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  • 1.  What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-20-2025 01:08 PM

    Dear All

    What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while? I am wondering and know that museums don't display all that is in there collection for many reasons. I look forward to the verity of answers. 

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-21-2025 12:28 PM
    Not a direct answer to your question, but you bring to mind an exhibition that I loved at the Yorkshire Museum in the UK the museum is multi-focus, with art, natural history, and history collections (and more).

    When I visited, they had a temporary exhibit called "Dust off the Dodo" in which they displayed curators' favorite items from each collection, with no other theme than "these are cool things in X collection" The displays mimicked opened shipping crates. What made the exhibit wonderful was the texts which were written with the understanding that most visitors in any one section of the exhibit were not going to be primarily interested in that specific collection. It forced the text writers to explain themselves really well -  e.g. explaining to the history lovers why a particular skeleton was interesting, sharing with science enthusiasts why a piece of art matters, rather than artist, date, medium. The texts were friendly, interesting, and inviting.

    --
    Betsy Loring
    she/her/hers
    expLoring exhibits & engagement, LLC
    Phone: +1 (978) 618 - 9673

    Check out my blog, the Planning-Curious Museum Person





  • 3.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-21-2025 12:57 PM

    Dear Betsy

    That sounds like a great exhibit. I would have enjoyed it. 

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-21-2025 01:47 PM

    What a cool idea for a collections exhibit, Betsy.

    Rachel, our collection at the Museum of Sonoma County is about 18,000 objects, so of course there's lots that we can't exhibit, and there are lots of reasons why. One that comes to mind for me is an historic daguerrotype that we accessioned last year - we don't presently have an easy way to display this delicate object in our galleries since we don't have the correct lighting conditions to exhibit it safely.  



    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Bethke PhD
    Collections Specialist
    Santa Rosa CA
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  • 5.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-22-2025 01:13 PM

    Dear Jennifer

    I understand a daguerrotype is not an easy thing to display. The same for a hologram. Lighting is key. Maybe someday.

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-22-2025 10:54 AM

    Rachel,

    I'd like to see our Litton Mk 1 experimental pressure suit (1958) on display someday. It's really interesting to look at and evokes images of super retro sci-fi.

    This USAF Mark I Extravehicular and Lunar Surface Suit, designed and built by Litton Industries, predated both the launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union and the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by the United States. Based on a Litton

    The problem is that it's very fragile and has a whole range of inherent vice issues common to pressure suits. It's heavy and would require a complex armature and/or other support as well as an appropriate case with environmental controls. All this is an expensive proposition and a huge lift among all the other things we're doing. The suit was on exhibit for many years and is now in conservation storage.

    Cheers,

    Doug



    ------------------------------
    Doug Lantry, PhD
    Curator and Historian, Research Division
    National Museum of the United States Air Force
    Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
    douglas.lantry.1@us.af.mil
    nationalmuseum.af.mil
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-22-2025 01:14 PM

    Dear Doug

    That pressure suit looks good and very cool. I hope someday it could be displayed. 

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-23-2025 09:27 AM
    Doug -

    That is so cool! It brings back memories of all kinds of geeky science fiction (and fact) stuff that was a huge part of my teen & college years (okay, confession: *still* is huge part of my life {laughing}). And wow yes, really challenging to display.

    And now I am thinking of centuries in the future, when archeologists unearth the conservation storage and think it's a sacred burial site (a la pyramids)...

    Thanks for a lovely jog to my memory (and spark for today's creative writing)!

    Judy

    Judy Fort Brenneman
    Greenfire Creative, LLC

    *we help you tell the story*

    greenfire-creative.com
    Fort Collins, CO US
    970-215-6102
    judyb@greenfire-creative.com

    Electric Lemons: Interpretation and the Art of Writing



    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: What is one item in your museums collection you would like to display that has not been in a while?

    Posted 01-23-2025 12:45 PM

    Dear All

    So great to see you all connect with the topic.

    Thanks,

    Rachel



    ------------------------------
    Rachel Alschuler
    Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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