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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: museums, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 69
1. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Receives Approval from the Chicago City Council

…and there’s more development around McCormick Place! Read on… Curbed Chicago reported on the recent votes by the Chicago Plan Commission approving the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, held October 16. There are two points of controversy: the actual design (likened to Jabba the Hutt) and the actual parkland, which is as hallowed as New York’s […]

2 Comments on The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Receives Approval from the Chicago City Council, last added: 11/5/2015
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2. Young Charlotte, Filmmaker

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

by Frank Viva (MoMA Publications, 2015)

So this is a super cool book. It’s part MoMA history, part this funky young visionary’s story. Look at her camera perched by her side! Her confident gaze directly into the reader’s eye! A nearly animated cover where the bittiest blocks of color almost blink!

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

One of the things that I always look for in books for kids are stories that honor their realness. Their hopes and dreams and fears and feelings that sometimes grownups have forgotten all about. Charlotte always carries that slim smile, even when the nun tells her none of that. I’d imagine this isn’t the only place she’s heard that she might be a bit unusual.

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

That’s because Charlotte prefers black and white to color, and when kids have a preference, it’s usually a pretty strong one. Kids don’t generally go around only sort of caring about something.

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

And here’s a beautiful example of that. Charlotte’s safe world is black and white, a stark contrast to that of her parents. To the left of the gutter, a home, and to the right, something unfamiliar and loud.

But her parents know this and they understand.

On Friday nights they take her to see black and white movies. And Charlotte is happy.

And on Sundays, they go to the Museum of Modern Art. And Charlotte is happy.

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

That’s where Charlotte meets Scarlett, an aficionado of black and white too, and how it clears away the clutter. And that’s where Charlotte’s smile returns.

Here’s a kid, wholly in love with something that might seem unconventional. But she has parents who get it, a trip to an art museum that seals it, and a cat who is always willing to play a part.

So that’s what Charlotte does: makes a film in black and white. Scarlet calls it dazzling and genius, but the colorful people?

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viiva

Only that was their reaction at the beginning, before Young Charlotte, Filmmaker had finished telling her story.

Be sure to check out Young Frank, Architect as well. These two are a perfect pair.

ch

PS: Over on Instagram, a bunch of us teamed up to share one book on a particular theme each month. This was Michelle‘s brilliant idea, and we’d love it if you followed along. Check out #littlelitbookseries! Janssen of Everyday Reading shared another favorite Frank Viva book as part of that series, which is the same one that I wrote about once upon a time for Design Mom!

And thanks to Frank Viva for the images in this post!

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3. The Buildings of Braga

The main entrance of
Se Cathedral


For some time I have been wanting to write about the wonderful buildings we see each time we go to Braga. The Sé Cathedral is probably good to start with for two reasons: The personal reason is that my husband, who loves black and white photography, is entranced with the stone churches of Spain and Portugal, and this building is a knock-out. The more serious reason is that it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Braga and one of the oldest cathedrals in Portugal; some say the oldest. As such, it shows the many architectural features seen all over the city: The entrance facade is Romanesque (notice the arches);  the bell towers are Baroque, (intricately ornamental). And inside, many areas are tiled with the distinctive Azulejo blue and white tiles one sees on walls, both exterior and interior, all over Portugal.

Braga is a city of churches, given its long history as the the religious capital of Portugal. But you see the interweaving of Roman and Baroque in many of the churches, and also many of the mansions and museums. One example is the old Archbishop's Palace, where the Jardim de Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Garden) is nestled in a back square of the former palace.
You can see how the word "Palace"
applies here. 
Add caption
The new Archbishop's palace is located elsewhere and this crenelated building now houses archived material for the University of Minho. But step inside the entrance and you can see the true beauty of Azulejos:


   






 So many insides of churches had scenes in Azulejos, too. And many an exterior is decorated in blue and white tiles. While ceramic tiles were used all over Europe and were inspired by Moorish and Egyptian, the way Azulejos are used in Portugal have become an art form. In addition, many walls in Braga often display solid or geometrically patterned tiles as well: 
                                                                   







