(photo via Joe Shoemaker)

Last week, I represented the IMA (@IMAMuseum) at the Indianapolis Social Media Breakfast (@indysmb) on the topic of Using Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Attraction Industries. Serving on the panel with me were representatives from IndyHub (@IndyHub), The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (@TCMIndy), The State Fair Grounds (@IndyStateFair), and the ICVA (@VisitIndy). Sitting in the audience were some of the most engaged social networkers in the city. It was a great opportunity to discuss the IMA’s social media strategy and to hear how other organizations are utilizing social networks for marketing and audience development strategies. (In case you don’t know, the “@” behind the organization refers to its Twitter account).

To sum up, here’s what I discussed:

1. Social Media = Social Networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) + Social Content (Video, blogs, etc.) If an organization creates great social content then social networking is a heckuvalot easier! Producing good, engaging content should be your top priority.
2. The staff person/s that manage/s Facebook and Twitter is your online visitor services staff. Whether they speak from their own voice or on behalf of your organization, Social Media staff are evangelists of the organization. They have to be authentically passionate about what they communicate and be willing to live the mission of the organization. The best Social Networking is done 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
3. When it comes to online strategy, the best plan is to not plan. While it’s essential that overall communication objectives and key messages are understood, the best social media presences are those that have the ability to be flexible, responsive and experimental.

See the full discussion:

Indianapolis Social Media Breakfast | May 13th 2010 from Twelve Stars Media Productions on Vimeo.

Want More?

If you are local and want to learn more about the IMA and our social media strategy, you’re in luck! This Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 we will be hosting Bloggers Anonymous, a meetup group of individuals who are interested in art, technology, online communications and networking. Come, grab a drink in Nourish Café, get some freebies, and meet some really great people while you’re at it!

If I want to become part of the IMA’s blogging team (and I do), I’m supposed to write something about myself and the best anecdote or experience I had at the museum.

What is best? Best for you to read or best for me to have? I don’t know. It’s all been good. So I’ll just give you my top five experiences and let you decide what’s best. Let’s save the boring bio stuff for the end. I’ll try not to make it too boring, yet totally true. Have you noticed how easily people brag/exaggerate in their online bios? Everybody is a guru of something. Not me. But we’ll talk about that later.

My top five IMA experiences

#1. My husband and I were standing in the lobby of the IMA at a kickoff party for a big opening. A woman came up to me and said I looked exactly like Annette Bening. I have to admit, that was a few years ago and she may have had a few drinks when she said it. But still. There’s not a menopausal woman anywhere who wouldn’t savor that compliment. Call me shallow. I don’t remember the exhibit opening but I do remember being compared to one of my favorite movie stars.

#2. I took a drawing class at the IMA once and learned that I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. No latent talent just waiting to be developed. The instructor’s approach was simple: draw the shapes of a canvas in the gallery and fill in the space with the basic proportions of the objects within–not the details, just the proportions. “Oh, please!” I thought. “Anyone can do that.” Wrong. But, hey, at least I can remove learning to draw from my bucket list and get on to other more realistic things like growing my own vegetables.

#3. Sometimes I take a book to the IMA and read in the comfy leather chairs scattered throughout the galleries. I don’t even look at the art. I know. That’s what libraries are for. Here’s the problem. I work in a library two days a week. Trust me. You don’t want to read or study at a public library unless they have washable leather or vinyl seating. I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself. Check out your books and read them at home or at the IMA. People are usually quiet when looking at great art. And you can sit down without worrying about well, as I said, I’ll let you figure that one out.

#4. The IMA is a great place to go after a disagreement with your spouse or significant other. One summer day, after my husband said or did something I found atrociously thoughtless, I jumped in the car and headed to the museum for a walk. After nearly 30 minutes of stomping around the grounds in a rage, I started to notice that everything was in full bloom. I found myself in front of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture. It reminded me that my petty little fight didn’t amount to much in the scheme of things. I remembered that my marriage (sort of like that LOVE sculpture) was permanent. It was a what-would-Jackie-do moment for me. I got in my car, headed home and made lunch for my husband.

