Blog Post #3: A Shameless Plug for the Upcoming Exhibit!

Blog Post #3: A Shameless Plug for the Upcoming Exhibit!

            For this blog post, I’ll be doing something a little different. Instead of talking about my first week in collections, I am going to tell everyone about the fall exhibit, “The Ark of India.” Think of this as the special report/VIP sneak peak/extra-special-behind-the-scenes-look-that-only-my-readers-get-to-enjoy. By all means, I should be charging you for this, but because I am such a nice guy (And because I’m positive that it goes against policies of Troy University and the HMOM) I am going to let you all read this for free!

             The Ark of India Exhibit is an upcoming exhibit for the museum that opens in the fall. It is looking at the art of Roderick Mackenzie, a London born artist who grew up here in Mobile. He and his wife spent 12 years in India around the turn of the 20th century, during India’s colonial period known as the British Raj. He spent a couple years producing art in the courts of the maharajahs, and then set up a studio with people of India as his subjects for the rest of his time there. His most well-known piece during his time in India is a huge mural of the Durbar of 1903 (coronation celebration) for King Edward VII. Jacob has made a replica of it in the exhibit. (The thing is 18 x 11 ft!) It's called "The State Entry." Eventually, as Mackenzie renown grew, he and his wife left India for Europe where he was welcomed by the art community. He continued to produce Indian art through the many photographs he had taken during his time there. He stayed in Europe until 1912. Between his lack of financial stability and the rumblings of war, he thought it best if he and his wife were to return to their home in America. When he came back, he began in New York and worked his way down to Alabama, giving lectures of the society and art of India. He ultimately made his way back to Mobile after spending some time on his brother’s farm in Thomasville, Alabama. Once in Mobile, he became an artistic mainstay of the state. From his series on the steel furnaces in Birmingham to the paintings he did of the azaleas at Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, Mackenzie painted a portrait of the whole state through his art. His work can even be found in the Alabama State Capitol, where Mackenzie painted the murals in the Capitol Dome.

            This is a beautiful exhibit and I urge everyone to come see it. I would say more about it, but I think all the curators might come after me for undermining the work they’ve all done by telling you all too much. I suppose to find out more, everyone is just going to have to visit when the exhibit opens on October 16, 2014 when “The Art of India: An Alabama Artist Explores South Asia” opens here at the History Museum of Mobile.

So with more to come,

Seth Kinard

P.S. I will return next week with tales of my adventures in Collections. (Spoiler: I got to hold a sword.)

Blog Post #2: Outlining an Exhibit

Blog Post #2: Outlining an Exhibit

          High in the second story of Fort Condé, computer keys clicked, a pen scratched, and a weary intern searched for the hidden path to wisdom. His efforts were days in the making. He had journeyed to “The Ark” for insight and it had bestowed understanding to his pursuit. Having started with a simple seven pages of text, the search was finally coming to a close. With the afternoon sun bearing down on the City of Six Flags, the extremely handsome intern stretched back in his seat and exclaimed to the heavens, “It is completed!”

            I know what you’re thinking, “Seth, why was the extremely handsome intern locked up in the second story of Fort Condé when he could be out bringing smiles to the masses with his extremely handsome face and charming personality?” Fear not, citizens. I do that on Fridays. This week my efforts were on an even more noble pursuit. I was tasked with the production of a tour outline by my Current Curator, Jennifer Fondren. This outline was to aid the docents when they give tours of the India exhibit. To help facilitate the transfer of historical knowledge to the masses…I can think of nothing more noble and heroic that that. (Cue melodramatic music and impressive fake tears.)

