The Glenbow in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has a lovely exhibit called "Growing
Up and Away", about childhood in Alberta. You are taken through the lives of
several people as you go through the show. They are your guides, starting as
children. I liked the show lots. It's artifact rich and very clear, with
good self-directed activities throughout, and at various age levels. The
title is fabulous. I complemented a staff person on it. Apparently museum
staff hadn't been satisfied with their title ideas so an author of
children's books was contracted to think of a title. Brilliant!
Wouldn't it be nice to have exhibit texts written by creative writers,
especially who write clearly for children, instead of by academics who are
unable to stop looking over their shoulders for someone from their field to
look down on their attempts to be clear and direct for the museum visitor?
Not that I get frustrated!
I am (for now) an interpreter/exhibit coordinator at the Prince of Wales
Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. This
is my home e-mail.
If you want to go to Calgary, make your arrangements with Glenbow carefully.
They are trying to limit the time taken with routine inquiries, which can
overwhelm staff (huge staff and budget cut backs over recent years).
However, we aren't sure what that means for professional to professional
stuff like study tours. They have a good web site.
I think there are direct flights to Calgary from places like Minn.,
Colorado, and so on, as well as through regular Canadian links. That would
probably be Toronto for you.

Good luck and have fun with your project. Fun is a good sign that something
is working well!
MJ Patterson (Margaret Jean, always been called MJ)
-----Original Message-----
From: Gregg Jackson <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, May 08, 1998 2:01 PM
Subject: Great History Exhibits


>Hello, museum folk --
>
>This has been cross-posted to museum-l and museum-ed. Please forgive the
>duplication.
>
>Staff at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis are researching exhibits
>that focus on personal memory, family history and/or life in the 20th
>century.
>
>We would like your recommendations of exemplary exhibits on these or
>closely-related topics.
>
>Since staff members would like to visit the best of the best, we are
>particularly interested in exhibits in North America. However, if there
>are websites of other museums in far distant lands that do a great job
>with the subject(s) and which convey the feel of the actual exhibit,
>feel free to mention these as well.
>
>Please respond to me directly so as to limit the impact on bandwidth. I
>will be happy to summarize the responses for the list.
>
>Thank you very much for your time and input.
>
>Gregg Jackson
>Librarian
>The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
>"Where children grow up ... and adults don't have to!"
>
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>  Email:  [log in to unmask]
>  Please visit our Web Site at:
>        http://www.childrensmuseum.org
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