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