#5. I’m a big fan of the one-hour IMA visit. Let’s face it. For the average Jane (that’s me) who doesn’t know much about art, the prospect of slogging your way through a complete exhibit, reading every line is like asking a first grader to read Moby Dick. Whether they can read it or not, they most certainly won’t be able to connect all the dots. Not enough experience. I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. But I don’t deprive myself just because I’m a little ignorant. If there’s an interesting exhibit, I go for an hour. I pick out one piece that really appeals to me. I try to learn all I can about that piece while I’m there. Then I leave. If I have time, I try to learn more afterwards. I may decide to go again for another hour. This is the only way I know to have an experience that sticks. I probably miss some important stuff with this technique, but I look forward to going back because I know I’m not going to make myself bored and tired. Good art deserves our best attention. I believe in giving it all I’ve got, an hour at a time. But that’s just me. Everyone should do it their way.

Now for the boring, but totally true bio stuff I promised. Once upon a time, I was a corporate writer paid to write things for big business. It’s the only kind of writing I ever found where you can make enough money to support yourself. After doing that for about 11 years, I started to connect with what one of my colleagues said about our work: “I’m really tired of writing pink champagne and having some attorney rewrite it until it becomes like distilled water.” I’m not saying I’m a pink champagne kind of writer. But I did have a few moments of greatness along the way, especially while I was working for a company I truly believed in.

Gradually I worked up my courage to swap that life for one that now includes all my loves–books, kids, writing, yoga and more time for golf and family. (I know that last part sounds trite, but it’s true.) In 2004, I finished a master’s in library science, which allowed me to enter the library profession at a wage that keeps me above the poverty level. I knew it wouldn’t pay as well, but I get to do and say what I want. It’s hard to put a price on that. When I’m not working part-time at the library, teaching yoga, or helping my husband in a small, family-owned business, I write a blog, Leading Reads. It’s mostly devoted to inspiring books, ideas, and people plus an occasional golf or yoga story.

Why vote for me? I write well, enjoy art enough that I visited Italy for an art and architecture tour a few years ago, and live just a few miles from the IMA. I can be there in a heartbeat. I don’t know enough to be snooty about things, so I can promise you I won’t have a highbrow complex if you give me this pleasure of blogging. A crown was promised with this position, but it’s not necessary. If someone would occasionally tell me I look like Annette Bening that would be nice.

Tell Us A Little About Yourself:

Well, hello!  My name is Jessica Hancock and you’ve asked me to tell you a little about myself.  This is always a struggle as it’s easier to do in person, but the point of a “blogger” is to be as electronically-concise and as catchy as possible.  So, here goes…

I was born and raised in an Indianapolis suburb boasting mansions and cornfields, which did suit me well until I realized the world was a bigger place. Yep, it really is.  I convinced myself to pick up and study abroad in Londontown where my cultural education was based solely on gallery-hopping, pint-gulping and boarding cheap airlines to other countries, all while scraping the bottom of my bank account to mere pennies. ‘Twas a time! Fast forward through college, I am now a fundraiser by occupational trade and love being involved in the local community.  I’m stoked to say that, at the ripe age of 27, I proudly serve on two local Boards – Bicycle Indiana and more recently, I was invited to serve on the Earth House Collective Board.  How do I spend my time, you ask?  Easy. Picture me attending a smattering of as many live concerts as possible, traveling traveling traveling, monthly volunteering at the IMA, drinking copious amounts of black tea with cream & sugar, riding my bikes aimlessly through the streets of Indy and dallying about my new house.  I became a home owner this summer!  I count my blessings daily and never have forgotten where I came from [ahem, the sticks of Boone County].

Tell Us a Story:

My very first visit to the IMA was an embarrassing one, complete with a blushing red face and an uneasy stomach. In the third grade, my teacher took our class to the art museum.  Yay.  Upon arrival, I learned that my adorably-retired Grandma was to be our docent for the day.  This wouldn’t have been anything other than awesome, except I was in the midst of trying to woo a particularly cute male classmate of mine, and that day, I was disgustingly close to giving him the “circle yes or no” do-you-like-me note.  I had my plan all mapped out – I would slip him the note in the European art gallery, right under a Gauguin.  To make a painfully long story short, my Grandma whisked us through the American art galleries like a pro, and as soon as we entered into the Asian art gallery, she made a comment about how close I had been standing to a certain boy all day – out loud, so that all could hear. “Who is this boy, Jessie?” Thanks, Grandma.  The rest of the visit to the museum was spent in a mental fog, with at least a 75-foot distance between me and the boy.  Needless to say, I needed a second visit to become acquainted with the European galleries.  That day, I realized that I loved the IMA more than I loved my classmate.

