A block from my house is one of the oldest industrial areas of the city. The first railroad depot was along this stretch and there used to be a granite works in the strip, which was many blocks long and ran along the railroad line. Most of the track has been abandoned and a feed mill, which operated there for years and years, has pretty much vacated a two-block stretch of property. On one block…
A visitor to my museum suggested I watch “Chef’s Table,” a beautifully filmed Netflix documentary series that follows world-renowned chefs. It’s the sort of series where you can jump in anywhere because each episode focuses on a single chef and is a self-contained story. When I started the series, I seem to have jumped in on *Volume 4, the pastry chefs, but have been making my way back to earlier episodes. (*Netflix calls the seasons…
In nonprofit organizations that create cultural events, particularly museums and historic sites, we like to think that everyone in the general public is our audience. That’s the great potential — that every soul who lives on earth will wander through our doors and be enamored with what we have to offer. That’s not true, of course. Challenges in Reaching an Audience People have to know we exist, be able to find us, have time to…
After writing my post on planning and taking nostalgia trips, I was discussing it with my eldest son, Ian, who is very involved with the gaming scene, both tabletop and video, particularly role-playing games. He is also hugely into Nordic history and wants to design concept art for games that is based on history. Suffice it to say, he has paid attention to the history of gaming since becoming involved with it when he was…
Aside from the tragic fire at the National Museum of Brazil, this past week brought some good news in the museum field. A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” was recovered after being stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The FBI has been involved in the case and recovered the shoes in a sting operation this summer. A…