MAKING MUSINGS PART 5: IT TAKES (MORE THAN) TWO

Letter from the Editors | Kathleen Lew & Amy Intrator

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This is the fifth and final post of a series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Kathleen Lew and Amy Intrator are the fifth (and outgoing!) Editors-in-Chief of Musings from 2018-2019.

As the first ever Musings Editor-in-Chief team, this year has been an extremely rewarding exercise of collaboration. We hope this practice of community– among Musings Executive, Contributing Editors, MMSt, and wider museum communities– continues with future years of blogging.

Musings' 5th Birthday Party: Amy Intrator [Left] and Kathleen Lew [Right]. Photo courtesy of Musings.

In Summer of 2018, we sat at a coffee shop in Kensington market and talked at length about our goals for Musings. This included creating a writing environment in which Contributing Editors felt comfortable asking each other for guidance and insight, further integrating ourselves into the MMSt community, and continuing to collaborate with institutions. Soon enough we had updated the Musings interface and logos, incorporated two new response-based columns (Program Reviews and Muse News), and were reaching out to fellow MMSt students, faculty, and alumni to join our community.

Part I of the Musings team celebrating #MuseumSelfieDay! Check out these awesome photos from @ROMtoronto to @pompeii_sites. #museumselfie #PhiladelphiasMagicGarden #templeofRamsesVI #MuseumSelfieDay2019 pic.twitter.com/j843TjLUKQ

— Musings MMSt (@musingsmmst) January 16, 2019

We made some major strides this year, but absolutely none of this would be possible without our committed Contributing Editors. We started our tenure as Editors-in-Chief as a duo, but our team grew larger and stronger as the year went on. In September, we were lucky to have Jordan Fee join Musings as the Communications Officer (you may recognize his handiwork if you frequent our Instagram page). We know it’s impossible to do justice to our amazing writers in a short blog post, but here is a list of some of our must-read articles written by some marvelous Musers:

1. Rebecca Barrett - WEIRD HERITAGE: 6 OF TORONTO'S QUIRKIEST LANDMARKS
2. Keelan Cashmore - ACCESSIBILITY: MORE THAN A BUTTON ON A DOOR
3. Elizabeth Cytko - MANAGEMENT SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING AND GOSSIP: ALUMNI CHECK-IN WITH DEBORAH ROBICHAUD
4. Rachel Dice - MORE THAN CLOTHES
5. Jordan Fee - "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW": HOW ANTHROPOCENE SUCCEEDS IN STAYING SILENT
6. Evelyn Feldman - ALLOWING "PUSSY" IN THE LIBRARY: ART CONTROVERSY ACROSS GLAM SPACES
7. Alexandra Forand - WE NEED TO TALK, OR NOT: LANGUAGE IN MUSEUMS AS A FORM OF CONTROL
8. Carly Hall - LET'S TALK ABOUT "POWER AND POSSESSION: THE ETHICS OF COLLECTING"
9. Casarina Hocevar - FINDING FOODWAYS, PART I.
10. Maddy Howard - WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
11. Selin Kahramanoglu - MONSTERS ON DISPLAY: AN EXHIBITION AT THE THOMAS FISHER RARE BOOK LIBRARY
12. Samantha Kilpatrick- A FUTURE TO IMAGINE FOR
13. Amelia Smith - WHERE'S THE T? TRANSGENDER INCLUSION IN THE MUSEUM
14. Samantha Summers - DANCING THROUGH LIFE: MMSt ALUM JOHN DALRYMPLE ON HIS WORK AT CANADA’S NATIONAL BALLET SCHOOL
15. Joanna Wreakes - MUSEUMS OR NOT? PART 3: SUBWAY SERIES STOCKHOLM

In addition to being Editors-in-Chief, we both continued our true passion project: writing for Musings! Here are a couple of our articles that we’re especially proud of...

Kathleen - GLOSSY GAL PALS MAKE THEIR OWN MUSES

Amy - EXHIBITING BANKSY: ACCESSIBLE ART OR VIOLATION OF ARTISTIC INTENT?

This year, three of our Contributing Editors created columns that addressed some of the most pressing issues in museums today. Amelia started Not Your Average Cistory, a column that aims to bridge the gap between Transgender Studies and Museum Studies. Ally started Breaking the Glass Case, a column dedicated to exploring the relationship between Indigenous communities and cultural heritage organizations. Evelyn started GLAM Guide, a column that looks at the intersections between galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. All of these columns are necessary additions to the Musings roster, and we can’t wait to see the future direction of the columns as they continue to evolve over time.

