TEACHER STRIKES: HOW MUSEUMS ARE RESPONDING

Muse News | Michelle Wright

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Ontario teachers have been without a contract since August 31, 2019, and even after months of negotiations there are few signs of progress. Between the work-to-rule campaigns and the rotating strikes everyone is feeling the impact. Today’s article will take a specific look into the impact this has had in the museum world, and how museums have responded.

Teachers on strike, February 21, 2020, St. Catharines, Ontario. Photo courtesy of Hillary Kerr.

Ontario’s French-language school boards (AEFO) also announced a work-to-rule campaign starting January 23, 2020 followed by The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) on February 3, 2020. This means that teachers will only undertake their scheduled teaching and supervision duties and not participate in any extracurricular actives, including field trips. The lack of school trips to museums has severely impacted several museums that rely on that income for the year. Institutions have reached out to boards not under this campaign, for example the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa reached out to other boards and have been fortunate enough to not suffer substantial losses. Other museums, like Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, are forced to wait it out due to the nature of their programming. Museums are trying to provide extra services, both to help out the community with thousands of children needing care and to generate revenue.

The Ministry of Education agreed to provide parents with a credit of up to $60 when strike actions close schools or school-based childcare centres, however there is a need for parents to provide care for their children during these days. The City of Toronto says that it will not be able to provide alternate childcare options, but some museums across the city are stepping to the plate, some of the museums on the list include, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the Ontario Science Centre, the McMichael Gallery, the Toronto Zoo, and more. Many of these one-day camps, as they are being called, are also offering early drop-off and/or late pick-up options, making museums even more of a help to parents.

HAPPENING NOW:

Thousands of teachers surround Queen's Park Circle protesting the Ford government during a provincewide strike.

More details here: https://t.co/SX4dJawDqP pic.twitter.com/OQ5pMKcJje

— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) February 21, 2020

The Science Centre admits that the program was a bit of a scramble to put together, but they were determined to provide students with a fun-filled science education. Lorrie Ann Smith, the director of education said, “It will be a full day of science adventure and excitement, so we will be doing interactive science experiments, maybe see an IMAX movie and we will go to the planetarium.” It was most-likely a scramble for other museums too, but through their hard work many are going above and beyond to provide an alternative fun and safe learning environment. Afterall, there is a reason these cultural institutions are one of the highest field-trip destinations for schools; museums provide an alternative learning method and have been proven successful tools of education for many students across all boards.

The Ontario Science Centre. Source.

Many other cultural institutions have been able to set up similar programs, but with no end in sight to the teacher strikes, it is hard to say exactly what will happen next.

ALL ABOUT ORBS

Technology Tuesdays | Val Masters

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For my first Musings contribution, I want to talk about one of my favourite subjects: orbs--Where to find them, what they do, how to appreciate them. I want to introduce the sorts of technological orbs that you can find in museums!

Science on a Sphere

The most educational of orbs: Science on a Sphere (SOS). Created by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), SOS is a system of computers running special software and projectors that work to display and control data on a six-foot diameter sphere.

Science on a Sphere at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in Michigan. Notice the kiosk! Source. 

The greatest strength of SOS is that it comes with a host of resources, but is customizable to the museum and to the user. You can create a narrative from scratch or use one of the provided lesson plans. The sphere can display animations, layer datasets, and it is interactive. It can even display real-time data. The data catalog is growing, and includes work from NOAA, NASA, universities, and science centres.

Want to learn about the Aurora Borealis? Cities through time? Great White Sharks? The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Currently, the only places to see Science on a Sphere in Canada are the Museum of Natural History in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the TELUS World of Science in Edmonton, Alberta. The United States, China, and India lead the world in the number of science spheres. I think SOS would be a magnificent addition to our local Ontario Science Centre (OSC). Speaking of OSC . . .

Life of the Earth, Death of the Sun

When I heard about this exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre, I thought it would be similar to SOS. I was wrong! It was much, much, bigger and stunningly beautiful. This orb is an art installation (in fact, it debuted at Nuit Blanche), a moving experience, and a political commentary. This work is meant to unify viewers over this simple fact that the Earth and the Sun are the only orbs we cannot live without. This puts things in perspective: each minute you spend viewing the orb during Death of the Sun represents one billion years.

During the Life of the Earth phase of the experience, you can watch our planet change over the course of 335 million years. Meanwhile a dizzying sequence of images flashes on the wall, beginning with images of nonhuman life, and then moving into art and culture through the ages. At some point, there is a shift – and we are in the future. The Earth browns, the lights wink out, and the waters rise. The images on the wall are no longer of art and culture; they are war, unrest, dire news headlines, graphs of global temperatures going up and up and up. This vision of the future is a call to action to mitigate climate change and take responsibility for the Anthropocene. I found this experience to be a unique and moving contribution to the growing body of orbs in museum collections.

The author in front of Death of the Sun, planetary nebula phase. Photo Courtesy of Val Master.

