Author Archives: Pam Schwartz

June 2, 2010

Family Celebration Bash

By Pam Schwartz

Sunday we had a get together for the family.  It was sort of an all out family celebration. Lots of birthdays right around this time (including mine…another year down, wah wah.), engagements, upcoming marriages, healthy babies etc. etc. etc.  YAY us!  Also, because of my leaving for Maine for 5 weeks I wanted to make sure I saw the fam before I went.

The day consisted mostly of food because well, that’s what we do. We are a family of social eaters.  We meet we eat, it’s how we roll. Mother dear and I spent a portion of Saturday and Sunday morning cooking/baking/creating our little hearts out.  We ended up with a lovely palate of Hawaiian grilled pork medallions w/ pineapple, smokey bacon-wrapped turkey breast, cheesy potato casserole, baked beans, taco salad, homemade rolls, fruit pizza, candy bar pizza and other random fruit for snacking. Yum! This seems like a lot but really there wasn’t much for leftovers.

Unfortunately Matt and Kim couldn’t come, this was depressing for all parties.  The rest of us spent the day playing lawn games (corn hole, lawn darts, washer toss) or playing Canasta with the Grandmas.Overall, a jolly time was had by all.  I think I will definitely miss the family get togethers and outings that I’ve been able to enjoy the last 5 months.  Being so far away in New Jersey (20 hour drive or $300 plane ticket) this fall I dare say I won’t be getting home for all the holidays.  I’ll miss a lot but I suppose I’ll come back a better person after two years in the Big Apple.  If I’m lucky maybe my family will get out to visit me (but probably not).  I’ll be doing well to make it back for Matt and Kim’s wedding.  I might just have to choose between that and Christmas.

I turned the big 23 on Monday and it served to be a fairly depressing day.  Woke up and had sticky buns for breakfast (the day at least had a good start AND finish thanks to food) then I had to help my mom pick strawberries due to impending rain, visited my grandfathers at the cemetaries, came home and mowed the lawn. Not ideal but I guess it’s just any other day.  Ended the day with a homemade pizza, cooked by yours truly, which was fantastic.  Maybe my best pizza yet.  Someday I’m going to get my crust the exact same as Manny’s in Savannah or Fulton, Illinois.

On a lighter note, I’ve begun tracking my family geneology.  It’s just too interesting not too.  Apparently a variety of my relatives on both sides have a mix of random snippets about my family’s history.  I plan to spend the couple weeks sniffing out the information pretty hard to have a good base on which to begin my research.  There is too much interesting family history to not want to collect it all.  Thanks to a wonderful birthday present from my sister Jenni, a giant book “Head First HTML” I eventually hope to set it up as a mock webpage.  Where you can scroll through the family tree and click each person bringing up a mini-biography/photo of them when available.  Who knows, maybe I’m related to somebody famous.

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May 24, 2010

The Role and Evolution of Museums

By Pam Schwartz

The role of museums is to serve society as a cultural, educational and historical institution. Museums no longer exist merely for the acquisition, preservation and simple exhibition of artifacts. They are developing an increasing role in the cultural revitalization and global sophistication of our society; they provide society with answers to important questions (Who am I and where did I come from?). Likewise, museums provide a means for a broad spectrum of visitors to gain worldly wisdom and enjoy global adventures that may have otherwise been implausible. The biggest issue in the evolution of museums is maintaining relevancy within a rapidly changing society.

Many museums and galleries suffer from what I refer to as the “Dusty Old Frame Effect”. Museums are maintaining their collections but are not helping their collections maintain their relevancy. It is no longer effective to have a mere cabinet of curiosities; people do not want to see things (dusty old frames) they want to know reasons (Why is this relevant to me and my life?). Museums must continue to show their artifacts and engage their visitors in ways that are relevant to today, tomorrow and the future. In order to evolve with our rapidly progressing culture, museums will need to embrace change. This evolution will include use of technology and new methods in exhibition development, increased collaborations with multiple institutions, innovative and hands-on programming as well as the use of social networking and media.

