Human beings often attempt to predict the future to no avail.
The museum community is no stranger to this inescapable predicament. Despite
the lack of definitive answers, we can’t help but ask the seemingly innocuous
question: what will happen to the museums in the future? What will a museum
look like in twenty years? Two hundred? Will museums remain relatively the same
or radically different?
In the Southern cultural context, museums are often
critiqued for being resistant to change, yet Levine Museum of the New South is
ready to explore new territories of viewer engagement. Levine Museum is ready to
confront just what a museum will look like in the future. While I can’t answer
this question with certainty (and neither could anyone else, for that matter),
I do hope to offer a suggestion.
Often one of the most overlooked assets to a museum is its
viewership and consequently, the space in which its viewership is comfortable
engaging challenging material. In the 21st century, this forum
exists in Cyberspace through various forms of social media. I believe that
social media is something of an “uncharted territory” that is just now being
explored and utilized. In other words, because society is becoming more and
more interactive with social media, museums should follow suit despite
objections rooted in nostalgia and a reluctance to change. If patrons demand
more accessibility in their digital universes, then museums should provide that
opportunity.
That engagement framework—increasing access and flattening
the hierarchy usually associated with museums has provided the foundation for a
new exhibit that the Levine Museum of the New South has just unveiled—the
Summer 2012 Virtual Series. What makes this exhibit unique is the “lack”
inherent in its creation: it does not utilize specialized web-design software;
it does not require additional help of contractors. Through the utilization of
major types of social media, primarily Facebook, Twitter and blogging
platforms, Levine Museum’s virtual series has been entirely self-sufficient.
The virtual series was created to feature an in-depth
analysis of each of the twelve images that adorn two sides of Levine Museum’s
facilities in uptown Charlotte, NC. Inside of these lightboxes are twelve
images, all iconic of the New South. These images date from 1865 (marking the
end of the Civil War) to the present, and include many influential figures in
Southern history. Examples include evangelist Billy Graham, Nascar Driver Richard Petty,
civil rights activist Joseph A. Delaine, entrepreneur Joseph B. Ivey, and a startling
image of a Ku Klux Klan rally with a very young girl at the forefront.
It is indisputable that these twelve images were (and still
are) very important both to local Charlotte history, as well as the larger
history of the Southern region, the United States and the world at large.
However, as part of a renovation project, and in order to address questions and
controversy that have arisen about some of the images, the Museum has decided
to remove them from its façade. Through social media, the virtual series
addresses these issues through an in depth analysis of each image and its
particular context and relevance in local, regional, and national history.
Through the accessibility of social media, the educational
staff (myself included) hope to “extend a hand,” so to speak, welcoming
visitors into an easily-accessible forum outside of the traditional “museum”
setting. By providing the larger community the opportunity to learn more about
their heritage in the comforts of their homes, we hope to spawn increased
interest in the “who, what, when, where and how” that has culminated in the
creation of the society we live in today.
This of course raises an interesting question: does a museum
have an obligation to deliver content into the home of the viewer? If the
audience requests greater accessibility, should a museum honor that request? Or
does this sacrifice the integrity of the museum space? Does this take away from
the value bestowed in such repositories of knowledge? This is an interesting
point to ponder, particularly given the obvious benefits of social media.
Increased viewership and accessibility are not the only intentions
of this series, though. Through the creation of the virtual series, unexpected
connections have been established, all of which have done an excellent job of linking
Levine Museum with the surrounding community. Obviously, when each image is
removed, it needs a place to go; it needs a new “home,” so to speak. Through
this “problem,” we have been at work tracing the origins of each image,
attempting to donate it to an organization or group that would be interested in
preserving its heritage and significance.
This search has led our museum on an interesting journey,
but has provided unexpected and enlivening connections. These “partnerships”
are mutual: the receiving party is provided a free 3 x 4 ft framed image;
Levine Museum has formed a new “partnership” in the community. Such
interactions help foster a sense of community among organizations in Charlotte,
NC.
The Charlotte Trolley Museum, for example, is receiving our
print of an early 20th century trolley in the First Ward
neighborhood of uptown Charlotte. A volunteer fire station in Richfield, NC
will be provided with a photograph of a band of musicians sitting in a pickup
truck playing during a barbeque in the early 1970s. The former Ivey’s
department store in uptown Charlotte (now a business and residential center)
has eagerly offered to accept our photograph of Mr. Ivey, the founder of Ivey’s
(now Dillard’s.) Each location has volunteered to feature the image, further
spawning a sense of connection and community in the Carolina Piedmont. Therein
looms an inevitable question: what should be done about particularly offensive
images, such as the aforementioned photograph of the Ku Klux Klan rally? The
answer, in short, has yet to be determined. Due to the volatile nature of this
important, yet undesirable part of Southern history, we have yet to reach a definitive
conclusion as to its future whereabouts. We will discuss this picture’s removal
and donation towards the end of the summer on our blog and other social media
outlets.
This interactive foray into the social media world has
generated nothing but positives for Levine Museum of the New South. New
connections have been forged; the community has been engaged; history is being
brought back to life. Every time our Facebook, Twitter or blog features a new
post, more people may be reached, more knowledge can be spread and more
interest in New South history can be created. The virtual series, in every
sense of the word, is a win-win scenario.
While it is impossible to predict the future of rapidly
changing technology, one thing remains certain: social media is a positive investment. It is, for the
foreseeable future, the direction that communication is heading. We believe, I
believe, that social media is an invaluable means to reach the otherwise
unreachable. Whether you believe it is positive or negative, social media
allows for near constant connectivity to overcome vast distances and
prohibitory barriers. Our virtual series can engage people that live ten
minutes from the museum; it can just as easily engage people that live on the
other side of the planet.
I won’t pretend to have an answer for the multitude of
questions inherent to museums’ use of social media, but I will suggest this. I
believe that, as a collective, Levine Museum is taking small steps to
experiment with a new model for community engagement. We don’t know how it will
turn out. Despite that uncertainty, I believe that this program may serve as a
model for a different approach in engaging the community and fostering
dialogue. I would encourage your organizations to try something along these
lines because, like it or not, social media will continue to play a significant
role in museum culture for years to come.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions. What ways do
you engage social media at your museums?
Here are some attached links. You are more than welcome to
follow the blog, if interested.
Originally Published on museumcommons.blogspot.com on June 25, 2012
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