 All the beautiful colors and textures add to the distinctive quality to each building. No two buildings are exactly alike. Some have arched arched windows; others arched doorways. Some have painted walls, others have tiled walls. Sometimes the grill work of balconies is black; other times it's painted in bright colors. I could have taken endless pictures. You've actually been spared an extensive photo album of shots! :-)

Back to the churches: You could call Braga a city of churches. As the religious capital of Portugal, there are over thirty-to-thirty-five churches, in addition to the Sé Cathedral, and all quite distinctive. There is Igreja dos Congregados on the one side of Avenida Central bordering  Praça República (Republican Square (two views below).
Seen from the Arcada, which fronts
one end of Republican Square. 
Seen from across the triangular park
 that starts at the Arcade and ends in
Largo Senhora Branca.
There was also Igreja a Senhora Branca (Church of Our Lady in White) just across from our hotel (Hotel Senhora a Branca). A sign forbade picture taking inside, but the chapel was lovely, tiled in two shades of yellow with the main altar ceiling painted blue. The tiled facade could be photographed, and above the entrance, a statue of "Our Lady" in an alcove was lit by night: Here are some pictures by both day and night:




 On this particular trip (June, 2015), we were there during the full moon, which added a veil of mystery at night.

There were other churches of note: Bon Jesus, four miles out of town, up in the hills, which we did see last fall while attending a photography exhibit. (Our pictures were mainly of the exhibit, but here is a plaque on one wall.) A small, baroque church  on a street behind the Arcade, Igreja da Terceira Ordem Regular de São Francisco (Church of the Third Regular Order of Saint Francis). And inside the arcade is a small churchIgreja Paroquial de Nossa Senhora da Lapa (Our Lady of Lapa). 



If you look closely, you'll
see more beautiful Azulejos.















Then there were the museums. I'll concentrate on two that captured our attention. On our first trip, we went to the Museu da Imagem - The Image Museum, that specializes in photography exhibits. I had read of this museum in a travel article posted in the Huffington Post and was particularly interested, because my husband does black-and-white photography. Online, we made friends with the director, Rui Prata, and when we visited, we got acquainted with him and this beautiful museum. It's partly housed in an old tower of the original castle and an adjoining building that looks out on the street. Inside are current exhibits and historical photographs of Braga, and Rui Prata was generous with his time, telling us much about the history of Braga. He himself is a photographer, a curator of exhibits, and has recently retired from director of the museum to move to Finland from where he still curates exhibits all over Europe.
Museum entrance - the red building.
Street view from inside the door.
My husband debating what
to look at first. You can see
the complexity of the layout.

Just one of the sections of photos. 

This particular exhibit was
about the 1974
Carnation Revolution














Later Rui treated us to dinner
and introduced us to some fine
Portuguese wines.













We'd often heard about the Museu dos Biscainhos, a historical mansion, originally built in the early 17th century by a noble family. Inside its many rooms are collections of 17th and 18th century European and Asian furniture, ceramics, porcelain, glass, paintings, etc. The baroque palace or manor had its own chapel, servant quarters, carriage house. But it was the 18th century baroque garden with statues, fountains, pathways between hedges and flower beds, and trees that blew me away, and I focus my pictures on its beauty. 9One tree is a giant tulip poplar, sent from Virginia to the nobleman's family 2 centuries ago.)                                                                                                                            






A 200-year-old tulip poplar and me.
   Did I mention it was huge?
   Moments like this give you a sense of your size in the scheme of things.



Last, but not lease, I'd like to mention our good fortune to meet Inȇs Barbosa on our first and subsequent visits. Inȇs is getting her Masters at University of Minho and was interning at the hotel where we stay (Hotel Senhora a Branca) until just recently, when she went to work for Lufthansa in Porto. She patiently answered innumerable questions about Braga, about Portugal, about Fado, etc. On our last visit she told us about some of the Folklorico groups in Braga. The group she belongs to were to perform in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, the day after we left Braga.
In Folklorico costume. 
 She kindly sent me a video of the group performing in Braga, and I'm passing it on for you to enjoy: Just click HERE.

How about you? Do you belong to a heritage or historical interest group of some kind? Do you love historical buildings and gardens?



