Listen to the Music

As much as I do not want to spend the rest of my career in Visitor Services, I do often get to do really interesting things. Yesterday I accompanied a group of musicians called the Sixth Floor Trio through the museum while they performed "random acts of culture,." They set up in a gallery and then played a song.

The music had a definite impact on those who heard it. Empty galleries would soon become crowded when the music started. And when they played in the Great Stair Hall, people gathered along the balcony to listen. A few clapped when the music ended.

I love the idea of a roving band of musicians playing the galleries. They had the ability to choose galleries that fit songs in their repertoire. With any luck, the memory of the music will help to reinforce the visitor's memory of their experience at the museum. And, hopefully, the music improved their overall experience and they will soon return.

Your Time Has Come

Lately I have been wondering if I will ever make it out of the world of visitor services and into collections management, the area of museum work for which I trained and in which I find the most enjoyment. Trying to find one of these positions is time consuming, frustrating and seemingly endlessly disappointing.

I was therefore thrilled to be handed a copy of Nina Simon's short article called "Doing Time on the Front Line" published in the July-August 2010 issue of Museum. (You can find a copy of the article here) It is so reassuring to hear someone say what I already think to be true - that working in the museum's front lines beneficial is not only beneficial, it can also lead to other opportunities in the future.

Selfishly, I hope that my time on the front lines at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will prove to be beneficial in terms of future employment opportunities. But I also hope that this article can inspire in others what it has inspired in me: hope.

Stay Tuned...

I never thought I would end up starting to write a blog but since it appears that I have...

Welcome to Going Beyond the Glass. My goal: to share my thoughts about museums and historic sites without boring anyone who should choose to read them.

Although my background is in collections, I have recently found myself working in visitor services, a development which has given me a new perspective on museums and historic sites and the ways in which they present themselves to the public. It has allowed me to think differently about what museums do that does and does not work, as well as how to make visitor experiences more productive and enjoyable.

So here it is. Feel free to suggest places that I should visit in the Philadelphia area and to disagree with my observations. First up: the Mutter Museum and the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology.