I’m back!
Parenting full time involves much less writing than I originally planned and hoped. That being said, I have the privilege of time to visit a lot of museums, which is amazing! So far this year, I have visited 22 museums:
Click to expand list of museums visited, date of visit, and cost.
- Toronto Zoo January 8; Free visit with library pass)
- Museum of Toronto at Harbourfront Centre, Mr. Dressup to Degrassi (January 9, by donation)
- Ontario Science Centre KidSpark, Harbourfront Centre (January 9, 15$ a person)
- Toronto Reference library’s Retail Retrospective (January 10, free)
- Textile Museum of Canada (January 10, free visit with library pass)
- Aga Khan Museum (January 16, free visit with library pass)
- Woodland Cultural Centre (January 17, 27$ per adult)
- Wellington County Museum and Archives (January 20, by donation)
- King Heritage and Cultural Centre (January 23, free)
- Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (January 27, 8$ per adult)
- Guelph Civic Museum (January 31, 6.50 per adult)
- Art Gallery of Guelph (January 31, by donation)
- Ireland House Museum, Burlington Museums (February 3, 10$ per adult)
- Joseph Brant Museum, Burlington Museums (February 3, 10$ per adult)
- Gardiner Museum (February 5, free with library pass)
- Royal Ontario Museum (February 5, free with library pass)
- Cambridge Conservation Authority (February 20, 22.50$ per adult)
- The Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum (February 20, 15$ per adult)
- Discovery Centre Halifax (March 5, free with gifted pass)
- Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (March 5, 19$ per adult)
- Resurgo Place (March 12, free with gifted pass)
- Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre (March 19, by donation)
During these visits, I am seeing so many interesting exhibits and would like to document my reflections. I started posting reels, which works well with the chaos of my life. However, the medium and platform encourage communicating a single idea quickly over more complicated reflections.
I loved creating blog posts during the archival research phase of the Dawson City Museum project, documenting and discussing ideas in progress. So, I am returning to blog posts and hope I find the same joy in writing.
Eventually, I may develop a research project with specific questions related to two ideas:
- Identity construction in and through community museums: If community museums are a tapestry that present different aspects of the Canadian experience, what does the tapestry look like? How is it evolving?
- Ways museums are (not) kid and friendly museum spaces: As a museum worker and then scholar, I believed museums are spaces for kids and families. As a parent experiencing museums with a baby then a toddler and sometimes a group of four kids under 10, I have come to believe most spaces are not designed for kids or families. How do and can museums design for a family friendly experience?
My museum visit reflections will likely include commentary on both of those ideas and lived experiences. However, for now, I would like to give myself space to discuss questions and themes as they appear. So far, I’ve started noticing the following themes connecting my thoughts:
- Nostalgia
- Museum design and accessibility
- The role of people
- The local and colonialism
I am looking forward to exploring these themes as part of weekly museum visit reflections. However, it seems like I am unable to finish writing anything without some sort of deadline for myself in place. So, here it is:
I am going to start posting on Sundays (when I have writing time) or Mondays (if more editing is needed. Some posts will be about one museum visit because I have so much to say. Other posts will reflect on multiple experiences. I am going to give myself some space to see what works.
Next week’s post will be about the Toronto Zoo, the Museum of Toronto at the Harbourfront Centre, and Ontario Science Centre KidSpark.
Museoception 
Thanks, I
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