But, you might be quick to point out, that’s yesterdays news.  And you’re right.

Goodies on ArtBabble

On Tuesday Kate wrote a brief news story on ArtBabble’s front page, so I thought I would expand on that.

What have we been doing since April?  A lot.  After the launch, we received a tremendous amount of requests on how to become an ArtBabble partner.  It was slightly overwhelming, but also inspiring.  We went through the process of assessing all of the requests, working closely with our original partners as advisers (actually setting up an Advisory Group), to identify the next steps and next batch of video content.  Since IMA staff run ArtBabble (kind of like a second job) we had to figure out the balance of growing ArtBabble and keeping up with all the other projects at IMA – the blog, exhibition(s) planning, video production, Flickr, an iPod Touch tour, grant writing, Bird cams, office pranks, meetings, you get the picture…This meant instead of adding 40 new partners at once, we had to consider adding in stages.  Somewhere in the middle of this, we added a new Goodies page on the site, and started a Play Art Loud Flickr group featuring AB bumper stickers.

So, the next step is a Phase Two launch of ArtBabble on Tuesday, July 28. Mark your calendars!  We’re talking lots of new partners, lots of new videos, and a more diverse selection of art content.  This Phase Two launch will be followed with more rolling launches as we’re able to manage the new partner relationships and content preparation for AB.  It’s all leading to what we hope will be the premier destination for viewing art videos online.

So, please feel free to help spread the word about July 28.  I would love to hear any comments, theories or suggestions for next ArtBabble steps. And we still have lots of bumper stickers.

More ArtBabble Goodies

In the midst of writing this post, I announced it on Twitter, soliciting questions about ArtBabble.  Below, you’ll find the list of some of those questions, with my responses.

Why create something new instead of just using a channel on YouTube? Long list of reasons – improved art search results, the prospect of creating an art-focused video community, the ability to create a space managed by museum professionals, incredible video quality, transcriptions, the Notes that appear to the right of each video, a chance to seize a real opportunity online….

How did ArtBabble get championed in-house and how did it get funded? We already had a successful  in-house video team, and were already developing Web sites in-house.  Max Anderson, Rob Stein and I had been talking about some version of IMA TV for a couple of years – ArtBabble seemed like the best approach (something more relavant than just IMA content).  Since video and web development were already a big part of IMA efforts, it was a pretty straight project forward to initiate. The site was developed entirely in-house by IMA staff, with support from the top down, and was funded by a grant from the Ball Brothers Foundation.

If y’all got any do-overs w/ respect to ArtBabble, what would you change? Such a tough question. More videos, and more partners, but this will take time.  And, I would love some Robot Art content (but that’s me).

How will the site evolve? In terms of content and partners, it will evolve through these rolling launches as quickly as IMA staff can handle this process.  The actual site will evolve with new features…but that’s further down the line.

Could a visitor contribute? Not right now (except for comments), but it’s something we’re thinking about.  So, who knows in the future…

Babble On!

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/07/09/what-next-for-artbabble/feed/ 6 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/04/08/social-media-policies-museums/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/04/08/social-media-policies-museums/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:56:31 +0000 Jenny http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=4275 To say that social media is a growing field would be quite the understatement. Whether you’re an avid tweeter blowing up my Twitter feed (cough cough, John Mayer!) or a soccer mom that uploads the latest school pictures onto Flickr, almost everyone I know actively participates in at least one social networking site – even my grandma is on Facebook.

But it’s not only individuals using these sites. Here at the IMA, as most of you know, we embrace social media as a useful tool in reaching our audiences and fulfilling our mission. And we’re not the only ones – LACMA, SFMoMa, and Walker Art Center are just a couple of our peers actively engaging online audiences. Even the Art Institution of Chicago recently announced here, that they’ll soon be launching a Twitter account.

But as museums and museum employees continue to grow their online activity – both personal and institutional – we’re faced with the challenge of exploring policies and guidelines online activity. Should there be employee policies in place for personal use of such sites? Should museums implement a clearly detailed policy for institutional use of such sites? And if so, what would either one of these policies look like and what purposes would they serve?

In researching the topic, I can tell you for sure that there are several people asking these questions, and I can also tell you that nobody really seems to know the answers.

So what are some of the issues to think about? Well, there are a lot of them. Museum 3.0 suggests the following issues are all important in considering your strategy to online networking: technical concerns, how to archive online museum activity, implementation planning, policy development, training, and a how/why to guide for media sites.