Why should you be an IMA blogger?

I should be a blogger for the IMA not only because I am enjoyably familiar with the IMA galleries and activities, but also because I have been a megaphone for the museum this past year.

In 2009, I’ve seen many ups and downs of the museum.  This should not be overshadowed by the fact that I’ve also seen an increase in quality of exhibits, events and community awareness around Indy.  I would be honored to be apart of spreading the good word out through this blog opportunity, bridging that gap in person’s cerebellum contemplating “Hm. Should I go to the IMA today?  Or no.  Is it worth my time and money?”  This city is really coming around in terms of it’s artful offerings.  Sacred Spain was remarkable and free (?!!?!).  I hope that the whole darn city knew that and took advantage.  I’ll make it my personal duty to exemplify through words, my experiences, opinions and quirky thoughts on all-things IMA.  Pick me, pick me!

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: Sleevage

sleevage.com

If you’re like us, you’re still recovering from the holidays-  so here’s a few of our picks guaranteed to put pep back in your in your step. Sleevage is a blog all about music cover art. From the LP’s of the 60’s to the digital artworks of now.

ArtBabble Video: Photography: The Wet Collodion Process

Invented in 1851, the wet collodion photographic process produced a glass negative and a beautifully detailed print. Preferred for the quality of the prints and the ease with which they could be reproduced, the new method thrived from the 1850s until about 1880.

IMA Work of Art:

New Year's Shooter by Luks, George Benjamin

Tweet:

imamuseum: So You Think You Can Blog? We’re searching for a new blogger and it could be you. http://bit.ly/79BPe4

• Mention user
• Direct message user
• Follow user
• Unfollow user
• Block user
• Unblock user
• Report user for spam

• New list

Create a new list
Update this list
×

List name

List URL twitter.com/morningnutbags/

Privacy

Public — Anyone can subscribe to this list.

Private — Only you can access this list.

Are you sure?Switching your list from public to private will remove all of its subscribers.

Find people to add to your list:

Search for a username, first or last name, business or brand

You can also add people from your Following page or anyone’s profile page.

This list doesn’t follow any users yet. It probably will soon, though.

Following

Blocked
— Unblock

Blocked
— Undo

Blocked and reported for spam
— Undo

— Undo

Pending
— Cancel

• Mention user
• Direct message user
• Follow user
• Unfollow user
• Block user
• Unblock user
• Report user for spam

• New list

Create a new list
Update this list
×

List name

List URL twitter.com/morningnutbags/

Privacy

Public — Anyone can subscribe to this list.

Private — Only you can access this list.

Are you sure?

Switching your list from public to private will remove all of its subscribers.

Find people to add to your list:

Search for a username, first or last name, business or brand

You can also add people from your Following page or anyone’s profile page.

This list doesn’t follow any users yet. It probably will soon, though.

Following

Blocked
— Unblock

Blocked
— Undo

Blocked and reported for spam
— Undo

— Undo

Pending
— Cancel

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

I SAID... Leggo my Eggo! (thepancakeproject.blogspot.com)

Blog: The Pancake Project

We’re really into food blogs around here, can you tell? Heart-shaped pancakes are for newbs. Take your pancaking skills to the next level… then submit your creations to this blog… and then eat them.

ArtBabble Video: Bari Kumar – The Making of Blind Faith, 2009

IMA Work of Art:

evening ensemble by Norman Norell (Designer)

Tweet:

danielincandela: ArtBabble has made it’s way onto Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/8j6YMM

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: Scanwiches

Jon Chonko, a New York graphic designer who has been scouring the local deli scene, has a scanwich blog for his findings, replete with delectable cross sections to satisfy your every sandwich desire. If you’re not hungry now, you’re about to be.

(via npr)

ArtBabble Video: Behind the Scenes: Tim Burton

IMA Work of Art:

Alchemilla vase by Alessandro Mendini (Designer)

Tweet:

RichardMcCoy: Finishing up my next @Art21 post. Sneak peak: there’s talk of Futuro House by Matti Suuronen http://bit.ly/2jIqHg

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

www.eatmedaily.com

Blog: Eat Me Daily

Eat Me Daily is a blog about food with a critical (and sometimes cynical) take on the culture at large, including media, books, cookbooks, art, design, celebrity, fashion, robots, and cookery.

