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[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39902","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"askacurator"}}]]On September 18 we had a blast taking part in Ask a Curator day, an annual international Twitter event that brings curators to the forefront of the Twitterverse to answer your burning questions. We had a small but mighty team answering questions for 8 hours—including exhibit developers, curators, our archivist, and our director of collections! There were so many great questions and fantastic answers, we had to share them in one place—right here on the blog. And don't forget, we're always here to answer your questions. You can tweet to Lori and Jenny at @TCMIndy any day!
What's your favorite museum? (Besides the one you work in.)
My favorites: City Museum St. Louis, Mutter Museum in Philly, Bronx Zoo in NYC.
Exhibit Developer, Cathy Hamaker
I really love the Cloisters in NYC. Locally, I love the Indiana Medical History Museum.
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
Favorites: City Museum in St. Louis and the World Culture Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Associate VP of Exhibits, Charity Counts
City Museum in St. Louis and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
I can’t name one specifically, but in general I seek out experiences that will challenge me to do, see and think about things that I never have before – be it related to art, humanities, sciences, anything else.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
What piece in your museum is most likely to come to life after dark and create mischief?
I would say the Raven Transformation mask as he is a trickster, but personally I think it’s R2-D2. Or Skipper. She’s jealous like that.
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
I say Bucky the t.Rex (he always has that ornery look in his eyes) or Bumblebee (no one wants to be stuck on a turntable all day—it’s nauseating!)
Associate VP of Exhibits, Charity Counts
The 26 ft. tall statue of Anubis that watches over our parking ramp. He is always back in place by the time I arrive in the morning, but sometimes I think that his staff is in a different place than when I left the night before….
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
What is the biggest misconception people have about curators?
That we wear bow ties & hide ourselves away in storage & away from the public. The truth is, that we are passionate about our collections, and love to show them off.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
That we know everything about everything and don’t value the perspective of others.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39903","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"armadillo punch bowl"}}]]What's the most unusual object in your collection?
Our pop culture Marilyn Monroe Lip sofa, and its companions, the Mick Jagger tongue and Joe DiMaggio mitt chairs.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
I’m partial to the bottle containing wild balsam apple or wild cucumber (names used interchangeably)—it looks like a human organ but it is a talisman that was believed to bring good luck and ward off illness!
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
An armadillo punch bowl! A donor said he did see it used as a punch bowl! Weird/unusual to one is commonplace to another so this question is very culturally relative. One unusual object that “got away”—a toothpaste head, made from white pint toothpaste, that was offered to us 10 years ago or so.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
If there was a fire & you could save just one object, what would it be?
We all know that I'd save the Fashion Plates!
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
Having dealt with the aftermath of a fire, I can’t answer this one is the abstract: People first, records backed up. Reality is though that a fire probably isn’t the most catastrophic natural disaster an institution could deal with…don’t mess with the weather – water especially!
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
The fossil skeleton of Dracorex hogwartsia, the type specimen for a new species of dinosaur.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
If you could work in a different department which would it be?
I love to interact with visitors and make the stories that we tell come alive, so being in our interpretation department would be fun.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
Not as much a different department as a different size museum. I love all of the really smart people I work with here, but I also have a special place in my heart for small places where you need to do/know a little bit of everything.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
Do you think humor has a role to play in the interpretation of collections?
I love what our American Collection Curator, Andrea, did with the dinosaur toy cases. She put the toys in different, fun, wacky environments. At one point they were wearing white powdered wigs and displayed among Rococo dollhouse furnishings!
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
What was the impetus for your decision to become a curator? A single work? An exhibition?
I started curating my own collection of postage stamps when I was 6 years old. When my family traveled I collected rocks & sea shells as memories of our journeys. I learned about the world from the stuff I collected.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
I’ve been doing informal learning and teaching since I was a kid. Looking back, I’d have to say it was my experiences in classes and later as an intern at my local arboretum. As Chris said, it’s about using stuff to tell stories, and learning stories stuff has.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39904","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"Atomic bomb toy"}}]]What kind of qualifications do you look for when hiring or working with an exhibit developer?
Creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, good team skills, ability to keep an eye on the big picture.
Exhibit Developer, Cathy Hamaker
We want creative people who understand how children (and adults!) learn….and can weave a great story with interactives, labels, and objects!
Associate VP of Exhibits, Charity Counts
What advice do you have for those of us who want to become curators someday?
Learn how objects can tell stories. Discover how to research , write, and present those stories in such a way that maximizes the power of the object.
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
And…work collaboratively – coworkers, students, volunteers, audience, funders – are all important in what Chris said. Also, sometimes the object isn’t the right tool to tell the story you are trying to tell. So, change the story or the object…get input from others.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
Is it difficult for American museums to obtain new mummy exhibits from Egypt?
Yes, it is very difficult for ancient Egyptian artifacts to travel outside of Egypt, no matter the political situation. Actual human mummies from Egypt rarely, if at all, travel internationally. Other ancient artifacts seldom travel outside of Egypt unless specifically associated with an important figure, i.e. Tut exhibit. Most of the ancient Egyptian artifacts you see in exhibits around the world are from various museums that actively excavated the artifacts from archaeological expeditions and brought them back to their museums and/or universities OR purchased the artifacts from galleries and/or individuals (plundered tombs/sites) when it was actually legal to do so. Now there are laws governing these activities.
World Cultures Collection Curator, Jennifer Leach
What is the strangest object from your collection that you wish was on display?
My favorite from the Cold War era, the “Safe, Giant Atomic Bomb Toy.” I think that the idea of real atomic bombs was beyond comprehension to most people, so making them into toys created a way to minimize the horrible threat. Caps could be attached to the ends of the bombs, so you could throw them at your friends. The box shows a bomber releasing into fiery annihilation right next to the words “safe” and “harmless’!
Director of Collections, Chris Carron
How do you work directly with young children when planning and building new exhibitions?
We often invite families to join focus groups, or go out on the floor to ask kids their opinions on prototypes! We sometimes have dedicated gallery spaces for testing out new ideas, so that kids can try stuff out and we can observe their behavior more informally.
Exhibit Developer, Cathy Hamaker
Exhibit Developer, Cathy Hamaker
What happened to the cabin?
After the close of the popular Mysteries in History gallery, the cabin was disassembled and it is now in off-site storage.
Archivist/Registrar, Jennifer Noffze
What exhibition have you always wanted to curate but never had the chance?
An exhibit that went completely as planned – from beginning to end…gosh that would be boring!
Really—something that is practically impossible, of course—the stories kids tell their dolls and teddy bears when no one is around, throughout time, all over the world. The imagination of a child is an amazing thing.
American Collections Curator, Janna Bennett
