Monday, November 19, 2007

Hogle Zoo Career Day

This past weekend another museum employee and I had the opportunity to attend career day, representing the museum, at the Hogle Zoo. I was surprised that it was so much fun! On the way there, we got lost because my directions were not correct, so we had to stop and ask for directions, and we couldn’t stop laughing because we felt ridiculous. Once we arrived at the zoo, we walked in and went into the auditorium and set up our little table. It was funny because the Education Director in charge of the career day went to the University of Utah for graduate school and kept pestering us about the rivalry between the two schools.
During the time the auditorium was open for guests to get information about various jobs involving animals, we were able to talk to multiple people. It was interesting to see their faces when we asked if they had ever thought of working at a museum before. Many of them had never thought of it and were surprised there were so many jobs at a museum. But overall, Shasta was the topic of the day. Once we told people that the museum houses Shasta, they knew exactly what museum we were.
Overall, it was a lot of fun! I am pretty sure they will be doing another career day next year at the zoo, and I would definitely go because it was a good time. They also had other things going on around the zoo with lectures and live animals. It was really interesting!
Mary Ryder, Museum Educator

Friday, November 9, 2007

Nature Art Show

This year Ken Packer, Randy Baker and I, Julia Tian, put on the Fall 2007 Nature Art Show. We had about sixty entries from Utah artists that were juried by two judges. This was my first experience in curating, coordinating, and designing an art show. I enjoyed it enormously. Randy and I worked on the fliers, posters, newspaper ads and the initial organization of the artworks. Ken helped us finalize the artwork arrangement, and Clark assembled all the walls, hooks, frames, wires, lights, and everything else technical. The show opened my eyes to the teamwork that goes into a museum exhibition, as well as the myriad considerations that go into putting on an art show. I want to also acknowledge Katy’s and Patty’s secretaries’ contribution to the show, they were very helpful. And, of course, a huge thanks to Dr. Larry Saint Clair.
My favorite part about the show was that I got to learn so much as an artist in the art world. I was able to see other people’s styles, mediums, techniques, and personalities through their artwork. I also learned more about how judges, curators, and designers see the works of art submitted to the show, which will help me when I submit my artwork to shows in the future. Another aspect of the show that I enjoyed was thinking of it in terms of a life science museum. I had the opportunity to consider how the show would best serve the artists, the museum, the university, and the community. This Spring Randy Baker is directing the Spring 2008 Nature Photography Show, and I am very excited to work with him on that. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and/or will contribute to either show!

Julia Jin Tian, Assistant to the Graphic Designer and the Exhibits Coordinator

Friday, November 2, 2007

a part of nature

One nine-year-old girl came up to me and Brent today and said, "I used to not like nature, but seeing this [museum] is making me feel like a part of nature." I wished I had had a video camera there so we could put it in our commercial.

Carly Ferrin, Museum Educator

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Halloween Night



As a Museum Educator, I get a lot of job satisfaction. I interact with several hundred museum patrons every week, and I get to show off an assorted variety of live reptiles that may or may not cause me bodily harm. Tell me that’s not exciting. But the special one-time Halloween show was quite possibly the most fun I’ve yet had. Imagine a dark auditorium located in the basement of the Bean Museum. The fact that we have a basement is almost as big a secret as the museum itself. Scores of patrons file into the room, greeted only by the darkness and the theme song to “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”. When the last visitor has found a seat, the few lights left on are extinguished and a hush falls over everyone. And then it begins. With the aid of a simple flashlight, an ordinary Timber wolf is transformed into a fearsome beast of the night. A live snake seemingly emerges from nowhere and, with a few fishing lines, the silhouettes of a pair of bats steal the show as they flutter about on center stage. And the question and answer session at the end of the show was one for the ages. To my knowledge, I may be the first Museum Educator that has had to answer questions regarding vampires and the estimated werewolf population of Orem, Utah. In short, it was a big success and a good time had by all. And to be honest, I really can’t wait to see the Christmas show…

Matt Meese, Museum Educator


Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Nature Experienceship: Trees and Shrubs

This was probably the museum's most interesting experienceship yet. It rained the entire time we were out looking at the trees. Luckily everyone came prepared with jackets and umbrellas. Professor Furniss did a wonderful job. We identified trees and shrubs all over campus, and even found a tree that was a little confused - with the change in day length it thought it was spring and was in bloom! Here are some photos from our experience:

Tashina Chipman, education department






Sunday, September 23, 2007

Nature Experienceship - Bird Watching with MW



Yesterday, September 22nd, 2007 was the Bean Life Science Museum's second, successful bird watching Nature Experienceship. Mr. Webb (Merrill Webb) took us down to the Provo Airport Dike where we saw the following birds (30 total):

Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
White-faced Ibis
Osprey
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Marbled Godwit
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Capian Tern
Forster's Tern
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Vesper Sparrow

It was an enjoyable experiecne as well as a great learning opportunity for all. Thanks Mr. Webb!

Here are some photos:











Thursday, September 20, 2007

Bean Life Science Museum Blog


Hi everyone -
We've decided to start a blog for the Bean Life Science Museum. This will be a forum for our patrons to read about the events and exhibits going on at the Museum in a less formal, candid format. People will also have the opportunity to post their thoughts and comments about our events and exhibits.