Hello Musings readers! At the Faculty of Information, many changes have occurred over the past couple of weeks due to the precautions taken In response to CoVid-19, but one thing that has remained the same is the Musings! We always strive to provide you with great content throughout the school year, and we have not stopped! We, your outgoing editors-in-chief, wanted to take a moment and reflect on this past semester and acknowledge all the hard work of our team of incredibly talented contributing editors.
Without further ado let’s get started!
Ally: Jordan, has your 2020 been “roaring?”
Jordan: Well, it’s been exciting to say the least! Although the return of the 20s has not been quite as smooth as we might have expected, it is important to remember that this decade holds some incredible potential for all of us in the museum field! We’ve been lucky to feature incredible articles from some of our contributing editors that examine the relationship between the 1920s and our current age. From Natalie’s article about fashion in the 1920’s, to Carys’s exploration of Toronto during this iconic decade, we’ve seen an incredible burst of energy and talent from all of our editors on the Musings team. Even just this week, we published an article by Martin about the Canadian scientist Frederick Banting, who in 1923 won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin. Talk about topical!
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| Photo courtesy of Natalie Heaton |
Jordan: Speaking of the evolving role of museums, I was incredibly excited that Defne continued her series on teaching climate change in the museum, as this is perhaps one of the most complicated issues of our time. Knowing that there is a generation of museum workers who are dedicated to exploring difficult topics such as this one makes me incredibly hopeful. While I am sad to be ending my time in the Museum Studies program, I cannot wait to join all of my new colleagues in the professional field!
Also, I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic articles that Madison has produced on the current state of the GLAM sector! Increased collaboration between galleries, libraries, archives and museums is one of the other ways in which our industry can improve, and I feel glad to know that others support this idea as well.
Ally: While we are seeing the evolution of the museum field, it is comforting to know the field is concentrating on improving themselves with the basics. For instance, Jessica showed us simple ways to enhance storage in museums and Jaime showed us how beneficial it can be to bring in visitors to the collection.
Jordan: Also, Samantha, enlightened us on how fundraising effects and is affected by every single person in the museum!
Ally: It certainly is strange knowing that we are so close to completing our time in the program. Even more so, it feels odd to be leaving the Musings team after two years of fun times and community building! I don’t think that either of us expected to be in the role of Editor-in-Chief when we began the program, but now I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Whether we were producing content, running story workshops with our Communications Officer Erika or having end-of-semester brunch celebrations, we took every opportunity to increase Musings’s presence in the Faculty of Information! While we are sad to be leaving our posts, we cannot wait to see what next year’s editors produce!
Jordan: While this semester signalled a lot of endings, we also had a lot of new beginnings. Melissa established a brand new column discussing GLAM and wellness, the Museum Professionals of Color (MPOC) was established and they held their first panel around the theme of “Museum Detox,” and many, many exhibition openings! I particularly enjoyed Elizabeth’s review of the Winnie the Pooh exhibition at the ROM, Mary’s review of Waiting for Snow at the Art Museum of University of Toronto, Dominica and Lindsay’s experience of the "Vertical Intersections Installation, Workshop & Pok¡ Launch," at Mackenzie House, and Erika’s narrative surrounding New Circadia (adventures in Mental Spelunking) at the Design and Architecture Gallery.
Ally: Speaking of exhibition openings, a number of us second years were involved in researching, curating, and installing our own exhibitions as a part of our final projects for MSL 4000. Check out Carly’s article about the Shelley Peterson Student Exhibition she and her team curated.
Jordan: How could I forget! It was so rewarding to watch all of the second-year students produce their capstone projects for the program. I feel incredibly lucky to have worked alongside such dedicated and talented individuals, and I cannot wait to see which projects we begin to work on next! Although many of us will be leaving Toronto to return home, I know that we will work collectively to improve the state of museums in Canada. Perhaps we will all be lucky enough to return for the 100th year anniversary of the Museum Studies program, just like we celebrated the 50th in 2019!
Ally: Agreed! As for now we are content with bringing some interesting articles to our readers, whether it be Val teaching us about different digital tools to help museums create applicable and accessible narratives, or Emma brightening our day with stories of historical events, Musings will always be here to catch you up, no matter the circumstances!
With that, we better say our thank you's and goodbyes. We can honestly say being Editors-in-chief of Musings was one of the greatest experiences we had during our time at the Faculty of Information. We want to thank our wonderful team of contributing editors, Erika, our fabulous communications officer (and your incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief with Jaime Meier) , and you, the readers, none of this would be possible without you.
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