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Share Your Ideas

Figure instructor, Kyle

Do you have an idea that can help us make the MAH a more engaging, welcoming, dynamic hub for culture in Santa Cruz? This is a place to share your ideas and comment on what others think. It’s okay if your idea is only half-baked or feels a little outside the norm… we are trying to push the envelope as much as possible here while remaining committed to being a welcoming, accessible place for all the diverse members of our community.

Please leave an idea in the form of the comment!

  • Dhyana

    Well, I guess I’ll be the first… some randomness: balloons! streamers! bike races and scavenger hunts that start at the museum! the great morgani! music and contra dancing in abbott square! film nights! weekly craft projects! lifesized candyland boards or human chess! comment boards placed out on pacific! ionooo!!nnThis is exccciting!!

  • Anonymous

    Fill the nooks and crannies of MAH with cool provocative stuff. I’d love to see a semi-permanent attention getting interactive digital art installation; something that will tingle all the senses and get people to come back for more. Something that will generate a word-of-mouth “you gotta go see/feel/hear that!” It would need to be attractive to all ages.

    • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

      Thanks, @StephenDW:disqus ! We’ve done some small projects in collaboration with the Digital Arts and New Media program up at UCSC, and I could see one of those projects bearing fruit in this direction… although it’s not always easy to make something provocative and attractive to all ages.I’ll always remember an awesome video piece at the Getty that was a tiny screen cut into the floor. You just heard this woman yelling that she was stuck under the museum, couldn’t figure out where the sound was coming from, and then you looked down. It was definitely a “you gotta see that!” experience.

      • Anonymous

        Wonderful @ninaksimon:disqus. Yes, like that floor piece =)! I love anything from the Digital Arts and New Media program. Had a great installation in 2009 from the group http://www.santacruzmah.org/index.php?page=interactivate . Some of the smaller works could find a home in few of the many nooks. Thanks.n

  • Erika Perloff

    I was in San Francisco yesterday and I always love seeing the banners on Park Presidio letting people know what is happening at the museums. Imagine banners for MAH up and down Mission or Laurel or River Street, inviting people to check out the latest exhibit or just to visit the MAH.

    • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

      Great point, @342aaefec9378b8189e054120ad02d1f:disqus . I’m hoping we can get a facade improvement grant from the city, which would help us incredibly to increase the visibility of the museum… banners would be a great followup.

  • Paul.K.Hempstead

    u00a0I would suggest that community relevance will be your biggest asset in drawing more people to the museum. u00a0Perhaps curated exhibitions around themes that are ‘in vogue’ in Santa Cruz – i.e. edible/experimental gardening practices, meditation/mental clarity practices, mushroom hunting/foraging, home fermentation (beer, kombucha, sauerkraut), COFFEE.nnI think the museum did very well with it’s mtn bike and frame builders exhibit during Tour de California the other year. u00a0Did it go well for the museum?

  • Marissa

    nnnnnnnnnnn@font-face {n font-family: “Cambria”;n}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }nnnnnInvite Mark Allen to do a residency! He might be expensivenbut you might be able to partner with UCSC DANM or Art Dept. to bring him out.nDee Hibbert Jones would be a good professor to talk to about this or anyncommunity centered projects.nnThe sculpture garden seems to have a ton of untapped potential… some sort ofncommunity garden project this summer could be interesting. nnnu00a0nnnYou could open up the atrium or courtyard to communityngenerated programs, like the Walkeru2019s Open Field project. You’d probably neednsome creative people to get it going, UCSC art students could make it happen.nnI feel like strengthening bonds between art students and MAH is key–givingnthem ownership over the museum for a night like Portland Art Museum did withnthe Portland State’s Social Practice MFA program for their annual “Shine anLight” would be really fun: http://portlandartmuseum.org/about/news/releases/The-Portland-Art-Museum-Reveals-Shine-a-Light-A-Night-at-the-Museum/nnnu00a0nnnThe key to attracting younger audiences for after-darknevents seems to be beer, so Iu2019d definitely partner with Santa Cruz MountainnBrewery for any type of night-time program.nnI was very excited when they made the announcement that you were hired andncan’t wait to see the new direction of MAH!! nnnn

    • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

      Great ideas, Marissa. Mark is a friend of mine and I’m hopeful we can bring him up in some capacity. I completely agree about partnering with artists and UCSC students. We’re having an open meeting with DANM students on Friday June 24 at 4pm at the museum… want to come?

