Communications Intern Position - Tacoma Art Museum

Click here to be directed to the Tacoma Art Museum website where you can learn more about this opportunity.

MUSEUM VISIT: Olympic Sculpture Park

The Olympic Sculpture Park is an urban oasis located near the Belltown area of Seattle. Just a short walk from Seattle Center, this green space is certainly an area worth visiting. The Park is part of the Seattle Art Museum ("SAM"), even though it is located several blocks away and is free admission.

The main entrance is located in a large building, of which most of the sides are made of windows that open to an outdoor patio area. Upon first entering the building, there are several pamphlets available near the door that contain information about events going at the Park as well as things going on at the Seattle Art Museum and Asian Art Museum. This building also includes the "Taste" cafe, which has a small variety of foods ranging from salads, kids meals, and sandwiches. Many of the items on the menu are comprised of organic foods. The pricing is reasonable, considering the quality of the food ($7 will get you a grilled cheese sandwich with caramelized onions and apples, in addition to a side salad). All of the food containers and uneaten food items can be composted and the Park provides bins for this purpose. The question of museums "going green" will become more of an issue, and it was interesting to see how SAM addressed it within the Sculpture Park.

One entire wall of the building was open on this particular day because it was a really nice outside. This wall leads out to a landscaped patio area where there are seats for people to eat their meals outdoors, if they would like. After walking down a set of stairs, you're lead out to the first sculpture piece. The unique feature of this park is the "Z" path that leads from the main entrance and takes visitors over the train tracks and street, leading you to the waterfront. The pathway can also be used for visitors that require wheelchair access, and the Park does loan wheelchairs to visitors on a first-come first-served basis.

There are chairs and seating areas located throughout the park allowing visitors to truly enjoy the beautiful scenery. The waterfront view is spectacular with the Olympic Mountain Range in the background. There is an area where visitors can walk to a beach and put their feet in the water; however, on this particular visit, a sign was posted that bacteria levels were too high to go in the water.

The permanent collection is unique and consists of approximately 21 pieces (some are on loan but considered part of the permanent collection). The oldest piece dates back to 1965 and the youngest piece to 2007. It is interesting to see how the placement of sculpture pieces had been incorporated into the design of the Park. What was even more interesting was reading the history on how nine acres of industrial land became an urban oasis.

I enjoyed my trip to the Park and spent about two hours there. I highly recommend checking it out, if you have the chance. Also, after going to the Park, I saw this article in the Seattle Times about some of the conservation issues that arise with these outdoor pieces from both the outdoor environment and visitors. Click here to read more about it.

If you have any additional information you would like to share about the Park or about your experience there, please feel free to leave comments!

Museum of Communications - Seattle

An article in the Seattle Times by Jerry Large about the Museum of Communications. Sounds like an interesting place, and he also offers some very brief commentary about his outlook on the importance of museums in general.

Past Still Calls to Us At Museum
By: Jerry Large

We are awed by really old stuff and really new stuff.

Last weekend, while people were snapping up the new iPhone, I was wandering through a nondescript Georgetown building looking at some of the earliest telephones.

They were technological marvels once, too.

The Museum of Communications also displays Teletype machines, a huge early phone answering system, military field phones, even movie equipment from Bell Labs.

It's operated by volunteers. There are about 100 of them, but a core group of 15 really keeps things running.

The building on East Marginal Way South has the panel switch that brought dial service to Seattle in 1923. It still works.

One of the volunteers described the operation of the wall-sized machine as a ballet of movement. Each phone call set off a dance of rods and levers that led to the desired number.

Younger people may not remember, but until the 1980s, one system owned and operated nearly all the telephones in the country. The Bell System was broken up in 1984.

When the new phone companies started replacing electromechanical switching systems with digital switches, the chief engineer here suggested saving some of the old equipment.

Former and current employees of the telephone industry responded and created the museum in 1985.

Dale Thompson, who gave my wife and me a tour Sunday, was a phone-company engineer for 28 years.

Don Ostrand, the museum curator, started with the company in 1955 and retired in 1990. Ostrand is 71, but volunteers aren't all retirees.

Stephen Jones started helping out a few months ago. He's 37 and worked until recently as an engineer with a cellphone company, but his father and two of his grandparents worked for the Bell System.

They all love the technology, and it's a social thing, too.