I envision that with imagination and a lot of effort museums can sustain and become even more beneficial tools than they have served to be in the past. If museums utilize all of the technological advances made available to them they will be able to attract larger and broader markets of visitors. In the future I see museums increasing the use of fully immersive exhibitions like those of the United States Holocaust Museum in which the visitor plays a role within the exhibit they are viewing. Recent generations of museum visitors have come to expect constant stimulation and activity and now expect that in their visits to museums as well. Museums, though classically a hands-off place, will begin evolving into hands-on learning experiences for visitors.

Most important will be the growing presence of collaboration within institutions, both within the non-profit sector and across multiple others. Collaboration enables museums to share knowledge, experience, resources and even marketing costs. Recent financial distress has made these relationships vital and occasionally profitable, especially within smaller regional museums. Collaborations and the use of social networking will continue to increase visibility to untapped or non-traditional markets of museum-goers. The successful evolution of the museum lies in increasing visibility and remaining relevant to the society of today.

This is a subject many museum folk could go on about for hours.  The American Association of Museums has even created The Center for the Future of Museums.  Lucky for you, I was limited to a 500 word essay that I care not to elaborate on at this time in the morning.  The possibilities are endless, I just hope museums will keep thinking forward instead of sitting on valuable collections and not utilizing them to their full potential.

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May 13, 2010

New York City and New Jersey

By Pam Schwartz
I recently took a trip out East to visit the grad school I’ll be going to this Fall, Seton Hall University.  It happened to work out that my dear friend from adolescence lives in New York City and another of our friends would be out visiting her the same time I was due to visit.  Somehow in the matter of a couple of days plane tickets were bought and it was planned that Preston and I would visit Alice and stay with her in NYC for a weekend. On Monday I would then take the short 30 minute train ride over to South Orange and check out my school.  New York City was a fabulous time, it became like a 5 year reunion for us as none of us will be attending our actual one this June (honestly, have I really been out of high school for 5 years now!?) First thing off the plane and train Preston insists we have a drink so this is us outside The Local.
We wandered aimlessly through NYC and met up with a friend of Preston’s. Ate some delicious pizza and drank some more since Alice was actin’ a b**** and was at work. When Alice got off work we ate at a lovely vegan restaurant called something Paradise II, I don’t remember but it was super tasty. A good taste at the beginning of our weekend long vegan endeavor.  Alice and her man Aki, I don’t care what she says I think this is the most adorable picture ever.
The picture to the right is very telling of my friends.  Each pose holds a little key into the personality of that respective person.
The evenings activities included a flask and dance music created by people dressed like bears aka Claymation Velociraptor.
The people were good, drinks were better and the music was great. Unfortunately my dear friends suffered some both that evening on until the next morning… It made for an interesting sub ride and a late start the next morning. After forcing my friends to eat bread for breakfast we went out for a day of sight-seeing.  We DID NYC so to speak. Saw the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, hit up the Broadway show God of Carnage starring Lucy Liu and Jeff Daniels, ate some more delicious vegan cuisine .  Needless to say no body really felt having a drink was in order on Saturday night.
Sunday we had a dazzling brunch, mimosas included. We were all, except Alice, feeling ourselves again and our dear friend Marie-Agathe had joined us for the day. Had we known mimosas were half-price we may have had many more.  Sunday’s schedule included another Broadway show Next to Normal, some more wandering around the city including eating at a terrifying but tasty vegan Indian joint. Lots of Lights!
Later that evening after Marie-Agathe and Rachel had departed from us Alice, Preston and I went for a little gallivant through Central Park.  It’s really only mildly frightening at night.  We were inspired to recreate one of my personal favorite movies, Home Alone II.  I took pictures of The Palace (the hotel where Kevin stayed) and then we staged this photo in the park. The roles are obvious, Preston = Kevin, Me = Kevin’s Mom and Alice = Crazy Bird Woman.
It was good spending the weekend with my peeps, I look forward to getting to hang out with Alice more this fall as school is only about a half hour from NYC and for all I know I could be working in the city.  It’s been about five years since we’ve really gotten to hang out and that means there is some ruckus to cause.  Monday I headed over to see what my future home of two years would be like.  South Orange is lovely! A picture perfect little village. Wandered around the village enjoying Eden Market downtown which I am super pumped for!  Gourmet shop with a little of everything from wine, cheese, sushi, ethnic, yum yum yum! Did the school thing and met some people, campus tour, sat in on a class.  Overall I had a very successful trip to the East, I’m looking forward to moving out there this summer. There are many adventures to be had.  The following picture is downtown South Orange, New Jersey.

