We do it for you...

"Interesting!"

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

"Amazing!"

"Wanted my kids to see and learn local history."

"Great info!"

"Very fun...I'd like to stay here!!"

"Awesome!"

"Very authentic. Liked it very much!"

"Very good, thank you. :)"

"Very nice."

"Enjoyed!"

"Just loved it!"

"Wonderful exhibit!"

"A good little adventure!"

--August 10-18, 2010, guest register comments. Visitors hailed from Fort Worth, Mansfield, Arlington, Burleson, Denton, Frisco, Keller, Plano, Wichita Falls, Friona, Lubbock, Dublin, Haltom City, Colleyville, Weatherford, & Springtown, Texas, and Oklahoma, Florida, Japan, Delaware, Australia, California, Alabama, and Minnesota in this 8 day period

Why do we do it? Why do our historical interpreters get up every morning, dress in 19th century-style clothing, leave their air-conditioned homes with television and cushy recliners and drive to the Village to spend their days in 100+ degree heat? Why do our professional staff members develop programs, preserve artifacts, wrestle with budgets, and manage daily operations?

You. We do it because of you.

We do it for the kid who walks in the front door and gasps, saying, "WOW!" We do it for the mom, who is looking for a place to let her toddlers burn off a little energy while learning about life long ago. We do it for the historian, who has read about cabin-building in books but has never put his/her hand into the broadax marks that scar the cabin walls...until now.

We do it for the souls seeking respite in the shady, wooded, peaceful grounds. We do it for the teachers wanting to make history come alive for their students. We do it for the visitors from Texas, the United States, North America, and the world. We do it for the harried parents who couldn't get into the zoo and stumbled across the street to discover us. We do it for the families who take time out from their busy days to just be with each other, no modern distractions, no cars, no rush. We do it for all these and more.

We do it for you.

We're a little selfish, though. We also do it because we feel a deep connection to history and our own personal stories. We love seeing children's faces light up when they understand a new concept. We enjoy hearing the whoosh of the waterwheel, the flowing of the stream, the ping of the anvil, and the ringing of the school bell. We love helping families reconnect: with nature, with history, with each other.

We draw relaxation from demonstrating lost arts--weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing... We love hearing the laughter of children and adults as they try out a new skill. Shivers run down our backs when we rescue a treasured artifact from decay. We feel duty-bound to keep our ancestors memories alive, lest we forget. We want these structures, these artifacts, these stories, to live forever.

So paying bills, cleaning signs, designing exhibits and programs, putting on the dresses, bonnets, vests, and suspenders isn't an option: it's an obligation.

And we do it for you.

How have museums created a spark in your life?

This is a great video recently reposted by the KERA Art & Seek blog. We thought it was worth sharing with you! The video is called “Spark." Check it out — from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

On this date in Fort Worth...

Great info courtesy Texas Day by Day:

Seed of modern art museum planted in Fort Worth

On this day in 1892, a group of Fort Worth women received from the state of Texas a charter establishing the Fort Worth Public Library Association, a part of whose stated purpose was "the accumulation of paintings and artistic work of every character for the enjoyment and cultivation of our people. " The resulting gallery was named the Art Gallery of the Carnegie Public Library in 1901, the Fort Worth Museum of Art in 1910, the Fort Worth Art Center in 1954, the Fort Worth Art Center Museum in 1971, and the Fort Worth Art Museum in 1974. The current name was adopted in 1987. The museum, located in the Fort Worth Cultural District, houses the collection of the Fort Worth Art Association. It maintains a well-defined relationship with its two neighbors, the Amon Carter Museum and the Kimbell Art Museum. The Carter focuses on the art of the American West and American art in general until 1940, the Kimbell covers non-Western art and European art up to 1920, and the Modern Art Museum concentrates on European art since 1920 and American art since 1940.

Amon Carter Museum's blog...

If you don't already follow the Carter's blog, you should add it to your "must reads."

Today's post is just one of the many reasons why...

What is the "job" of a museum?

Why do museums exist? Different people have many different answers to this question. Some relish museums as keepers of our culture, adding to the collections through artifact and monetary donations whenever possible. Others use museums as a place to learn more about history, science, art, and animals. And still others think that museums serve as a great distraction on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

So which of these views is correct? If you said, “D”--all of the above--you are absolutely right!

According to the International Council of Museums, the American Association of Museums, and professionals in the field, there are generally five essential functions of a museum: collect, preserve, educate/interpret, exhibit, and research. In layperson’s terms, museums:

• gather and keep “schtuff*,”



• take care of “schtuff,”



• teach others about “schtuff,”



• show the “schtuff” to people, and



• let people research the “schtuff” while also researching the “schtuff” themselves.
  
  I think the general public tends to easily recognize the collecting and exhibiting roles of museums, but sometimes forgets about preservation, education, and research. As a museum educator, I am intimately involved with the education side of things, but often have trouble conveying what my role in the museum actually is. My answer: I’m a bridge. My entire job is to connect the museum to the visitor in a meaningful way, be it through experience, event, outreach, or written article.
  
  Preservation is one of the MOST important parts of museum work. I read an article once stating that at any given time, you may only find 1-3% of a museum’s collection on exhibit. The rest is being carefully preserved in storage, so that future generations may benefit from the wisdom the objects have to share.
  
  And then there’s research. We get a number of calls every year from writers, genealogists, and frontier-Texas buffs wanting to know more about what we have. They want to research our collection of letters; they want to know more about a structure’s history; they have a 5th grade essay on pioneer life and need to know what a butter churn is. Helping these researchers is part of our function, yet they and this work are largely invisible to the average visitor.
  
  We have a writer coming today to explore the Parker Cabin, a favorite amongst local historians and romantics seeking to connect with Cynthia Ann’s plight. Research? You betcha. One of the reasons we exist? Most definitely.
  
  *highly technical museum term meaning artifact, art, animal, or other item being collected