an excerpt from one of my favorite songs it makes me laugh, but also holds a lot of other deeper messages that speak to me later in the song:


Man I promise, she's so self conscious
She has no idea what she's doing in college
That major that she majored in don't make no money
But she won't drop out, her parents will look at her funny
Now, tell me that ain't insecure
The concept of school seems so secure
Sophomore three years aint picked a career
She like fuck it, I'll just stay down here and do hair
Cause that's enough money to buy her a few pairs of new Airs
Cause her baby daddy don't really care
She's so precious with the peer pressure
Couldn't afford a car so she named her daughter Alexus
She had hair so long that it looked like weave
Then she cut it all off now she look like Eve
And she be dealing with some issues that you can't believe
Single black female addicted to retail and well

- Kanye West. “All Fall Down”, The College Dropout. In the year of our Lord 2004. 

Some Further Thoughts...

In my experience, it's always at the end of an academic project that you realize all the other things you could have done and/or paths you could have taken with your research and work.  Not because you were lazy or close-minded about your project and research, but rather that many (some might argue all) academic projects are part of a larger dialogue, and as such they can never truly be complete.

This is the situation I found myself in this morning as I was putting the finishing touches on my final thesis paper, Recommendations for Redesign: Revising the Rochester Museum and Science Center's Native Peoples of the Americas Exhibit.  As a result, I thought of a few possible directions my research and project could have moved in had I had more time to continue with this project before I graduate. 

• Further research in the Rochester Museum and Science Center's (RMSC) institutional records to gain a better understanding of the history and development of Native Peoples of the Americas and other exhibits at the RMSC, and to resolve some questions left unanswered in my paper, such as specific dates and persons responsible for different parts of the exhibit.
• As another/further project, perhaps research and write a more comprehensive history of the RMSC than the one I utilized in writing my paper.
• Develop basic, but formal evaluative criteria for both exhibits in need of redesign, and exhibits featuring representations of Native Americans, then use them to re-evaluate the exhibits/institutions I did my case studies on.
• Visit the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and its satellite institution, the George Gustav Heye Center, in New York, NY, which I did a brief case study on, but was not able to visit in person.

While I wouldn't change anything about my thesis writing process (because that's what it was meant to be, a process), these are simply some possible expansions I would consider undertaking.  Perhaps in future, someone will take my work and improve upon it by doing one or all of these things, and add to the ongoing dialogue about Native representation and redesign in museum spaces.

Slight Identity Crisis

Before submitting my final thesis title, I realized that my title did not reflect what I was doing in my thesis. My title said I was doing conservation but my case studies reflected inspection reporting. After about five more tweaks to the title, I finally settled on a title "Inspecting Nitrate Silent Cinema: Case Studies from the John E. Allen Collection of the George Eastman Museum." 

Now that my identity crisis is over, I've been continually working through feedback from three different people and finishing up unfinished sections. One section I am struggling on is finding the historical significance of my case study films. The films date early enough in the 20th century that there is little to no information. I have searched through database after database but no luck. My next task is to visit the GEM and look through their books. 

That is all for now, I don't have too much to report. By next post my paper will be complete! 

The Home Stretch

As we come to the end of March and the full draft deadline approaches, I am enjoying seeing my paper begin to come together. At this point, I am writing my recommendations for how the Kodak Archive can be developed and improved, based on standards and best practices established in the field. This is a lot easier said than done, because the Kodak Archive is a very unique case study. There is nothing written about how to approach a corporate archive at a company that has recently suffered financial disaster and is moving in a completely new direction. My recommendations are based on my own observations and experiences working with the collection, as well as best practices and advice from those in the archival field. I am looking forward to seeing my project come to fruition, and I am hopeful that it will be useful to Kodak as they move forward with the archive.

March Forward

As March comes close to an end, I see the end in sight as well as how far I've come. I know the work that has to be done: Completing the write-up of my case studies is chief among them. I have applied to internships over the summer, and I am slated to present at the Museum Association of New York in just a couple weeks. It is a weird feeling for me, as I come close to finishing my thesis. I still have one more semester left to do after this one as a consequence of switching into the Museum Studies program at an odd time in my undergraduate career. I sit in class and listen to the laughs and the discussions of my classmates, who are more than eager to walk the stage in May and continue on to the next phase in life. Sometimes I am left feeling bereft....and other times, I am grateful for that extra semester. I will get the chance to learn and connect with my college more than I had in my first two and a half years at RIT (when I was in my previous major). 

I am finding that I truly enjoy my major and the people and opportunities within it. There are days of course, where I do feel a bit overwhelmed, but I figure that's par for the course. Moreover, I realize that I do have an entire network of people within the MUSE program that I can convene with to discuss any concerns I may have and discuss plans of action that I can feasibly carry out. 

The next week for me will be filling out the remainder of my thesis and rearranging certain passages so that it follows with more fluidity than it does now. I know that if I go two weeks without checking in on my progress with thesis my anxiety will get the better of me in the midst of all my other responsibilities and deadlines. 

Until then, I will continue to march forward. 

The End of No Man's Land

After correcting my entire paper once more I am now ready to send it to my advisors who will correct them once more before the paper is finished. I am eager to finish the paper once and for all yet I will not slacken my effort as I reach the finish line. My poster will be the most challenging part of my Thesis project and I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Despite the daunting task before me I know that if I call upon my advisors for help and feedback on my paper as I near the due dates I will be fine. I hope that by adding the few additional pieces of information and fixing the few mistakes that are hidden throughout the paper I will have a great paper.

Kat and Kitten Relationships

With the database completed, I have finally been able to move into the visualization stage of my thesis. For visualizing the more quantitative data, I have looked into Piktochart to make my findings concise and visually presentable. An example of such data is demonstrating how almost a third of the artists in the database had their careers based in New York City prior to coming to Artpark. I like the graphics available from the templates, but the challenge is making them readable on my poster.

For visualizing artist networks and artists' relationship with museums and galleries, I have decided to use MindMeister. I really appreciate Dr. Decker's help in getting an upgraded version for all of us to use on a shared account. I believe I can trust her not to sabotage my work. Regardless of whether betrayal occurs or not, MindMeister is really easy to use! It's simple to have a central point of reference (Artpark) and to branch out from there. Artpark functions as the initial "Parent" ("Kat") while the associated institutions and their artists are the "Children" ("Kittens") in the visualization. The visualization includes both established art museums as well as more alternative spaces, and the connections between these institutions demonstrate that despite competing interests, they did not operate entirely independent of each other in the art network. I will include observations about the included institutions in the final paper.