THIS PROGRAM IS FULL! What’s Art Got To Do With It?: Fusing Art and Science Education in the Museum

Two Bay Area museums—the California Academy and the de Young—are answering that question through a collaboration that began in 2010 when they hosted a summer teacher institute focusing on art and science integration. In 2011, the museums broadened their reach by collaborating with the San Francisco Unified School District on a program called Science, Literacy and Art Integration in the 21st Century (SLANT). The program engages teachers in using 21st century skills and strategies to bridge art and science processes. The February program is an opportunity to learn about this successful collaboration from the museum educators who developed it—Helena Carmena Young, Cal Academy and Emily Jennings, de Young Museum. And, it’s an opportunity to meet Dr. Elizabeth Babcock, the new Dean of Education at Cal Academy. Dr. Babcock joined the Academy in 2010, hailing from the Field Museum in Chicago.

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 8 (3:00 open; 3:30 start; 6:00 end)
Where: California Academy of Sciences (use the Staff Entrance accessed from Middle Drive East)
Check-in begins: 3:00 pm
3:30 to 3:45 — Announcements and job openings

3:45 to 5:00 – Program

5:00 to 6:00 – Networking

Elizabeth Babcock, Chief Public Engagement Officer and Roberts Dean of Education, is responsible for creating and implementing engaging exhibits, public engagement and education programs for the California Academy of Sciences. Before joining the Academy in 2010, she was the Vice President of Education and Library Collections for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Prior to joining the Field Museum in 2002, Babcock worked as a consultant and program developer, designing community outreach strategies and environmental education programs. She also worked for several years in the corporate sector, managing user experience research and design projects in the financial, consumer products, and technology industries.

Emily Jennings oversees both Teacher and School Programs at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Her duties include in-gallery teaching, developing facilitated programming, organizing teacher education programs, and producing curriculum. She began her career at FAMSF researching, designing, and implementing the museums Get Smart with Art curriculum series. Her work in curriculum development is shaped by a commitment to researching how museums function as learning environments where students use and understand the metacognitive structures that shape specific disciplines. This interest in “thinking about thinking” is at the core of her work in the area of art and science integration.

Helena Carmena Young is currently the Senior Manager of Teacher Education at the California Academy of Sciences. She was a former Science Specialist who taught elementary and middle school science for several years. At the Academy, Helena oversees teacher professional development and focuses on curriculum development and teacher workshop content and pedagogy for grades Pre-K-12. Her own interest in art and background in science education has lead to the development of several professional development offerings on art and science integration in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District.

This participatory discussion will explore what we can gain from taking organizational, professional, and personal risks, and what we can learn from our own risk-taking and that of our colleagues and peers.

Moderated by Jennifer Caleshu, Director of Communications at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, we will use the fishbowl discussion format to engage in a lively dialogue. To get the discussion started, you’ll hear perspectives from educators, exhibit developers and designers from Bay Area museums and design firms. Come prepared to jump into the discussion and share a story of a risk you’ve taken.

Check-in for the program will begin at 2:30pm. Immediately following the program will be our annual Cultural Connections holiday mixer. This will be held at the nearby Presidio Yacht Club from 5:30-7:30. Cash bar; all attendees get one drink ticket courtesy of Cultural Connections.

Whether you are just entering the job market, or are a seasoned professional considering your next steps, our Career Workshop will give you the tools to map out your path and develop your professional profile. This program will focus on a variety of topics to help you develop expectations, build a game plan, and position yourself for success. Please come prepared to share any open positions available at your museum.

Presenters:
Valéria Miranda at Creative Sustainable Solutions will moderate the discussion by helping you frame your career path. Val focuses on facilitating sustainable growth for cultural and educational organizations and is the principal of Creative Sustainable Solutions, a consulting and coaching practice in Santa Cruz, CA.

