Last Monday, over 300 museum educators, garden educators, librarians, classroom teachers, and others interested in informal learning gathered at the New York Public Library for the 2012 New York City Museum Educators’ Roundtable Annual Conference. As with any large conference, the day was a whirlwind of activities, networking, and discussions.
Reflecting on my experience there a week later, I find myself interested in what stuck. David Carr’s thoughtful opening remarks stand out strongly in my memory – what a public speaker! If you haven’t read his work yet, do so. Carr studies, writes, and consults about the commonalities of museums and libraries, and is an advocate for cultural institutions as places for addressing unfinished issues of adult life.
At the NYCMER conference, he discussed the role of courage in museums and libraries. Here are few of the things he said that have stayed with me.
- “We want to believe in something that hasn’t happened yet.”
- “What we know, we know together.”
- “We are all in need of spaces that open spaces within us.”
- “I wonder if our institutions should be thought of as maps into the unknown.”
- “The rivers of experience carve different canyons.”
- “Our collections hold the work of some of the greatest trouble makers in history.”
- “So how do we help people? Look for what anchors them in their lives.”
I now find myself considering why some memories stick with us over time. Are they the extraordinary events? The small moments? The moments of disequilibrium? The moments of rest? What are the qualities of an experience that affect lasting change in our minds?
Years ago, a colleague of mine was trying to describe her process for designing multi-session art projects. She offered the pasta test: sometimes you just have to throw the half-cooked noodles at the wall and see what sticks; when one of them stays put, the pasta’s ready. You can’t be too worried about making a mess to use this technique; it requires some courage to experiment.
Perhaps the changes I seek in my own understanding of museum learning can be understood in this way. This year’s NYCMER conference has inspired me to make the time to throw pasta at the wall with my colleagues, and see if we can’t make something new stick.