Having a team that consistently delivered awe-worthy content made it easier to expand our focus to include more outreach and professional development. For our first-EVER writing workshop, held in November, Sarah Hill from Lord Cultural Resources led a workshop about risk-taking and digital strategies. The workshop went so well that we offered a second one in March, led by Pym Buitenhuis, the Director of Marketing at Rotman School of Management, which focused on transferable writing skills. The workshops were possible thanks to the support of the MMSt50 organizing committee, who have been hard at work all year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Master of Museum Studies program. The partnership with MMSt50 is proof that collaboration makes Musings stronger.

Celebrating the past, present, and future of Musings! Photo courtesy of Musings. 

Although parting is such sweet sorrow, we are immensely grateful that we got to throw a 5th birthday party for Musings and celebrate the blog’s contributions over the past 5 years with Contributing Editors, alumni, faculty, and MMSt students. It is an enormous privilege to be a part of Musings’ legacy. We had the opportunity to celebrate this legacy with the Making Musings series, where we reconnected to all past EICs and continued to learn from the inspiring accomplishments of Jaime, Madeline, Natania, and Serena. We can’t wait to watch Musings evolve over the next 5-years and challenge the museum field to become a more critical, inclusive space.

Thank you to all of our readers for joining us on this year-long journey. These two Editors-in-Chief can’t wait to become two of Musings' most passionate readers and strongest advocates.

Source.

MAKING MUSINGS PART 4: WORTH THE RISK

Letter from the Editor | Serena Ypelaar

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This is the fourth post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Serena Ypelaar was the fourth Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2017-2018. 

When I first considered running for Musings Editor-in-Chief, you could say I was wary of risk. For one thing, I had never spearheaded a major publication, let alone one representing a graduate program at the University of Toronto. I’d been on the editorial team for CLIO, uOttawa’s undergraduate history journal, but nothing matched the scale of the journey on which I was about to embark.

Was I nervous to put myself out there in a leadership role? You bet. Did I do it anyway? Yes, and I sure am glad I did.

Why had I considered the Editor-in-Chief role a risk? Namely because it involved leaving my comfort zone in a big way. It was a huge responsibility but also the most beautiful challenge. Stepping outside the comfortable and trying to take Musings new places – this was how I spent much of my second year (2017/2018) in the MMSt program, resulting in irreplaceable experiences, friendships, and memories.

Contributing Editor Julia Zungri [Left] and 2017/2018 Editor-in-Chief Serena Ypelaar [Right]. Photo courtesy of Serena Ypelaar/Musings.

I felt drawn to the role thanks to my deep love of writing and a strong sense of excitement. Some of my priorities as Editor-in-Chief were to broaden Musings’ community presence and connect more with audiences; increase inclusivity and further question the “status quo” of museums; and create a unified editorial structure that allowed for multiple rounds of edits and collaboration between team members. I was blessed with a talented and wonderful colleague in the role of Musings Administrator, Amy Intrator (one of Musings’ current Editors-in-Chief alongside She’s My Muse superstar Kathleen Lew), and we got a lot done!

Armed with a new social media strategy and revamped Instagram presence, we were able to connect with more institutions across digital networks. One of the most enjoyable promotional campaigns I ran involved sending personalized messages to museums across Canada to introduce their staff to Musings, encourage them to read and engage with our content, and propose possible collaborations. The goal was to expand our network; we received encouraging responses from professionals who were interested, as well as MMSt alumni who were happy for the chance to reconnect. This outreach project was experimental at best, but putting myself and the blog out there was beyond rewarding when I realized how many relationships we could create and nurture.

Risk reared its head yet again in February 2018, when I moderated MUSSA’s first major panel at the iSchool, Women in Leadership: Challenges, Successes, and the Future. It was terrifying, and I was extremely nervous to host a discussion with four accomplished museum leaders in front of a crowd, but I’m so happy I put my trepidation aside. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had the valuable opportunity to learn from inspiring women leading museums and expand Musings’ visibility further beyond the walls of the Bissell Building.