Sarah Post, Program Coordinator at California Association of Museums (CAM), will present results from the 2010 California Museums Financial and Salary Survey. Conducted by CAM, this survey provides detailed information about the compensation of California museum personnel as well as the financial foundation and impact of California museums on the state’s citizens. These reports have been valuable to California museums in comparing their institutions to like organizations and instrumental in demonstrating the impact of museums in CAM’s advocacy work.

Jayna Swartzman, Program Manager at Creative Capacity Fund, will cover professional development opportunities available through the Creative Capacity Fund and resources for pursuing professional development including service providers and an overview of the topics and formats to approach.

Lucy Runkel, Director of Student Services at SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund will discuss social media and how building an online brand helps achieve your professional goals.

Check-in begins: 3:30pm
4:15 to 4:30 – Announcements and job openings
4:30 to 5:00 – Introduction of speakers and review of Professional Development Plan
5:00 to 5:20 – Presentation of CAM survey
5:20 to 5:40 – Creative Capacity Fund
5:40 to 6:00 – Social Branding
6:00 to 7:00 – After the presentations we will host a networking hour so attendees can connect with other museum professionals and each presenter can answer questions and discuss their presentations

Location: JFK University, Room L7

Download our Professional Development Plan and fill out prior to our program.

The speakers’ presentations can be downloaded via the below links:
Valéria Miranda
Sarah_Post
Jayna Swartzman
Lucy Runkel

Using the World Café method, Northern California arts professionals and museum educators will explore the role of building and connecting to audiences during times of organizational change.

As a conversational process, the World Café is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community. As a process, the World Cafe can evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of any group, thus increasing people’s capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims. More information about this method can be found here: http://www.theworldcafe.com/

This World Café Conversation will be facilitated by:

• Randy Roberts, Deputy Director, Crocker Art Museum
• Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick, Director of Education, Crocker Art Museum
• Deborah Edward, PhD, Project Manager, For Arts Sake Sacramento

More than a decade into the 21st century, is your floor staff still using the same old “teach and tell” techniques? Or are they equipped with the kind of 21st century skills and technology that engage visitors and foster participation?

Join Cultural Connections to discover how three Bay Area museums are updating their floor staff programs. Learn about their successes and their challenges. Then, work in small groups with other museum professionals to discuss strategies for overcoming the challenges and plan how to implement changes at your institution.

Speakers:

• Megan Gray, Manager of Volunteer Services, Chabot Space and Science Center
• Sue Guevara, Visitor Programs Manager, Lawrence Hall of Science
• Emily Quist, Visitor Experience Manager, OMCA

Moderator: Susan Spero teaches at the JFKU Museum Studies Program where she specializes in courses in education, interpretation, and technology. Dr. Spero has 25 years experience developing educational programs for museums. She also served as Docent Coordinator for both the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the Columbus Museum of Art.

Join Cultural Connections and moderator Marjorie Schwarzer of JFK University, in a discussion with staff from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Chabot Space and Science Center, and Marketing by Storm, asking juicy questions about blockbuster exhibitions: “Is it possible to create an exhibition that has mass popular appeal and a scholarly impact while staying true to an institution’s mission? If so, what’s the magic formula?”

An exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the redesigned and reinvigorated Oakland Museum of California. If you’ve got questions, senior members of the staff behind the transformation will have answers.

We’ll begin with guided visits to the Gallery of California Art and Gallery of California History with staff members from each department. The tours will be followed by a panel discussion with OMCA staff, including Museum Director Lori Fogarty and Chief Curator of Education Barbara Henry. They will share their insights on the physical changes undertaken at the Museum and the changes in working processes and institutional culture that have marked the real reinvention for OMCA. The discussion will conclude with a Q&A and a chance for broader exchange on institutional transformation.

Visitor participation is a hot topic in the contemporary world of museums, art galleries, science centers, libraries and cultural organizations. How can your institution engage its visitors in a way that is interactive, relevant, social, and fun?