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4. Celebrating Children’s Book Week at Miami Children’s Museum

I was invited to share The Travel Adventures of Lilly P. Badilly with visitors at the wonderful Miami Children’s Museum on Saturday May 9 in celebration of Children’s Book Week.

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Miami Children’s Museum is located on Watson Island along  the MacArthur Causeway, overlooking the port and downtown Miami. It’s one of the country’s largest children’s museums and includes 14 galleries, a wide variety of impressive educational outreach programs, an auditorium, a pre-school and a charter school. You can even have an awesome birthday party here. The building is so uniquely beautiful; check it out . . .

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Parents and their kids stopped by to see what Lilly Badilly was all about.  We had a great time dancing and learning about the animals of the rain forest. Children are never too young to love maps! Each child at the presentation received a free copy of the book, courtesy of the museum. Everyone is so nice and accommodating here, and I’d love to come back for another visit.

DSC_0088DSC_0094

 

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I want to thank Ashley Harrison, Public Programs Manager for inviting me to Miami Children’s Museu and Laura for helping me bring in all my props, setting up and taking photos.

If you’re in Miami and have children, you’ve got to visit Miami Children’s Museum:

980 MacArthur Causeway, Miami, FL 33132

305 -373 -5437

 

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5. New Dr. Seuss Museum to Open in Massachusetts

Seuss Sculpture GardenThe directors behind the Springfield Museums intend to launch a new cultural institution in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel. An opening date for the permanent exhibition (first floor) of the “The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum” has been set for June 2016.

According to the announcement, a permanent exhibit on the first floor will consist of three sections: Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss’s Neighborhood, and Readingville. Visitors will encounter “a series of environments that replicate scenes from Dr. Seuss’s imagination and encounter life-sized three-dimensional characters and places from the books.”

The second floor area will showcase “a re-creation of Ted Geisel’s studio, an exhibition about the making of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden and other related displays.” It will not be made available to the public until 2017. (via TheArtery)

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6. Mummy Fun

It turns out that you are never too old to have a birthday--as in a 3,000-year-old birthday!!!

That's right. A mummy at the St. Louis Museum of Art will celebrate his birthday next month. His name is Amen-Nestawy-Nakt, and he lived in 900 B.C. He was a priest at the Temple of Karnak and must have done a good job to merit such a fancy mummy case.


Perhaps you'd like to celebrate mummies too. A great way to do it would be to explore a few books on the topic. There are a great many good ones out there at your school or public library or your local bookstore.

Here are a few I found:

SECRETS OF THE MUMMIES by Harriet Griffey
This is a Level 4 reader that presents mummies from around the world.

CREEPY EGYPTIAN MUMMIES YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO MEET by David Stewart
Ten of the creepiest mummies and information on how the whole mummification process works.

MUMMIES IN THE MORNING by Mary Pope Osborne
Another Magic Treehouse Mystery--this one finds Jack and Annie in Ancient Egypt encountering lots of adventures.

MUMMIES IN THE LIBRARY by John Perritano
Who knew mummies and math go together? Well, it seems very beneficial to know division in order to embalm a mummy. Find out how it all works with this math challenge story from iMath Readers.

Hope you find someMUMMY special to hang out with!
Happy reading :)





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7. From Modern Art to Medicine: Exploring Museum Blogs

With International Museum Day approaching on May 18, let's browse the blogs of some museums on WordPress.com -- from premier art institutions to science and natural history organizations.

10 Comments on From Modern Art to Medicine: Exploring Museum Blogs, last added: 5/19/2014
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8. Celebrate Moon Day

In July of 1969, human history changed forever when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon’s surface.  In honor of the upcoming anniversary of the moon landing, we’ve compiled a list of space-related museum exhibits. From space shuttles to simulated treks across Mars, these exhibits all immerse visitors in the story of the space race and educate them about what’s beyond this world.

Space Shuttle Enterprise
Located in New York City, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum’s newest exhibit, which just opened on July 10, is the Space Shuttle Pavilion which now holds the Enterprise. The Enterprise was NASA’s original orbiter. It conducted tests within Earth’s atmosphere in the late 1970’s and was crucial in the success of America’s shuttle program. NASA retired the shuttle in 1985, and the Enterprise is now being showcased on the Intrepid in Manhattan. Visitors are greeted with 35-year-old audio recordings of astronauts exchanging radio calls with flight controllers.  The exhibit includes stories about the orbiters and the people involved with them, the early designs of the shuttles, technological innovations, and much more. 

