Open Forum

We're going to experience some disruption of our school tours, workshops and community programming when a large number of our galleries are closed for renovation.  In preparation for this, we're working on a plan to increase outreach programming in schools and the community.  From looking online, I've found examples of museums dealing with the closing of galleries, or the entire museum, for renovations.  Most museums state that they ramp up outreach efforts, but few offer details about what kind of programming they offered.

Has anyone been through this experience?  Does anyone have programming examples they could share?

Thanks,
Braden Conrad-Hiebner  

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Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Education Office/Communications Assistant
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City MO
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We are in the middle of renovations and our entire museum is closed for approx. 16 months. In an effort to keep the community engaged with art during the renovations, we have increased our programming from maybe 75 a year to 90 this year. I'm happy to chat on the phone to share details but basically, we added programs to current series so there was greater frequency of events. We also created an "Insider Art Series" (6 per year) that uses art work from our collection (we pre-arranged access our storage facility to pull the art work for one night "pop-up" events.) See our calendar for program descriptions: http://www.gibbesmuseum.org/visit/calendar.php. We've had to partner with other local institutions to use their event space and have made a big push to market the locations as "Gibbes on the Go!" It is a lot of work but as the marketing manager, I think this effort has allowed us to stay engaged with the community.

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Amy Mercer
Marketing and Communications Director
Gibbes Museum of Art
Charleston SC
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2015 02:53 PM
From: Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Subject: Outreach when galleries are closed for renovations

We're going to experience some disruption of our school tours, workshops and community programming when a large number of our galleries are closed for renovation.  In preparation for this, we're working on a plan to increase outreach programming in schools and the community.  From looking online, I've found examples of museums dealing with the closing of galleries, or the entire museum, for renovations.  Most museums state that they ramp up outreach efforts, but few offer details about what kind of programming they offered.

Has anyone been through this experience?  Does anyone have programming examples they could share?

Thanks,
Braden Conrad-Hiebner  

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Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Education Office/Communications Assistant
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City MO
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Hi-
My recommendation is you survey your membership, teachers, and community at-large to see what they recommend and want from you. You may discover there is an entirely new version of a program that suits the needs of the community while you are closed.  We are going through in that process right now and it has been wonderful - not only for the ideas that have surprisingly emerged (a desire for our collection to be put in temporary displays around the city) but also for the relationships that are building (with groups we will obviously continue to engage with when we are open again).

It's a lot of work, but totally worth it!

Anissa

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Anissa Paulsen
Maritime Museum of B.C.
Victoria BC
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2015 02:53 PM
From: Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Subject: Outreach when galleries are closed for renovations

We're going to experience some disruption of our school tours, workshops and community programming when a large number of our galleries are closed for renovation.  In preparation for this, we're working on a plan to increase outreach programming in schools and the community.  From looking online, I've found examples of museums dealing with the closing of galleries, or the entire museum, for renovations.  Most museums state that they ramp up outreach efforts, but few offer details about what kind of programming they offered.

Has anyone been through this experience?  Does anyone have programming examples they could share?

Thanks,
Braden Conrad-Hiebner  

-------------------------------------------
Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Education Office/Communications Assistant
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City MO
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We are currently closed for renovation (Late November 2014 - September 2015). As a state park, we are lightly staffed and each of us wear many hats. We are using the time to plan new programs, gallery activity sheets, and resources when we reopen. We also have a second state park that we can fall back on for hikes, outdoor school programs, etc., when weather warms up.

Our school group programming is usually light in the winter. We offer outreach labs (topics: fossils, minerals, archaeology and Lewis & Clark) in the classroom. Results aren't overwhelming, but word is spreading. Fossil labs is our meat and potatoes since we are a fossil park.

We are looking to participate in events at other venues (i.e., Earth Day at the Zoo, Science Day at a local school, Geology Day at another state park, etc.).

We also have small thematic displays that go into libraries for ~4 months at a time.

One of our big issues is finding things for our volunteers to do. Some have projects that are on-going, some go out with us to schools, others will do a children's book reading or adult presentation at on of the many local library branches. Normally we have our big recruitment and training classes in the winter and spring, but there have been only a few classes and we haven't started a recruitment drive.

If you focus on your strengths, your mission, and your community, the rest should be pretty straight forward. Build your connections now and use them once you are closed.


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Alan Goldstein
Interpretive Naturalist
Falls of The Ohio State Park Interpretive Center
Clarksville IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2015 02:53 PM
From: Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Subject: Outreach when galleries are closed for renovations

We're going to experience some disruption of our school tours, workshops and community programming when a large number of our galleries are closed for renovation.  In preparation for this, we're working on a plan to increase outreach programming in schools and the community.  From looking online, I've found examples of museums dealing with the closing of galleries, or the entire museum, for renovations.  Most museums state that they ramp up outreach efforts, but few offer details about what kind of programming they offered.

Has anyone been through this experience?  Does anyone have programming examples they could share?

Thanks,
Braden Conrad-Hiebner  

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Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Education Office/Communications Assistant
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City MO
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Our museum is also currently closed for renovations. We normally have a permanent exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts that draws hundreds of elementary students each year on school field trips. During this renovation process, every time we get a tour request, we offer to visit the schools or classes and lead an ancient-Egyptian themed art activity instead of the museum tour. Many teachers have agreed and it's been great for our outreach. Unfortunately, we aren't able to do pop-up shows in other spaces since the objects in our collection require a certain level of security and controlled climate conditions. We are, however, hosting an open forum, as Anissa suggests, and we too are pleasantly surprised at the some of the suggestions we've been getting so far. To keep our members engaged we've been organizing "take-overs" at local establishments and using the meeting time to talk face-to-face with our members about the renovation process and make connections in the community.

Good luck!

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M. Paige Taylor
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art
San Bernardino CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-02-2015 02:53 PM
From: Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Subject: Outreach when galleries are closed for renovations

We're going to experience some disruption of our school tours, workshops and community programming when a large number of our galleries are closed for renovation.  In preparation for this, we're working on a plan to increase outreach programming in schools and the community.  From looking online, I've found examples of museums dealing with the closing of galleries, or the entire museum, for renovations.  Most museums state that they ramp up outreach efforts, but few offer details about what kind of programming they offered.

Has anyone been through this experience?  Does anyone have programming examples they could share?

Thanks,
Braden Conrad-Hiebner  

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Braden Conrad-Hiebner
Education Office/Communications Assistant
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City MO
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