How are quilts judged? talk at MDC update

Quilt Exhibit at MDC. Photo by Deborah McCauley

The Minnesota Discovery Center will be holding events in honor of National Quilting Day in partnership with the Going to Pieces Quilt Guild 

March 17, 2012 from 11:30 AM – 3 PM

How are quilts judged in contests?

Tips from Karen Lamppa, a previous judge.

• Demonstrations on paper piecing and embellishment by Karen Lamppa
• Share the joy of quilting with children through kids' quilting crafts and a story time about quilts

 Regular admission applies $5/adults; $3/children; members Free.

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Karen Lamppa talk about judging quilts in contests

12:30 PM – 3 PM Kids Crafts and story time

1 – 3 PM – Karen Lamppa demonstration

Creating Panorama Photographs for Train Exhibit

Laurentian Rail Road Club Train Model 

Come check out the model train exhibit from the Laurentian Rail Road Club in our Overlook Gallery. One of the RR guys wanted to put panoramic backdrops that showed the Iron Range (which is a great idea!) so he went out and took some photographs around the Iron Range. Never in a million years did I ever think I would have to learn how to stitch photographs together in my job description as curator. But there I was, Google-ing "how to create panoramic photographs." There are many great websites that helped me and after 8 hours of trial and error I finally finished one. Here are some of my stitching efforts!

Sand Trap Panoramic

Golf Course Panoramic

 

Lumber Equipment Panoramic

Photos courtesy of John Linstromberg.

Panoramic Stitching Tutorials
Stitching Photos in Photoshop at phong.com
This one is very advanced. The author of this site prefers to tweak his photographs after he uses the
Photomerge function (Photoshop CS3: File>Automate>Photomerge). If you're interested in fixing the "mask" yourself, this one will be helpful.

Photoshop Cafe Auto Alighn and Auto Blend at photoshopcafe.com/cs3/smith-aa.htm
This one is more straightforward and for someone who is new at stitching was the easiest way to do it. You will need Photoshop CS3 (not sure if the other versions work... try it!)

8 Guidelines to taking panoramic photos with any camera by Digital Photography School
Short, easy to read on taking good photographs to create panoramas.

Using Photomerge, another Technique to create panorama
Again, by Digital Photography School

TIP:
When taking the photograph, one should overlap the shots, otherwise Photoshop won't know how to stitch and blend.

Happy photographing and panoramic making!

Good stuff in the Community Gallery

We’re currently showing what I think is our best Community Gallery yet: Sketchers and Carvers. The variety of work and the number of pieces - woodburning, woodcarving, pen drawings, pencil grids, black ink on taconite-dyed paper, colored ink and more – make it an interesting show. Even if you just breeze through the space you get a sense of shapes, dimensions and texture. For a small area, it has a lot going on: 60+ submissions with more than 75 pieces from nine regional artists.

But somehow it’s not overwhelming. I feel fortunate to have been able to meet most of the artists who contributed to this exhibit. They were all wonderful to work with and I only hope they’re happy with how we’ve displayed their work. Mai did a great job displaying the carved sculpture pieces and we are extremely lucky to have an MCAD grad on staff. We all got a little creative in the layout, but it feels like it works. Many of the pieces are for sale, and there are more than a couple I would like to buy. The thing I love about our Community Gallery is it gives people with all levels of gallery experience a chance to share their work. The great response to the call for entries tells me there are plenty of talented people on the Range who want opportunities to show what they do. We’re happy to accommodate! See the show through March, and you’ll see what I mean. For artists' names and more info, click here. -BP

Museum Presentation

I made a presentation on what we are doing at the Minnesota Discovery Center to our board. Below is a short version of that presentation which defines what museums are, notes some of our exhibit and object collections challenges, includes our solutions to those challenges. I have hyperlinked websites that I find useful. I hope that you can get something out of it too!

I will write an update on what we've actually done in the museum and how it's working on another blog. Look out for it!

Peanuts...Naturally Exhibit Summary

We had a 24% increase in visitors during the run of Peanuts...Naturally with 

8,811 visitors from June 11 - September 4th!

 

Charles Schultz created some comic strips on how his Peanuts characters view the world around them. Through the misunderstandings of these characters, the public and readership gained great knowledge about protecting the environment, about trees and birds, and about the universe. 

 

Enjoy some of the photographs from our Peanuts...Naturally programming that focused on visitors' relationships with nature and their surroundings!

Visitor with potted plant.

Butterfly release with Stefanie Carlson, Education Coordinator, and visitors.

Staff with Snoopy.

Summer Photography Workshop at MDC

By Mai Vang, Curator

The "Grace" exhibit inspired me to host 3-Day sessions of Beginners and Intermediate workshops. Eric Enstrom from lil' ol' Bovey took this famous photograph.

Photograph taken by Eric Enstrom of Charles Wilden in 1918.

I cannot believe how many functions of a camera there are! Pete Davis, a professor from Hibbing Community College and Joe Edman, a photographer taught the two sessions. Below are some photographs I took after learning some techniques. Enjoy! (P.s. We would love to see your photographs from MDC too!)

 

The Class. Teachers, Pete Davis, third from left and Joe Edman, third from right.

 

My attempt at photography. Pond at MDC.

 

We learned the Rule of Thirds. When your

subject is in 1/3 of the frame, the photograph is more pleasing to the eyes.

 

The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) truck. It actually runs and 

was recently in the Hibbing Parade!

 

One of the greatest features of our grounds are the

historical buildings and structures.

Here are replica outdoor cooking with a beautiful water pot.

 

Using the 'macro' on the camera always gives

photographs an artistic perspective.

Traveling Travel Exhibits

By: Mai Vang, Curator

The logistics of moving an exhibit is like moving out of your home. Small exhibits are like an apartment, large exhibits are like moving two-4 bedroom homes. Since my time at the MDC (Minnesota Discovery Center), we received three traveling exhibits. How People Make Things, the largest traveling exhibit I worked with, took up two semi-trucks and a whole week to put together.

Like some spy movie, some museum registrars may be chained to a black briefcase for very special objects while they are traveling long distances. Some might even purchase an airplane seat for it so that it would never leave their sight. That is an extreme case and becoming rare. For larger exhibits, like How People Make Things, a special carrier would be used. Some arts moving trucks would be  temperature controlled. Moving exhibits and objects, although not difficult, takes practice and careful attention. 

Imagine a Van Gogh being thrown around like a UPS package. That would not happen with these special shipping companies. And of course, some traveling exhibits are developed with traveling in mind.

To my relief, Minnesota on the Map, the next traveling exhibit, will be a lot smaller and picked up by an MDC staff from Winona History Center in a 12 foot truck/van. Click to see the logistics of Minnesota on the Map, the next traveling exhibit coming to MDC.

Map from the Minnesota Historical Society collection for Minnesota on the Map exhibit.

Minnesota on the Map Coming August 6!
The Minnesota Historical Society Traveling Exhibits Program has been made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.