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Musings is happy to provide coverage for the @mussa.ischool Women in Leadership Panel, which took place yesterday! Check out our #WeekendEdition recap of the event! (Link in bio) 👭 (photo: Charlotte Gagnier)

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Feb 10, 2018 at 6:01pm PST

Musings returned to the iSchool Conference in March, this time to discuss digital relevance. In a panel comprising Contributing Editors Emily Welsh, Sadie MacDonald, Kathleen Lew, Amy Intrator, and myself, we spoke about current events, commemoration, social media presence, and difficult legacies. We wanted to face up to some of the toughest topics to anchor Musings in timely and necessary museological dialogues, and we published a paper in the iJournal to that end.

Our panel at the iSchool Conference! Photo courtesy of Nicholas Ypelaar.

Blogging was second nature by the time my term ended, so I decided to ride the wave and start a new blog of my own, The Mindful Rambler. The team and I (including MMSt/Musings alumni) discuss interpretation/storytelling with a focus on history, literature, art, and biography. My time at Musings is the reason the blog exists at all; I still love writing articles that (hopefully) provoke thought, and I’m always trying to learn new things.

Musings has given me so much insight into cultural institutions, writing, and partnerships. Working at the Inuit Art Foundation, I’ve used that knowledge to collaborate with galleries and host Edit-a-Thons for the Inuit Art Quarterly Profiles, an online resource featuring Inuit artists from across Canada. Focusing on community events and digital education, I’m often reminded that collaboration is integral to success: Musings itself is built on collaboration. If you’ve been involved in any way, thank you.

Part of the Musings 2017/2018 team. Back [from left]: Emily Welsh, Julia Zungri, Kristen McLaughlin, Katlyn Wooder, Kathleen Lew, Amy Intrator. Front [from left]: Jennifer Lee, Leore Zecharia, Sadie MacDonald, Serena Ypelaar.
Photo courtesy of Serena Ypelaar/Musings.

Leading Musings was unlike anything I’ve ever done. It was also a fulfilling creative opportunity. Change is scary. Risk is scary. But only by taking calculated risks can we reap the rewards, a lesson I plan to take with me throughout my career.

As a team effort, Musings is a testament to collaboration in the Master of Museum Studies program, now 50 years old. I absolutely loved working with my colleagues, the Contributing Editors who make Musings great. Congratulations Jaime, Madeline, Natania, Kathleen, and Amy! The Editor-in-Chief legacy is truly unique, and I feel incredibly honoured to be counted among the ranks with you all.

Happy 5th birthday, Musings! Here’s to many more.

MAKING MUSINGS PART 3: THINGS I LEARNED WHILE EDITING MUSINGS

Letter from the Editor | Natania Sherman

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This is the third post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Natania Sherman was the third Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2016-2017.

It’s been a few minutes Lovely Musings’ Readers! I bet you weren’t expecting to see me here again! I am honoured to contribute an article for MMSt50. Aaaaaand a little intimidated to be following two amazing former EIC’s (who just happen to be two of my #GLAM industry girl-crushes). I hope I can do Madeline and Jaime proud by sharing some of my experiences during and after my time as the 2016-2017 Musings' Editor-in-Chief.

The Musings Panel at the 2017 iSchool Conference. L to R: Musings writers Kristen McLaughlin, Erika Robertson, Natania Sherman, and Chris Wai. Photo courtesy of Anja Hamilton.

I knew I wanted to write for Musings as early as my orientation at the iSchool. But I didn’t know what I was getting into when I ran for Musings EIC, until I was suddenly standing in front of a room of 21 expectant student writers all looking to me to train and support them. No pressure, right?

In 2016, the blog was at the crossroads between being an upstart student blog and a professional industry platform. The number of contributing editors had quadrupled, and the blog was gaining attention from industry professionals both locally and internationally. The increased attention meant that editing was a constant pressure! Correcting spelling and grammar is hard enough. I also responded to external copyright questions, scheduled a variety of museological content, and coached writers on how to get the most impact with each article.

OMA Conference Selfies, L-R: Anja Hamilton, Kate Seally, Natania Sherman and Emily Berg.
Photo courtesy of Natania Sherman.

Balancing the blog, school, and my 3 jobs, meant that I was always juggling different priorities. With a team of 21 contributing editors, I was reliant on Musings’ roster of volunteers. I was so grateful that my cohort committed to producing exciting content. Editing Musings taught me that a group of people with a passion for what they do can produce something much greater than what I could do on my own.