Which type of orb you find more engaging? An art installation with a story to tell, or an interactive where you can create the story?

THE MAGNETISM OF AN 'IN-BETWEEN'

SPECIAL EDITION – MI FEATURE

BY: CHRISTINA BONDI

On Saturday, July 21st, I set out for the Ontario Science Centre, donning my Back to the Future t-shirt and hoverboard necklace. The reason for this expedition was POPnology, an exhibition visiting from May 19 to August 6, 2018. I eagerly walked into Proctor & Gamble Great Hall. Before me, popular culture and science/technology had actively joined forces, allowing for conversation. I stood at the threshold, between one and the other, and explored this thrilling ‘in-between’.

Baxter, a robot designed by Rethink Robotics, is positioned near the entrance of POPnology. Visitors are first greeted, and then introduced to the exhibition space. During Baxter’s brief presentation, its arms move and facial features change. The sign just below the robot reads, “Demos every 5 minutes. Even robots need rest!” Reflecting further, it is clear that Baxter illustrates an enduring need for humans to convey anthropomorphic features or mannerisms onto robotics.

Baxter welcomes visitors to POPnology. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi.

Baxter mentions four central ‘spheres’ in which to reflect upon the term popnology: ‘How We Connect,’ ‘How We Play,’ ‘How We Live & Work,’ and ‘How We Move.’ Throughout the exhibition space, visitors are able to learn about how science fiction and science coexist and converse with each other: in wrist and handheld devices, robotics, virtual reality, video games, 3D printing, space exploration (i.e. Mars and aliens), autonomous vehicles, AI, and so on. For example, I found the visual timeline of real versus fictitious robots to be quite effective. In the image below, you will see that these robots—whether they be conceptually or materially constructed—were, are, or will be a part of our popular culture.

Robots: a timeline. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi.

The exhibition features a time capsule structure with several significant individuals, in relevant fields: the visions and realities of select authors, scientists, inventors, and business people throughout history. These include, but are not limited to, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs. The capsule even includes four small displays (one for each ‘sphere’ of POPnology), which make up a popular culture collection (i.e. books, photographs, and other objects) of a time past.

The POPnology time capsule. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi.

Also, it was truly inspiring to see the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine and hoverboard; I always appreciate learning about how others envision and contemplate the future. But more to the point, I am a devoted Back to the Future fan.

 The Back to the Future DeLorean time machine. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi.

Both children and adults are encouraged to engage with POPnology’s exhibition space. The many interactive elements balanced and complemented the themes’ written text. Visitors manoeuvre robotic arms in order to remotely lift dinosaur eggs and create block structures. A rover drives around a small area of Mars, based on remote-control implementation and human engagement (i.e. click the buttons to assign movement). During my own visit, I thoroughly enjoyed a game of tic-tac-toe with ToeBot. Though quite clever and determined, I did find a way to double-trap the robot.

An engrossing game of tic-tac-toe with ToeBot. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi

To further obscure the real and the virtual, I also had the chance to ‘transport’ myself into two virtual settings (of ten) via an Oculus Rift headset. The experience was brief yet intense. In one setting, for example, I had been placed on the top of a building, overlooking a dystopic/futuristic cityscape. I spent the time struggling to convince myself that it was simply a virtual construction. Did I dare move forward and risk stepping off the platform?

Desperately seeking a return to some kind of material form, I then thought of 3D printing. The 3D printing booth at POPnology features both Formlabs and MakerBot printers—the latter in ‘additive action’ for passersby to witness! Even the ground-breaking, inaugural 3D printed car (Local Motors) is on display, to praise and applaud. 3D printing is quite a multi-purpose process, as it can produce prosthetics (i.e. Exiii HACKberry arm), medical models, and decorative items, just to name a few.

3D printing booth (left), Local Motors 3D printed car (centre), and Exiii HACKberry prosthetic arm (left).
Photos courtesy of Christina Bondi.

POPnology offers engagement with both traditional (i.e. arts-and-crafts) and digital forms of making. For instance, a workshop is available for children to construct a Mars lander, consisting of a parachute and other craft supplies as needed. This allows for a more traditional crafting experience. Nearby, STEAMLabs (a Toronto-based makerspace) calls for interaction via coding/programming. The result involves moving a robotic arm, so as to lift Minecraft-themed objects.

Coding with STEAMLabs. Photo courtesy of Christina Bondi.

As a small treat, I will end by sharing one last experience. Whilst exploring the exhibition, I came across the POPnology photo booth. Because of my Back to the Future attire, I thought it was especially fitting to document the visit. Below, you will find me, presumably, in transit through time; when selecting photographs for this article, I had noticed that the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine replica features the same backdrop (see image 4 to compare).

 “Where am I?” Photo courtesy of the POPnology photo booth, Ontario Science Centre.

Examine (through both written/visual content and experiential activities) the deep-rooted attraction between popular culture and science/technology at the Ontario Science Centre’s POPnology. This exhibition closes on August 6, 2018. No need to jump into your DeLorean time machine quite yet. There’s still some time!

