Public Engagement Visit 2: Polish Museum of America

This historic institution is located just up the road along Milwaukee from Intuit on Augusta off of the Kennedy, in today’s Noble Square or West Town neighborhood, the historic home of Chicago’s Polish community. I arrived a good hour early before they opened, but the lovely lady at the front desk suggested a spot down the road where I could get a nice omelet and a cup of coffee while I waited, a sweet suggestion that led me to a stroll around the neighborhood and part 1 of this blog trilogy. I happily returned after my stroll and was welcomed warmly once again.

The Polish Museum of America is a core member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance, a consortium of ethnic museums and cultural centers across the city birthed out of the Field Museum’s Cultural Connections program in the early 2000s. Although I had driven by the PMA for my whole life, growing up on the Northwest Side, it was through learning about the CCA that I was really inspired to visit, but I was still surprised by the size of the space and the awesome collection once I got inside. I was given a short, informal tour by a young history major named Adam, who had worked for the museum for about a year after graduating, as collections assistant and educator.

The museum shares the building with the Polish RomanCatholic Union of America, which was founded in the late 19^th century, and sparked the museum in 1935. The museum started in one room on the second floor, but grew into its own entity on the second and third floors of the building. During the 1939 world’s fair in New York, the first in which Poland officially participated, a huge collection of artistic works were gathered in the US from across Poland, featuring a wide variety of art, from wood, to paintings, to clothing, stained glass, and folk art. When Hitler invaded Poland, they didn’t want this collection of art destroyed, so the country donated it to US Poles in the hopes that it would remain safe. The collection found its way to the newly established PMA in Chicago, and still forms the majority of the stunning collection.

The third floor was once the great hall for the Roman Catholic Union, so the bones of the auditorium space, the stage and arched windows, were still noticeable behind the layers of vitrines and artworks. The center of the room held folding chairs pointing towards the stage, where the PMA hosts much of their public programming. The PMA is the hub for Pulaski day events, holiday celebrations, film screenings, and other events throughout the year. Adam and another worker were in the middle of setting up for an upcoming caroling event by putting out a new temporary exhibit of winter themed objects around the seating area. The PMA hosts school groups and community members, individuals and families, but the small number of visitors on an average weekday visit made for a nice intimate experience with a large and impressive museum.

Highlights of the collection include photos of historic Polish Chicago, folk art, costumes, and paintings, and an art deco poster collection from the 1930s and 40s on the main 3rd floor space. There was a sled ridden by an 18th century Polish princess, who became a French queen, and a massive stained glass window that blew me away walking in. In additional rooms, one found an impressive art gallery, and the Paderewski room, dedicated to the pianist and prime minister of Poland, who spent many years in Chicago. I didn't realize how large the museum would be, so I ran out of time to fully explore these other two spaces, but I definitely want to return and bring friends, and hopefully catch a public program to see the space alive with community.

Public Engagement Visit 3: Money Museum

This is the third part in a series of museums I visited Friday for a Public Engagement in Museums class assignment to assess engagement strategies at museums. My morning visits included a trip to Intuit Gallery and the Polish Museum of America, but after going to work for a few hours I had extra time, so I decided to check out some architecture downtown. My dad had recently suggested I visit the old Continental Bank atrium, which has beautiful murals wrapped around the epic bank space on the second floor. They're a little weird about security, so people aren't allowed to just walk around the whole room, but you can see plenty from the escalator entryway, and it's definitely worth a visit!

It turned out security would be a theme for my afternoon on Lasalle street. I was leaving Continental bank and remembered the Federal Reserve hosts a small Money Museum across the street at Lasalle and Jackson, by the Board of Trade. I hadn't planned to visit this museum when I packed ahead for the day, so I wasn't prepared for the metal detector and security check. I'd brought a knife to cut my avocado for lunch! So that was left in a safe at the front desk along with my water bottle, and I was allowed to proceed unhindered. The security guard was at least very nice, with a much more laid back and cheery disposition than those you'd find at the airport.

There was an immediate difference between this museum and the other two I'd visited that day: Money. It should come as no surprise, perhaps, but the quality and caliber of exhibit and display technology far surpassed that which is usually in the budget of your average non-profit organization. Everything was sparkly, new, and clean in this 15-year-old museum. Exhibits also also gave the sense of security in their fixtures, with heavy bolts, thick tempered glass, and plentiful lighting. There was a glass floor in the entryway where you could look down and see a sea of coins. When you stepped on the glass, rainbow track lighting lit up the sunken floor and made for quite an entrance.