Some of my proudest moments as Musings’ EIC were attending the Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Conference in 2016, sharing an article recapping the experience, and leading our own panel discussion about Musings at the iSchool Conference in 2017. These experiences highlighted how writing for Musings could develop connections between students and professionals. The iConference opened up lots of interesting discussions about the future of Musings. Imagine a Musings podcast or Youtube channel, more press opportunities, more outreach to industry professionals. Your academic workload is your only limit, future EIC’s!

I’m also extremely proud of a column I created called She’s My Muse dedicated to women in museums. This project gave me an outlet for my feminist values and it’s been exciting to see that after I graduated some students have chosen to re-interpret the byline. Many writers in my cohort were able to push the boundaries of their chosen bylines in very creative ways ranging from developing an interactive conservation flowchart to writing a three part series examining the conservation issues around the Dakota Access Pipeline. I’m glad I was able to foster an environment where writers could be their most creative selves, and I gained so much knowledge on a range of subjects by reading their work. I hope that you, Lovely Readers, feel the same!

Since graduating from the iSchool, I have have worked in collections management, first at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and currently, as Collections and Services Manager at the TIFF Film Reference Library where I manage library operations and over-85 special collections. Unlike my Musings predecessors, I no longer write for social media professionally. However, the skills I gained from Musings have helped my career. Editing Musings was a crash course in writing for an audience. Although I rarely use social media at work, I do write annual reports, prepare project pitches, publish artifact descriptions to the web, and correspond with my colleagues. Musings has a niche audience of graduate students and museum professionals, and I spent most of 2016-2017 thinking about what kind of writing voice could best engage that audience. After a year of focusing on writing for the Musings’ audience, it became much easier to engage with different “audiences” such as senior staff and board members in the workplace.

Becoming the Editor-in-Chief for Musings also prepared me for taking on management positions in cultural organizations. At Musings, I had the difficult role of being in a mentorship position with my peers while also learning “on the job” myself. Turns out, coaching Musings writers was the ideal practice for coaching interns and direct reports in the workplace. When I made the transition to leadership, I already had some experience knowing when to ask my colleagues the hard questions and when a strategic coffee outing was necessary (answer: always, coffee is essential). I learned that management is not about already knowing the answers, but about learning as you go and being willing to listen to your colleagues.

Source.

I want to end my article by thanking the faculty and staff at the iSchool. Musings was my outlet and my community during the 2 years of my graduate degree and I’m so grateful that the iSchool fostered student initiatives like Musings. Here’s to another 50 years of the MMSt program!

MAKING MUSINGS PART 2: STRENGTHENING A FOUNDATION, SHAPING A PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORY

Letter from the Editor | Madeline Smolarz

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This is the second post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Madeline Smolarz was the second Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2015-2016.

This is my 25th article for Musings, and quite likely my last for a long time.

I was a Musings’ contributing editor under the leadership of pioneering Editor in Chief (EiC) Jaime Clifton-Ross from 2014-2015 before becoming EiC of Musing myself from 2015-2016. I’m the second EiC to write a retrospective of my time with the blog in celebration of Musings’ 5 years of outstanding history, and I’m both thrilled and proud to have the privilege to return.

I knew I had massive, if not astronomical shoes to fill taking on this role following Jaime. You’ve already read her wonderful reflection piece, so you know what I’m talking about! Though altering the formula she had perfected in any way terrified me, the number of contributing editors grew and the number of columns we published did as well. As much as my contributors (patiently) allowed, I did my best to be an involved and supportive EiC. For example, my dear friend and Historic Kitchen writer Leah Moncada let me taste-test her cooking escapades, while another equally lovely friend and Sew What writer Anya Baker interviewed me for a piece discussing curating personal style.

L to R – Leah Moncada, Anya Baker, and Madeline Smolarz at the 2016 MMSt Year End Party hosted at Campbell House.
Photo courtesy of Madeline Smolarz.

As I cast my mind back to some of my other memorable moments of my time as EiC, my most ambitious blog post was definitely “3 Exhibitions In 1 Day, Brought To You By Canada’s National Museums.” I remember having this thought as I conceived of the trip from Toronto to Ottawa; as I sat on the train,; as I tromped around Ottawa in winter,; and as I wrote that beast of a post. No one else had ever written a review of three exhibitions at once, and as tricky as it was to bring all of those threads together at times, it was such a thrill of a challenge that I’d do it all over again!

