{"id":108102,"date":"2026-01-15T18:02:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=108102"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:02:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:02:32","slug":"my-museum-rats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=108102","title":{"rendered":"my museum rats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a completely unexpected twist, both my granddaughters have parents who work in museums. In terms of time spent, both kids are bonafide museum rats. In Oregon we volunteer at a small museum, and in Los Angeles we’re constantly exploring its impressive range of museum offerings (usually on free passes). I’m probably the rare school kid that was never taken on a field trip to a museum, so as an adult\/museum volunteer I’m fascinated by how exhibits are put together, how to stage and build exhibits and present sometimes unwieldy cultural information. I can only surmise that as a volunteer I’m repurposing years of telling a garden story, considering the best placement, staring at light patterns, always struggling to make a garden more legible despite an inclination to include too much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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chandeliers and dinosaurs, where else but at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles — kids see a lot of bones and taxidermy at any natural history museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since becoming volunteers, if we can fit it in, we now make it a point to visit every museum we come across, large or small. Quite a change from previous museum habits of mainly visiting the great ones in Europe, e.g. the Uffizi, Musee d’Orsay, V&A, etc. Museums with large endowments are a wonder of design and craft, staffed by professionals with credentials in museum studies, graphic design, art history and exhibit construction. Small-town museums obviously lack similar resources, but just as in visiting gardens, there’s lots to learn from museums of every budget and size. And kids take surprisingly well to adopting the “quiet” voice and manners necessary for everyone to enjoy these spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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taxidermy at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles — kids fall easily under the spell of these hushed spaces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NHM Los Angeles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NHM Los Angeles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NHM Los Angeles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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taxidermy room at Tillamook Pioneer Museum, Oregon. Often small-town museums give me a vibe of having been designed by Wes Anderson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tillamook Pioneer Museum — at the smaller museums, don’t be surprised to find you have the entire place to yourself<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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small-town museums are often housed in beautiful historilc buildings — we all admire this light fixture at the Tillamook Pioneer Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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exhibit on clayworks industry and “beehive” kilns, Fairhope, Alabama, (population approx 23k) beautifully done with backdrop of photographic wallpaper — note details like the curved corner. Museum is housed in the former City Hall. Fairhope is one of two remaining “Single-Tax Colonies” in the U.S., a utopian-minded civic venture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Museum of History, Fairhope, Alabama, firehose nozzle display shows some “flat lay” skills (we were in Fairhope recently for my brother’s celebration of life)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Astoria’s Heritage Museum, formerly the City Hall, exhibit on the Coast Salish indigenous people of the PNW. And, yes, there is a Goonies exhibit here too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Los Angeles Maritime Museum in the old ferry building — years ago we ate at this restaurant right before it closed! If you live in a small town, your local history museum most likely could use your help.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“Corita Kent: The Sorcery of Images,” Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, aka the “Pop Art Nun,” show includes this revolving triptych of over 1,000 photos as well as her work with serigraphs. Startling to find Sister Corita’s nun’s habit was exactly the same as the nuns who taught me, including my art teacher Sister Mary Paul — museums shake loose all kinds of dusty memories<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Marciano Art Foundation — had to get a photo of the tree aloe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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at LACMA Chris Burden’s Metropolis II takes up a whole room — last time we were there the cars and trains of this “kinetic sculpture” ran on Thursdays, so you might want to call ahead to double-check. Your kids will thank you!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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