Gathering Community Stories from Home: My Interview with Paul Orselli
Last month (or so) I enjoyed being interviewed by exhibit designer and museum blogger extraordinaire Paul Orselli of Paul Orselli Workshop (POW!). The topic: “What are the best ways to gather stories from visitors…both inside and outside museums?”
The interview was of course in the context of covid-19, and the seismic impact that has had on museums’ relationships with their audiences. But it was before the tragic killing of George Floyd and the drive toward progress on racial and social justice. Now more than ever is the time to explore community voices and the role of museums.
In that light, some of the key sections of the interview discuss the new platform I’ve founded at Story Habitat to gather stories on user’s own devices, managed by a Content Management System designed specifically for integration with exhibits.
The interview is about 20 minutes long, and though I loved it all, you might want to skip ahead to the parts that especially interest you, including a walkthrough of the online recording system at 11:45.
- 1:00 Intro
- 4:00 Responding to families’ interest, Boston Children’s Museum Playspace, singing songs in exhibits
- 6:00 Modifying questions for better response, Museum of Science and Industry U-505 exhibit
- 8:40 Using puppets and something to show Louisiana Children’s Museum
- 9:30 “3 P’s of exhibit storytelling” proposed by Paul: Proximity, Prompts, and Props
- 11:45 Walkthrough of online video recording for Marco Island Center for the Arts
- 14:25 Recording outdoors at popup exhibits (now more relevant as outdoor gatherings start returning)
- 15:30 StoryBike with 42 Design Fab at Fresh Paint Mural Arts Festival
- 18:50 BONUS: exercises you can do at home with a stick to break up the work day