UPDATE 12/07/10: Management, Programming, Gift Shop

Busy day for Michael's Museum at The Chicago Children's Museum today.


MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

This morning Natalie and Louise presented the Michael’s Museum executive summary to the Management Committee.  Everyone continues to be very enthusiastic about the project.  An interesting note is that as management gets more familiar with the project their questions get more specific and and involved. Everyone liked the tag line – A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures, so we will go with that. Amy commented that per the Public Space team work, Michael’s Museum reflects the “mind body provocation” tactic:  the visitor encounters the unexpected within Public spaces; stimulates inquiry and kindles wonder, fuels the imagination, and challenges mind and body experiences”

PROGRAMMING SUB-TEAM
Today the Programming Sub-Team (Katie, Natalie, and Michael) met to talk about what kinds of activities and hands on experiences visitors to Michael's Museum would have. We reviewed the "plan" of the space and looked at how activities would be interspersed throughout the exhibit. We talked about the function of the "Curator's Desk" and how visitors could "pretend to be in charge" of Michael's Museum via various activities at that point. We discussed the importance of having pieces of the collection at all heights on the wall so little, bigger, and adult visitors could comfortably enjoy investigating the collections. We also talked about having "safe stools" for kids to stand on to get a closer look at things in the exhibit.


GIFT SHOP SUB-TEAM
Michael and Jasime, manager of the Gift Shop, met to discuss a Michael's Museum presence in the Gift Shop. Besides specific suggestions about the type of items the shop could sell that would be part of the "Tiny Treasure" experience, we discussed the buyers involvement from the third party that runs the gift shop for The Chicago Children's Museum. We also talked about the mechanics of displaying and merchandising to make the MM Corner visible and inviting. Finally we discussed the possibilities of creating product on our own that reflects Michael's Museum.