November 11, 2011

Kari AtkinsonSummer InternshipMay-August 2011

Choices Confirmed

I learned quite a lot of museum related information during my time at the Erie Canal

Museum; however, the most important lesson I learned was about myself. It was

unintentionally sought after and unintentionally taught, never-the-less it remains the most

important bit of information I could have learned about myself.

For approximately four years I was absolutely positive my future education was

heading in the right direction. I was unquestioning in the belief that my plan was perfect for

me; that I would love my classes and my subsequent career. I knew that I was going to

graduate with a Bachelors degree in archaeology and that I would then attend Syracuse

University’s Library Sciences program. Certainty is reassuring and I had no reservations

about the path I was on until I began my first semester at SU. I chose electives that were more

in line with my archaeology background and not my librarian future. The one core class I took

made me miserable, I actually despised going each week. My second semester was very

similar, I took a museum studies course and I purposely avoided the core requirements for

Library Sciences.

It was also during this semester that I began looking into internships and that was

when my very specific path in life took a detour. In hindsight, I should have known sooner but

as I said certainty is reassuring and change can be hard to accept. In a conversation with Peter

Verheyen, Bird Library’s lead preservationist, he asked me where I wanted to work when I

graduated. My answer was that I wished to work within a museum’s archive preferably

around Greco-Roman artifacts. I loved working with and around objects and I loved Greco-

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Roman history. Following a few moments more of discussion Peter asked me “Why are you

not in the Museum Studies Program?” I answered, after a few seconds of stunned silence, “I

really don’t know.” I spent the rest of that day and a few subsequent days thinking about that

conversation. Why could I not justify my choice of graduate programs? Would I really be

happier in another program? Was I happy now? All of this hit me with the realization that I

really did not want to become a librarian. I had been actively avoiding my core requirements,

I tailored my electives around artifacts not libraries, I became despondent while reading the

descriptions of the Library Sciences’ core classes, and I was really very happy in the museum

related courses. Once I accepted this fact I began the process of changing my degree plan.

Many, many months, a great deal of paperwork and multiple signatures later I officially

became a Museum Studies student. That should have been the end of my apprehension but it

was not. I was very excited and undeniably much happier; however, I was a little unsure.

Essentially, I was afraid that I was making a rash decision and I could not help but wonder if I

would really be happy once immersed in the program. There was never any regret associated

with the decision to leave the Library Sciences program but I was worried that something

similar would happen with the Museum Studies program. I had doubts, maybe I did not really

know myself, maybe I did not know what I wanted out of life. This was the state of my being

when I began my internship with Dan Ward, curator of the Erie Canal Museum.

I began my internship working with the photograph collection. I started by doing some

research into identifying the different types of photographs and some of the most common

condition issues. I then moved into doing condition reports and entering the photographs into

the museum’s PastPerfect database. Following a couple weeks of entering photographs into

the database I realized that the photograph storage cabinet was in a state of disarray. After

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receiving permission from Dan, I began to organize the photographs within the filing cabinets.

This project took a lot longer than I had originally thought but it was worth it in the end

because during this process I was able to located many of the, previously listed as missing,

photographs. This type of work was okay but I knew that I could never spend my whole life

doing just registration. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn these skills but I hoped that

this was not all a museum had to offer. Truthfully, I knew very little about the types of

different jobs within a museum. It was at this time that Dan became the best learning

opportunity I could have ever asked for. He did not regulate me to an entire summer of

condition reports and database entries; he encouraged me to learn as much as I could about

every aspect of the museum world. Dan had me critique the entire museum, he allowed me to

follow him almost everywhere and he introduced me to people he knows both within and

outside of the field. We attended a Museumwise workshop, which proved to be very

enlightening and I attended a preservation of photographs workshop by the New York State

Archives. I shadowed tours, during which I discovered that some people are naturally better at

tours than others and a tour guide's “performance” strongly affects a patron’s over-all

experience. I also acted as a greeter during a visit from 500 bicyclist riding across the state,

edited some of the collections management manual, and Dan allowed me to work on an

important and large temporary exhibition.

It was during the production of this exhibition, from beginning to end, that I had my

revelation. Initially another intern, Gloria, and I worked together. We unpacked the

photographs and began designing the gallery's floor plan using movable panels. Our design

was accepted by Dan but during construction we realized that we did not have all of the

necessary parts to see our exact plan come to fruition. Thus, I learned something everyone in

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this field should know; plans change and one must be able to adjust and overcome on the fly.

In the end the room looked wonderful and it turnout to be a lot of fun designing one panel at a

time.1 Next, Gloria and I did a layout of the photographs. The photographer, Bruce Jackson,

did not require a specific layout so we were allowed to work without outside restrictions

imposed upon us. This turned into an exercise in coordination, visual impact, and messaging.

We looked at sequencing by season, coloring, and grouping by specific companies. We had to

decide what story we wished to convey and what story the artist was trying to convey. After

much reorganizing and discussion we ended up sequencing by season and coloring. The

images began in the spring, with very bright blues as the prominent color, and progressed

through summer, fall and into winter. While the blues darkened, faded to gray and ended in

winter white.2 The effect was quite striking. To ensure that the guests would view the images

as intended, we made sure to position the panels to lead patrons in the intended direction. And

by beginning with a bright colored image we were able to draw viewers in through a narrow

doorway.3 In the end we were quite successful, Dan approved the layout without any changes

and Mr. Jackson was both, delighted and impressed with the design enough so that he took

photographs to use in future installations.