Image

Destination Station
At the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA, visitors can immerse themselves in the story of the International Space Station. From the international cooperation that makes the constant scientific research at the station possible, to the audio and visual technology that connects visitors to space, this exhibit will enthrall anyone who has ever wanted to go to space. The exhibit is open until Sept. 2.

Space
For those of you in the Columbus, OH area, the COSI has a fantastic exhibit all about outer space. Visitors can explore the surface of Mars, ride in a space capsule, compare the effects of gravity from planet to planet, and watch live NASA TV. This exhibit gives visitors all kinds of information on rocket technology, the attempt to find life in the universe, and more.

moon

Space Shuttle Endeavour
At the California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA, visitors can hear the space shuttle Endeavour’s story before actually viewing the Endeavour itself at the Samuel Oschin Pavilion. Endeavour: The California Story tells the story of how the Endeavour and other shuttles were produced in California and showcases the artifacts that helped make them functional. Then at the Samuel Oschin Pavilion, visitors will get up close and personal to the shuttle and learn about its missions and the people involved with them. Entrance requires a separate ticket with a $2 service fee, and the museum strongly suggests purchasing that ticket in advance.

The Air and Space Museum
The Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. is dedicated to flight both within and beyond the earth’s atmosphere and is a treat for anyone who is passionate about air and space. Exhibits include everything from the Mercury Capsule 15B, Freedom 7 II, to the Manned Maneuvering Unit, to the space shuttle Discovery and much more. Anyone in the D.C. area who likes flight cannot miss this museum. 

If you are not near one of these museums celebrate with us and read Meet the Planets or Solar System Forecast!


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9. Science Never Stops: Unique Museum Exhibits to cool off on a Hot Summer Day

It may be summer, but learning doesn’t have to go on hiatus. There are all sorts of fun and educational opportunities for kids on vacation or even in their own hometowns. Here is a list of museum exhibits, most of them only temporary, that could grab your child’s attention and teach them more about the world.

Melting Glaciers
It seems like everywhere these days we’re hearing about melting ice caps and global warming. A new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York aims to teach page 13visitors about climate change by showing physical melting glaciers. The glacier chunks have been frozen for about 800 years and broke off from an actively melting glacier in Europe. This exhibit will be open at MoMA PS1 in Queens until Sept. 2.

Build Your Own ‘Bot
Have you ever watched R2D2 roll around and beep in the Star Wars movies and wished you could build your own droid? The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA has a new exhibit in which kids can create their very own robot. Visitors design, build, and program original robots using the technologies at the exhibit.

CSI
America is hooked on cop shows, and at some point, every kid has wanted to be a cop or detective. Now you can at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in Texas. Their new exhibit CSI: The Experience allows visitors to solve crimes just like the characters on CSI, doing everything from collecting evidence to conducting autopsies. The exhibit is open through Sept. 2.

What About Whales?
The Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine in Portland has an entire exhibit dedicated to a sea creature that will capture the hearts of any child who visits. What About Whales? is an interactive exhibit which educates children about whales by letting them climb in and out of an inflatable life-size humpback whale. Other activities include a whale-watching boat, a Feed a Whale ballgame, and much more.

Treasure Hunting
The Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, IL has an exhibit for any kid who has ever wanted to hunt for treasure, whether as a pirate from the 1600s or a modern-day treasure hunter. The Treasure! exhibit allows visitors to try treasure hunting tools, view artifacts from treasure sites, and learn about the history of and people involved in treasure hunting.

Rain Room
umbrellaFor those of you in the New York area, be sure to check out the Museum of Modern Art’s “Rain Room.” Located in the lot directly adjacent to MoMA, the Rain Room uses digital technology to make it rain except wherever it detects human presence. Visitors can stand in one spot and remain dry while they watch the rain fall all around them. The Rain Room is on exhibit until Jul. 28.

Whether you check out these exhibits or a museum closer to home there is so much to be explored!


