September 30, 2008

We are continuing our efforts with the Paderewski Exhibit renovations.  We hope to have in November one of the new exhibit cases viewable with examples of the new exhibit concept; "The Three Paderewskis."  This is a concept first introduced in the 1920's by a close friend and brilliant artist, Malvina Hoffman.  She was commissioned to make sketches at the League of Nations for publication in periodicals (photography was prohibited inside the meeting hall.)  She got to know Paderewski and they became good friends.  With an artist's keen power of observation, she recognized that Paderewski exhibited three distinct personalities when engaged in his three chief activities; Statesman, Artist and Friend.  She produced three busts of him that showed these three manifestations of his character.  The revised exhibit will key off of this theme and will have three areas that explore each of these.

Fire at the Chinese American Museum:  In the afternoon of September 19 a fire broke out in the Chinese American Museum.  It started on the fourth, uppermost, floor and quickly spread to the third floor.  The building is salvageable but the collection losses were substantial.  As a member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance (as is the Polish Museum), its Partner organizations rapidly came to its assistance.  In particular The Field Museum and the Chicago History Museum sent expert staff to help pack and move items to temporary storage.  Other partner organizations helped unpack the items and spread them out for air-drying.  This is very important to prevent any mold development.  I helped in this latter activity last Friday.  Very sad to see their losses.  We all send our condolences to the Chinese American Community for their losses.  We hope our visitors will do likewise.  You can find out more about the Chicago Cultural Alliance by clicking here.  If I hear from website visitors, I'll post photos I took at the Museum and at the temporary storage.

It did serve as a "wake-up" call, however.  Yesterday I made a quick audit of our situation and found considerable room for improvement both in our fire security and our disaster-recovery planning.  We are moving very quickly to correct the shortcomings.  We have so many things that demand our attention, we sometimes neglect the most important simply because they aren't often the ones yelling for our attention.

Polish Genealogical Society of America Annual Conference:  September 19 and 20 the Museum Gift Shop had a "Booth" at the PGSA Annual Conference.  Mary Jane Robles and I both attended, as usual, and did fairly well selling various items.  It's always fun to attend this conference as it gives us the opportunity to help attendees with their questions concerning Polish genealogy.  About 150 attended this year's conference.

Previous Updates:

It appears that very soon we will be getting additional computer equipment so that, finally, the equipment sharing problems will be eased.  We still have a shortage of capable staff and volunteers.  It has become very difficult to make time for translations from English to Polish.  If anyone wants to volunteer to do this, please let me know.  You can work from your home computer and just email translations to me.

The Museum, as part of the Chicago Cultural Alliance and the Cultural Connections program, has had a close relationship with the Field Museum of Natural History.  Beginning last year, the Field Museum offered two new courses to teachers in the Chicago Public School system.  The courses were intended to help teachers in the system deal with cultural diversity in their classrooms and schools and to promote a better understanding of different cultures among their students.  In general, cultural diversity is a "hot" issue right now and few teachers have had a chance to get some formal training on the matter.  Most of the available courses are only a few years old and many are considered post-graduate work.  There was a very strong response to the offerings and first classes filled immediately.

The Museum and other cultural institutions were invited, for the second set of classes, to participate as "Cultural Resources" for the classes.  I volunteered to represent the Museum for these classes which started in February and ended with four intense sessions in July.  (Another reason for missing my July update target.)  This experience was a lot of work for me but well worth it.  I interact with the teaching community quite frequently, usually through school field trips and it has been difficult for me to figure out what and how to present to various grade levels.

Coming from a technical/ business training and background, the Field Museum classes were my first real opportunity to hear and discuss with teachers their needs and experiences.  Some of these teachers are really amazing and creative in developing lesson plans.  A far cry from the rigorous routine with which I was taught.  Moreover, the experience has not just affected my work but also my personal life.  I have a much better understanding of my interaction with "others" in general.

I've also been spending time working with a variety of professionals on how to renovate to Paderewski exhibit space.  After the much needed air conditioning and heating system was installed, it was decided to completely redo the entire exhibit; plaster repairs, new paint, new carpet, new exhibit cabinets, new exhibit technology, etc.  It was also decided to address some very serious conservation issues.  Because so many items in this collection are unique and historically significant, the issue of conservation can get very controversial.  For example, should an artifact be cleaned if it contains both "historic" and "non-historic" dirt?  In some cases, certain items that had previously been on display will, in future, only have replicas on display; The originals have become too fragile and can no longer take public exposure.  While I'm not an expert in conservation, I do have the understanding of a trained Chemist.  But, more importantly, my understanding of Paderewski and how his story should be told usually gives me the deciding vote. 

Case in point, his piano stool.  It was decided to conserve the deteriorating leather on the seat.  When the stool was returned after conservation, I refused to accept it because the top of the seat was now "domed" instead of having a slight depression.  I was advised that this "domed" effect was standard procedure because it allowed the leather to last longer.  I advised that the slight depression was a critically important feature and that a "domed" surface was historically incorrect and visually contradictory to the story behind this special chair!  The "domed" effect was removed and I accepted the chair.  This story illustrates that, here at the Museum, every action contemplated must be thoroughly researched before being taken.

Until next time,

Rich Kujawa