Nina Simon will discuss her new book, The Participatory Museum, and offer practical techniques for inviting community members to contribute to and collaborate with cultural institutions. This event will feature dialogue with the audience and a book signing immediately following the program.

Can after-hour museum mixers be an effective tool for audience development? Join colleagues from several San Francisco Bay area museums to reflect on the challenges, successes, failures and impacts of evening programs.

During a moderated discussion, program coordinators will compare their institutions’ experiences and answer behind-the-scenes questions about after-hour museum events—from goal setting and institutional buy-in to operational challenges and measuring impact.

Speakers:

• Melissa Alexander, Director of Public Programs, Exploratorium
  (Evening program: After Hours)
• Renée Baldocchi, Director of Public Programs, de Young Museum (Evening program: Cultural Encounters at the de Young)
• Ana Hortillosa, Adult Program Coordinator, Asian Art Museum
  (Evening program: MATCHA)
• Dan Schifrin, Director of Public Programs, Contemporary Jewish Museum
  (Evening program: Oy Vey Thursday)

After two years in a severe recession, museum professionals reflect on what they’ve learned, and what it means for the future of our field. Join a discussion moderated by museum leaders, exploring questions such as:

• What do you wish you’d known two years ago?
• What key decisions have helped museums and museum professionals navigate the recession?
• How have administrators had to adjust their management style to keep up attendance, funding, staff morale, and visitor services in the face of financial challenges?
• Where have change and instability helped reveal new opportunities and seeds of creativity?
• How will the experiences of the past two years shape your organization’s future?
• Has the economic crisis changed your thinking about museums’ role in their communities?

Please join Cultural Connections for our annual “Feast of Ideas” and networking event:

This year our speakers will use the fast-paced “PechaKucha” format—20 seconds per slide, and a maximum of 20 slides each—focused on Technology and Inspiration in the museum world. Topics will include social networking, on-line curatorial tools, and public uses of digital collections.

After the presentations, let us buy you a drink! We’ll continue the discussion over wine or beer, with Cultural Connections hosting the first round.

Cultural Connections is also seeking new volunteers to help shape the programs for the coming years. This gathering is the ideal opportunity to learn more about the joys of board involvement before our 2010 elections. Grab a board member and let us know you’re interested, and we’ll be happy to answer any question you might have about how Cultural Connections works to support our community of museum professionals.

This program will give Cultural Connections participants an opportunity to examine innovative approaches that redefine the conventional boundaries between public and off-limits areas of museums.

Participants will first tour the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology’s off-site-storage location. After the tour, attendees will reconvene at JFK University. Panelists from three different institutions will discuss how their behind-the-scenes tours have expanded access to their collections and facilities. We will also examine how these tours can enhance public engagement, build opportunities for in-depth programming, and can be an additional revenue source.

Join us for a discussion about planning and implementing evaluation studies that measure the effectiveness of school programs in museums. What were the biggest challenges in the process? Did the evaluations and the programs meet their objectives? How will the evaluation findings help inform future strategic planning? Answer these questions and more as our panel of visitor studies experts address the evaluation process?from goal setting and methodology to analyzing results. Case studies include the evaluation of school programs at the Asian Art Museum, NASA at Moffett Field, and the Guggenheim Museum.

Join us to discuss ways museums can “walk the talk” of environmental sustainability both programmatically and operationally. From the local to the national, our panel will provide an overview of recent green museum initiatives including the Green Museums Accord and explore the opportunities for and challenges of reducing and recycling museum waste. Learn about the California Academy of Sciences’ efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and raise visitor awareness with their LEED Platinum certified building and public programs.

Join our panel of museum and cultural professionals to learn about their efforts to reach new audiences through their participation in the Wallace Foundation’s Excellence Awards Program. Facilitator John Killacky, Arts & Culture Program Officer at the San Francisco Foundation, will lead a discussion about lessons learned and larger issues/themes raised in the collective work. Together we will explore strategies for how to reach new audiences and apply Wallace trends, research or evaluation data to our own work.

