The Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum is hiring a paid education intern. The intern will get to work with an amazing team and help shape programs at a very young museum (we celebrate our 2nd birthday in June!). The internship is structured to include learning and networking time as well as work time. AND they get…
This guest post is adapted from a conversation with Kristin Vannatta, Operations Manager at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum. A few weeks ago Kristin told me, “Working at the PlayHouse has changed the ways I play with my son.” I asked her to tell me more, and the below is an edited version of her…
Last week, I flew to New York City and went on a museum-visiting spree. I visited seven museums over four days, immersing myself in art, taking notes and thinking about new ideas, meeting with colleagues, and re-establishing connections that are more tenuous now that I live 1000 miles away. Upon my return I found myself thinking, What…
This past week I attended a lecture by Professor John Jost of NYU on the psychology of political orientation. His presentation led me to wonder about museums and the psychology of cultural liberalism vs. cultural conservativism. How do we share new and progressive ideas with culturally conservative visitors? How do we even get them in…
Amy Hayes is the women’s softball coach at Bradley University, where she has lead her team to two championships in the last seven years. Her student-athletes have been recognized for every Bradley Athletic Department Award – 11 honorees in the last 7 years. I have been thinking lately about how a museum director or department head…
How can a museum truly be “for everyone”? What do strong community partnerships look like, and how far can they be expanded to support museums, community partners, and the people we serve? Think through these questions as the Community Outreach Coordinator at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum! And please share this information with strong candidates…
A few weeks ago, I walked into the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum to find floor staff creating a clever string of “lights” made of construction paper and cardboard tubes. They wanted to hang it from our tree – a big, fake oak tree that sits just inside our lobby, and is one of the first things…
This week’s post is by Amanda Nobis, a junior at Bradley University, and the first Research Intern at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum. This summer I had the opportunity to help form a collaborative relationship between the Bradley University Psychology Department and the Peoria Playhouse Children’s Museum. I was invited to join the staff of…
Patrick Urich is the City Manager of Peoria, Illinois. As City Manager, he is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day activities of the City of Peoria, including the budget and all city departments and employees. What role do museums play in Peoria? Museums provide cultural vitality to a community of our size. They provide an experience…
Last week I wrote about exposure as a goal for field trips, and readers debated whether exposure was passive. As I stated in a reply to this post, I don’t think exposure is passive for the visitor, but I do think that it can be a way for the museum to be passive, by abdicating responsibility…
Museum Questions 