A BLOOM OF EVENTS: WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAYS APRIL EDITION

WHAT'S HAPPENING WEDNESDAYS

BY: KELLY MANIKOTH

Hello friends! Welcome to the April edition of What’s Happening Wednesdays! With longer, brighter days and cherry blossoms officially in bloom, April is a month of transition and inspiration. This is especially true for us graduate students, as we embark on our summer internships or prepare for graduation and the career journey that lies ahead of us. This month’s column features events to help us celebrate our well deserved new chapter! I will also highlight MSL4000 exhibition projects taking place in April! For a full list of the openings this year, click here.

1. 4th Annual Corktown Egg Hunt

Source.

The first day of April is also Easter! Celebrate by attending the Corktown Egg Hunt; a massive Easter Egg hunt at the Corktown Common playground which will be fun for children all ages. Featuring a special appearance from the Easter Bunny, there will be free chocolate treats, Redline Coffee, live entertainment & more! Just be sure to BYOB (Bring your own Basket 😉). For more information, contact Socrates@LivingToronto.ca

When: Sunday, April 1st, 2018, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Hunt Starts @ 10:30am. Rain or Shine.

Where: Corktown Common, 155 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON

Tickets: This is a free event! You can register here.

2. The Slow Approach: Looking, Drawing and Making Together at the Textile Museum

Symphony of Light: The Universe, U/ Deep Space (1999); tie-dyeing, ink painting, embroidery and gold leaf on silk crepe (chirimen) with gold wefts; 198x139 cm Source.

Enjoy this three-part workshop series which is intended to help you slow down and appreciate the intricacies of Itchiku Kubota’s stunning kimono work. Through activities led by Textile Museum educator Susan Fohr, learn how to observe, sketch, and stitch in the gallery and experience a new way of looking. The workshops are titled Workshop #1: Slow Looking, Workshop #2: Slow Drawing, and Workshop #3: Slow Making. For more information, click here.

When: Workshop #1: Slow Looking, Wednesday April 4, 6-7 PM, Workshop #2: Slow Drawing
Wednesday April 11, 6-7 PM, and Workshop #3: Slow Making Wednesday April 18, 6-7 PM

Where: Textile Museum of Canada, 55 Centre Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2H5

Tickets: Free with admission, no advance booking required. All materials will be provided.

3. Toronto Silent Film Festival

Film still from Hamlet. Source.

The Toronto Silent Film Festival's goal is to bring contemporary audiences and silent screen experiences together again. The four day festival features a variety of films from the early days of cinema. This year’s programme aims to show the range of characters played by women in the silent film era. For instance, the first screening in the festival is a German 1921 rendition of Hamlet, where the lead role is played by a woman. This was one of the first times in film that Hamlet was re-imagined as female. For a full list of screenings and locations, click here. 

When: The festival takes place from April 6th – April 9th . Hamlet plays on April 6th, at 7PM

Where: Various locations. Hamlet airs at the Royal Cinema, 608 College St. Toronto

Tickets: Individual Tickets are $15, $11 for students & seniors. Festival packages are also available. Tickets can be purchased here.

4. Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day

Source.

Celebrate the warm weather with FREE ice cream! Since 1979, Ben & Jerry’s have made it an annual tradition to give free ice cream away to thank their customers all over the world. So, take a much-needed break from final projects and essays and enjoy a delightfully free sweet treat!

When: Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Where: Ryerson University, Gould Street

Tickets: Free!

5. Ontario Science Centre: Great Conversation Speaker Series - Cultural Collisions: Science Engagement Through the Arts

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The Ontario Science Centre’s Great Conversation Speaker Series brings global experts to Toronto to foster dialogue on important issues within the scientific community. On April 11th, Michael Hoch, PhD, physicist, artist and founder of art@CMS will give a talk entitled Cultural Collisions: Science Engagement Through the Arts. The lecture discusses the unity between the seemingly disparate subjects of art and science, showcasing how art and creative thinking can make complex scientific issues understandable while maximizing human innovation. Hoch discusses his work with art@CMS, an educational outreach program of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, where both artists and scientists examine particle physics research. For more information, click here.

Moderated by Molly Shoichet, award-winning researcher, science communicator and Ontario’s first Chief Scientist.

When: April 11th, Box office opens at 6 PM., Auditorium doors open at 7 PM., Presentation at 7:30 PM

Where: Imperial Oil Auditorium, Level , 770 Don Mills Rd, North York, ON M3C 1T3

Tickets: $20, $15 for Members, Purchase tickets here.

6. End of Year Museum Studies Celebration!

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Come out and enjoy the End of Year Party hosted by the Exhibition Class! It’s been a whirlwind year, so be sure to celebrate by enjoying a night of food, drinks and fun with your fellow museum buddies! All MMSt and CRO students are welcome! If you have any photos you would like to share in the slideshow, please email them to Kathleen at kathleen.vahey@mail.utoronto.ca. Can’t wait to see everyone there!