Museum 2.0 blogger Nina Simon discusses what might be included in a social media handbook. Her list includes things like rules on what should or should not be shared, how get a new initiative approved by your manager, what is considered appropriate for internal and external distribution, and a reference guide to social sites that would include recommendations, stylesheets, etc.

While I think these are all important items to consider, I can’t help but wonder if some topics should just be covered in ongoing discussions instead of binding them into a manual. Why? Well, by the time a policy or manual was organized, there’s a pretty good chance that the certain components (like a ‘how to guide’) would already be obsolete. In other words, the web changes so much that consistent updating might become a daunting task.

Three seemingly stagnant issues that I see as most important in policy making or strategic planning for social media include: information release, content quality & content control.

Information Release – A problem might arise here when someone inadvertently releases sensitive information about the museum. An example of this might be tweeting in excitement that a new acquisition has just arrived to the dock (which might jeopardize the safety of the work), or announcing an event on your facebook page before it’s been announced by your museum. This issue is one that might arise more frequently when an organization’s employee is using a personal account that wouldn’t be filtered by a colleague. The question to be asked here is: should museums tell their employees what they can and can’t discuss on their personal sites?

The release of certain information can also be a problem even on an institutionally controlled site. For example: Let’s say Daniel, our New Media Director, comes back from Spain next week and blogs about something regarding an artist in an upcoming exhibition that he interviewed. Let’s also say that the curatorial department was waiting to release that information for whatever reason – we might have ourselves one unhappy curator, or even worse, maybe an unhappy artist. (With effective communication amongst departments, this issue should not be as difficult to manage as the issue of personal Facebook, blog or Twitter accounts).

Content Control – With so many departments/individuals managing various sites and social network accounts for the institution, who’s the gatekeeper of information? For example, if multiple writers are contributing to a blog (as is the case here at the IMA) how do you filter or should you filter content? Is there someone that gets final say on what goes up where?

Content Quality – Because it’s so easy to post things on the internet and incredibly cost efficient how does an institution refrain from overloading their audiences? Even worse, how do we keep from putting up information (that might not be very good or insightful) just because we can? Here is a short post by Matt Yglesias that suggests that while non profits are increasingly enjoying the captivity of online audiences, the quality of information on the web is a growing problem.

Like most everyone I have come across, I do not have answers to all of these questions nor do I have a suggested policy or manual. But I will leave you with some additional links that I have found useful in the discussion of social media and museums.

IMA’s Blog Guidelines – which is posted directly on our blog.

Powerhouse Museum’s 2007 Blog Policy

BBC’s social media policy – this is a good example of a fairly extensive policy.

Brooklyn Museum’s Shelley Bernstein discussed various ways to use social media sites in Where Do We Go From Here? at the 2008 Museums & the Web conference. I would be shocked if the topic of social media policies were not discussed at M&W 2009, which is here in Indy, next week.

And finally – On the lighter side, this article entitled The 14 Types of Twitter Personalities might help you pinpoint some possible problems or areas of concern for your workplace.

plenty more here

I’m in no way comparing our new site with Lolcats. But they mentioned a strategy that we have directly copied with European Design – and will be doing so with a another ‘art video’ site later this month. They shared with the packed Austin, TX audience (munching on cheeseburgers), that with I Has a Hotdog! they very quietly released the site. No major marketing campaigns, no online ads, no webcasts – you get the picture. It launched and they watched. They watched it gain traffic, made changes and waited. We’re doing something similar with European Design.

European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century

This exhibition opens March 8, so in the weeks leading up to this opening, you’ll begin to see more marketing strategies associated with the exhibition and this new site. This will include print pieces, billboard, e-mails, etc. This is one of the earliest site launches ever done by the IMA and the site is still incomplete. I don’t see a problem with that.  With our projects, we often wait until the very last moment – or when we feel that it has reached the ‘perfect’ level.  I’m all for taking a more informal approach to what we publish.

We will be adding Designer Profiles on a regular basis between now and the run of the show. We will be adding audio and video content. And we have a couple of tricks up our sleeves for other content ideas. Some IMA staff have posted this site on their Facebook walls, e-mailed friends, or tweeted. You may have found it within IMA’s main site.

