Werking it

In February this year I managed to get a job and cement myself as a transatlantic museum professional. However, so far all I've managed to do is tell you in Facebook updates that I have gained a new job, but never showed you what. As I approach the week where I say farewell to one job and usher in a new, it felt like the perfect time to do some explaining, along with some adorable photos.

Museum of the Moving Image
This was the job that started it all and was comfortable especially because of its similarity to the BME. Where one was about the music industry, the other is about the movie industry, one has a workshop called Behind the Scenes the other an exhibition called Behind the Screens. It's a fantastic collection that looks at the history of the industry and explores the different jobs that make it up. Sessions and workshops include screenings of classics by the likes of Charlie Chaplin with discussions and movie making 101. It was a great place to get started although it is definitely time to move on. What I'll miss most is gossiping with colleagues in the morning.

Brooklyn Museum 
My next stop is the Brooklyn Museum where I will be the instructor for a program called Meet the Museum for children aged 2-4. This is quite a change for me as it includes art teaching which I've never really done before. I don't have an Art History background so this is a further challenge. However I must be doing something right as the lesson plan I presented at my interview is the first lesson I delivered this week! Below is my colleague Kristin teaching the morning session at the painting I selected by Alma W. Thomas titled Wind, Sunshine and Flowers. We explored colours with a matching game and I taught the children the 'I can sing a rainbow song' (definite learning curve as this song doesn't exist out here). Later we made prints using bubble wrap to mimic the style employed by Thomas. This is more or less the format of all the lessons which I'll have to design on a monthly basis.

New York Historical Society
This job I got back in June, here I run their Little New-Yorkers program for children aged 3-5. The aim is teaching little ones about New York through different themes. We read storybooks that have a link to NYC and then make a craft project based on the overall theme that the book falls into (i.e. Halloween, Spring) or that links in directly to the book. Check out my 3 favourite examples below. This job really keeps me on my toes as I have to create a program on a weekly basis. The best part about this is that there was wiggle room for improvement which will allow me to leave my mark. My plan is to move these sessions into the galleries and add in more art based activities that explore different art processes, all to the delight of my boss. First session will be in November where I'm taking on the meteoric task of explaining Cubism to toddlers...