When: Thursday, April 12th, 6:00 – 11:00 PM

Where: Hart House Debates Room

Tickets: Free! Please sign up through the Eventbrite page to give an estimate of numbers.

7. Art Gallery of Ontario Massive Illusion

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AGO Massive is a huge annual contemporary art party which is now in its 14th year! This year’s ‘Massive’ is inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s: Infinity Mirrors, with the theme revolving around illusions and tricks of the eye. Guests will experience immersive, larger-than-life installations along with hypnotizing and mystifying performances and music from Toronto’s coolest DJ’s and creators. The event features a plethora of great food and drinks as well. With proceeds helping the gallery’s collection, future exhibitions and audience accessibility, this event is a total must-see! For more information, visit MassiveParty.ca

When: April 19, 9:00 PM – 1:00 AM

Where: Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West

Tickets: General Admission $175, AGO Members $150 / limit 2 per member: 19+ / ID required . You can purchase tickets here.

8. Earth Day at Toronto Botanical Garden

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Earth Day is an important reminder to care for the planet we call home. Celebrate the occasion at the beautiful Toronto Botanical Garden .There will be a ton of fun events for the entire family! You can help plant in the Teaching Garden, ride the 'blender' bike, make nature crafts and more! Find out more information here.

When: Saturday, April 21, 2018, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Where: Toronto Botanical Gardens. 777 Lawrence Ave E, North York, ON. All activities take place in the Teaching Garden.

Tickets: Free! Registration is recommended. Register here

~* 🌸🌟April Exhibition Projects 🌟🌸*~

MSL4000 Exhibition Project Openings in April – Check out the list of ALL the openings here !

Case Studies: A history of physics innovation at the University of Toronto
When: Opening: April 4, 4-6 PM
Where: University of Toronto McLennan Laboratory
Who: Erin Beaubien, Daniel Rose

Made-Up Toronto
When: April 12-May 5, Opening: April 12, 5 PM
Where: Downtown Yonge BIA, Pop-Up Gallery
Who: Jessica Svenningson, Sarah Rolko

Art & Mindfulness
When: April 2018-2019, Opening: April 13, 5-7 PM
Where: University of Toronto, Bissell Building
Who: Tabitha Chan, Kelly Manikoth, Julia Zungri

Temple of Fame: Staging Women's Roles​
When: April 25-June 10, Opening: April 25, 5:30 PM
Where: Aurora Museum & Archives
Who: Kara Isozaki, Maeghan Jerry, Sarah Kelly

Redefining Language in African Art Scholarship
When: April 30
Where: Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collection, York University Libraries, online exhibit
Who: Susan Jama

Source.

This is my last post for Musings ever! 💔 Writing this column truly connected me to Toronto and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience grad school in such a vibrant and diverse city.

Congratulations MMSt family on completing another academic year, and I hope to see everyone at our Year End Party and the many exhibition openings taking place this month!

MMSt 2018: EXHIBITION PROJECTS PART II

RESEARCH COLUMN

BY: SERENA YPELAAR

Happy Sunday, readers! It's your friendly neighbourhood Editor-in-Chief again, with another installment of #MMSt2018 exhibition projects for your curious minds. Last weekend you got to hear about the ones that are opening first; this post will follow the same chronological structure and pick up where we left off.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy hearing more about our students' projects!


Temple of Fame: Staging Women's Roles (April 25-June 10, 2018)
Maeghan Jerry, Kara Isozaki, Sarah Kelly

Location: Aurora Museum & Archives, 22 Church Street, Aurora
Opening Reception: April 25th, 2018 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm

A century ago, the women of Aurora produced the Temple of Fame: A Pageant of Famous Women. The play featured historical and fictional female figures vying to be crowned by the Goddess of Fame. Our exhibition explores how the play illuminates the changing roles of women in 1918. Our project is a portion of larger centennial programming, which celebrates local women through a series of community events, including a remount of the play.

1918 production of Temple of Fame. Photo courtesy of the Aurora Museum & Archives.

Redefining Language in African Art Scholarship (April 30, 2018 –) 

Susan Jama

Working at Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections! Photo courtesy
of Susan Jama. 

Location: Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collection, York University Libraries, Toronto

My digital exhibition, Redefining Language in African Art Scholarship, explores the history of language used to describe African art from colonial to post-colonial era. Redefining Language in African Art Scholarship reveals the transformative shift in African art literature written from the 1900s to 1980s.

Messages from the Mosaic (May 1, 2018 –)
Ellen (Mairead) Murphy, Zhuohua (Nicole) Yang

Location: Canadian Language Museum; messagesfromthemosaic.ca (digital exhibition)

Promotional image for the exhibition. Photo courtesy of

Ellen (Mairead) Murphy.