  • http://www.ninamo.com/ nina moore

    I have a crazy idea for an exhibit… “Art That We Just Had to Buy!”u00a0u00a0 … I have many pieces of art that I bought before the artist became well-known, and I’m sure others do too. It would be cool to exhibit these pieces (local, etc) that have exhilarated & inspired us.

    • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

      Great idea, and very in-line with something we’re talking about for summer 2012–an exhibition called Santa Cruz Collects featuring all kinds of peoples’ collections–fine art, weird dolls, etc. I want to do a portion of it called “The Object of My Affection” that features people’s stories about the objects they absolutely love most and why.

      • Marissa

        This reminds me of an exhibit happen right now at the Portland Art Museum “Object Stories”. They’ve done a fantastic job. The project opened along with “Riches of a City” which features work from Portland collectors, however the two don’t come across as very integrated in their marketing. http://objectstories.pam.org/ I’m sure their are some very fun and quirky Santa Cruz collections!

        • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

          Yes I am completely inspired by Object Stories, thrilled about what they are doing (and hopeful someday we can partner). I did an interview with Tina about that project that you can read here:u00a0http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-do-you-capture-compelling-visitor.html

  • Marycase

    I just read your most recent post, with the great article about your work. I see it as part of moving the fly-wheel, as Jim Collins calls it. u00a0Move that fly-wheel a few times around and there will be no stopping you — and I refer to all of you there, the general, plural you. u00a0

  • http://twitter.com/RalfLippold Ralf Lippold

    Hi Nina, even though not in Santa Cruz, rather connected with Dresden, I congratulate you to this cool idea.u00a0nI am happy to contribute with an idea that could sky-rocket interest in current and past exhibitions and on the same line increases knowledge networks, customer feedback, future sponsors, and could be lots of fun, if gamified in elegant way.nnHappy to discuss more on it. Currently had a meeting with vice president of current library and museum to bring exhibitions more into the future from flat hanging to interactive 3D augmented reality in a valued sense.nnCheers, Ralf

  • Jonathan

    I an art student at the art institute of sunnyvale, I am working on a large 3.5′ by 3.5′ square painting. It is a pretty ambitious project, I was wonderingu00a0 if there’s anyone to show a few pictures to and maybe get it in the museum when it’s finished?

  • Steve Newman

    u00a0u00a0Continue the good live music at AbbottnSquare.nnnu00a0 Last year the Jazz Society of Santa Cruz Countynnu00a0began a series ofninformal jazz concerts nin Abbott Square that ran every weekend between aprilnand october.u00a0 Seven or eight local bands took partnproviding music every Sat and Sunday afternoon.nu00a0This was coordinated with MAH, Lulu’s Octagonnand VinoCruz.u00a0 The bands played nice-to-listen-tonjazz and kept the sound level down so thatnthe music could be enjoyed without being obtrusive.nnnu00a0u00a0 We have continued this year and hope to keep it going.u00a0 nu00a0I think the abbot square is a wonderfulnsetting for thesenkind of community activities and has great potential. Passersbynare attracted to come in and enjoy the events and explorenthe museum and businesses.nnnnu00a0 It would be nicento keep this going and possiblynexpand it..u00a0nnu00a0u00a0u00a0nnHere’s one possibility-nnJazz has always been a popular subject fornartistsnn(e.g. Romare Bearden) and photographers, andnvideographers.nnInvite Artists and Photographers to sketch andu00a0photographu00a0nnthese performers and their audience. (Likenwith the Yoganna few Sundays ago.)u00a0 Over time, enough good art could comennout of this to merit a display in the museum.nnu00a0nu00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0 u00a0—————–nnnu00a0 The jazz societynwas started 11 years ago and has nnpresented a 4 hour jam session free to the public everynnSunday since 2001 at Bocci’s Cellar restaurant.nu00a0The Jazz Society sends out an email newsletterntwice a week nnto 1700 local people who like jazz.nWe publicize the events at Abbott Square and other eventsnof interest (including psa’s for other community events) innthis newsletter and on our website and facebook page.nnu00a0u00a0 Best wishes for the new museum’s new projects.nnnnu00a0steve newman, nnone of the directors of thennjazz society of santa cruz county (501c3),nnhttp://www.santacruzjazz.org. nnu00a0 831 u00a0 427-2792

  • Buchananchuck0

    Remember Cabrillo College as an art, music, and theater resource too.