ArtBabble Video: Director’s Journal: Virgin of Guadalupe

IMA Work of Art:

LOVE by Robert Indiana

Tweet:

vangoghmuseum: @boijmans Congratulations on the launch of ArtTube, a brand new videochannel! the Dutch #ArtBabble?

From Flickr user SillyFrog

I went upstairs to see the Adaptation installation, and was immediately drawn to the unassuming Herrera exhibit, “Les Noces”.  It presents itself from outside as a placard and a pitch dark walkway leading into the unknown from which emanates the intense singing and occasional screaming of a Stravinsky scored ballet.

Hearing the unmistakably Russian 20th century music with tall chords and harsh brutal sounds, I was intrigued, but the video installation was so well protected from outside light that I was afraid I’d walk into something.  Honestly, I was simply afraid of the whole exhibit, and I turned on my heel returning to the light of the museum.  I eventually had to psyche myself up to enter.  My initial experience of the piece was unsettling not least of which was due to my body adjusting to the levels of adrenaline my system released simply walking through the light trap.

Source image from Arturo Herrera’s two-channel digital projection Les Noces, 2007. Courtesy the artist and Sikkema & Co.

The music was harsh. I found myself wondering who performed and conducted the recording that was blasting through the room.  The vocals sounded intentionally raw, and it added to the discombobulating effect of two screens each displaying two images per screen with bits of photography and drawing projected onto either end of the room without direct connection to the music being played.  Here was an adaptation, the substitution being the constant animation of squiggles and what might be Bullwinkle the Moose’s right arm and torso rather than the dancers on a stage. Instead of viewing the performance as a member of an audience in a group of people organized in orderly rows the performance surrounded me, the single viewer.  This created a personal experience, one that was both meditative and jarring.  The abstract images lent themselves to individual projection.  I watched the piece and listened to the music and simply experienced what was happening.

Given the opportunity to try and decode the images and the references to marriage and ballet or to simply observe with my eyes and ears I chose the latter.  There comes a time when the meta-memes outpace themselves and all antecedents have to be used as springboards rather than the object of reference.  Wugh.  It was shortly after I arrived at that conclusion that the final resolution of the swelled and clacked, I shook my head back into the present, and  I made my way out of the room back into the airy museum.  I took a deep breath when I got out.  I had gained an abstract experience I could not describe.

Not bad for a lazy Saturday.

For years available only in pinkish lavender and occasionally white it now has its petals dyed every shade of yellow and orange, even red. And the pinkish lavender? Well, now it’s every thing from soft true pink to deepest rose. Not content to merely change her petal color Echinacea has teased herself and added braids and weaves til she’s jacked that cone all the way up to Jesus. She’s sipping Merlot After Midnight at the end of a day of partying from Sunrise to Sunset. At Twilight it was off to another event with her friend Ruby Giant who seems to have developed a Fatal Attraction over a Flame Thrower. Lunch was Mac ‘N’ Cheese and Tomato Soup. Indeed little Echinacea has arrived.

What changed Echinacea so much? Exposure to diversity (Imagine, just like people!)

Plant breeders decided to see what would happen when they crossed the many species of the pinkish and white coneflowers with the odd-plant out of the group, the Yellow Coneflower, Echinacea paradoxa.

Don’t you love that? Paradoxa. You know, it’s a paradox that it’s yellow. Or at least that’s how I see it. Anyway, this addition of yellow brought about all sorts of colors. Chicago Botanical Garden led the way with the first releases, followed quickly by the Saul brothers down in Alpharetta, Georgia. Since then just about every person with two plants has a breeding program.  One cannot ignore the other major factor affecting the change which was selection within the already established plant species especially Echinacea purpurea.

With so many to choose from it can be difficult to pick. I’m just going to touch on a few. Trial and error will weed out the undeserving in time. I love many of the new cultivars but have also seen them blooming beautifully with the stems lying on the ground because they can’t support the flowers. I don’t mind doing some staking but it is an area breeders need to work on.

The species types can be very nice in their own right. Echinacea pallida, pale purple coneflower, has narrow drooping petals.

These E. tennesseensis hybrids in the IMA Horticultural Society Overlook behind Deer Zink show their mixed parentage with diverse leaf types, flower types, and petal colors.