When I visited the museum again Tuesday, I rode to lunch with a few of the guys in Ostrand's 1967 Pontiac Tempest. He's restoring the car, which used to belong to his father.

These aren't guys who like to throw things away.

They talked about how the phone company made its equipment to last. It was in the company's interest because the phone on your desk belonged to Ma Bell.

Now the idea is to get you to buy a new phone as often as possible.

Jones was using his wife's iPhone at lunch. It's a year old, ancient, so she gave it to him. She's getting the new one.

My wife and I went in Sunday because it was one of the stops on the Georgetown Art and Garden walk.

Georgetown itself has a lot of history, which some people are trying to preserve as the neighborhood moves upscale.

The museum fits in, telling a story about changing technology, business models and society itself.

Times change. Visiting a museum not only helps you understand how we got to where we are, but that no way of being or doing is set in stone.

The museum is open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, or by appointment. www.museumofcommunications.org, (206) 767-3012.

Fellowships for Museum Management Seminar in Seattle in October

Click here to view information about fellowships being offered to museum professionals who would like to attend the Museum Management Seminar being given by AAM in October.

Here's some general information from the AAM website about the fellowships:

AAM, the AAM Standing Professional Committees (SPCs), and the AAM Emerging Museum Professionals group (EMP) are pleased to announce fellowship opportunities for the upcoming Current Issues in Museum Management seminar (CiMM08). The deadline for all award applications is July 25, 2008. Notification will be made by August 1, 2008. You can download the application from the AAM website.

Requirements
Each fellowship applicant must be:

• A current member of AAM at time of application.*
• A current member of the Standing Professional Committee to which he/she applies.*
• A current full-time museum employee.
• In the museum field for a minimum of two years.

*Or must submit a membership application with the required dues along with fellowship application. For information about AAM or SPC membership please visit the AAM SPC website, contact membership@aam-us.org, or call 202-289-9132.

"Museums on Us" Program with Bank of America - Participating Washington State Museums

The "Museums on Us" Program is a program that Bank of America has run for several years. However, this year the program has been expanded from one month to the first weekend of every month for an entire year.

The way it works is if a visitor shows a Bank of America check, debit card or credit card, they get into participating museums for free.

The participating museums in Washington State are:
1. Tacoma Art Museum
2. The Museum of History and Industry
3. The Wing Luke Museum

This seems like a great way to get new visitors into local institutions. It would be interesting to know a little more about how this program operates on the museum end. Does Bank of America pay participating institutions a certain amount or is it done entirely free? It would be great if more museums could participate, but is there a particular reason why more institutions haven't jumped on this opportunity.

For more information about other participating museums in other states, click here.

Seattle Heritage Cultural Facilities Funding - Grant Deadline August 25, 2008

The information below was taken from the 4Culture website. This grant sounds like a great opportunity for museum institutions who have a focus specifically on Seattle heritage and culture...

The 4Culture Heritage Cultural Facilities Program enhances the cultural life of King County citizens by funding the purchase, design, construction, and remodeling of heritage facilities, and the purchase of equipment intended to be used for at least 10 years. King County-based cultural organizations and public agencies that provide heritage programs may apply for funding. An organization must demonstrate that it provides significant programmatic activities focused on the identification, collection, evaluation, preservation, restoration, exhibition, and/or interpretation of King County heritage resources.

Quick Facts:

• Has invested over $5 million in awards over the past decade
• Has an annual application cycle, with awards typically ranging from $2,000 to $50,000
• Funds heritage museums and facilities with a 2 year operating history
• Helps purchase, construct and remodel facilities for public heritage purposes
• Funds equipment for exhibits, collection storage and other heritage purposes
• Funds certain construction-oriented planning and design activities
• Can provide Emergency/Unforeseen Opportunity awards outside the normal application cycle

The award stats are as follows:

• In 2007, $300,000 was awarded to 17 Heritage Facilities and Equipment projects.
• In 2007, heritage facility awards ranged from $2,500 to $50,000.
• 17 projects were funded from a total of 18 applications. The total amount of requested funding exceeded available funds by a ratio of 5 to 3.
• Approximately one quarter of the funded projects received the full amount of their request. Applicants are always encouraged to make their request based on actual need.
• The panel may choose to provide partial support for a project by selecting the items that most closely match the funding program’s criteria.

For more information and application materials, click here.