Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

Social Media brings the visitors to our virtual door. What have we gotten ourselves into?

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We always have projects to work on. Some are small, some are big. When we decided we’d bite the bullet and build this beast, it was still just a vision in the future, but one we knew had to be done. Projects came, and went. New projects were sandwiched in our tight schedule. Pieces of the puzzle all fell together and behold April 7th is here. We can finally proudly announce to the world, the arrival of ArtBabble.org public beta release with a jolt of new content contributors to sweeten the pot!

It had always been our goal to create a website that we could share. One that would bring Art content from different places and perspectives together, easily accessed and found. We’ve been lucky enough to work with the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Art21, with the promise of more content contributors & videos and a continued strive to improve the user experience by adding a slew of features over time.

The team that worked on ArtBabble spans many departments and areas of expertise, and external collaborators & partners. It’d be hard for me to articulate all aspects of this project. On ArtBabble, we pay a lot of attention to quotes and interaction. So I thought it’d be fitting to ask the crack team of art techies who have been working on this website what babbles they’d like to share. I’m not of fan of comment begging, but please leave your interesting tidbits here. Please, feel free to ask questions… we’ll answer them here as well.

A few weeks ago, I was doing a little research to plan a trip to Japan next year. One of the most enjoyable times to visit is in spring during hanami (flower viewing) season, when the sakura (cherry blossoms) bloom. I found a really interesting Japanese site run by Weathernews that utilizes prediction methods based on temperature trends as well as photos of budding sakura trees taken by everyday people to inform the public about the southwesterly progression of the “sakura wave.” It’s one of the most interesting uses of crowdsourcing that I’ve seen. They even have a simulator, where you can review the multiple-day, countrywide blooming event from a virtual satellite view. Judging from observations to date, it’s time for everyone in Kyushu to get out their picnic baskets.

Photo by gullevek via Flickr

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It’s hard to believe, but Facebook is kind of old.

As of this month, at the ripe old age of five, it’s ancient in Web 2.0 terms. But for being a senior citizen of the web, Facebook sure has managed to stay fresh and relevant. What started as a social experiment in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room has grown to capture over 150 million users.

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Here are some ways Facebook has managed to grow and adapt so far…

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“Has anyone seen our intern?” This blog series will follow the IMA’s Public Affairs Intern, Jennifer Anderson, as she escapes the office space for a little R&R in the galleries…

"Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley" by John Singer Sargent

Within the first week of my internship, I made two exciting discoveries here at the IMA. One was The Prado in Google Earth and the other, which I found upstairs in the American Galleries was the John Singer Sargent painting, Portrait of James Whitcomb Riley.

For those who aren’t already familiar, The Prado Museum and Google Earth have teamed up to create an interactive site for the museum, which can be accessed on the internet through Google Earth. The application creates a 3D view of the museum and incredibly detailed imagery of 14 masterpieces found in the museum, including works by Velasquez, Rubens, and Rembrandt, and Goya. According to the Associated Press article, the project involved 8,200 photographs of the works and an assumedly hefty bill (footed by Google).
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