A gift from Angela Treadwell-Palmer of Plants Nouveau gave us the opportunity to try 3 new white coneflowers in the upper cutting garden, all of them Echinacea purpurea selections. ‘Avalanche’  is a shorter plant than average, around 2 feet tall.

‘Champagne Bubbles’ gets its name I think from the color that appears in the cone.

Nice but not earth shattering, but if it stays upright with minimum staking and has a long bloom time, then it’s still very good. The one I am really excited about is ‘Milkshake’, a double that is supposed to remain white even as it ages.

I’m hoping she will give us some ‘Hot Papaya’ to trial. Puh-leeease Angela! I need ‘Hot Papaya’.

We have had some of the Big Sky series of coneflowers from Itsaul Plants for a few years. In the Garden for Everyone, the Sutphin Mall, and on the Tunnel you will find Sundown.

Also on the Tunnel is a large swath of Twilight.

When the rain garden off the Greenhouse parking lot is completed in a couple weeks we will have a third member of this group, Summer Sky. Overall these have been very good plants in all aspects.

Another selection of Echinacea purpurea that has proven to be a very good choice is ‘Ruby Giant’. You can find it in the Formal Garden. It has richly colored larger than normal flowers, excellent plant habit as well.

The people who brought us every possible Heuchera have also been working on coneflower. Dan Heims at Terra Nova is well-known in the plant world to say the least. When I saw the pictures of some of their new Echinaceas it was full-on lust. But I cast a wary eye as so often pictures used in catalogues are quite simply a lie. Not so with Terra Nova’s plants. I have both ‘Tiki Torch’ and ‘Tomato Soup’ blooming in my home garden as I write this. They are HOT! I love the non-fading orange of ‘Tiki Torch’.

‘Tomato Soup’ absolutely glows.

My ‘Mac ‘n’ Cheese’ has its first bud. Can-not-wait.

Now. I’m usually real persnickety with cultivar and trademark names but in this case have played very loosey-goosey. You have plenty of links in this posting however to guide you to the proper nomenclature. I just didn’t have time to get all fancy.

Ellen Carrlee is an objects conservator who lives in Alaska.  We’ve never met in person and only know each other through these internets.  Along with our other friend and objects conservator, Daniel Cull, we’ve decided to take turns this week writing aboutour ideas for “New Directions” for the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).  I was a guest blogger for Ellen on Monday. My post up there in Alaska is filled with lots of crazy ideas.  On Friday, Daniel Cull will make a post on his blog… who knows what he’s cooking up.  Here’s Ellen’s offering:

Straight from Wikipedia:

Elitism is the belief or attitude that those individuals who are considered members of the elite—a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most weight; whose views and/or actions are most likely to be constructive to society as a whole; or whose extraordinary skills, abilities or wisdom render them especially fit to govern.

First things first: we need AIC and I respect the vital role it plays in our professionalism.  You could say I was suckled at the AIC teat.  Back in 1993, I was trying to find someone who would tell me what the heck “conservation” was.  I made a long distance phone call to Jay Krueger, who my uncle told me was a friend of a friend, and one of this mysterious breed called “conservators.”  It was quite a short conversation, and the upshot was “ask AIC.”  I sent away for their brochures (by mail!) and poured over the requirements of the programs.  It was the first of many times I turned to AIC to tell me what I needed to do.

In graduate school at NYU, the conservation professors referred frequently to the standards and ethics outlined by AIC and required us to follow them in our coursework.  I became a member in 1997.  As an emerging professional, I found myself moving to Alaska, the home of exactly three conservators: one was a contemporary from the Winterthur/Delaware program (Monica Shah) and the other was the man I had just married (Scott Carroll from the Buffalo program.)

I also accepted a job as a curator of collections and exhibits, and began a part-time business doing private conservation work.  Suddenly I had a ton of questions about ethics, and the standards of practice I would have to live up to in starting a business.  Again, I turned to AIC and studied its core documents carefully.  I became more interested in listserves in order to stay informed about the conservation world, and frequently thumbed through the AIC directory to see if someone who had posted was affiliated with AIC and therefore steeped in the same professional standards I was familiar with.

Occasionally, someone with an excellent reputation and interesting postings was not listed in AIC at all, and I would wonder why.  In 2006, I jumped through the hoops to become an AIC Professional Associate, which seemed like the closest thing to being vetted by a national professional conservation organization.  I have used AIC and its core documents as a touchstone every step of my career.