Our exhibition project is Messages from the Mosaic, a digital exhibition about the languages of Canada. Using text, infographics, and clickable elements, we want to curate a web exhibition that explores the history, trends, and challenges surrounding Canada’s transforming language mosaic. This is a bilingual exhibition (English and French) and will be launched in May 2018.

A Telepathic Book (May 5-15, 2018)

The Broadbent Sisters' Telepathic Book. Photo courtesy of
Broadbent Sisters and Robynne Redgrave, 2017. 

Aurora Cacioppo, Meagan Fillmore 

Location: Black Cat Art Space, 2186 Dundas St W, Toronto
Opening Reception: May 3, 2018, 6 pm (remarks at 7 pm) at Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1356 Dundas St W, Toronto

We are working with the Broadbent Sisters to translate the components of their sculptural photobook into an exhibition for CONTACT Photography Festival. For fourteen days, the artists used meditation to telepathically send and receive images to one another. Afterward, they revealed their photos to one another and found unbelievable connections! Using each day’s images, the artists produced A Telepathic Book, which displays these parallels while promoting meditative practice through its design.

Partners: The Broadbent Sisters

The History of the John Street Roundhouse: 1929 - Present (May 2, 2018 –)
Hannah Monkman, Abebe Mengesha, Alice Norton-Bell

Location: The Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Boulevard, Stall 17, Toronto
Opening Reception: TBD

Our project is to create a new entryway exhibit in the Toronto Railway Museum, which will set the tone for an upcoming museum-wide redesign. We’re exploring the rich history of Toronto’s rail lands from 1929 to the present day, looking specifically at the John Street Roundhouse where the exhibition will be located. Come learn the story of an area once dedicated to the railway, that’s now a bustling neighbourhood filled with iconic Toronto attractions!

The John Street Roundhouse in 1930. Photo courtesy of
Toronto Public Library Archives.

Anna taping up the exhibition space for Inner Spaces!
Photo courtesy of Kasey Ball. 

Inner Spaces (May 1-31, 2018)Cassy Kist, Anna Kawecka, Kasey Ball

Location: Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Rd., Toronto
Opening Reception: May 5th, time TBD

Our exhibit provides a brief glimpse under the microscope of research being done across Canada. Displaying images of cellular pathology captured in the lab, we hope to bring awareness to this amazing scientific work.

Collecting Moments: The Photographs of Dr. John E. Ackerman (May 17-June 13, 2018)

Charlotte Gagnier, Sarah Proulx

John E. Ackerman, Men outside Ackerman's Grocery Store ca.
1940s. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage
Centre, accession 2013-7-13. 

Location: Black Cat Artspace, 2186 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Exhibition Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12-7 pm
Opening Reception: May 17, 8-10 pm

Our exhibition consists of photographs reproduced from archival negatives taken by an accomplished amateur photographer, Dr. John E. Ackerman. We are very excited for the opportunity to work with such a rich collection, held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. The best part of fulfilling our role as curators has been looking through this beautiful collection of moments that portray the personal life of Dr. Ackerman as well as life in Toronto in the mid-20th century.

Lost and Found: Rediscovering Fragments of Old Toronto (May 2018-May 2019)

Hannah Hadfield, Tanya McCullough, Leora Bebko

Promotional image for Lost and Found. Photo courtesy of
Leora Bebko, 2018.

Location: Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen St. W., Toronto  

Opening Reception: May 17, 2018 – Panel Discussion from 6-7 pm, Reception from 7-9 pm

Our exhibition will feature six groupings of handcrafted carved stones salvaged by Rosa and Spencer Clark from iconic Toronto buildings in the postwar era. Positioned throughout the Campbell House Museum gardens and juxtaposed against the modern city landscape, we hope that our exhibition will inspire visitors to contemplate the city’s relationship to its heritage and imagine what the city will look like in another 50 years.

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Kudos to all these amazing groups and their fascinating exhibition projects - I'm looking forward to visiting them all. Be sure to check the exhibitions out in person at the openings or beyond! 

MMSt 2018: EXHIBITION PROJECTS PART I

RESEARCH COLUMN

BY: SERENA YPELAAR

Welcome back to the #MMSt2018 project coverage! Today, we're featuring the first eight exhibition projects my talented colleagues in second year of the program are currently working on.

Each of the 23 exhibition groups in this series kindly agreed to speak about their project. Their exhibitions will open across the city in the next few months. They are listed here in chronological order, starting with Nikita and Amanda, whose exhibition opened last week!

Toronto: The Views are Different Here (March 6-29, 2018)
Nikita Lorenzo-Vicente, Amanda McNeil

The exhibition is on display at the Aird Gallery!
Photo courtesy of Nikita Lorenzo. 

Location: John B. Aird Gallery, 900 Bay Street (at Wellesley), MacDonald Block, Toronto
Opened: March 8, 2018, 6-8pm

Our multimedia exhibition examines Toronto identity through the individual narratives of its people. It strives to display personal thoughts and emotions from a variety of backgrounds within Toronto to unpack the ways in which we think of our city.