Slides from the presentations are available at slideshare:

• http://www.slideshare.net/CulturalConnections/center-for-asian-american-media-02-09
• http://www.slideshare.net/CulturalConnections/contemporary-jewish-museum-02-09
• http://www.slideshare.net/CulturalConnections/de-young-museum-02-09
• http://www.slideshare.net/CulturalConnections/sf-girls-chorus-02-09

Join four museum professionals as they share insights into ways visitors to exhibitions can not only participate in but also contribute to the museum experience. Stephanie Pau will share SFMOMA’s cross-departmental efforts to promote visitor participation and inquiry during the exhibition The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now, a survey of participatory artworks from Fluxus to present.

Our panel of museum professionals will share the snares and victories of designing and developing exhibits “in-house”! Together we will explore how to reach our team goals regardless of our role or seniority within the collaboration. Our facilitator, Amy Kweskin, of Quinn Associates, will offer practical and tactical strategies to enhancing working partnerships across museum departments.

Speakers:

Rachel Meyer, Director, Coyote Point Museum
Elizabeth Scott, Design and Technical Associate, Fine Arts Museums S.F.
René de Guzman, Senior Curator of Art, Oakland Museum of California

Facilitator:

Amy Kweskin, Manager of Consultant Services, Quinn Associates

This nuts-and-bolts program will provide steps for introducing a peer review program to your docent program, and will include break out discussions with docent leaders from the Asian Art Museum and SFMoMA, among others, who have instituted and evaluated such programs.

We visited the Chabot Space & Science Center to view and discuss the exhibition “Beyond Blastoff: Surviving in Space.” After visiting the exhibition independently, we used Beverly Serrell’s Excellent Judges Framework to discuss and evaluate the exhibition. Exhibition Description: http://chabotspace.org/visit/exhibits.asp

Jim Spadaccini of Ideum and Ethan Wilde of Mediatrope will present case studies of projects that bridge onsite and online museum visitor experiences in new and interesting ways. Join Jim and Ethan to discuss the opportunities and challenges of creating interactive media that extend the visitor experience beyond the museum’s walls?from social networking tools for teens and art-making for toddlers, to personalized collections scrapbooks.

What is your museum doing to inspire visitors? Have you seen exhibits or heard about programs that challenged the status quo, or made you want to live, work, or act differently?

Museums can be wonderful forums for the discussion of social and environmental topics relevant to their communities. Some museums also hope to enable or inspire visitors to take action on important issues, using exhibits and programs to further their social justice and environmental missions. Panelists from Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Capital Unity Council will discuss their efforts to communicate a strong message that inspires their visitors to take specific actions while at the museum or in their community.

Please come prepared to discuss examples of projects you’ve done, seen, or hope to get off the ground some day.

Speakers:
Jenny Sayre Ramberg, Exhibit Developer, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Jon Dueul, Audience Research Assistant, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Stephanie Francis, Assistant Director, Capital Unity Council

Please join us for a special book signing with Stephanie Weaver, author of Creating Great Visitor Experiences: A Guide for Museums, Parks, Zoos, Gardens & Libraries, published by Left Coast Press.

Do you ever have jitters when standing up to speak in front of a crowd? Do you need to brief the Board on your program but feel worried about your public speaking skills? You’re not alone! Almost everyone has some form of stage fright, but this fear can be tackled and overcome.

Join us for an inspiring and encouraging half-day workshop on public speaking skills. Learn about the causes of stage fright and strategies for handling these very common fears. This workshop will include the following:

• Lecture presentation
• Opportunity to speak in front of a group to receive feedback
• Coaching and techniques for improvement
• Chance to learn from others in breakout groups

Doree Allen received her M.A. in Film and her Ph.D. in English from Stanford University. After teaching for several years in Stanford’s “Cultures, Ideas, and Values Program,” she was hired to design, and now directs, the Center for Teaching and Learning’s interdisciplinary program in Oral Communication, in which she teaches a variety of courses on public speaking and oral interpretation. Recently, she has worked with docents and staff at the Cantor Center for Visual Art as well as at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

There’s a lot of talk these days about “Web 2.0,” but what does that actually mean? This program will help unlock the mysterious world of social networking, user-generated content, and other emerging web technologies while examining some successful ways to use these tools in museums. Please join us for this special opportunity to learn more about innovative museum projects in London and Minneapolis.

Museums and cultural organizations are meant to welcome everyone. But, how can a variety of programs meet the needs of multi-age audiences? What are the needs of these audiences? How can museums create developmentally appropriate programs that make use of their resources and collections? How do museums reach these diverse audiences?

Several Bay Area Educators will share how they have used principles of child and adult development to inform their practices of creating age-appropriate museum programs. They will share strategies for planning, implementing, and adapting museum programs for specific target audiences. They will also discuss teaching approaches, curriculum design, and challenges of working with different age groups.

Please join us for a Feast of Ideas program to jump start your museum’s marketing efforts. Whether you work in a large institution or a small museum, we will provide you with tools, strategies and some new ideas for successfully promoting your institution and its educational programs in 2007.

Cara Storm, Principal of Marketing by Storm, a marketing and public relations consulting firm for arts organizations seeking audience and revenue growth through better marketing, will kick off this year’s Feast of Ideas program. Cara will begin the program by sharing expert tips about how to reinvigorate your marketing efforts, from learning the basics to using “guerrilla” marketing tactics, followed by a question and answer period. Enjoy delectable holiday treats and network with colleagues while gathering marketing tips from both Bay Area cultural institutions and for-profit companies.

Many museums are going through physical changes—retrofitting, expanding, rebuilding, or relocating—that have major implications for programs. How can new spaces be designed to maximize visibility and enhance the visitor experience? How can existing spaces be adapted to serve new educational uses? How can we design programs that acknowledge the limitations and strengths of our workspaces?

Three Bay Area art museums—The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco-de Young—will outline their educational and architectural planning processes and philosophies, share visitor evaluation results, and discuss the challenges of and adaptations to their new programs and education spaces.

Financial sustainability is a constant balancing act for museums.
Increasingly, museum education departments are being asked to present
programs that make a profit, a challenge which adds to the demands
already faced by staff. Presenter Val DeLang will lead a discussion on
the big issues to consider when assessing your education department’s
capacity for building revenue. How can you think creatively about the
resources you do have, and ways to build on resources already in place?
How can you realistically plan new initiatives that meet the
educational mission and make money? Come learn new planning strategies
for creating this new museum program “animal”– the program in touch
with the educational mission and institution’s earned revenue goals.

Meeting Notes from Making Money and Meeting the Educational Mission

Special Cultural Connections Workshop

ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED - Workshop limited to 30 people

Professionally Speaking: Preparing and Delivering Effective Oral Presentations
with Doree Allen, Oral Communication Program, Stanford University
at the

Do you ever have jitters when standing up to speak in front of a crowd? Do you need to brief the Board on your program but feel worried about your public speaking skills? You’re not alone! Almost everyone has some form of stage fright, but this fear can be tackled and overcome. Join us for an inspiring and encouraging half-day workshop on public speaking skills. Learn about the causes of stage fright, and strategies for handling these very common fears.

Are you working on a great project? Interested in starting a dialogue with your colleagues in other cultural institutions? Wanting to bring new ideas to the forefront? Publishing can push you to new heights in your museum work. It can help you be more organized, succinct and focused in your professional endeavors, and can benefit the field as well as your career.

Please note that this program begins and ends earlier (1-4 pm) than most Cultural Connections events, in order to accommodate the JFK University class schedule.