Now I’m letting the lolcat out of the bag – blog style. Come see a site that will keep getting better and before the real marketing campaign begins. It’s like a band that’s on the verge of making it, and you can say, “I knew it when…”

The first of these is a product from Solio. It’s essentially a portable battery that can be charged either from a wall socket or (preferably) from the sun. Getting a full charge from the wall takes a few hours, while charging from the sun on a sunny day takes about half a day. Clouds and windows are a couple of factors that reduce the rate of charge. As the instructions indicate, it seems that there is not enough radiation coming in on cloudy days to charge from indoors. Getting a full charge from indoors or on cloudy days can take somewhere between 1 and 2 days. At first I thought I might be able to charge my iPhone solely from this charger (which requires about half the capacity of the battery), but this will be difficult in Midwestern winters. Maybe I’ll have better luck in the summer. In any case, at least I can guarantee that some of the energy in my phone is carbon-free.

Another great thing about the latest version of this charger is that it uses the iGo system. I hadn’t heard of this before, but it’s a great idea. There is one cable that plugs into the device, and a host of tips that plug onto the cable to accommodate portable devices from cell phones to music players to Game Boys. You can even purchase other types of cables so that the system can be used for charging in the car or directly from the wall. This means that less material is used to produce cables and power adapters. The charger comes with a set of tips for some of the more common phones, but I had to buy a special one to handle the 3G iPhone.

The other find relates to an earlier post that I did on efficiency. I had used another gadget to estimate that my entertainment center costs me about $60 annually just when everything is “powered off” (aka, in standby). Since then, I’ve planned on finding a solution to that problem. Everything in the cabinet runs from one surge protector, which does have a switch. The difficulties have been that the TiVo and antenna should remain powered on while everything else switches off, and that the switch isn’t very easy to reach on the floor behind the cabinet.

Enter the Belkin Conserve surge protector. An absolutely brilliant idea that I hadn’t expected to discover, but it solves my dilemma perfectly. Like another surge protector that I own, two of its outlets are unswitched. This means that the TiVo and antenna can stay on to diligently record NOVA, Biggest Loser, American Idol, and The Big Bang Theory. But the remote switch is where the genius comes in. The switch fits into a slim mount that can be either stuck or screwed (or both, I suppose) onto a wall or other convenient surface, but can be removed and kept someplace more at-hand. It can also be configured to control multiple surge protector units (for those of us geeks who require a copious number of outlets). Another huge plus… it cost $40. So, according to my estimate it will pay for itself in 8 months, and leave an extra $60 in my pocket every year after that… which might be enough to cover the cost of my addiction to books.

The fact that these products can be found on store shelves is evidence that the era of energy efficiency has arrived.

Because we know, do we ever know, that a squirrel or a freeze or a lightening strike can take it away in a blink of the eye. For instance, on true wintery days like today we are very appreciative of plants with colorful twigs and berries.

Deciduous hollies are probably my first pick for a good berry show. This group of plants consists of mostly Ilex verticillata (winterberry) cultivars and hybrids and Ilex decidua (possumhaw – you gotta love that name) cultivars and hybrids. The fruit is usually red but cultivars are available with gold and orange as well. While these will tolerate a little shade the more sun they get the better they fruit. They will also tolerate wetter than average soils and are not as sensitive as evergreen hollies to our sometimes bitter winters. As with other hollies you need both male and female plants (Prop 8 would pass very easily in Hollyfornia) but you can have several females for one male (every male holly’s fantasy no doubt – what happens in Holly Vegas stays …) or you can just rely on a male from somebody else nearby (like in Desperate Hollywives).

Most of these plants get quite large, 6+ tall and wide in less than 10 years, with some eventually getting well over 10 feet tall and wide. But some dwarf forms are available, including the very beautiful ‘Red Sprite’ planted in Nonie’s Garden and on the tunnel as you approach our main entrance. There is another group of these near the parking garage. The taller ones in Nonie’s Garden are ‘Cacapon’.

Nonie's Garden

As you leave the property at 40th street look to the south between the 2 signs and there is another group of deciduous hollies. The pale orange ones are ‘Wintergold’ and the reds are ‘Afterglow’.

Wintergold

The ones without fruit are the male, ‘Jim Dandy’. Two other male cultivars are named ‘Southern Gentleman’ and ‘Red Escort’. Can you believe those names? Sounds like a male stripper’s convention.