Ottawa in the winter is no joke, but I would climb mountains of snow to spend a day in one of Canada’s national museums any time. Photo courtesy of Madeline Smolarz.

Musings has without a doubt positively impacted my professional life. Musings gave me the opportunity to transform my academic skills to writing and editing for the public about something I sincerely loved in an accessible, entertaining, and educational manner. I believe that every piece of writing I’ve produced since, from exhibition text to emails to colleagues, has been coloured by the way in which my Musings’ experience elevated my abilities. The social media skills I gained were also immensely useful. After completing the MMSt program, I started working at the Craigleith Heritage Depot, where I had to establish a media presence from scratch. I would’ve been overwhelmed if it wasn’t for my year overseeing the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages my predecessor Jaime had already established.

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Starting off #snbTO at @gardinermuseum with "Silent Knight"! #musingsmmst #lego #sculpture

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Oct 3, 2015 at 4:16pm PDT

Above is the first of several posts I shared to Musings’ Instagram when I led the first live-gram session in its history during Nuit Blanche 2015.

I’ve since taken my writing and social media abilities to Ruthven Park National Historic Site - where I led nearly all communications as Operations Coordinator - and to the City of Kingston, where I currently work overseeing operations at three museums and historic sites. The portfolio of excellent writing that I cultivated, the skills that were fostered by my roles with Musings, and the passion for leadership that I developed have absolutely been a huge benefit and confidence-booster for me as I’ve pursued my career in Ontario’s museum world thus far.

Madeline Smolarz on the job at the City of Kingston’s MacLachlan Woodworking Museum in July 2018.
Photo courtesy of Francesca Pang.

As I can now not seem to live without blogging, I’m currently serving a three-year term (2016-2019) as the Communications Chair of the Group of Ontario Emerging Museum Professionals (GOEMP) Committee; one of my responsibilities is overseeing the GOEMP Website’s Blog. At the time of writing this blog post, we’ve partnered with Fleming College’s Museum Management and Curatorship program to share 4 exceptional pieces of writing by current students on various museological topics. To borrow Marie Kondo’s phrase, it sparks joy in me to broadcast emerging museum professionals’ voices in this way, and I hope to continue to have a hand in it for many years to come in order to keep paying my experience forward.

L to R – Alison Ward, Lisa Terech, Diane Pellicone, Madeline Smolarz, and Will Hollingshead representing the 2016-2019 GOEMP Committee at the 2017 Ontario Museum Association Conference in Kingston, Ontario.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Terech.

I’d like to close with some thank yous, just like I did in my farewell blog post published on April 9, 2016.

Dr. Irina Mihalache: You are the ultimate champion of Musings, and the blog certainly wouldn’t be what it is now without your support. I will always consider you to be one of my most influential mentors. Thank you for your guidance.

Jaime Clifton-Ross: I wouldn’t be who I am today without the chance you gave me to write for Musings in 2014, and for your incredible friendship the past number of years. You are my sister in spirit and truly the patron saint of bloggers! Thank you for everything.

L to R – Madeline Smolarz and Jaime Clifton-Ross. Photo courtesy of Kellen Ross.

Musings’ Editors in Chief from 2016-2019: You folks are trailblazers, and I look at everything you’ve done for the blog with such happiness. Thank you for picking up the torch.

Till we meet again.

MAKING MUSINGS PART 1: REFLECTIONS FROM A PAST EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Letter from the Editor | Jaime Clifton-Ross

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This is the first post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Jaime Clifton-Ross was the first Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2013-2015. 

I remember this one humid day quite well. It was late August in 2013 and I had just moved to Toronto a couple of weeks before. I nervously entered the iSchool to meet Dr. Mihalache to discuss my research assistant position. She greeted me warmly and I instantly felt at ease. I was incredibly surprised to find out that the sole project for my assistantship was to transform the existing MMSt blog into a thriving platform that served as the voice of the Master of Museum Studies students.

I began this somewhat daunting task by researching other blogs and obsessively tinkering with the back end of blogger (Musings’ Content Management System). I scoured the internet in hopes of learning as much as I could about web design and I also taught myself some basic coding. I spent the next few months developing content, writing the preliminary mission/vision/mandate, and researching blogging best practices. While I couldn’t put my finger on it, this project had ignited something in me.