Meeting Notes from Writing for Your Peers in Museums

Are you curious about that looming Aztec tower in Golden Gate Park? The education staff of the de Young Museum have invited us in to see their new space and regale them with our questions. Learn more about their transition process, including challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned. Panelists will include:

Sheila Pressley, Director of Education
Renee Baldocchi, Public Programs
Gina Tan, Director of Membership
Debbie Frieden, de Young Project Director

Scattered attention. Dwindling focus. Sporadic reading. Museum fatigue.

Average adult museum visitors often behave as if they have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Their reading and concentration is sporadic, despite average to high intelligence. So why not turn to true “at risk” learners to look for solutions to these perennial problems?

Dyslexics and persons with ADHD are from all walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds. What they share is a neurological difference that brings into sharp relief how the brain reads and understands, and how it focuses and attends. Since the 1990s, new technologies have revolutionized our understanding of how the brain perceives, remembers, and learns. By considering these at-risk learners our “canaries in the coal mine,” museum professionals may better understand what conditions the average visitor needs in order to learn symbolically without feeling overwhelmed or put off.

Paul Gabriel—a learning specialist who has conducted preliminary research with learning disabled persons in museums—will lead this forum about “brain-based learning.” He will briefly present how the field of educational therapy has aggressively moved to imbed its theory and practice in the recent findings of neuroscience research. To provoke dialogue, he will then suggest how this theory and practice might be applied to present museum practice—and directly elicit your thoughts, feelings, and reactions about how all of this might apply directly to the work you do.

Come challenge what you think about how people learn and question what you know about what people know.

Meeting Notes from Creating Optimal Conditions for Learning

Get your creative juices flowing at the next Cultural Connections program, and learn about the unexpected benefits that Artists-in-Residence (AIR) programs bring to both visitors and staff. Presenters will include AIR program staff from the Headlands Center for the Arts, the Exploratorium, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the Pacific Film Archive, and SF Recycling and Disposal, Inc. Participants will also be treated to a special garden tour of sculpture made from recycled material! This program will be held at the SF Recycling and Disposal, Inc. site in San Francisco, off of Bayshore Blvd. near the Cow Palace.

Link to SF Recycling and Disposal’s AIR program: http://www.sunsetscavenger.com/artist_in_residence.htm

What if all museums were free? Consider the pros and cons of museums offering free admission in an afternoon discussion. Dan Keegan, Oshman Executive Director of the San Jose Museum of Art, will share why SJMA stopped charging admission and the results of that decision. Marjorie Schwarzer, Chair of the Department of Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University, will share another point of view, one that questions offering free museum admission.

A session moderator will challenge both presenters to delve into the issues, ensuring a lively discussion!

Meeting Notes from Going Free

Presentations and break-out group work with Lori Fogarty, Executive Director of BADM and “Life Coach” Velora Lilly, PhD.

Follow-up conversation at:
The Cat & The Fiddle
303 Johnson Street, on the waterfront in Sausalito

Diane B. Frankel, founding member of “Museums Affiliated with Public Schools” (MAPS)–the organization that became Cultural Connections over 25 years ago–will kick off this year’s Feast of Ideas program, which celebrates museums and educational institutions forging connections with their surrounding communities for their mutual benefit.

Diane was founding Executive Director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and Director of the Center for Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University. In 1993, she was appointed Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services by President Clinton . Returning to the Bay Area, Diane served as Program Director at The James Irvine Foundation, providing nearly $4 million to ten California museums through the Museum Youth Initiative,** so that they might deepen their roles as community-based organizations. Diane is now Senior Vice President for Museum Management Consultants, Inc. in San Francisco.

Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center has turned their exhibition development process inside out for an exciting new project, entitled “Question.” Says Patience Young, the Cantor Center’s Curator for Education, “We are throwing out our assumptions in order to challenge ourselves and engage visitors in new ways. As we distilled a list of queries from the general public and visiting students, we discovered that some of the most basic questions are the most provocative. ‘What is artistic quality?’; ‘Where is the meaning in the work?’; and ‘Who decides what is art or who is an artist?’ have stimulated animated discussions among the staff.”