Partners: City of Toronto Art Connections Program

Ontario Science Centre Robotics Hot Zone (March 9, 2018 –)
Jessica Baptista, Christopher Shackleton, Napat Malathum, Shannon Crewson
Location: Ontario Science Centre Hot Zone, on Level 6
Opened: March 9, 2018

For our project we worked as co-producers for the Ontario Science Centre’s Hot Zone. Focusing on the topic of robotics, we developed an educational program which allows participants to experience robotics through both hands-on activities and four specific robot stories. The Robotics Hot Zone will be presented daily by the Ontario Science Centre’s hosts.

Team members Christopher and Jessica help with the presentation of INDY - an archaeology robot used to explore tunnels in Egypt and created by Ryerson University's N-CART Lab. Photo courtesy of Napat Malathum.

(From left) Shauna, Emily, and Karley at the Art Museum! 
Photo courtesy of Shauna Taylor, Emilie Albert-Toth, 
and Karley Staskus.

2018 Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition (March 23-April 14, 2018) 

Emilie Albert-Toth, Karley Staskus, Shauna Taylor 

Location: Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 15 King's College Circle, Toronto
Opening Reception: March 23, 2018, 7-9 pm

We are currently in the process of installing the SPSAE 2018 and have had the opportunity to handle some amazing artwork and work with some wonderful people. Here’s a picture of us looking cool and casual while discussing In My Dreams by Lisa Veregin. Please come look cool and casual with us on the night of our opening, we’d love to discuss some artwork with you!

Case Studies: A history of physics innovation at the University of Toronto (April 2018 –)

Erin Beaubien, Daniel Rose

Location: McLennan Laboratory Foyer, 60 St. George St., University of Toronto
Opening Reception: April 4th, 2018, 4-6 pm (remarks at 4:30) in the Physics Grad lounge (rm 111, McLennan Physical Laboratories, 60 St. George St.)*

Our project is in partnership with the U of T physics department and the University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection (UTSIC). We wanted to use this exhibition as an opportunity to explore the department's history and highlight some stories of invention and innovation that have occurred here. The exhibition features four instruments and processes that were developed or created at the University and the people and history behind them.

To RSVP for the opening reception, please email outreach@physics.utoronto.ca.

University of Toronto Archives. Boris Stoicheff Fonds. B2010-0025/001P(10). 

Collections storage at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
Photo courtesy of Naomi Recollet. 

Reconfiguring the Collection (Project; April 2018)
Naomi Recollet 

Location: Royal Ontario Museum

This project is focused on reconceptualizing and reconfiguring the Northeast and Subarctic material in the First Peoples collection at the ROM. The purpose is to improve the facilitation of research and exhibition planning from scholars, and particularly from members of Indigenous communities. I hope that this reconfiguration will be easier for members of Indigenous communities to access the collections, approach materials, locate object types and identify any future relationships with the collections and the ROM.

Here Emily takes notes regarding the location of the exhibition
and the cases available for the objects. Photo courtesy of Emily
Welsh and Madison Stirling.

Hazel Stuart and the Indigenous Peoples of Papua New Guinea (April 9, 2018) 
Emily Welsh, Madison Stirling

Exhibition Name: Hazel Stuart and the Indigenous Peoples of Papua New Guinea
Location: Department of Anthropology (Third Floor), University of Toronto, 19 Russell St, Toronto

For our exhibition project, we are a producing a permanent display of artifacts and ephemera from the Department of Anthropology’s Hazel Stuart Collection. Hazel Stuart lived and worked in Papua New Guinea from 1973 – 1975 after recently graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario. Our display will examine the study of anthropology, the process of collecting, and the knowledge represented by the Indigenous cultural objects gathered by Hazel Stuart.

Made-Up Toronto features 21 participants from Toronto 
sporting their own makeup looks. Photo courtesy of 
Leeor Wild. 

Made-Up Toronto (TBD) 
Jessica Svenningson, Sarah Rolko

Location: Downtown Yonge BIA Pop-Up Gallery, 385-387 Yonge St., Toronto
Opening Reception: TBD

We came together to work on this project because we both had noticed how little makeup was highlighted in the museum and art gallery world. We collaborated with Downtown Yonge BIA to bring our vision to life by focusing on the makeup culture in Toronto. Our goal with this exhibition is to demonstrate how makeup is a powerful tool for self-expression and expression of cultural identity.

Art & Mindfulness (April 13, 2018-April 2019) 

Julia Zungri, Tabitha Chan, Kelly Manikoth 

Location: Claude T. Bissell Building, University of Toronto
Opening Reception: April 13, 2018, 5-7 pm (remarks at 6pm)

Our exhibition explores the relationship between art, students and mental health. The artists featured in this exhibition use art as a tool for wellness, resilience and mindfulness. As an exhibition curated by students and for students, we hope that showcasing these works will contribute to the destigmatization and awareness of mental health issues on campus. Also featured in this exhibition is the 1000 Words Campaign by the UMatter initiative, and students’ pieces created from the Rethink Recovery workshops.