            With some pointers from Jennifer and a few examples of outlines from the other exhibits at the museum, I went to work. Luckily, I had a copy of the text panels used in the exhibit. I went through the text, writing down the main ideas and one or two supporting details for each one of the panels. Then, using those points, I created the outline. Along with the outline, I included some discussion questions for the docents to ask their tour groups to involve the group. This outline will also include references to particular artifacts throughout the exhibit for the docent to point out to their groups, but seeing as how the exhibit does not have any artifacts in it yet, I felt that it would best be left until I placed some artifacts later on in my internship. While this week’s work may not have been the most exciting, it was my first experience doing something for an exhibit and I really enjoyed it. While the public won’t be able to see the outline, what I wrote will be used by docents to give tours. To know that I did something that directly related to an exhibit at a history museum, was awesome. (I’m still geeking out about it.) This week was my last week with Jennifer at Fort Condé, and I had a lot of fun spending time over there. Next week, I’m off to Collections to work with the artifacts for India.

So with more to come,

Seth Kinard

Blog Post #1: The Journey Begins!

Blog Post #1: The Journey Begins!

            It’s that time of year again at the History Museum of Mobile: Summer Internships! I am Seth Kinard, and I shall be your guide for this year’s journey through the laughter, tears, and big musical numbers of being an intern at the History Museum of Mobile (henceforth known as HMOM). I suppose I should tell a bit about myself in order to help form a bond between me and the readers of this blog. I am a native of Mobile, Alabama, and attended Satsuma High School where I graduated with Honors. I am currently a senior at Troy University, getting my bachelor’s degree in History with a concentration in American History. I’m a Libra, enjoy cooking, and taking long walks on the beach…and yes, that is what I think of every time I do an introduction for myself. It always feels rather awkward and very much like a dating website questionnaire. (Not that I know what an online dating questionnaire is like.) Joking aside, those things are all true except for the beach thing. I love everything about history, and I have very high hopes for my time here. This is my second museum to work in, the other being the Pioneer Museum of Alabama in Troy.

            I hope to provide some entertainment to anyone that reads this, in addition to giving some insightful insights to the goings on of the H.M.O.M. and my internship for the rest of this summer. Having only done academic writing for the past three years, with the exception of a very enjoyable creative writing class, I am still stretching this whole “blog writing muscle” out. It is for that reason, I ask for patience over the first couple of posts. I’ll be with you every week until school starts back in August, so I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. (Or get tired of writing aside-esque statements and made up words in parentheses in thinly veiled attempts at humor, whichever comes first.) So I’d like to ask everyone to buckle their seat belts, and keep their hands and arms inside the blog as you join my expedition as an intern at the History Museum of Mobile!

            My first week at the museum showed that one should always be ready for anything. While that implies that I was attacked by one of the curators (Jacob) with naught to defend myself with but my trusty sword umbrella, (yes, I totally have an umbrella shaped like a sword) in reality it just means I had to help clear out a room. You see, the museum is located in the middle of Downtown Mobile in the Old City Hall and Southern Market. This building was completed in 1858, and is a National Historic Landmark. Though this provides an awesome working environment, it also means that there isn’t much space to expand and store things. Because of this, I was tasked with the job of moving the contents of the previously mentioned room over to Fort Condé. This was my mission for the first two days with other tasks thrown in, such as: making parking passes for the museum volunteers, helping procure clothing rack materials from Home Depot, and helping de-frame some pieces of artwork for the upcoming fall exhibit.

            I believe this is the time that I should explain what the fall exhibit is. In October, the museum is opening an exhibit on the artwork of Roderick MacKenzie, a London born artist who chose Mobile as his adopted hometown after growing up here. This exhibit will look at his art from his time in India in the turn of the twentieth century. (It will now be henceforth known as “the India Exhibit” or simply as “India.”) This is what most of my efforts will be put towards during my internship. After taking the morning to finish up those parking passes, I began my first foray into museum work and starting working on a tour outline for India. Under the direction of my Current Curator, Jennifer Fondren, Curator of Education, I was told to narrow down the accompanying text panels for the exhibit to the main ideas and a few supporting details to assist the docents for when they give the tours. This is my current project so I’m afraid all I can say now is that I have a bunch of highlighting done, but I will bring more news on that in my next post.

           

So with more to come,

Seth Kinard

Here is a picture of me. I hope that it contributes to that whole “building a bond” thing I mentioned earlier.