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