WHY DOES AIC TICK PEOPLE OFF?
After I’d been in the field awhile, I began to hear more about why some people didn’t like AIC.  It was elitist, some claimed.  Critical and harsh to outsiders.  It was behind the times.  It didn’t do enough advocacy in the wider public arena to benefit its members.  It had a history of excluding natural history, archaeology, and ethnographic conservation.  It had a history of setting up confrontational or adversarial relationships with various groups of people: people who were not program-trained, restorers, foreigners, archaeologists, maritime conservators, etc.  And there were a fair number of people who had been involved with AIC their entire careers but declared they were fed up, and membership in AIC had no benefits for them.

At first, I assumed they had just had run-ins with some of the more abrasive and powerful personalities that often dominate organizations like AIC.  I daresay conservators can be a cantankerous and self-righteous lot.  I still think that’s part of the issue.  But I also think there is much to be learned (and perhaps a better path for the future) by studying the history of the organization.  There could be a thesis written on that, no doubt.

Reading the “Murray Pease Report” and other early documents however, makes it clear that in the beginning, AIC was largely an organization of conservators specializing in paintings and sculpture.  Individual artifacts of high monetary value that justified money being spent on their conservation.  Those who identified as “conservators” were interested in developing standards to differentiate themselves from “restorers.”  Conservators were scientifically and morally saving art from those who were using dubious recipe books and old wives’ tales to turn a fast buck at the peril of our heritage.  Was this the beginning of an “us versus them” mentality?  Throughout AIC’s history, the institutional culture has time and again organized itself around fighting “them.”  Loosely defined, AIC’s critics have come to see themselves in “them” … anyone who disagrees with the AIC.

CHARISMATIC MEGAFAUNA / BIG SEXY ART

Following the recent debate/defeat of certification, it seems that the organization has now entered a period of introspection and re-evaluation.   AIC is unlikely to break free of its aura of elitism.  It is also doomed to be a venue for those who insist on shooting off their mouths in an undiplomatic fashion.  But it does serve a very important role in conservation in the United States: it is our national professional organization.  Let’s not underestimate that.  But perhaps elitism has been at the root of conservation remaining separate from the museum world: separate programs, training curriculums, and conferences.

Chenhall’s Nomenclature anyone? Marie Malaro?  AAM’s General Facilities Report?

Conservation students are not taught much about the museum profession.  Often, the conservator on staff is seen as the obstructionist. The one who says “no.”  The one who goes by the book and makes everything difficult.  The one who does not get invited to the table.  Elitism is perhaps the cause of AIC’s biggest failure: people don’t know what conservation is.  When I give a lab tour, I always have to define conservation.  My good friends still mistake me for a curator. After more than 50 years as a profession (NYU’s Conservation Center was founded in 1960 and AIC in 1972) we still are scarcely known to the public. Plenty of people think we protect trees.

There is a term in the world of environmentalism: charismatic megafauna.  It refers to the use of large popular animals like pandas and whales to leverage support and protection for whole ecosystems and less flashy critters. Conservators have traditionally focused on Big Sexy Art, and while some aspects of preventive conservation serve to improve the condition of all collections, a lot of our cultural heritage is still neglected.  The Heritage Health Index indicates that 190 million artifacts are in peril, and many of them are in smaller museums with no conservator on staff and little funding to afford one.

These folks often post on listserves:
“How can I reshape this brittle basket in my collection?”
“There’s white fuzzy stuff on this saddle… is it mold?”
“How can I make this samovar shiny again?”

Often the answers come from their colleagues who are well-meaning but misguided.  Hardware store commercial products and Martha Stewart-inspired recommendations are common.  Occasionally someone might jump and scold, “Stop! You have to consult a conservator!”  Pragmatically and financially, many of these objects are not going to get a proper conservation treatment.  But they can be saved from poor treatment choices with just a little in-depth expertise and gentle words of caution in plain English.

Dave Harvey is the champion of this kind of service.  Marc Williams is also thoughtful and generous with his knowledge.  This is the kind of public relations that the conservation world needs more of.  Here’s some of the love!  Jump right in.  Individuals are sometimes working like this, but the profession is not.  What if providing this kind of public voice were a factor in assessing PAs and Fellows?

