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Jury Chair: Len Steinbach
Cultural Technology Strategies
  GOLD: Ground Swell: Edward Hopper in 1939, Alexander Nemerov
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts
and
Edward Hopper's New York
National Gallery of Art, Washington and
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Judges said:
In presenting this award, the judges recognize more than a combination of two separate submissions, each representing the work of Edward Hopper. In fact, this award transcends the recognition of the excellent technical and esthetic qualities and professional production values of the works. Rather, it honors how one great museum is using this technology to foster and nurture the understanding of art and artists among an audience of wide ranging interests, experience, and geographic dispersion. Although both pieces could serve as an opening courses or desert to the exhibition feast itself, even those who will have never attended the exhibit are wonderfully well served. The edited-in juxtaposition of related images enhances the meaning and memory of Alexander Nemerov's lecture on Ground Swell, taking the talk well beyond a simple recorded museum lecture. As one judge put it, “they did the right thing”—both by the way the lecture podcast was produced, and by sharing it with an audience far greater than the 100 fortunate attendees. Edward Hopper's New York also tells its story beautifully, elegantly shifting from narrator to painting or an aspect of a painting, gliding along a soundtrack that supports the story and the mood. Those moments when you can just look at a painting without the incursion of narration are especially appreciated. Overall, the National Gallery's production and presentation of these works demonstrates a commitment to their audience and to a standard of production excellence to which all museums should aspire.
Producers said:
Edward Hopper's paintings often show people and places in states of enigmatic isolation, loneliness, and contemplation. These are among the fabled Hopper themes—so fabled it would hardly seem possible to go beyond them to give another account of his art.
–Alexander Nemerov
However that is precisely what Alexander Nemerov has done in his lecture,Ground Swell: Edward Hopper in 1939. He provides a thicker and more surprising story of what it meant for Hopper to make a painting, especially in the year 1939. The 52-minute 2007 Wyeth Lecture in American Art, delivered before a small audience of invited art scholars and visitors, has now been shared with 10,000 viewers. The podcast was made possible by the Center for Advanced Study in Visual Arts, the first of its initiatives to open the Gallery's lectures to the world. The complex and intricate matching of image and voice retains and reflects the unique emotion and startling effect of Nemerov's illustrated lecture. He focuses on one painting only, yet he lends it a different meaning every time it is reintroduced on screen. This powerful meditation on Hopper's 1939 painting Ground Swell helps to bring art history scholarship and appreciation from a small lecture hall to a broad international audience.
Edward Hopper's New York was produced specifically for today's personal “cinema screen,” a computer monitor or handheld mobile device. Through its 16:9 composition, dynamic art animation, and original score the viewer screens a “little movie” about Edward Hopper's love of cinema and his concepts of privacy and loneliness in a New York City crowd. It premieres free everyday for a worldwide audience, one person at a time. Since its launch, it has been viewed more than 20,000 times. The goal was not only to entice visitors to the exhibition, but to engage and educate a general Web audience, one that might never get to see the traveling exhibition Edward Hopper. The exhibition was made possible by a generous grant from the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc and focuses on Hopper's classic works, which capture the realities of urban and rural American life with a poignancy and beauty that have placed them among the most enduring and popular images of the twentieth century. This is the first podcast produced in house at the National Gallery of Art, and it allows visitors to have a seemingly private audience with senior curator Franklin Kelly as he talks about Edward Hopper's elevated subway rides, the stolen glances, and the loneliness he captured so convincingly in his art across its different mediums. To view the podcast or learn more about Hopper, please visit www.nga.gov/hopper
 SILVER: Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente
Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service
This project was developed by the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico with the Carimar Design and Research studio, and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the Smithsonian Latino Center.
"Más Allá del Béisbol: La Vida de
Roberto Clemente" ha sido organizada por el Museo de Arte
de Puerto Rico, el estudio de Diseño e Investigaciones
Carimar y el Servicio de Exposiciones Itinerantes de la Institución
Smithsonian, con el apoyo del Centro Latino del Smithsonian.
Judges said:
The elegance of its presentation and organization of its themes, the compelling and inspirational stories, and production values which let you to lose yourself in its time and place all add up to a concise and excellent Podcast series. For both those who remember Clemente and those for whom Clemente has little resonance, the Podcasts are engaging, informative, inspirational and bring little-known information and context to light. The voices. music and background sounds are appropriate and a pleasure to listen to. Clemente's story is about clashing cultures, tolerance and understanding, perseverance and integrity, politics and social justice, and how a place on the world stage can be exploited for greater good - a wealth of subtexts for personal contemplation and further discussion. It is also a great story about baseball and American life, assuring broad interest. The Podcast successfully augments a website which presents images from the traveling exhibition, videos, and lesson plans for middle schoolers. Versions in both Spanish and English will help assure broad access. Both in association with the traveling exhibition and by itself, this podcast promises to be an enduring resource, which was one of its goals. The website describes Clemente's story as the “ascendancy of man to myth.” These podcasts truly ascend “Beyond Baseball.”