When I said the hollies were my first pick I had forgotten the Viburnums. I’ll give you some names. Sorry, there’s a limit to what I can do here so be good and do your own research. For great fruit in viburnums I like V. dilitatum (‘Asian Beauty’ ‘Michael Dodge’, ‘Cardinal Candy’), V. setigerum, V. sieboldii. Other fruiting shrubs of interest include the native Symphorocarpos (coralberry) and the not native Callicarpa (beautyberry).
I’m out of time and space to cover the colored twigs! I will try to do something on them at a later date. Before I forget, I saw a red fox in the gardens today. How great is that. I hope it sticks around and eats lots of voles. Of course, the fox is just pretty to look at regardless. Just like a well placed deciduous holly outside your biggest window. Gotta go folks. Is that hot chocolate ready yet?

Initial graphic treatment by Matt K

It’s not typical for us (or other museums/institutions) to share pending design or identity work.  But in the spirit of transparency, not taking ourselves too seriously, and just ‘doing it’, I thought I would share some of the preliminary work and concepts.  Earlier this week I met with members of the Design Studio – David Russick – Chief Designer, Matt Kelm – Graphic Designer, and Brad Dilger – Installation Technician – to finalize plans for the reopening of this space that will include a mixture of darker wall tones, versions of the graphic treatments in this post, track lighting,  a large projection, touch screen computers and furniture featured by the Design Center (you can actually buy the furniture that will be in The Davis LAB).

Space, as of yesterday (no flash!)

There has been a real conscious decision by David and Matt to tie in creative solutions to the integration of graphic design, furniture and technology.  It’s hard to truly visualize the end result based on flat drawings, paint chips and carpet samples, but I’m starting to see it come together and I’m really excited.  It will be unlike any other space in the museum and both David and Matt have shown real awareness of the needs of this environment.

Periodic table inspired graphic by Matt K

In terms of technology, we will be debuting a brand new video website via a projector and providing a comfortable environment, where visitors can lounge, search and select what they want to watch (remember, I’m against the orientation video).  We also want to encourage participation from our visitors, so we are installing (4) computer workstations, using the new (very hip [but not Mac's]) HP Touchsmarts.  Everyone will have the opportunity to share their perspectives via many of our online identities such as this blog, Flickr, exhibition websites and other new digital projects.  We create websites and videos and podcasts because we want you to have meaningful and unique connections with the museum and art.  But – we also want to hear directly from you.   Don’t be shy.

Subtle prompts for you to interact, again by Matt K

So that’s the inside scoop on what’s happening in The Davis LAB later this month.  When you combine looming deadlines, lots of work, creativity and last minute ideas, stuff has a tendency of changing – but for now, this is our design direction for this space.  Or perhaps this is a clever ploy by yours truly, to motivate you into visiting in person after January 24th.

Happy New Year!

Isabel Bishop’s Tidying Up

One of the great things about working in an art museum is the opportunity to really get to know a collection. It is a sad reality of museum work that sometimes, although we are literally surrounded by a wonderful and varied collection of art, the practicalities of making the institution do the things it does overwhelm museum employees, causing us to spend more time in Outlook than actually looking around. It has been my experience that walking the galleries almost always yields some surprise, or reacquaints me with a painting I’ve admired but lost touch with, or is just somehow the right painting for the right day. A stroll through the American galleries earlier this week included some time spent with Tidying Up by Isabel Bishop, a painting that I’ve seen many times,. I’ve always liked the painting, but this time the painting really seemed special, and I’ve been thinking about why.

I’ll foreground my discussion of the painting with an admission: I think my interest in any painting, or the degree to which a painting affects me, is nearly always dependent on the way the painting connects with or disputes some ongoing development in my own art making process. I suppose I am a selfish viewer, but I think that it is also about the value of placing yourself within a lineage of artists, and finding commonalities in practice across eras and locations. I think that is one part of what museums provide for most artists, a place to construct a framework for your own practice, a building that serves as some kind of physical demonstration of the value of making art as a collective human endeavor. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about drawing and observation, and about the way that keeping a sketchbook full of drawings done on the spot and in the moment formalizes the process of looking around, and helps remind one to be always at the ready for visual inspiration. Bishop’s painting speaks to that impulse to see and interpret, and in keeping with the nostalgic air of the beginning of this post, reminds of me of days spent on trains and in public spaces sketching unsuspecting strangers. I have become a frequent visitor to the Urban Sketchers site which is a collection of artists in cities all around the world who post scans of their sketchbooks, including some drawings of commuters that rhyme nicely with the un-posed and informal look of Tidying Up.