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May 13, 2010

Let’s try this again.

By Pam Schwartz
Hello all and zero readers! I know I made an attempt last summer to start blogging again about my summer working at the Frank Lloyd Wright house but it never happened. I am going to start blogging again actually this time. Only this will be a more mixed blog. Occasionally I’ll talk about trips or adventures I’ve had lately, museum career stuff, or general thoughts and going-ons.

 

Coming up in the future:
After my job at the FLlW house last summer, I was laid-off in November, bummer. I was unable to find ANYTHING to do. I applied, and applied and applied for everything but to no avail. I decided to move home and nanny my nephew Easton, he’s a doll.
I also was recruited to work for the Maquoketa Art Experience which is a fairly new art community attempting to evolve in my hometown.  They have a lot of organization and strategic planning to do but in a few years I feel it could be a really wonderful thing for Maquoketa (if the farmers could learn to enjoy it).  I’ve been getting some really great experience while working there however. I’ve been writing some grant applications, doing some research and database compilation as well as some networking too. I’ve got to keep building that resume!
So, while doing that I decided to apply again to grad school.  This time at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.  I was accepted and will be going there this fall to obtain my Masters of Museum Professions with an emphasis in Exhibition Development.  It is a small, Catholic school but no mind I think I really like it. Small classes, working professors, and honestly I’m a 30 minute ride from Times Square and just a little bit farther from my best friend, Alice.  It’s a two-year program with a May seminar in Rome next year! The school is obviously in very close proximity to a ton of museums being the neighbor of New York City and all.  Hopefully that will mean many great chances for networking and, fingers crossed, internships and/or jobs. School starts in August, now apartment hunting begins from Iowa.
Next exciting thing for the future is my summer internship at the Union Historical Society in Union, Maine.  I’ll be sort of a catch-all intern again from the sounds of it, getting to do a variety of tasks. Mostly I’ll be helping with collections and research.  Union is a fairly small but seemingly very interesting OLD (1774) town.  It’s a paid position and they’re providing housing.  Five weeks in Maine, I certainly won’t complain.  I leave mid-June (maybe earlier to putz around in Maine with my friend Alice’s Mom who lives up that way) and will be back towards the end of July. Just in time to attempt Ragbrai! It’s going to be a busy summer.
Next post: My trip to New York City

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February 22, 2010

My first Coffee-Mate Party

By Pam Schwartz

This weekend I held my first Coffee-Mate tasting party! It was a fun change to a weekend tradition at the Schwartz household. We always gather on the weekends with friends, family and neighbors and sit around drinking coffee and usually play a game of cards or two. This weekend, thanks to Coffee-Mate, we stepped up the party a bit with a ton of great creamer flavors to add to our coffee. Feel left out, stop in next weekend and get in on the fun because we’ve always got a full stock of great Coffee-Mate flavors stashed in our fridge!
http://www.youtube.com/get_player