Producers said:
In November 2007, SITES and Acoustiguide launched Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente, a podcast featuring personal narratives supplementing the traveling exhibition of the same name. Rarely heard accounts of Clemente's life are told by those in his inner circle including Clemente's widow, Vera; his son, Luis; Clemente's best friend and Pittsburgh Pirates teammate, Manny Sanguillén; and biographer, David Maraniss. Lively Latin music and chatter from the baseball diamond permeate the soundscape adding authenticity. Highlighting Clemente's status as a role model on and off the field, this bilingual (English/Spanish) audio program allows SITES to offer free and engaging content as the exhibition travels across the country. A single URL (www.robertoclemente.si.edu) makes it easy for visitors to listen at home or within the exhibition.
 BRONZE: Video Podcasting at the Shiloh
Museum of Ozark History
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
Judges said:
In their first video Podcast, staff of the Museum treats the world like family, opening their doors to the process and personalities of exhibition design and installation. Viewers enjoy an informally narrated, deceptively simple video synopsis of how Shiloh's staff work together to bring their community a special exhibition. Judges were impressed with the talent, humor, ingenuity, and spontaneity which resulted in this project. They appreciated that the museum recognized that their audience would enjoy becoming insiders to a process usually cloaked in privacy. The audience can't help but share in the passion and joy that Shiloh staff bring to their work. The judges also know that it took a lot of time and a bit of a learning curve to pull this off, and hope that the knowledge gained will lend itself to new and even more insightful projects. Perhaps most importantly, the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History demonstrates that a museum with minimal resources can use new media technology to broaden and embrace their audience if they have the clear vision, decisiveness, and audacity to make it happen. Bravo to Shiloh!
Producers said:
In 2006 the staff of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History felt it was time to expand our podcast program by adding video episodes. The first episode focused on the installation and opening of an exhibit on communication technology, showing some of the work that goes into making an exhibit at a mid-sized history museum. Thetarget audience was a diverse group, from established visitors to curious newcomers. Although the episode may seem unpolished, we feel that its realism and unpretentiousness help draw viewers in. The video format allows visitors to glimpse the creation of an exhibit while listening to a first-time curator and a more experienced exhibit assistant discuss the process. We considered this a creative way to attract visitors to the exhibit and expand their experience by engaging them either before or after their visit, while adding a new multimedia feature to our website. We've prided ourselves on launching our podcast at little cost, thanks to collections assistant/ podcast producer Heather Marie Wells and volunteer Ryan Wells, who are interested in using technology to enhance visitor experiences. This is a great accomplishment for a museum our size, and our thanks goes to them for their dedication and initiative in producing the podcasts.
http://www.springdaleark.org/Shiloh/podcasts/podcast_info.htm
 HONORABLE MENTION: Cool Things Podcasts
Kansas State Historical Society
Judges said:
Engaging hosts, lively music, and interesting and eclectic topics characterize the bi-weekly 20-minute audio podcasts which have been produced by the Museum since 2006. The podcasts' “radio show” conversation and interview format works well in conveying information and insights in a style which is very contemporary and comfortable. Judges were impressed with the Museum's consistent, well thought-out and targeted approach to the use of this medium. A regular feature, a challenge to listeners to figure out how Kansas Pulitzer prize-winning journalist William Allen White is connected to various famous figures, was considered a clever way of engaging listeners and encouraging feedback. Although the podcasts succeed on their own in illuminating Kansas' heritage, the regular connection between Podcast content and museum exhibitions and collection was also appreciated. Judges were also impressed by series' clearly articulated goals and the ongoing efforts to track their audience and solicit feedback. Overall, it is pretty cool that this Museum uses podcasts in this way to expand and inform its audience.
Producers said:
“A little edgy and flip,” one subscriber has described the Cool Things Podcast, “but that beats the traditional dusty & musty museum approach.” This biweekly podcast, produced by the Kansas Museum of History, defies the belief that history is boring. Each episode offers an insider's perspective on the most interesting objects in the collections. Using a lively interview format, the curators connect a “cool” object to persons, places, or events in Kansas history. The program's goals are to enrich people's lives by connecting them to the past through objects, improve offsite accessibility to the collections, attract a new, youthful audience through the use of new technology, and promote awareness of Kansas heritage. The target audience is adults in their 20s and 30s, traditionally a difficult group to attract to history museums. Listener surveys reveal the podcast's success in reaching this audience—over 26,000 downloads were logged in the past year, with nearly 80% of the survey respondents falling into the under-39 age group. Through podcasting, the museum has reached its target audience and disseminated its message worldwide to people who might never be able to visit the galleries.
http://www.kshs.org/audiotours/coolthings/index.htm
More 2008 Muse Award Winners |