I love the way that finding oneself unexpectedly entranced by a painting can act as a catalyst that links and crystallizes thoughts. In an unexpected way, I find myself connecting both the work posted on the sketchblog and Bishop’s painting to the work of Charles and Ray Eames. Before researching and installing the current Star Studio exhibition, More than Four Legs: A Closer Look at Chairs (through January 19), I was familiar with the work of Charles and Ray Eames as designers, but knew very little about their photography. The show contains a label written by Charles Eames’s granddaughter, Carla Hartman that details the amazing volume of photographs that Charles and Ray Eames produced (hundreds of thousands of still images). Many of the photos record apparently simple, common household tableaus (dishes in a sink, a bouquet of flowers). I love the idea of a cumulative record of the visual events encountered in daily life that prompted the desire to artfully record the moment, to produce a personal library of framed views of the world. Perhaps today Charles and Ray would have a massive Flickr account or would keep a really great photoblog.
Combining Bishop’s painting (and the long history of reportage-style drawing that is implied by it ) with the examples of lifetimes of close looking found in the work of Charles and Ray Eames creates a model for really seeing and understanding the world through constant, disciplined application and exertion of the “view-finding” eye. The message I get is shoot photos, make drawings, watch the space around you for art, both purposeful and unplanned. Look more intently at the world around you.

I don’t want to overstate this, but I feel like Isabel Bishop’s modestly scaled painting is acting as my own stand-in for Rilke’s Archaic Torso of Apollo, and reminding me of the unique, and really kind of unreasonable, impact that an object in a museum can have on one’s thinking. The last line of Rilke’s poem is “You must change your life.” There is an echo of that message to be found in museums everywhere, and it is likely to be triggered by an object far less obviously imbued with the weight of historic significance than an ancient Greek statue.

So, for me 2009 is going to be a year of looking around more intently, drawing more, and a year of allowing myself frequent opportunities to be surprised and affected by the works in the museum’s collections. Maybe I will also start writing more concise blog posts. Happy New Year.

The 'Head'

I had planned to go out in the gardens today and get some pictures of the various shrubs with good fruit for this blog. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate. I’m writing this on Tuesday and so far at 2 in the afternoon we have gone from bitter cold with wind to freezing drizzle, oh yea, there was that brief little snow fury, and later we are to get some wintery mix followed by more freezing drizzle and some sleet. Can you tell I’m just thrilled to the bone? But no sense dwelling on it too long. It will be what it will be and I really have no control though I keep trying. Pity. So instead I am going to tell you about some of our summer annuals for next year. Looking at summery plant porn always makes me feel better. Not warmer, but happier, thus making accepting what I cannot control a bit easier.

Katie and I are trying a new zinnia in ’09. Zinnia marylandica is the scientific name listed though as of yet I don’t know if that is a valid name. It comes in a series called Zahara so the one Katie is using is ‘Zahara Yellow’ and I’m using that one plus ‘Zahara Coral Rose’ and ‘Zahara Scarlet’. There is a white available as well. These are a smaller zinnia similar to the Profusion or Star series but with a larger bloom. Once established they are said to require less water. Since they are from seed they cost less too. Many companies will be offering the seed I’m sure.

Zinnia marylandica or Zahara?

Jim’s using Torenia ‘Yellow Moon’ next year. The yellow and maroon flowers are welcome addition to all the blues available in this genus. I had one in my garden at home and it performed beautifully in a mostly shady situation. It would be great in containers with some plants that picked up that maroon color in the throat.

Torenia ‘Yellow Moon

Only last week I discovered why these are called wishbone flower. If you look closely the pair of stamens is connected at the anthers making them look very much like a wishbone from a chicken or turkey.

Salvias are always an important part of our gardens so I’m interested in Geoff’s selection of Salvia hormium ‘Marble Arch Rose’.  It’s one of those plants now considered an heirloom and not used real often. At nearly 2 feet tall is would also make a good cutflower either fresh or dried.

Salvia hormium ‘Marble Arch Rose’.