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January 10, 2010

A New Year

By Pam Schwartz

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January 9, 2010

Top 10 Movies so far

By Pam Schwartz

My top 10 movies thus far, but in no particular order. That would be a difficult task!
1.Rocky Horror Picture ShowIt’s a classic cult film and nothing is more fun then going to a showing with props on halloween. Also, Tim Curry is phenomenal.
2. Pippi Longstocking
It was one of my favorite movies as a kid and now I love to watch it with my nephew and sing all the songs with them.
3.The Original BBC Chronicles of Narnia
As a child I used to watch these movies whenever I was sick. The original BBC versions far surpass the new versions and are more true to the books.
4.I Am David
It is a very heart-gripping movie I saw on a bus ride from Boston on my way home from Maine and it’s one I won’t ever forget.
5.Imagine Me and You
A great love story that I could watch over and over again.
6.Nothing But Trouble
Everybody has a guilty movie selection from their past don’t they? This is mine, a RIDICULOUS movie my siblings and I loved growing up.
7.Schindler’s List
Not because I like watching terribly depressing movies about the Holocaust but this one and I am David are so good and so well done they deserve a spot on this list.
8. The Others
This is a good horror movie with a great plot. Those usually aren’t two things that come together very often.
9. Pet Semetary
I don’t scare easily but this is a movie that has managed to scare the bahjeezus out of me since I was little.
10. Microwave Massacre
My best friend and I, when we were in middle school, would go and rent the worst looking horror movies we could find. This was the horror movie to take all cakes, including a poodle put in a microwave. Absolutely terrible and wonderful all at once.

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December 1, 2009

Catching Up

By Pam Schwartz

It’s been a long time since I was in London but I enjoyed blogging so I’m going to get back to it. Much has happened since then and it seems a little surreal that I was ever there. I came back home and worked at the UNI Museums again, graduated from UNI with a B.A. in Public Relations in December and then in March took a job at a Frank Lloyd Wright Residence called Cedar Rock near Independence, Iowa. I don’t really know why I didn’t blog all this last summer, maybe because it wasn’t so blog worthy. Maybe I’ll do a back up post later when I have time with photos and things from this last summer. Currently, I’m squatting with a friend in West Branch and am on the prowl for a job. Billions of applications, zero returns. The economy is fantastic but I’m staying optimistic. Eventually I’m going to locate a museum who needs me. Expect, hopefully, more frequent posts.

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July 27, 2008

Final London Post

By Pam Schwartz

My time in London is officially over. I leave tomorrow morning for Heathrow airport. The experience has been more than I could have ever asked for. Everyday has been such a new and different experience. I didn’t get to do a lot of the things I would have liked over here, shame on me for missing some of those (Tate Galleries, Tower of London, etc.) You just can’t do it all. Some people who live here have never even been on the London Eye. I’ll be back some day. This last week has maybe been one of the most fun for me. Just a lot of wandering about and hanging out with friends here.

Thursday was my last day with the museum. Wow…Just wow, that is about all that I can say. It could not have gone any better. Everybody was very pleased with my research and they are going to keep me updated on how the exhibit does while traveling. Thursday night David and Rebecca took me out and about the town as a fairwell. Went out to the pubs because that is what they do here. It was fun though they took me to what seemed to be every little subculture you could possibly find in London. A gothic pub, a historical pub, a cocktail bar, the player’s lounge, it was a lot of fun and we had DELICIOUS pizza at Rosso Pomodoro. I’m a bit sad I don’t have any pictures from that night but I had fun just enjoying it and not worrying about being a tourist. This will be a smattering of my wonky week of end of London fun. Here are a couple of pictures of me at the British Museum.
Friday afternoon we had our sort of CAPA farewell reception at Doggett’s Coat and Badge. We had a British BBQ and it was quite tasty, minus the stupid pigeons. It is supposed to be one of London’s oldest pubs. Here’s Ben and me standing in front of it on Blackfriar’s Bridge.This will be a very small portion of the pictures taken on Friday. After the BBQ Ben, Casey, Laura, and I went down to Canary Wharf and walked around. It turned in to sort of a photo shoot and it was a very nice afternoon. This is a little something we would like to call our Christian rock band album cover taken on Canary Wharf by the Thames.