Once we had settled on a layout Gloria and I began hanging the large photographs. We

used a hanging system neither of us were familiar with and it took a little while to work out

the best method of hanging which would require the least amount of adjustment. Together, we

hung all but five of the photographs before she finished her internship time. From this point

on I worked solely with Dan. I did all of the lighting for the show. He had wanted to give the

1 See Figure 12 See Image 1-23 See Image 3

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viewer a sense of walking through an intimate art gallery and proper lighting was key. The

positioning of the light canisters was not as complicated as I expected it to be, however, I did

run into some interesting complications. First, Dan and I had to take apart and repair the only

ladder the museum owns that is tall enough to reach the ceiling rails. This ladder is a wooden

monstrosity lovingly named "The Widow Maker." It is difficult to position and it has a

tendency to squeak and wobble while being climbed. Second, I found out that in some

instances a light bulb will pop when the canisters are locked into the rails. This is not only

frightening but also aggravating because I would then have to descend from the top of the

ladder and replace the blub. Occasionally, this would actually blow a fuse causing the entire

rail to go out. Finally, it would get very hot climbing up and down the ladder and working

next to canisters that give off a tremendous amount of heat. It may sound as if I had a terrible

time, however, the exact opposite is true. I really did learn a lot and I can confidently say that

I am prepared to handle most anything a lighting project can throw at me.

Once the lighting was completed Dan and I produced all of the labels and created an

introduction panel.4 I then created the handout that was to accompany the show.5 We had to be

very creative because we had a budget of zero to work with and these steps required fact

checking and additional research. We did not want to present inaccurate information or

misrepresent the artist's work. At the artist reception I met Bruce Jackson and truthfully it was

incredibly nerve wracking. I was afraid that he would dislike the exhibition and that would

have crushed me. Because this was my first exhibition I was emotionally invested. I felt that I

had put my heart into the work and I was proud of the end result. As it turned out I was

worrying for nothing; the exhibit was a success and Mr. Jackson loved it. He even sent an e-

4 See Image 45 See Figure 2

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mail reiterating how thrilled he was with the show and thanking me, Dan, and any others

involved for all of our hard work.

The entire process took about three weeks and by the end of the installation I knew

that I loved this aspect of museum work. At that point I realized that any reservations I had

about joining the Museum Studies program and/or working in the museum field were gone.

Dan never sugarcoated anything and he allowed me to make my own mistakes. This is

something I still appreciate and will likely continue to appreciate long into my career. I saw

the good and the bad, the easy and the hard, the fun and the mundane and in the end I loved

what I was doing.

During vacation with my family over the summer we went to the Parthenon replica in

Tennessee.6 There is a small museum under and within the replica that contains information

about the Parthenon’s creation and the real Parthenon in Athens. It also contains replicas of

the Parthenon sculptures and a full sized replica of the statute of Athena. The first thing I did

once inside the museum was critique the layout and design. This was done unconsciously but

done never-the-less and it was the same thing Dan had me do when I first began my

internship. I noticed quite a few details that I likely would have missed or ignored prior to my

internship experience. Interestingly, noting these deficiencies did not ruin my experience—in

fact it enhanced it. Yes, I noticed poor labels, bad lighting, and an odd layout that obstructed

the patrons' flow but I also noticed the care and detail that went into constructing the building

itself. I was able to recognize and explain to others the reason a room was set the way it was,

the difficulty and work that went into some of the displays, and how some of the lighting was

very carefully set to create an ambiance of reverence and awe. I no longer just looked at the

6 See Image 5

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objects and vaguely read or skimmed the accompanying labels. The objects went from just

filling cases to actually having a purpose within that case. Because I was better able to

understand why things were done the way they were, due to my internship experience, I found

that I wanted to learn more about the objects themselves. My summer changed the way I

looked at everything within the museum and everything I took away from the museum.

I have visited various other museums, not just history museums, since then and I

continue to have better overall experiences. I also have begun imagining how I could

improve upon these museums if I were to begin working at them and I use each visit as a way

to learn even more. If I do not understand a layout, the lighting, hanging technique, display,

etc then I will study the particular detail until I understand or I may ask an employee. Either

way I will learn something new prior to leaving that institution.

In the end I can say, without any dramatics or exaggeration, that my summer

internship at the Erie Canal Museum has changed my life. I no longer have doubts about my

future and I am not worried that I made a rash, hasty decision. I truly believe that I will love

the career I have chosen. I am not under the misconception that this career will be without

contention. I fully realize that I will have bad days and I may even end up in a specific job

that I abhor. However, I do not, even for a moment, believe that I will detest this field as a

whole. The occasional bad job and bad day aside I will stand by my career choice without

doubt and without apprehension.

I firmly believe that my summer at the Erie Canal museum with Dan was the best

possible learning experience for me. So-much-so that I have remained at the museum as a

volunteer and still Dan is willing to teach me. This enforces my belief in my choices and

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because I no longer have any doubts I am able to focus solely upon my education and future

career. I could not have asked for, or received, a better lesson.

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Images

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Image 2:

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Image 3:

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Image 4:

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Image 5:

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