I like Patty’s combo of apricot zinnias with dark burgundy ‘Black Velvet’ nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).  Nasturtiums are beautiful for their foliage alone with those nearly round leaves and mounding habit, except for the climbers of course. And they taste so peppery.

apricot zinnias with dark burgundy ‘Black Velvet’ nasturtium

And you certainly cannot have a garden without coleus. Now don’t forget, the current scientific name for most of the coleus plants we use today is Solenostemon scutellarioides (I always forget that second i).  Chad will be using a coleus called ‘Balcenna’ being sold under the name Henna. It’s all that trademark stuff. According to the breeder it is a Simply Beautiful®, a Made for the Shade, and a Hot Summer Survivors selection. It’s kind of the Meryl Streep of coleus isn’t it? I like the great texture of the leaves but add to that the chartreuse, copper, and burgundy colors in the leaves and my, my, my. You’ve got something there.

Good old Coleus

These are just a few of the plants we will be using in 2009. Expect to see some of the very same plants that we used in 2008 also because our basement is half full of bananas, ensetes, and elephant ears. Okay that is a slight exaggeration. But if you added in all the dahlias and cannas in the root cellar I would be real close. Now, I must get back to finding some more plants. You all do the same.

If you visited the IMA’s permanent galleries more than once this year, it is likely you did not see the same works of art. Each month the IMA rotates different works of art in an effort to display the breadth of the Museum’s collection. The scheduled rotation is determined through a collaboration between curators and conservators. Curators decide which works are displayed and their display time frame, while the conservators regulate the exposure time of certain sensitive artworks. Below are just a handful of the hundreds of works newly displayed in the IMA’s galleries in 2008:

For a look at all the works that went on view in 2008, visit the IMA’s Dashboard.

In celebration of the IMA’s 125th anniversary, the Museum also sought to acquire 125 new gifts to add to its collection this year. Stay tuned for a complete recap of this project.

Alice with students at Cold Spring School

What does it mean to say, “I live in Indiana”?  What is distinctive about that, as opposed to saying, “I live in Colorado,” or, “I live in Florida”?  These questions came to my mind as I listened to chef, author and food revolutionary Alice Waters speak at The Toby on December 2 as part of the IMA’s Planet Indy series. Alice was describing the simple delights of eating local, seasonal food, as well as the simple genius of rebuilding local economies around sustainable practices. In Alice’s economy, producers of organic vegetables, fruits, dairy items and meats know that their products will supply local markets and restaurants instead of being shipped across the country. Organic producers make a decent living; their neighbors enjoy fresh, high quality food and improved health.

Alice’s revolution is aesthetic as well as economic. She advocates beautiful experiences with the food we enjoy. She believes that children deserve to learn how to notice tastes and scents, and to develop the language skills to describe these and their thoughts about such sensations. During Alice’s visit we discussed the Human Capabilities initiative of philosopher Martha Nussbaum and Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen. They argue that a humane society has a responsibility to give its citizens the opportunity to develop such capabilities as understanding how to care for their bodies, how to give and receive love, and how to communicate effectively. I have sense that Alice, Martha and Amartya are on the same wavelength.

Hmmm…. I started to feel that my own residence in Indiana is a bit superficial, and not all that aesthetically appealing, either. I have an address in Indianapolis, but an inventory of my refrigerator and cupboards wouldn’t necessarily confirm that statement. Veggies from California, bottled water from New York.  If I had amnesia and went to my kitchen in search of clues about my own life, there would be little evidence to help me deduce my location. And if you asked me to name a good, local, organic poultry producer, I’d be stumped. I spend most of my days in Indiana, but I have no meaningful relationship with the farmers or cheese makers in my area who are working to produce quality food.

Nearly a year ago as the IMA staff began planning for Alice’s visit, we initiated a series of meetings with organic producers, chefs and culinary arts instructors, school lunch decision-makers, and environmental educators. It was amazing to see the groundswell of enthusiasm and the number of committed people who wanted to help bring Alice’s message to a wider public. IMA educators initiated a partnership with Cold Spring School, IPS’s environmental magnet and a neighbor to the Museum, to introduce some of the ideas in Alice’s Edible Schoolyard initiative. At Cold Spring I saw children learn where tomatoes come from and how different a local, vine ripened tomato tastes from a cellophane-wrapped import purchased at the grocery store.

In 1971, American meditation teacher Ram Dass wrote a book called Remember, Be Here Now. I’ve always loved that line: Be Here Now. I know that my distracted attention wanders all over the place and is often anywhere but here in this moment. I think that if you added up all the moments in my life when I have really been consciously present – in my body, in the instant – the sum total of those moments of fully-lived experience would be pretty small.

Alice isn’t teaching meditation, but she is advocating that life be lived more fully and with greater consciousness. She is urging us to help our children discover that a fuller life is their birthright. Live here now.