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10. Meet Me at the Art Museum - a review

Goldin, David. 2012. Meet Me at the Art Museum: A Whimsical Look Behind the Scenes. New York: Abrams.

With a mixture of humor, photography, collage, cut paper, virtual realia, and some expressive and artfully-place eyeballs, David Goldin has created a book that takes children on a comprehensive and behind-the-scenes tour of an art museum.

Employing the friendly docent's helper, Daisy, and the unceremoniously discarded Stub, Goldin guides the reader from the practical,

"Now is a good time for a break," said Daisy.  "This is a cafe, where you can sit and rest your feet.  ... You need to get your energy back, because there's another whole floor of treasures.  You don't want to miss a single one!"

to the protective,

"Other high-tech equipment is also used to keep precious objects safe," said Daisy. "It's the conservator's job to make sure the air is not too humid, not too dry. "They control the temperature.  Not too hot, not too cold.  They control the lights, too.  You can't have it too dark or too bright.  Everything has to be just right.  The conservator also fixes damaged objects in the museum's workshop."

to the awe-inspiring,

Stub discovered ...  ancient writing   sculptures of wood, bronze, and stone   mobiles   paintings   costumes. It was thrilling! One day I'm gonna live in a museum, thought Stub.
The adorable Stub and Daisy provide the fun; and a surprise ending offers Stub the chance to live out his dream.

Back matter includes "Who's Who at the Museum" (archivist, conservator, curator, etc.), "What's What at the Museum" (exhibition, gallery, etc.), and "Art Titles" (a list of pieces depicted in the book).

The punctuation is a bit peculiar, with several instances of unclosed parentheses, but no matter, it's a book of art, not grammar.

If I were escorting a child or class to a museum, this book would be on my "must share" list.  Well worth the price of admission!




Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is hosted by its organizer, Anastasia Suen, at her Booktalking blog.

 

 






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11. Utah Trip - Museums (3)

We also spent a lovely afternoon at the fabulous Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point -
Apparently, it is the world's largest hand's-on, dinosaur exhibit in the world!

Loads of gorgeously fabulous fossils -

Lots of interactive aspects -


And so so many bones! (isn't this a darling skull?)

They have over 60 dynamic complete skeletons -


(Dire wolf skull!)

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12. Utah Trip - Museums (2)

We also spent a lovely afternoon at the Springville Art Museum -

There were a number of exhibits - from quilts to sculptures -

(I quite enjoyed this Steampunky water fountain in the courtyard)

And there was the pig sculpture that my sister found irresistible... :-)

In the Russian collection, we found this painting of my niece...

But I kind of loved the sculpture garden -



Another lovely afternoon....

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13. Utah Trip - Museums (I)

Got to visit a number of museums whilst in Utah. First one being the BYU Museum of Art -
 The traveling star exhibit featured Islamic art...

Lots of it was samples of gorgeous lettering -


-there was also pottery, and metalwork-

(these are horse shoes!)

-mosaics, glass and wood carving.

It was impressive and exotic.

There was also Western art, sculpture, and electronic art, 

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14. Book List: Galleries and Museums

Esteemed YA writer and dress-upperer extraordinaire Leanne Hall recently asked:

leannehalltweet

And we’re so glad she did!

If you’re looking for a road-trip book list, check out our previous post here.

If you’re after museums and galleries, read on:

EyesA Pocketful of Eyes by Lili Wilkinson

Beatrice May Ross signed on for a summer job at the Museum of Natural History. Then her supervisor turns up dead in the Red Rotunda, his pocket full of glass eyes. Taxidermist turns detective in this museum-based crime-fiction.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

I may be stretching the definition a little, but if you’re after an arty YA book, you really can’t go past Graffiti Moon. Lucy is an artist who works with glass. She’s trying to meet the mysterious graffiti artist known as Shadow. There are many beautiful descriptions of Lucy’s and Shadow’s respective artworks, as well as many references to well known artists and their works, from Picasso to Bill Henson. You can view a great online gallery of the art featured in the book over here.

teenageundergroundNotes from the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell 

Three best friends, Gem, Lo, and Mira, undertake themed summer projects together. The “underground” summer starts when a school visit to the National Gallery of Victoria inspires Gem to make an underground film.

Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

Emily attends a summer art program in Philadelphia – world’s apart from her old suburban existence, just like she wants. As well as following Emily’s growth as an artist (and an individual), there’s also a class trip to a museum.

(Not yet published in Australia.)

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15. John Updike’s Childhood Home to Be Museum

The John Updike Society has finalized a contract to purchase John Updike‘s home for $200,000.

Located in the Pennsylvania town of Shillington, Updike lived in the home for thirteen years as a child. John Updike Society president James Plath announced that the organization plans to make the house a historic site and convert it into an operational museum.

Here’s more from Reading Eagle: “Out of respect for the residential neighborhood, Plath said, he expects the historic site to be open only by appointment and not list regular hours. Plath said he has researched the operations of similar historic sites that were once authors’ homes, including the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians in Columbus, Ga., and the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Ala.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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16. John Updike’s Childhood Home to Be Museum

The John Updike Society has finalized a contract to purchase John Updike‘s home for $200,000.

Located in the Pennsylvania town of Shillington, Updike lived in the home for thirteen years as a child. John Updike Society president James Plath announced that the organization plans to make the house a historic site and convert it into an operational museum.

Here’s more from Reading Eagle: “Out of respect for the residential neighborhood, Plath said, he expects the historic site to be open only by appointment and not list regular hours. Plath said he has researched the operations of similar historic sites that were once authors’ homes, including the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians in Columbus, Ga., and the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Ala.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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17. Chicago Dinosaurs: Field Museum of Natural History

In honor of NCTE/ALAN being in Chicago this year, I thought I'd toss in a post about Chicago dinosaurs. :-).  If you have the time, check out the Field Museum:

Tyrannosaurus rex (background) with (unidentified) Homo sapiens.

The Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago): My hometown museum, still one of the best in the world. The Field Museum is part of a lakefront museum campus that includes the Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium and the Adler Planetarium. Just up Lake Shore Drive is the Lincoln Park Zoo, and a short drive south is the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Field is home to Sue, one of the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever found, as well as a Daspletosaurus and a host of other, less carnivorous dinosaurs (like Parasaurolophus and Diplodocus).

Sue is prominently placed in the Stanley Field Hall (the main hall), with the elephant diorama and the big totem poles. On the balcony above the skeleton is the actual skull (the real one being too big to mount) and a mural depicting what Sue would've looked like in real life.

Sue close-up
Upstairs is the Evolving Planet exhibit, which takes you chronologically through the eras of life on earth. Dinosaurs on display include Triceratops, dromaeosaurs, stegosaurs, sauropods (including a juvenile Rapetosaurus), and hadrosaurs, such as Parasaurolophus. The classic Charles M. Knight murals still adorn the walls.

Triceratops and T.rex  face off
And sometimes in Chicago, you see dinosaurs in the oddest places: be sure to check out the brachiosaur at the United Terminal at O'Hare Airport (a duplicate of the one outside the Field).

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18. If you build it...

I've mentioned before that one of the fun things about writing CHRONAL ENGINE is that it provides an excellent excuse to visit natural history museums and other places where paleo-stuff abounds. 

T.rex ("Sue") and H.sapiens (unidentified)
Over the past few years, a number of the major natural history museums have revamped their dinosaur and paleontology displays.  The Field Museum in Chicago did so a few years back in conjunction with the acquisition of Sue, the largest, most complete T.rex.  The Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh also recently completed a remodel, changing their old dinosaur hall into an exhibit called Dinosaurs in their Time.

Exhibit in progress.  Photo courtesy Carnegie Museum of Natural History
More recently, in 2009, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History opened its new building and a new display of north Texas dinosaurs, including Paluxysaurus, the state dinosaur of Texas.