(From left) Julia, Kelly, and Tabitha while selling bookmarks and postcards as part of their fundraising event in December 2017. They wish to thank everyone who contributed! Photo courtesy of Julia Zungri, Kelly Manikoth, and Tabitha Chan.

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Congratulations to my fellow MMSt students for all you've accomplished! Thanks for sharing your work. I can't wait to attend the exhibition openings. Maybe I'll see you there, dear readers!

ALUMNI IN THE SIX: LAURA ROBB & CARA VAN DER LAAN

ALUMNI CHECK-IN

BY: EMILY WELSH

For this week’s edition I check-in with two of our alumni who are situated in the home of our MMSt program, the vast city of Toronto.


Laura Robb graduated with her MMSt degree in 2012 and previously with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 2006. Laura is currently employed as one of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)'s Assistant Interpretive Planners and has recently worked on exhibitions such as Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters and Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood. She nicely summarizes her duties as such:

“In a nutshell, interpretive planning is articulating the big ideas and key themes that an exhibition will tell, and deciding what vehicles – such as text, video, hands-on activities – will best relay these ideas and themes. As an IP, I advocate for visitors: how can I relate material that may (or may not) be unfamiliar to visitors in a meaningful way? How can I guide you to have a personal connection to our exhibitions?”

Laura’s past work experiences include her time as a tour guide at the Textile Museum of Canada, as an audience researcher at the AGO, and as a content developer in Vancouver for a dinosaur interpretive centre based in Macau. Laura also worked under a paid internship at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles where she developed and tested mobile-based games and activities.

Laura Robb, MMSt 2012, Art Gallery of Ontario Assistant Interpretive Planner. Photo courtesy of Laura Robb.

Cara van der Laan is currently employed as the Ontario Science Centre (OSC)’s Artifacts Coordinator. She graduated with her MMSt degree in 2010 and previously with a Joint Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History and Physical Anthropology at the University of Waterloo in 2007.

Cara is responsible for managing, inventorying, cataloguing and curating the OSC’s artifact collection of over 20,000 objects of diverse materials; scheduling, supervising and completing installations of all objects of incoming, temporary and permanent exhibits; managing incoming, outgoing and internal loans; and developing and installing internal rotating exhibits with artifacts.

Before working at the OSC, Cara was employed in the Education Department of the Toronto Zoo where she worked with volunteers and the zoo’s biological collection. She was also a volunteer coordinator for the Luminato Festival, for which she was responsible for a team of 500 volunteers, and a part of TheMuseum’s floor staff, for which she led tours of exhibits as well as developed and led public programs.

Cara van der Laan, MMSt 2010, Ontario Science Centre Artifacts Coordinator. Photo courtesy of Cara van der Laan.

Laura and Cara kindly answered the following interview questions for us here at Musings.


1. What is your favourite memory from your time in the MMSt program?

Laura: Honestly, it was probably the classroom debates around where we saw museum work going in the future. I love picking apart the idea of a museum and what it means to display, interpret and program objects from a philosophical point of view.

Cara: My most vivid memories are from Hooley’s Curating Science course. His course really challenged the way I thought about learning and the definition of science. I remember him talking about abstract concepts such as huge astronomical distances and learning about them in hands-on ways. (We went out in the hallway with string!) The course content has proved useful in working at the Ontario Science Centre but I also enjoyed finding methods to explain concepts in diverse ways to teach multiple audiences.


2. What course or subject matter has been of most use to you in your current role?

Laura: Museums and their Publics and Interpretation and Meaning-Making were certainly key. There’s a duality between those courses because evaluation tends to study what interpretive planning is trying out, to figure out what worked, what needs adjusting and what needs abandoning. Both courses provided me with a great introduction to constructivism, which is how we approach exhibition development. I wouldn’t be where I am today without those two courses.

Cara: In the most direct way, Sue Maltby’s class [Museum Environment]. I still find myself consulting notes I took from her class and trying to channel her when I’m educating others about relative humidity or active corrosion. Indirectly, I’ve found I’ve used so much of Barbara Soren’s Museum and their Publics in ways I wasn’t intending. It has created a love of quantifiable metrics of evaluation that I didn’t realize I had. I find myself talking about evidence based decision-making on a regular basis and utilizing technical skills from her course in very useful ways.


3. What advice would you give to museum professionals entering the sector today?

Laura: Say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how small or hard it is and no matter how loud your “I-don’t-think-I-can-do-this” voice screams. Everything is a chance to meet people and pick up new skills or even just figure out what you really don’t want to do in life.

Cara: Be flexible - career paths do not have to be linear. Find things that you enjoy doing and find ways to do them as much as you can. Keep engaged in the museum sector, even if you find yourself taking jobs outside of the field. Find a mentor. Keep learning.