Here I am just looking out over the Thames, the waves kept getting me all soggy.Friday was a day of being youthful and rambunctious. Instead of walking around this fence we decided to climb it. I was very successful as I’ve climbed many a fence in my life…city boys not as much. I went fine, Ben got on top but is scared of heights so turned around and walked instead. After climbing the fence on to the ledge you had to jump down about seven feet to get to the sidewalk below. Casey tried hard but ended up sitting on the pointy bars. This was originally a picture Laura took of us but then Ben did some altering to make us silhouettes. He does nice work.Later, we strolled down the waterfront and came upon a little park. Casey and I found some sort of a spikey nut thing on a tree and decided to dissect it to see what was inside. Ben was not interested. The insides were kind of like a purplish colored hard boiled egg, weird.At the park there were all sorts of fun things to run, jump and climb on. Here we are on a bouncy teeter-totter sort of thing. It felt like a rollercoaster because of the spring action.I took this picture on our way home from exploring. The Camberwell Kebab and the Co-operative food store have been my main sources of sustenance since coming to London, they are just a short walk from my flat. The guy at Camberwell Kebab knows my order and makes it when he sees me coming. Yes, I would like extra burger sauce on those chips!
The girls wanted to be hennaed so I designed Laura’s (on the right) tattoo and then put it on her and used a design Alisa found and elaborated on it for hers. Good fun, getting henna done really excites people which seems funny to me as my friend Alice and I have been doing it forever. I’m just glad I can do it for people for almost free instead of having them pay the $20-25 they would have had to pay to have them done at a festival.
Today Laura and I ran around and finished a few last errands then came home to pack. This evening we decided to take out London the same way we came in, so we went down to the local and had a drink and sat around chatting a bit. We’ll miss you BarBarBlacksheep, we’ve seen you a lot.We all sat around on the couches and had a good time, a lot of recalled memories from the trip and saying our favorite quotes from each other.
I would love to come back to London some day, maybe the British Museum will have me back. I can’t wait to see my family tomorrow! They are picking me up from the airport. I’m ready for home and not wearing the same few shirts over and over again. I’ll be spending my first week in the sun trying to get my usual tan for them summer and some much needed sun. Can’t wait to see you all and tell you the stories that couldn’t fit here. Thanks for reading!

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July 20, 2008

Kew Botanical Gardens

By Pam Schwartz

The rest of this weekend consisted of a ton of work! But today Laura and I decided to take a little bit of time off to hit up another attraction in London we’ve been wanting to see. We spent the entire afternoon at the Kew Botanical Gardens. I could have stayed there all day long, everything was so beautiful. I took 54 pictures and can’t hardly post them all here, these are just a few of my favorites. Here I am hugging a redwood tree, I’ve just always wanted to do that.
One of the winding stairwells in the temperate house. All the flowers and vegetation here were beautiful.
A whole pond with lilly pads and
The picture below is me standing on the Rhizotron, a big platform up above the trees so you can see out over the entire botanical gardens.This picture looks sort of funny as I altered it with my camera. There is a function where I can just choose to accent some colors, I think it is probably my favorite picture I took all day.The Bird of Paradise.
Here I am being trapped by a dragon…even better than this picture are the pictures of me trying to get back out from under the dragon. It was more difficult than getting in by far.
This picture is from Saturday. For a class project in Editing and Design last semester I had to design a feature newspaper layout. The feature I choose was on a graffiti artist in London named Banksy. He does some very neat and controversial work, I made a trek to find some of his artwork and so far I’ve found this one. Hopefully more later this work. (CCTV is the surveillance they have here all over the city, they say my picture is taken more than 600 time per day here. Yikes!)

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