PLANNING
I work collaboratively with all manner of professionals in planning strategic, exhibition, curriculum, or project initiatives to understand and facilitate innovative thinking with practical methods to test, implement, maintain and evolve over time.
Planning and Engagement Consultant
Maloka Interactive Center
Bogota, Colombia
Democratizing Museum: New Approaches to Creating Exhibitions in Collaboration with Local People
Exhibition and Program Development
2-week Workshop & Public Lecture
(March and October 2019)
Polly McKenna-Cress was awarded a Fulbright Specialist 3-year fellowship to work with different cultural institutions in Colombia, South America. She conducted a 2-week workshop in March 2019 with Maloka Interactive Center in Bogota, working with Sigrid Falla, Directora de Ciencia y Sociedad en Maloka and her museum team. The exhibition being developed and designed was focused on the emotionally- and politically-charged topics of immigration, migration & forced displacement.
The leadership of Maloka made a brave decision to broaden from physical sciences to social sciences by addressing issues facing current day Colombia, particularly social issues in the museum’s surrounding community as desperate Venezuelan refugees have sought refuge along with rural migrants that have been displaced from outlying areas of Colombia into Bogota. Various concepts for exhibit topics, interactives and experiences were prototyped in rough forms and tested with visitors on the floor of the museum. Additionally and most importantly, the Malokan team went out on the streets where impacts and interactions are happening to discuss with the newly transplanted and existing communities.
Based on the work done in the spring, Maloka was awarded funding from Ford Foundation. Ms. McKenna-Cress returned to Bogota in October 2019 to support the co-creation and further design of the exhibition and programs with the team and local communities. She has also secured agreements with Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) to partner on the further development of this exhibition to travel internationally and gather data and stories of the mass migration we are all a part.
Planning and Engagement Consultant
Małopolski Institute of Culture
Krakow, Poland
New Approaches to Community-based Exhibition Development and Design
Exhibition and Program Development 3-day Workshop & Public Lecture
(September 2017)
This 3-day workshop launched with a public lecture introduced the concepts, theoretical underpinnings and case studies about inclusive practices in the museum, helping museum professionals see and understand the value and positive impact that diverse audiences and voices bring to public institutions. The workshop was conducted with 35 different museum professionals from more than 20 museums all over Poland. The topic or content was focused on Poland’s National and local identity. This was an important engagement for the attendees, particularly at this time as Poland continues to rebuild and reimagine itself as an independent nation after World War II, Russian occupation, and with the new uprising of young challenging philosophies such as Neo-Nazism.
Attendees formulated thoughts and questions and conducted street surveys to discuss and collect reactions and stories from potential audiences. The public’s response surprised some of the professionals by revealing some misconceptions, and in addition the public’s eagerness to learn and discuss such topics in a museum environment. Poland, as most countries, understands their cultural institutions as an essential forum for discourse, as well as interpreters of the evidence that bears witness to the atrocities the nation has experienced.
Planning and Engagement Consultant
Tianjin Academy of Fine Art (TAFA)
Tianjin, China
Collaboration in Exhibition Development & Design
5-day Lecture & Workshop (June 2016)
A public lecture launched this 5-day workshop on exhibition development and design with 50 design students in the Design School of TAFA. The exhibition’s topic was in celebration of the 110-year anniversary of the school’s founding. Students represented various backgrounds including interior design, industrial design and graphic design but had not previously worked together in this way. As pre-work for the exhibition to be planned and executed during 5-days on site, students were asked to cast their hands in plaster and to gather information on their school’s history by decade. The 1,200 sq-ft exhibition was elegantly designed with interpretative moments of national, local and school-focused significance displayed. The cast hands were interpreted to symbolize the continued haptic nature and artistry that is essential to the Chinese culture and of the school.
Planning and Engagement Consultant
Fundación TyPA - Teoría y Práctica de las Artes and the National Museums Network
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Prototyping for Community Co-Creation of Object-based Exhibitions Exhibition Development 1-day Workshop & Lecture (Nov 2016)
This one day lecture and workshop was conducted with 28 different museum professionals from more than 15 museums within Argentina. The topic or content was focused on Buenos Aires’ local cultural identity. The workshop introduced the concepts and case studies about inclusive practices in the museum, helping museum professionals see and understand the value and positive impact that diverse audiences and voices bring to public institutions. The professionals that attended (from diverse types of object-based museums) each brought images of their collections that represented their city’s architecture, multi-faceted neighborhoods, and apparel worn by individuals to share the ways that contemporary audiences would reflect on their own identities based on the material culture and new interpretations.
Attendees formulated questions and conducted street surveys to better understand how non-museum people perceived and valued the objects that represent their museums. They collected powerful responses and returned to share and reflect on these anecdotes with the full workshop group. They shared that this exercise helped them challenge their own assumptions about what visitors want, why they attend and why they might not!