Paluxysaurus. Photo courtesy Fort Worth Museum of Science & History
 Just to the east, in Dallas, the Museum of Nature and Science is expanding into a new Victory Park Facility, to be named the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and scheduled to open at the end of 2012.  I understand they're going to be having a fantastic display of my favorite sauropod, Alamosaurus

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19. Wonderstruck: a review

Selznick, Brian. 2011. Wonderstruck.  New York: Scholastic.
 (Advance Reader Copy)

During the course of reading Wonderstruck, I misplaced the book.  When I asked my family if anyone had seen it, my daughter answered, "Which book?  The one with two different covers?"  I hadn't thought of it that way, but yes, the book with two different covers.
*minor spoiler alert*
(though I'm not giving any more away than Brian Selznick does in his Wonderstruck video - see below)

Wonderstruck's cover is a preview of its contents - two stories, two eras, two modes of storytelling. One would think that after his ground-breaking, Caldecott Winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick could not have any more surprises up his sleeve, but  in Wonderstruck, he again inspires us with this singular story of two mysterious and wonder-filled journeys.

Ben's story begins in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota, in June, 1977; Rose's, in Hoboken, New Jersey, 1927.  Though 50 years divide their stories, the children embark on parallel journeys fraught with uncertainty and risk, and guided by purpose - a need to know.  Ben's story is told in third person prose, while Rose's is told in Selznick's incredibly detailed, unmistakable pencil drawings.  The two stories are woven together, sometimes almost touching, other times gathering distance until at last, in a single drawing, with a simple turn of the page, Selznick seamlessly binds the two stories together, where they stay, until Wonderstruck's conclusion.

It is clear that Selznick's fascination with silent film and early cinema did not end with Hugo Cabret.  Silent film is featured in Wonderstruck, not in the same capacity as in Hugo, but rather as a vehicle for introducing deaf culture. It is museums, not film or mechanics, that take center stage in Wonderstruck.  Both Rose and Ben are seeking something, and both find themselves, a half century apart, at the same location, the American Museum of Natural History, where they are fascinated by museum dioramas and early museum collections, or "cabinets of wonder."

Readers will be fascinated as well, by Wonderstruck's story, artwork, and the offered glimpse into another time and another culture.
A page from Brian Selznick's, Wonderstruck. © 2011
Rose can be seen ducking behind a "cabinet of wonders."

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20. lost and found


Filed under: giraffe, stars

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21. All There Is To See: Museum Photographs





Last night at dinner, Mark and I were discussing cities we would like to visit in the future. Mark has done extensive traveling throughout his life, I have not. We would like to take one real vacation each year (in addition to "staycations" which I also like), and I'm a planner, so…

Some on our brainstorming list: Edinburgh, Scotland; San Juan, Puerto Rico (again); Buenos Aires, Argentina (again for him, first time for me); Washington DC (again); Atlanta (again, Mark lived there for a while); San Francisco (neither of us have been to California, how can that be!); somewhere in Ireland; London (again for Mark), and also our regular trip each year to Philadelphia and a nod to NYC where we have visited separately and together in the past.

So, we were talking about the pros and cons of various places and how we would like to spend our time while away. I said I would like to visit the National Gallery of Art again as well as the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires (they just had a 15 million dollar rennovation) and also the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

I got to thinking about the museums I've visited and photos taken, and thought it would be fun to share them with you. (I always ask for permission, or a definition of the museum's rules, before taking photos.) I'm sorry I don't know the artist or date on some of these pieces, but perhaps you will enjoy seeing them anyway.


Above: Paul Klee

Above: Marc Chagall

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22. Forbidden images



By Justyna Zajac and Michelle Rafferty

“Growth of Overt homosexuality in City Provokes Wide Concern”

-New York Times (headline in 1963)


The world recoiled when the gay community started receiving credit for its influence in fashion and culture, but at least, according to Christopher Reed, they were being acknowledged. In his new book Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas, Reed argues that for some time the professional art world plain ignored the gay presence.

We had the chance to speak with Reed recently at his Williams Club talk, where he laid out the tumultuous relationship between art and activism. Below we present a few of the controversial things we learned.

1.) Art that didn’t get a chance…

During the most formative years of the gay rights movement in the 70s and on through the late 80s, arts publications and professionals, and even museums like the Museum of Modern Art, ignored imagery associated with gay and lesbian identity. Imagery like the graffiti pictured below which emerged in urban areas during the 70s:

Grafitti on “The Rocks,” Lincoln Park, Chicago, mid-1990s.

According to Reed, “These sites of visual history were destroyed with no organized documentation when rising property values prompted local governments to reclaim these areas.”

