Working at the Rubin Museum of Art, you always have to be open to the process of rediscovery. Things that you may have previously read or viewed take on new meanings the longer you are here. I was reminded of the temporality of learning this week as I revisited some old concepts but with fresh eyes – that’s part of the fun of working with learners- you always have to see it from their perspective. Last evening we started a new professional development series for our Education community in the museum called Himalayan Art in Context. Our first session, led by Dominque Townsend, focused on the Geography of the Himalayas. Though I stare at a map of Asia daily, sitting and thinking about how Tibetan geography plays a critical role in Asia – but commercially in regards to water, timber, and mining as well as culturally in the spread sacred traditions. Something that I speak about daily was refreshed. Here’s how other learners were introduced or renewed by our programs this week:
On Saturday families experimented with light and darrrrk as they prepare for the upcoming Diwali celebration. They explored the lovely visiting stained glass in our Pilgrimage & Faith Exhibition and experimented with shapes and colors in the Studio. 
We received a great mention about our Family Programs in the Family Room blog from Martha Stewart this week (There’s even a fun picture of me making sent satchels at our last family day!).
This Sunday was surprisingly busy in the museum, and our good friend and Docent, Dr. Ed Hankin remarked how large (25 people!) his group was for his Taste of RMA tours. If you’ve never seen Ed facilitate a tour at the museum, you’re missing out on a great experience. Museum Guide Megan H. also led a great tour with the Ethical Culture of Bergan County Sunday School – we love our groups from New Jersey!
For the past year we’ve been partnering with the Door to provide work opportunities for youth in the Visitor Experience Department, and Monday our new student in the Youth Arts Internship started working in the admissions area with fellow Guides and Visitor Experience Associates.
We learned on Tuesday that St. Francis College in Brooklyn is joining the museum as an 8th University Partner! Laura L. reported that the faculty at St. Francis is extraordinarily excited to be working with the museum, and soon all St. Francis faculty, students and staff will be able to come to the museum for free this year. In other partnership news, we launched our John Jay University Partner Website which showcases a writing contest that John Jay has conceived to help students thing about the relation of justice and art.
Wednesday was an exciting day for Education because we were able to present at our All Staff Meeting. This is a great time for us to share with the rest of our Rubin colleagues all of the cool things that we do, and because we do so much, we utilize a Pecha Kucha style presentation format- Each education team presents their work with 8 slides, for 20 seconds each. It’s hard to believe that we can present all of Education in 18 minutes- but it’s possible.
Andrew and I also went to explore the IBM Think Exhibit at Lincoln Center, and met with Larry Goldberg who specializes in digital media and access issues. He showed us how he’s using the iPod Touch as a device that can easily provide multi-lingual access. The exhibition is fantastic, and if you go, they give you a button at the end (I received a button of an orange typewriter!)
Our Home School Program met on Thursday and continued to learn about stories of the Himalayas while experimenting with paint and color. We also welcomed students to our first Pre-Visit held onsite in our Education Center. We normally go to a school for a pre-visit, but we’re experimenting with having these 45 minute introductory sessions at the Education Center- though I guess if it’s at the Education Center, we might need to come up with a better name for the program- we’re still thinking about that one.
Speaking of revisiting concepts, we’re preparing for the next exhibition, Mirror of the Buddha by trying something new with familiar (or not so familiar) material for us. This particular exhibition features many painted portraits of Lamas, all organized by their school of Tibetan Buddhism. We’ve been working hard on a panel exhibit that explores the different schools of Buddhism in relation to specific details found within the paintings. So this week my photo of the week goes to a draft of the Kagyu School panel- a complicated topic that we are chipping away at…