The exhibit content was similar to what you'd expect in some ways, there were labels that told stories about how the Fed was founded, what the Fed does for the American economy, and how money is made and destroyed. One awesome feature of the museum was the top-notch collection of antique currency. They had confederate money, revolutionary-era money, state-specific currency from before the establishment of the fed, and military currency used to pay our armed forces posted overseas in the early 20th century. Most museums would have a hell of a time getting hold of rare currency like that, but of course, the fed exists to deal with the nation's old money.

Another surprising feature was the plentiful digital technology. For comparison, the Chicago History Museum has an awesome interactive exhibit on their first floor that lets kids take their picture in a postcard, use a digital touch screen to add their name, and email it to themselves as a souvenir. There were three such stations at the Money Museum. In one spot you could take a picture of yourself next to a suitcase of money, and the photo printed out right there. In another spot you could make your own currency, adding in a photo of yourself, decorative designs, and all the proper security features, then email it to yourself. In a third area you could take a quiz game, utilizing the information recently absorbed from exhibit labels, to decide what the fed would do in various national economic situations. Once you've successfully completed the game, you took a photo and could have your face printed on a newspaper article or magazine cover as the next head of the Fed! Each station featured two computers for multiple visitors to engage at once.

There were also touch screen stations where you could find out info about the Fed, about common banking options, and the types of money the Fed shreds. At that table visitors could take away their own to-go bag of shredded money! My phone was dead by this time so I couldn't take my own pictures, but I certainly walked away with plenty of souvenirs nonetheless. There was also a traditional form of visitor engagement in the form of a feedback table, where you could fill out a card and drop it in a box, and take a postcard to send to your friends and family about your visit. A theater sat near the right of the entrance at the end of the exhibit, which could probably seat a whole classroom easily, so one could assume they have plenty of school visitors.

The Money Museum isn't rooted in a specific local ethnic community like the Polish Museum, it doesn't house a study or performance space like Intuit Gallery, but it is something we all have a certain connection to. There has always been a portion of society that has been suspicious of the Federal Reserve Bank, of centralized monetary systems, and the policies they use to alter our economy. But especially recently it seems like we've heard increased rhetoric of that sort, so perhaps museums like this one were created by the various Federal banks across the country to help educate and assuage the public about the role and benefits of such a system. Some might find financial policy boring, some might find it controversial, but they certainly work to make it seem engaging and rewarding at the Money Museum of Chicago.

Public Engagement Visit 1: Intuit Gallery

For my Public Engagement class this semester we were assigned to visit a museum, think about how the exhibits are engaging, and talk to another visitor about their engagement. I spent a Friday morning and afternoon visiting three small museums. Since it was a weekday, and wasn't a holiday, I didn't find other visitors, but I was able to engage with a neat variety of exhibits, and talk with workers at each place. I planned to visit the Polish Museum of America first, but arrived too early, so I went for a walk, grabbed a cup of coffee, and visited the beautiful St. John Cantius Cathedral on Chicago and Ogden, which has beautiful woodwork (photos to the right). I found myself right by the Intuit center, so I started there instead.

Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
Located near the Chicago Blue line stop, Intuit is accessible, but unassuming from the outside. There's a large sign, but the warehouse look of the building and windowless walls and door give a secretive feel to the place. However, once I was inside, I was quickly greeted by a welcoming employee and guided into the gift shop to pay my $5 entrance fee. He asked how I had heard of the place, gave me the lay of the land, and provided a little info about the exhibits. I grabbed a few pamphlets and a sizable printout about the new exhibit and started exploring.
The new Caparena exhibit features sculptures that look like a cross between human, alien, or animal, made entirely of bottle caps and wire. The metallic look was tempered by the way they were layered to appear fluffy and rounded from a distance. They were on rows of pedestals at waist height, making them quite tall, with a few glowing lights under a couple of them. They were cool, but there wasn't much to engage with. In the back room, the walls featured a few more art pieces, some large and some small, a couple of them by the artist Henry Darger, and in the center of the room was a large bench, always a nice feature. In the back, a small exhibit featured the whole cramped one-room apartment of Darger, an acclaimed outsider artist with a passion for his work so strong that he sacrificed even a bed to make room for creative materials. This exhibit was definitely immersive, and weird, but let me wanting to see more of Darger's actual work, to see how the space influenced the art.

I will commend them for their large event space through a side door next door, their cute and nifty gift shop, their ample seating, and awesome bathroom. The bathroom was large, covered in wall art and artsy furniture, had two homey stalls, flowers, and nicely folded paper towels on the counter. I don't often review a museum's bathroom, but this one stood out and certainly influenced my sense of engagement with the space. Although the museum’s entryway and weird art may not appeal to all tastes, Intuit certainly makes the effort to make visitors feel comfortable and welcome in other ways. It seems like they do a lot of public programming, and often feature new exhibits, so I'll have to return and see the vibe and community of the space on a different day.