2.) Censorship…

Is right for people to ban art today? Even if it’s in the imaginary town of Pawnee, Indiana? Reed surprised us with his answer, making us consider that there’s actually a worse kind of censorship. Listen below to hear what he said.

Transcript:

Censorship is an interesting question because there are overt examples of censorship like what just happened with the Hide/Seek show and the David Wojnarowicz piece, where particular politicians make a statement to their constituency by removing something that’s on exhibition. And then the kind of thing that you’re talking about where institutions simply don’t show things or don’t buy things – in the case of libraries – or don’t do things or don’t let particular people in, which often doesn’t read as censorship because people never realize what they could be seeing or could be reading, or could be going on, because the institution has already created a kind of logic in which that kind of thing doesn’t exist.

And so in a lot of ways I actually think that’s the most dangerous kind of censorship because people aren’t aware of it and they can’t make a

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23. Dallas Museum of Nature and Science

When Cyn and I were up in Dallas for BooksmART, we took an afternoon to go see the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.  At the moment, the museum is actually in three buildings, formerly the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Science, and the Children's Museum, in Fair Park, just across from the Cotton Bowl.  A new facility is currently being built in Victory Park.  Check out the new digs here.  

The dinosaur paleontology exhibits are spread between the Nature Building and the Science Building.

The Science Building has a "Dino Pit," where kids can "dig" for dinosaur bones.  Looming above the sand boxes is a T.rex and a Quetzalcoatlus.

Author and pterosaur
In the room next door are various displays of Alamosaurus bones, as well as other creatures from the Texas Mesozoic.  One of the more interesting exhibits is of a bird called Flexomornis howei, discovered in the Woodbine Formation of Texas (about 93-100 million years ago).

Author and bird
Over at the Nature Building, paleontology displays include a Malawisaurus (discovered by researchers from SMU), ammonites and other sea creatures (including the primitive mosasaur Dallasaurus), and Deinosuchus.

Greg and Deinosuchus skull

The basement of the Nature Building houses the prep lab, where paleontologists are presently at work preparing a new Alamosaurus for display.  It's my understanding that this Alamosaurus is proof that this genus was a lot larger than previously thought...

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24. Save the Dinosaur Tracks!

A couple weeks ago, I ran a post about Massachusetts schoolboy Pliny Moody, who dug up dinosaur tracks on his family farm and is credited with the first authenticated dinosaur track discovery in North America. 

Closer to home, though, dinosaur trackways are known from at least fifty locations throughout Texas.  Among the most famous are the trackways in Glen Rose, on a portion of the Paluxy River now part of Dinosaur Valley State Park.  The trackways extend over a large area of what was once a coastal plain, on the shores of the Western Interior Seaway. 

In 1938, Roland T. Bird excavated portions of the tracks, taking them back to the American Museum of Natural History, where they are still on display

Another portion of the trackways is currently housed at the Texas Memorial Museum, where they have been on display in a building outside the museum since 1941.  The tracks include those of a sauropod (probably Paluxysaurus, but possibly Sauroposeidon) and a theropod (probably Acrocanthosaurus).

The problem is that the building is non-climate-controlled and, apparently, is built on a slab of non-reinforced concrete.  This has led to a degradation of the stone the trackways are formed in, which could eventually lead to the complete loss of slab.

But plans are afoot to move the trackways indoors, into the Hall of Geology and Paleontology.  The museum and the Texas Natural Sciences Center have begun a fundraising campaign to preserve and move the trackways.  Go here to check out information on donating to Save the Dinosaur Tracks!    

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25. National Museum of Natural History

Homo sapiens (foreground) and Tyrannosaurus rex
This year is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the present building of the National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC)!  (The museum itself officially opened in 1910).

Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of Natural History has an extensive array of dinosaurs, arranged as part of a chronology of life, from Paleozoic to Cenozoic times.

Triceratops
In addition to tyrannosaurs, the National Museum of Natural History features stegosaurs, diplodocids, ceratopsians, hadrosaurs, as well as a full complement of aquatic reptiles, pterosaurs, and Mesozoic birds. And it's all just down the ramp from the Hope Diamond.

Maiasaura juvenile

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