Cantor Arts Center curators and other staff, working in teams, have selected objects from the Center’s comprehensive collection of 26,000 works to provoke and illustrate specific questions. Working with exhibition designers Darcie Fohrman and Michael Brown, the Center devised an installation that raises even more questions than it answers and that provides numerous ways for visitors to interact with the artworks as they explore their own ideas about art and museums.

On Wednesday, October 20th, Cultural Connections invites you to view the exhibition and meet with the project developers. We will discuss their challenges, successes and surprises, and hear how staff, visitors and reviewers have reacted to the installation.

Meeting notes from Challenging Assumptions in “Question”

Join us for an afternoon of extreme fun and expert advice about interpretive graphics and labels. Using select interpretive graphics at the SF Maritime National Historical Park, small groups will discuss tips for combining compelling writing, approachable design and ADA guidelines to convey stories through successful design.

Expert makeover specialists are:

— Frank Binney, Interpretive Writer, Frank Binney and Associates
— Tessa Lee graphic Designer, Public
— Margie Cochran and Armando Garcia, ADA Specialists, Center for Independent Living

Small groups will visit the Museum Building, but the program will be at the Visitor Center. Following small group sessions we will unveil a newly-design interpretive graphic, a grand finale to the Extreme Label Makeover program.

Interpretive Exhibit Resources

Graphic Design Tips

Graphic Design Examples

IBL is a form of teaching which involves the teacher as a ‘guide on the side’ rather than a ‘sage on stage’. In other words, students guide their discovery, by formulating questions and figuring out how to answer those questions. In this way, students are invested in their learning and are more motivated to get results.

-IBL Instructor,Yosemite National Institute Staff

Join us for an afternoon of stimulating discussion and inquiry based exploration in the beautiful Marin Headlands. Learn more about IBL, why it is a valuable approach to teaching, and how it can be utilized to engage participants in your museum programs. Please wear comfortable shoes, as we will be walking outdoors.

JFK University Arts Annex, 2956 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA
Co-sponsored by Cultural Connections and JFKU Department of Museum Studies

Museums are increasingly interested in community engagement and measuring program effectiveness. Cultural Connections and JFKU’s Department of Museum Studies are pleased to offer this expert-led and participatory workshop.

Douglas Worts addressed such questions as:

• What is civic engagement?
• What qualitative and quantitative measures and indicators will enable museums to understand community needs and assess program impacts?
• What is sustainability?
• How does a larger view of sustainability—from global carrying capacity, limits to growth, and the role of human consciousness in a globalized world—affect museums?

Presentation from The Pursuit of Civic Engagement and a Culture of Sustainability

Are you stressed out at work from budget cuts, lay-offs, working overtime, and lacking the resources and time necessary to get your job done? Would you like to learn how to reduce some of this stress? Join us for a stress-busting afternoon with speakers who will provide advice for reducing stress, fun-filled activities, and plenty of time for networking.

Meeting notes from Stress Busters

We all strive to create meaningful learning experiences for visitors. However, orientation and wayfinding obstacles can interfere with visitorsí overall positive experiences. Join us for an afternoon of surprising findings about orientation and wayfinding and for creative ways of improving communication within our learning environments.

Moving an institution to a new facility presents great opportunities and challenges. Join us as we explore the new Asian Art Museum. Arrive early and participate in exclusive tours with Asian Art Museum Staff and hear the inside story on how they planned and prepared for expanded facilities and programs at their new site. Forrest McGill (Chief Curator), Brian Hogarth (Director of Education), Deborah Clearwaters (Manager of Public Programs), and Alina Collier (Resource Center Coordinator), will discuss the surprises and insights discovered in the process of opening their new museum location.

Meeting Notes from Behind the Scenes at the New Asian Art Museum

Where will you be in five years? Are you so buried in your daily tasks that you feel that you have no time to think about your next career move? Get information and tips from experienced colleagues and develop a professional development game plan for yourself.

