Top 10 lists are actually one of my guilty pleasures of the New Year, especially when the list pertains to popular culture. After a visit to Google Analytics, I pulled the top 10 most read IMA Blog posts of the past year (according to pageviews). Some of these were actually written before 2010, but our readers kept them popular. So, in case you missed any of the original posts, here are the favorites of the past year…

10.  We’ll count ‘em down starting at number 10 with a post by Noelle. Searching for those wonderful interns we adore, Noelle posted a WANTED ad for Spring 2010 interns. As a former IMA intern, I can say the experience gained at the IMA is above and beyond most other internship programs. If you’re interested in the Indianapolis Museum of Art Internship Program, applications for the Summer Session are due next Friday, January 7.

9. At number 9, Rob gave 5 Reasons Why TAP should be Your Museum’s Next Mobile Platform. From first-class content management to open-sourced and community owned, this post is one to revisit for those interested in the technical aspects of the IMA’s TAP tours.

8. Rolling in at number 8 is an IMA TV episode filmed in 100 Acres Art and Nature Park. IMA TV chats with Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Sarah Green, while installing Atelier van Lieshout’s Funky Bone Benches in 100 Acres. (Bonus shot of little baby Henry Green included.)

7. Lucky number 7 is another IMA TV episode from 100 Acres. Watch Laurie Gilbert discuss how the IMA Design Team used creative methods to establish the maps and way finding signs in 100 Acres. A group of visitors were asked to find about 7 landmarks using the signage provided (no map) to help the Design team better understand if the signs were working and where people might be getting lost.

6. Posted just last week, the number 6 most read post of the year comes from Ed. It seems that many of you were interested in learning how to level up your lingo, as Ed shares some of the modern tools he uses to brush up on foreign languages.

5. Capping off the top 5 is a post by Kate titled, MTV “Covers” Reality TV, Indie, and New Media. While the post was actually written in 2009, it still takes honors in the number of pageviews it received in 2010. Kate previews a new MTV series called $5 Cover. As MTV takes steps to add more relevant programming, the show promised a ‘fascinating experiment in new media storytelling, combining the unabashed narcissism of reality TV with the raw, rough edges of indie cinema.’ Some critics are now saying this isn’t exactly what the show delivered.

4. Number 4 is another blast from the past (posted in 2008) and comes from guest blogger Patrick Smith – an airline pilot, author, and air travel columnist. In his post, The Jetliner as Art, Smith exemplifies his fascination with and insurmountable knowledge on aircraft design. Starting in the mid-60s and fast forwarding to current times, the post describes aircraft transformations in both design and functionality.

3. The number 3 most read IMA Blog post of 2010 is by Charlie. In Capitalizing on Perception, Charlie discusses the resurgence of 3D in the movie theaters and other media outlets. After reading this post, I was curious to see which 3D film has scored the highest Box Office numbers. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, Avatar tops the list, which isn’t too surprising. It is pretty remarkable though that the film has grossed almost double the number 2 film (Toy Story 3).

2. The number 1 and number 2 posts tell us that our readers LOVE to participate. We asked you to vote for your favorite Project IMA: Fashion Unbound Designer and you answered our call. It was a very close race, but our readers crowned Amanda Helmsing winner with 29% of the vote.

And finally…

1. Here it is – the most read IMA Blog post of 2010 – a Vote for the IMA’s Next Top Blogger. The IMA called out to those interested in sharing their opinions, musings, and perspectives as a guest writer for the IMA blog. Katie Neville won the crown as the IMA’s Next Top Blogger, and has since written 4 posts for us.

Well, there you have it – the top 10 of 2010. Anyone want to take bets for 2011?

Anyway, I’m going to tell you how I help to keep our numbers clean and looking good (I get lots of help). For the past few years I’ve invited IMA summer interns working in other departments to help me and the conservation interns wash the “Numbers” (you can go here to Flickr to see a ton of images of our sculptures and Indiana’s various versions of the same sculpture on exhibit around the world).

Washing these 8 foot tall painted aluminum artworks is a fair amount of work, even when you have the good help I had. It’s a fairly straight-forward process to clean the sculptures: we simply wash them gently with soap (I use Orvus ) and water. Really, that’s it, some soap and water, a few ladders and lots of me acting like Mr. Miyagi and demanding perfect motions when doing the work.

Beyond the actual work it’s also a time when I can provide a real example of some of the maintenance we complete on the outdoor sculptures to interns in the other departments. After all (and this number is for Meg), there are over 50 artworks scattered throughout the IMA’s grounds, and soon to be a lot more over in the 100 Acres.

There are two other things that I wanted to mention, one is that you can go here and see a drawing by Robert Indiana that shows what the organization of the numbers meant to him and why we arranged them so. I’m always intrigued by this notion that just by putting two numbers together you can achieve a kind off greater meaning.
The second thing I wanted to mention is the fine Wikipedia article that Jasmine made about the numbers this spring. I have it on good word that invitations for Lunch with the IMA’s director have been sent out to the 5 that made Wikipedia articles of IMA sculptures. I’ve been digging around to see if others have been made, but haven’t found any. Speaking of that, I hope our IT department doesn’t check how many times a day I look at Wikipedia on this computer….

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/08/15/numbers-blog/feed/ 7 From left to right: Kendra Dacey (conservation intern), Courtney Von Stein (conservation intern), Meghan Rubenstein (education intern) Kasia Ploskonka (curatorial intern) Kendra Dacey (conservation Intern)