By January 2014, I had convinced 4 other students to join me as contributing editors. Together we came up with a series of columns and created a rigorous content calendar that included a new post every weekday. Despite how challenging it was to maintain this busy content calendar, everyone managed to post one blog a week. I credit the team’s commitment and collaborative spirit as the reason why Musings took off so quickly.

“The Original Musings Team”. From left: Brittney Sproule, Meaghan Dalby, Alexandra Jeffrey, Jaime Clifton-Ross, Lauren Williams, and Katherine Hannemann. Photo courtesy of Jaime Clifton-Ross.

After two semesters of working on Musings, I secured an internship in the web department at the Royal Ontario Museum. My task was to conduct an environmental survey of museum blogs and identify best practices. I also wrote a series of blog posts and learned a lot about social media. This helped energize me for my second year as Editor-in-Chief, which had become an elected role with student council rather than an assistantship. Equipped with far more knowledge about blogs and web engagement, I set out to recruit the second year of contributing editors and guide them in best practices. Much to my surprise, we had several new students join the team, increasing our number from 6 to about 20. Musings was no longer a small operation, but rather an organized and vital part of the MMSt program.



My experience working on Musings first and foremost helped guide me towards a career in online communications and engagement. It helped me uncover my natural skillset and gave me the confidence to pursue my current professional pathway. The hands-on experience I gained in leadership, project management, writing, community engagement, web design, and social media marketing is what has shaped my career the most. It also broadened my knowledge and experience, which helped me to transition from the museum and non-profit sectors to the field of sustainable community development.

Upon reflecting on the blog posts I wrote during my time with Musings, one in particular stood out. The Curated Garden: A Museum? showcased Butchart Gardens, a historic site in Victoria, British Columbia. In this post, I recounted the history of the site and reflected on how museums come in different shapes and forms. While re-reading this post, I was reminded of how certain museum practices, namely interpretive planning and marketing, are adapted from other sectors. This also made me think about how other sectors can learn from museums, namely on how to communicate important subjects such as climate change, social justice, biodiversity loss, etc.

“Butchart Gardens” by Jenna Lee. Source.

I currently work as the research curator for a small research team in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC. Our research spans many subjects under the umbrella of sustainable community development—including climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, community vitality, social capital and agency, as well as communications. I wear many hats in my role, however my main task is to develop effective methods to communicate our research findings beyond traditional academic channels (i.e. peer-reviewed journals and conferences). Academic research is not often circulated to the public widely nor is it often formatted into accessible mediums, which is why I think academia can learn a thing or two from the museum field. To tackle this gap and to develop best practices for academics, I draw on museum practices while experimenting with visual communications, social media content curation, web content development, and video production. I’ve even had the opportunity to curate two research exhibits, one of which just opened at the Royal Roads University Library Showcase space last week.

“Wind Turbine in Field of Sunflowers” by Gustavo Quepón. Source. 

While my experience with Musings certainly helped me secure my master’s internship and my first job in the field, the biggest reward were the lifelong friendships I formed. I am also so thankful to all the wonderful contributing editors who made, and continue to make Musings what it is today.

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE HIATUS

Letter from the Editors | Amy Intrator & Kathleen Lew

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It has been an unbelievably amazing term for Musings! Now it’s time for our brief holiday hiatus, but before we go, your Editors-in-Chief are excited to look back on all the accomplishments from the past four months and prepare for another great term at Musings. 

Editors-in-Chief, Amy [far left] and Kathleen [middle], strike a pose with Communications Officer, Jordan Fee [far right], at the MUSSA End-of-Year Celebration. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator.

With our first ever professional development event, Musings provided a writing workshop on risk-taking and digital strategies led by Sarah Hill from Lord Cultural Resources. This event was in partnership with MMSt50, featuring delicious Almond Butterfly Cookies and a full room of MMSt students and Contributing Editors. Read Sam’s coverage of the workshop here. Musings is excited to continue this successful workshop series in the new year, so stay tuned for details!