Handouts from Planning Your Museum Career:

Professional Development Action Plan

Self-Assessment: Big Museum/Small Museum – Which is Right For Me?

Pre-visit and follow up materials can greatly enhance the value of a museum visit. How can museum educators create materials that teachers will actually use? Participate in small group discussions and gain valuable insights about the process of creating exciting, relevant, and useful pre- and post-visit materials.

Meeting Notes from Before and After the School Visit

Feeling stressed about that upcoming outcome evaluation report required by your program funder? Don’t know where to start? Wondering about evaluation techniques? Learn how evaluation can improve your program from a panel of experienced professionals including museum, evaluation, and foundation representatives and gain practical tools for assessment through a small group breakout session.

Meeting Notes from Program Evaluation

What challenges are present when designing exhibits in different outdoor environments? Come explore the possibilities.

As museums strive to engage the diverse audiences in their communities, docent training and recruitment is essential to these efforts. Join us in an exchange of ideas about managing volunteer docents.

Meeting Notes from Docent Diversity

Come join us as we investigate and explore Bay Area Discovery Rooms. Find out how these special learning environments promote learning for parents and their young children.

Meeting Notes from Discovering Discovery Rooms

Take advantage of this opportunity to inspire excellence in education by sharing educational kits of all sorts–those used in your organization and in outreach programs. Bring your kits, show other participants how to use them, and what you feel works and doesn‰t work. But if your organization does not have one yet, come for some good ideas.

Meeting Notes from Educational Kits that Work and Don’t Work

Are you looking for new ways to market your school and public programs? This Feast of Ideas showcased innovative tools and methods in use around the Bay Area.

Suggestions from the Melbourne Museum, Australia

Bert Bower of Teachers’ Curriculum Institute (TCI) will introduce strategies for creating innovative curricular materials. Attendees will participate in “Body Language: The Human Form in Asian Art” a grade-6 school program developed with the Asian Art Museum, and then will utilize some of the strategies in a curriculum development exercise.

Meeting Notes from Creating Educational Materials
Body Language Docent Script Handout

Join us for an afternoon filled with art and experimentation. Local Bay Area artists will lead a discussion about successful art project techniques and then put these techniques to the test and you and your colleagues create truly original art projects. Bring reusable objects, ideas and a creative spirit.

Meeting Notes from The Art of Art Projects

“Visitors are at the heart of the museum experience.” The opening words of Kathleen McLean’s book Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions serves as a reminder of how to design meaningful exhibits. Join us for an afternoon at the SF Maritime National Historic Park, to examine the exhibit ideas for the newly renovated sailing vessel Balclutha.

How can an individual who is blind experience a painting? How can a visitor who is deaf participate in a docent tour? Two museum professionals will discuss program ideas and useful materials for visitors with these special needs. In the galleries of the Asian Art Museum people with disabilities will share their museum experiences and offer suggestions. Participants will discuss challenges and opportunities, and brainstorm ideas using the existing displays.

Meeting Notes from Accessibility in Exhibitions

Starting at 5 p.m., enjoy complimentary champagne, wine, and hors d’oeuvres while mingling with your colleagues in the Charlotte Wendel Education Center. From 6-8 p.m., the main galleries of the SJMA, will be opened for your viewing pleasure featuring a cash bar and an exclusive preview of the new exhibition, Dale Chihuly: The George R. Stroemple Collection. Docent-guided tours will be available. Tickets for the fundraiser are $30. All proceeds will go towards general operating fund and future programs for Cultural Connections.

Most educators are familiar with established funders such as the NEH and CAC, but don’t know where to begin when it comes to making connections with Silicon Valley money. This program will feature speakers familiar with Silicon Valley philanthropy and will explore strategies for finding hi-tech supporters.

Meeting Notes from Tapping into the Silicon Valley Gold Rush

The program consisted of remarks by five Revealing Bodies exhibition team members followed by a question and answer session.

Meeting Notes from What’s So Controversial About Revealing Bodies