  • Carey

    I was thinking it would be great to have an event to make recycled art i.e. art out of used items such as necklace out of  t-shirts or aluminum can tabs. Its a great interactive event and a way to get people doing art with found or used items and a way to get people thinking about creative ways to reuse or recycle items. Looking forward to it! Thank you for the opportunity to share my idea and make my experience with the MAH feeling more personal like it is my museum in my community :-)

    • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

      Great idea, Carey. We are having a craft night on November 18 and this could be a great activity as part of it. Also, for the September Free First Friday, we’ll be doing a collage activity to go with Lisa Hochstein’s exhibition featuring recycled magazines from Bookshop Santa Cruz. More fun to come…

  • Carey

    I read the article today in the Good Times and I had no idea all that was going on at the museum including to transition to a new innovative ED – yay! This inspired me to the go the MAH website and find out what is happening and how I can get involved – its exciting! I have not been to MAH in over a year and now I am excited to visit. One hope I have is that is truely more inviting. My experience walking into the lobby before was unfortunately a stark and unfriendly feeling and it was confusing to know where to go. I hope to see a more comfortable and welcoming environment. Thank you Nina Simon and your staff for invigorating MAH and our community!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Logue/1462890390 Michael Logue

    Is there a way to showcase local artists that might not get seen otherwise ? Not those who do the Open Studios, but local amateur artists, perhaps parse it out into showings by those under 30 and those over 70

    • Maya Mellisa Jackson

      Interesting idea, yet let’s expand it: How about a local artist showcase done in a 2 x 2 format such as the JFK University annual student show in January? Each local artist submits one piece (ie: art work, installation, video, performance piece) that meets the following criteria: 2 feet by 2 feet MAX, video’s and performance pieces limited to 2 minutes in length. Hold a reception, performance artist showcase their work in interior space while viewing of show occurs in same space, charge artist submission fee (moderate sum), limit it to local artists (with addresses in Santa Cruz County) and please include a kids/youth section by age group.
      Referencing your original proposal: Limiting by age is well…limiting. There are MANY of us 40 something-year- olds who may/ may not have permanent studios or do Open studios for varied reasons. For example, some of us are community artists who do most of our work collaboratively yet have private studios to do our own individual works and may/may not ever show at Open Studios :-)

      • http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com Nina Simon

        Check this out – a great project that the Minneapolis Institute of Art does annually. This could be a fun format… http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2010/06/foot-in-door-powerful-participatory.html

  • Mary Dolan

    It would be cool to see a Day of the Dead community art exhibit. The Lawndale Art Center in Houston has a great approach to it, involving everyone from artists to students. Check it out at: http://www.lawndaleartcenter.org/events/dod/dod2011.shtml

  • Maya Mellisa Jackson

    (Posted originally in response to a local showcase show suggestion, the more I thought about this, the more it appealed:) How about a local artist curated showcase done in a 2 x 2 format such as the JFK University annual student show in January? Each local artist submits one piece (ie: art work, installation, video, performance piece) that meets the following criteria: 2 feet by 2 feet MAX, video’s and performance pieces limited to 2 minutes in length. Hold a reception, performance artist showcase their work in interior space while viewing of show occurs in same space, charge artist submission fee (moderate sum), limit it to local artists (with addresses in Santa Cruz County) and please include a kids/youth section by age group.

  • Anonymous

    Need to add water mark of MAH on all the photos posted on the web pages like what Sharlot Hall Museum Archive in Prescott, AZ, did on the image of my great grandfather and his family, including my Dad at age seven…http://www.sharlot.org/archives/photographs/smi/index.php?id=14718

    • Anonymous

      Testing link to my email address at AOL….

  • http://www.jhhcheng.webs.com/ Juliana Cheng

    Idea: History of the slaughter house off Mission Street in Santa Cruz and /or history of the bubble gum factory off Delaware. The guy who worked the blendar to mix the gum, is still alive!

  • SelayangPandang

    Make new design, with ethnic theme.

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