4. Which object or exhibit, in your current institution, do you enjoy the most? Why?

Laura: Barry Ace’s “trinity suite: Bandolier for Niibwa Ndanwendaagan (My Relatives); Bandolier for Manidoo-minising (Manitoulin Island); and Bandolier for Charlie," which was part of Every.Now.Then: Reframing Nationhood. Ace’s work is incredible and I love art and ideas around futurism.

Cara: I love objects that tell great stories. We have two one thousand-year-old skeletons, one which may have been a pituitary giant, both of which have multiple bone breaks that can tell you what an interesting life they must have led in Anglo-Saxon England. We have a calcified rat skin that was used in an experiment at the University of Montreal. We have two beautiful flea traps that were worn around women’s necks in 17th and 18th century which greatly influenced research done at the Science Centre on hormones and entomology in the 1970s. We have the patent model of the first carbon fibre violin and the donor now works at Bombardier. There are too many great stories to pick from!

Here Cara weaves on the Ontario Science Centre's 150-year-old Jacquard Loom! Photo courtesy of Cara van der Laan. 

Many thanks to Laura and Cara for taking time to speak about their experiences and work!

PURPOSE OF MUSEUMS?: A SCIENCE CENTRE MODEL

BEYOND TRADITION

BY: EMILY WELSH

What is the purpose of museums?

                                           Why do they matter?

                                                                     What should they strive to achieve?

I invite you to think critically about museums. What is their purpose? Are they meeting the needs of their visitors? Source.

We can easily say the purpose of museums has changed over the decades, depending on the needs of society and the wishes of the those running the institutions. However, to be most relevant, I argue the former is most important for determining the museum's purpose. What then is the role of a museum in today's society?

I put forth here the model I have observed frequently arising in science centres across the country and highlighted in the CEO Plenary Session I attended at the 2017 Canadian Association of Science Centres Annual Conference in May. The conference, and thus also the session, focused on the theme of "next" and the future of the industry. The CEOs of the Ontario Science Centre, TELUS Spark, Exploration Place, and Science East participated in panel discussing the following question:

What is the role for a science centre?

The discussion revolved around the shift of a science centre's purpose from focusing on providing scientific knowledge to being a place for the development of skills and behaviours. This radical change in purpose was described as stemming from the characteristics of today's society. Knowledge is no longer obtained in a top-down model; with the rise of technology, scientific knowledge can be obtained rapidly and with little effort. Individuals have a wealth of knowledge at their disposal, but what do they do with it? How do they understand it? The panelists described visitors' needs as including learning how to think and how to understand the scientific method.

Arguably more importantly, the panelists also described the need for visitors to learn how to fail and to gain confidence (for example with tools or STEM concepts). The skills and behaviours being fostered here should also include collaboration, leadership, curiosity, and resilience.

A group of visitors collaborates at one of the puzzle tables in Science World, Vancouver, BC. Source.

The desire to stimulate the development of skills and behaviours in visitors can be seen in institutional mandates, visions and purposes but also the galleries science centres house. TELUS Spark in Calgary invites visitors to explore Open Studio, a gallery where visitors can combine art with technology and "take creative risks, question assumptions and explore new ways of thinking by building and combining unexpected materials."

The Puzzles and Illusions Gallery at Science World in Vancouver challenges visitors with a large array of optical illusions and physical puzzles. The space houses a large number of tables with different puzzles and stools to encourage visitors to sit and play awhile. While in this gallery I can remember my friends and I working together to decipher instructions, solve puzzles and understand our failures.

Puzzles are a fun tactic to promote collaboration and critical thinking if the difficulty level and structure is thoughtfully designed. Source.

Similarly the Ontario Science Centre is currently running their temporary exhibition titled Inventorium. After learning about the inventions of Canadians in Canada 150: Discovery Way, visitors are invited to explore and nurture their own creativity, curiosity, and ingenuity. The OSC includes these telling sentences in their description of Inventorium: "Through creativity, collaboration and critical thinking, anything is possible. Ignite your imagination at Inventorium and see where your curiosity takes you."

Science centres still act as distributors of scientific knowledge and concepts, but it is the shift in the focus of their purpose that other genres of museums should take lessons from. Science centres are de-emphasizing cognitive learning and emphasizing the development of skills and behaviours in their visitors. Small patches of this model can be seen in other genres of museums, for example making-spaces in art galleries, or behaviour-based visitor outcomes in exhibition development and interpretive plans, but larger adoptions of this practice could help museums reach their greatest potential. In a society where facts and knowledge are readily available, perhaps museums' purpose is not to deliver knowledge but to help visitors develop skills to decipher the information swirling around them and to tackle the challenges facing our society.

Questions and more questions. Source.

What do you see as the purpose of museums? What would a history museum look like if it focused less on the delivery of knowledge and more on skill and behavioural development? Where does the science centre model fail?

This discussion has left me with more questions than answers, but that will likely be the result when we look outside the boundaries of traditional museum practice! Feel free to leave your comments below!