ELECTRONIC ELISTISM
Elitism is not solely the realm of conservators.  There is brand of elitism found among folks who have passion for computers.  People who are conversant in Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Ning, Delicious, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace…those people are the future. They are connected.  They have the answers.  Or do they?  While the potential of many of these platforms is appealing, the actual content is often rather meager.  Visually stimulating and easy to digest, they remind me of the recent trend toward museums as entertainment.  The blockbuster!  The wall of graphics!  The touch-me interactive!  I say, show me the REAL STUFF.  Give me content.  What is it made of?  Who made it?  Why?

Web 2.0 definitely has its place.  It can function in ways that AIC can’t or won’t.  AIC has a hard time responding in a timely manner on current events and 2.0 folks can take advantage of front line opportunities for PR in our profession.  Viral marketing!  Professional organizations are a bit like museums: slow, careful, and deliberative.  Not designed to jump headlong into new things but rather hang back, observe, and help history sort itself out.  AIC would have a hard time keeping up with Daniel Cull in terms of relevance anyway. Maneuverability is an unfair expectation of AIC.  That should be up to us.  And perhaps our smaller and more nimble regional organizations like WAAC and MRCG.

WHERE IS THE LOVE?
This month, I’m joining the AIA and the SAA.  As a conservator of ethnographic and archaeological materials, I was not even aware until last week that the SAA has a group about perishables.  While I enjoy the AIC annual conference, I think I’ll be aiming to go less frequently in order to direct resources at attending conferences in allied professions.  This has been a talking point in AIC for some time, but there seem to be only a handful who walk the walk.  And I am posting information liberally on the internet…info that might have been considered taboo in the past.

When I was in graduate school, treatment reports done as part of the core courses were saved in a file cabinet in the library.  But it was locked.  Students had to request the key, and it was discouraged.  I never found out why, and I was too timid to ask.  In some ways, I feel the conservation profession is locked in that way, particularly when it comes to availability of treatment information, lest it “fall into the wrong hands.”  After more than a decade in the profession, I have come to believe that in many cases, lack of treatment information does not generally force those objects into the competent hands of conservators.  Nor does it mean that the object won’t be treated.  People will just give it their best shot.  Inside the tent pissing out or outside the tent pissing in?

I have had several stimulating telephone conversations with Jim Jobling at the Conservation Research Lab at Texas A&M.  Certainly there are many ways that his lab is not “AIC compliant.”  And you know what?  He doesn’t care.  He does his work the best he can according to the parallel universe of standards that have developed in maritime conservation world.  Google the names of people who treat shipwreck material or wetsite archaeology and most of those names are not coming from the AIC world.  In fact, many of those names have been affiliated with the Texas A&M program.  Or the program at East Carolina University.  If AIC cannot or will not be more inclusive then it is up to us.

I have long suspected that People Who Know Things tend to share generously, while people who are not sure of their knowledge tend to be defensive and secretive.  How about being the change we want to see? I’m trying to put content on my blog that looks like info I’d like to find.  What if Richard Wolbers had his notes on cleaning techniques that worked and ones that didn’t right there on the web?  What if Tony Sigel had a series of brilliant YouTube clips showing tips for treating ceramics?  Rogue exhibit critiques with Toby Raphael?

Only a small percentage of what I am doing is unique or mature enough to bother jumping through the hoops of journal publication.

But plenty of my files are interesting…

…To folks on lab tours: here is more detail on what happens behind-the-scenes
…To the scientist at NOAA: can we collaborate on this project?
…To the grant committee: here is this prototype of what I would do with the money
…To the prospective intern: this is what working with me would be like, are we a good fit?

Plenty of files in the AIC office are interesting too.  Documents on the history of the organization.  Discussions and reports about difficult issues like certification.  Letters to AIC.  Writings from the Kecks.  Do you have to go to Delaware to read the AIC oral history project?  I would love to see pdf postings of all the past conference brochures!

My own blog doesn’t even need to generate new material…I just need to clean up and post the useful stuff that’s already on my hard drive.  I think AIC could do the same.  And so could you.  If you look at my blog it is probably obvious that what I want is a real webpage, but I can’t be bothered with learning how to set it up.  In fact, I’m pretty bad with technology in general.  If you see a hyperlink (is that the right word?) in this posting, it is because the folks at the IMA know how to make it work, not me.  But a weblog is an easy place to dump my content for everyone to use, and best of all, it has a comment section to allow collaboration.

So, what do you think?