Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Museum Work

Hello hello, it's your local creature.

I've worked in museums, art galleries, and most recently a zoo in Ontario, Canada. Right now I'm wrapping up my graduate studies in heritage management and writing a thesis (of sorts) while I work at my placement. Previously I did an honors degree in history (with a minor in sociology but nobody counts those lol)

Please ask away! I think the heritage field is overlooked but fascinating.

Hello fellow Canuk!

What are some of the collections or cultures that interest you the most?

Well hi there!

Natural history collections are definitely my favourites. I love working with bones and bugs especially and enjoy doing specimen prep. I also find it the easiest (and the most enjoyable for me, personally) to do public education and outreach with natural history collections. I'm very much an 'outdoor kid' and can talk about them all day lol

Aside from that, I also like medical history and medieval/Renaissance history.

That's really cool, Yersinia. I grew up as and I'm still an 'outdoor kid' as much as I can be.

You said that you do public education and outreach, do you do them with video conferencing now?

For the most part, the zoo I work at currently has switched over to virtual content. This can be Zoom conferences with 'classrooms' (which are also online, so it's weird), leading tours by walking around with an ipad and videoing everything, pre-recording content, or most recently Twitch streaming! You can use your mouse to move the camera around the enclosures, and a few times a day the zookeepers will pop online to answer questions in the chat and talk about the animals. So far the giraffe and gorilla exhibits have been featured. Check em out if you're bored.

Thanks for the link. Would it be alright if I share it with others at the school I work at?

Of course! The zoo isn't getting as much activity as usual due to covid, so I'm sure they would appreciate it!
(also they're getting close to 'unlocking' the third exhibit, which is penguins)

I'm not sure if your museum or art gallery does special, limited time exhibits...but if they do, as staff, are you able to view some of the items before they're arranged and placed out on display?

Very cool! Thank-you!

Yes! When I worked at these places I typically worked in collections, which meant I was either the person curating the display or was at least prepping mounts and condition reports for the artifacts. The art gallery I found especially cool, because the main gallery space featured the ever-rotating work of artists from across Canada. My favourite show to install was When Raven Became Spider, which was Indigenous-art-meets-comics.

Overall most museums have exhibits that change often. It's important for attracting guests!

Oh heck, that sounds super cool! I have a follow up question, if you don't mind! Has there ever been a display or a collection that is your ultimate dream collection that you'd like to help curate??? If you could come up with your own collection to curate, what would the theme of it be?

Hmm, I'd love to do an exhibit on recently extinct species; stuffed specimens and recordings are all we have left, and it's the only way most people will ever get to see these animals. It would also be cool to work with ice age megafauna or dinosaurs in any capacity. I want to see how they're installed!

(Also it's my personal dream to run a tiny little museum/curio shop in the deep wilderness where I tell tourists lies about cryptids and make fake taxidermy lmao)