Saturday, August 6, 2011

Check this box

Last week at Eyebeam, we took over their computers to create several online surveys so we can learn more about the relationship between teens and museums.  Help us figure it all out by filling out the surveys that relate to you:

  1. Suzanna and Billy are curious to learn about Teen Councils at museums, so this survey is for anyone who works as a teen programmer in a museum. 
  2.  Jannath is on the prowl for information about outreach strategies, so if you're a teen programmer, do this one too.
  3. Abiel wants to learn more about how educators/tour leaders decide what to show teens, so this is for anyone who gives tours/teaches teens directly. 
  4. Jack wants to know about what teens want.  Are you a teenager?  Fill this one out. 
  5.  Jonah is curious about who goes to which museums.  Anyone can fill this out AND share with friends!              
Help us spread the word...the more responses we get, the better our results will be.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Thinking, Making, & Sharing @ Eyebeam

Walking into Eyebeam, we were greeted with a digital banner: THINK. MAKE. SHARE.  It couldn't have been a more perfect tagline for our day. After a behind-the-scenes tour with Stephanie, inspiring chats with artists Taeyoon Choi and Andrew Demirjian, and a detailed discussion of the logistics of documenting the digestive process, we took over Eyebeam's open studio space to turn our projects into reality. Here's a snapshot of some of the questions we're exploring:
  • Abiel is curious about how educators decide what artwork teens like and if the time period or culture of the artwork matters.
  • Daniel wonders if people really get the point of a museum.
  • Suzanna and Billy are eager to figure out if teen councils are useful AND how non-education museum staff feel about working with young people.
  • Joygil wants to know what the obstacles are to letting young people curate exhibits.
  • Jannath is going to solve the outreach dilemma by figuring out how best to communicate with teens.
  • Chloe and Jack are taking two different angles to figure out what teens are really looking for in museum programs.
  • Jonah is analyzing demographic connections between age, interest, education, and location and museum preferences.
  • Isabela is trying to pinpoint the assumptions people have about museums.
  • Joe is working on a mini-documentary about teens in museums.


We've had three weeks of thinking about these topics, several hours of making mini-surveys and interview plans, so it's about time we shared.  Stay tuned for survey links both here and on our facebook page.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Jannath Gets It Done


Today we visited the Brooklyn Museum. After being given a short viewing of the museum, specifically at a mummy we got to work. We headed up to the boardroom to get started on our project. We came up with questions we'd like to explore that concern museums.
 It is still very broad but this brainstorming and planning will get us ready for the next steps of interviews and coming up with solutions for our big puzzles. I think the Justice League has a lot of work to do but we are the best of the best so we can totally get it all done!

 By Jannath Ahmed