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Guess what? Last night, #Musings hosted its FIRST EVER workshop! For this inaugural event, we invited Sarah Hill from Lord Cultural Resources to talk about digital engagement in museums. Keeping with the #MMSt50 theme of risk taking, the workshop explored how museums are using innovative approaches to engage digitally with their audiences both inside and outside of their institution. Cookies were supplied by the wonderful @almondbutterflybakeshop #Musings #MMSt50 #iSchool #workshop #digitalstrategies #consulting #museums #international

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Nov 28, 2018 at 9:59am PST

Our instagram has also been busy with various event coverage featuring our Communication Officer Jordan Fee and Contributing Editors. Be sure to take a look back at our story highlights from the OMA conference and the MMSt Montreal field trip, in addition to some thoughtful posts about grad student life and Musings articles.

From exhibition reviews to articles about museum innovations, Musings’ Contributing Editors covered it all over the past few months! If you’re looking for some museum reading material over the holidays, we’ve provided some must-read articles from our Fall 2018 term:

If you’re looking for Toronto reading material, check out Rebecca’s article about Toronto’s quirky landmarks. For more Toronto heritage, Ally’s latest article explores the history of dining establishments in Toronto. Interested about how Toronto Muji is pushing the boundaries of art exhibitions through marketing strategies? Amy’s latest article is for you!

For those readers looking to step outside of the province, check out some of our Montreal reads! Laetitia covered the Museum Studies field trip to Montreal, which was full of visits to some amazing cultural institutions. Rachel explored an awe-inspiring exhibition at the McCord Museum focused on the complex relationship between clothing and the First Peoples of Canada. And if you’re still not ready to leave Montreal, Elizabeth’s latest article explores the McCord Giftshop.

WE CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S OVER! The MUSSA Montreal Field Trip was a massive success and we’re so thankful to have had such a big and enthusiastic group! Au revoir for now Montreal, we miss you already! #mussamtl

A post shared by Master of Museum Studies Asso. (@mussauoft) on Nov 9, 2018 at 5:10pm PST

To catch up on some of the amazing professional development that took place this term, check out Kathleen’s article about discomfort in the museum, spurred by a panel at the annual OMA conference. For more OMA content, read Evelyn’s article about GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) analogies that were explored during the conference. If you’re looking to explore the experience of Museum Studies students, check out Katlyn’s review of the second-year mandatory classes.

Current Museum Studies students pose with MMSt alum at the annual Ontario Museum Association Conference.
Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

To explore some fascinating museum innovations, take a look at Keelan’s analysis of a museum that displays taxidermy… with a twist. If you want to explore another out-of-the-ordinary exhibition, Maddy reviews an exhibit that is interspersed around the Gardiner Museum!

Looking for the inside scoop on fascinating museum programs? Samantha Summers provides highlights from the 10th Anniversary Celebration of ROMCAN, a program dedicated to inclusion at the Royal Ontario Museum. If you want to know what’s happening inside Toronto’s heritage sites, Samantha Kilpatrick looks at the diverse programming at Montgomery’s Inn. And if you want to explore the ethics of collecting, power, and possession, you have to check out Carly’s review of a recent program at the Gardiner Museum.

Lastly, for anyone looking for a read about museum collections, make sure to check out Selin’s exploration of preventive conservation. And if you want to muse further about the ethics of collecting after reading Carly’s article, check out Jordan’s most recent article about the connection between over-collecting at museums and sustainability.

Thank you to all Musings readers for such a rewarding term of blogging! The new year will bring more exciting events, alumni Editor-in-Chief features, and new columns. If you are an MMSt student and interested in joining the team, stay tuned for applications. We hope everyone has a happy holiday and we will be back in January with more engaging and insightful museum content!

MUSEFLASH: RISK TAKING AND DIGITAL STRATEGIES WRITING WORKSHOP

Weekend Edition | Samantha Kilpatrick

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In our first ever Musings Writing Workshop, we were joined by Sarah Hill of Lord Cultural Resources to talk about new spaces for museum writing and content delivery in the digital era. "Soon," she notes, "we're not going to be talking about museums that are using digital content and museums that aren't. We're just going to be talking about museums."

Sarah Hill discussing digital projects in museums across the country. Photo courtesy of Amy Intrator.

Writing for a museum's social media accounts is a chance to help a museum develop its voice just as much as internal content like text panels and labels. To stand out in a digital landscape saturated by content requires risk. The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), for example, has developed a distinct, irreverent and extremely recognizable online voice.

Ladies, if he:

- won Male champion at the 1948 Royal Counties Show, and was owned by P. Prest, Chapel Farm, Malton, Yorkshire

Then that’s not your man, it’s a Berkshire Boar, Male champion at the 1948 Royal Counties Show, owned by P. Prest, Chapel Farm, Malton, Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/t5IEcP6XQY

— The Museum of English Rural Life (@TheMERL) November 25, 2018

Image via the MERL's twitter. The MERL has 75.5 thousand twitter followers.

However, one can imagine how arguing for the twitter voice of the MERL to be witty and light on its feet enough to respond to the meme of the day would have been a risk.

In a digital age, every interaction the visitor has with the museum matters. Interactions on the website, on Twitter, on Instagram, through their app, in person, all affect visitor perceptions of the museum. Omnichannel communication requires that every touch-point is in the spirit of your museum, and that, more than anything else, is what digital content requires-- a unified voice across every medium.

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Nov 28, 2018 at 9:59am PST

Image via the Musing's Instagram. Sarah Hill, running the show.

In the museum industry, we often speak of meeting the visitor 'where they are'. Is where they are now online? Should we assume that every museum visitor is equally interconnected? Of course not, but it's certainly worth remembering that writing content for digital requires flexing different muscles than writing static panel text. Neither is better or worse. We are just meeting the audience in different places. Online, people skim and can tab away from your content at any moment, whereas in person, visitors are spending significant time in your space, but perhaps not stopping at any of your panels. This is a challenge. It's always been a challenge and will continue to be a challenge in perpetuity. These complications make our field more rich and interesting, not less.

Our writing experience is richer for having had her. Thank you again, Sarah Hill.

SECOND YEAR KNOWLEDGE PART TWO

Museum (Studies) Mondays | Katlyn Wooder

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October has come and gone, it went by so fast. But that is because around week 6 is when school starts to get really busy.

Source.

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Exhibition Class

This month is where you to start planning your exhibit project in earnest.

The most important part of the assignment is to figure out your scope. It’s something I have trouble doing.

As a masters student, I want my exhibit to be amazing. To be frank, sometimes it's hard to know what parts of the project are the most important to prioritize. You need to concentrate on these details to ensure that you're not wasting time. No one, and I mean no one, wants to waste time when you're in graduate school. Eventually your friends and family will storm the gates, and demand attention.

Source.

If you can narrow down your scope at the beginning, it will save time and effort, and help you succeed at 'The Pitch'.

The Pitch is where your group gives a three minute presentation on your exhibit project, and a panel of professionals will decide if you receive some of the $10 000 class budget. You are supposed to cover what you are doing (the big idea), how you are doing it (such as the design, the budget and schedule), and what you need to succeed.

It’s not the easiest thing to do, but it's good practice for later in life when you have to convince your superiors of your projects' worth.

Source

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Museum Planning and Management: Projects and Fundraising

There were two distinct parts of class this month. The first part was guest lectures, and the second part was the Charter Project.

Our class had the pleasure of having a guest lecturer Katherine Molineux, Principal Consultant, Lord Cultural Resources. She shared with us her experience of working as a project manager on multiple projects. She went over all the tools needed for success. Molineux really stressed the importance of communication. If you do not communicate, the people involved in the project waste time, and feel unimportant and demoralized. The second guest speaker was Maria Piacente, Vice President, Exhibitions, Events, and Project Management, Lord Cultural Resources, who covered what happens when things go wrong. These two experienced museum professionals shared their experience, knowledge, and problem-solving skills.

The Project Charter was an interesting project. We separated into about ten groups and were assigned situations. My team was given a fictional ROM project where we had to plan a permanent exhibit about bugs. Other groups needed to plan a new lobby at the AGO, or a membership drive at the Science Centre.

We all drafted Charters, where we figured out the goals, outcomes, schedule, risks… of the different projects, and then in class presented the work we’ve done. One of the things I learned was that people responded very well to colour and charts. A pie graph with the budget made some swoon, but not as much as the extensive RACI chart. They help to establish authority, and give the air of competence to your project.

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We’ve had our final class on Project Management tools; six weeks is an intensive period to soak it all up, but there are Certificate programs out there if you're interested in this part of the museum world.

The second half of this course will concentrate on economics. Yay.

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A piece of advice from a Second Year: there’s a lot of team work in the second year. Figure out who you work well with, and who you don’t. It will help save headaches later on. Don't feel bad if people spontaneously start to cry, people are just very stressed.

All the best,

Katlyn Wooder

Write to you in a month.