Decisions, Decisions

     This week, I spoke with Surinder Martignetti, the head of the performing arts department at MCA Chicago. Our conversation was a major breakthrough in my research, as Surinder gave me a lot of very good ideas and suggestions for MCA Denver's own soon-to-be performing arts program. She stressed the importance of developing long-term relationships with both performers and audiences. It is important for the museum to seek out new and upcoming performers and give them a space/chance that they wouldn't have otherwise. In addition, it is also extremely important for the museum to establish the trust of audiences coming to dance performances. As with contemporary art, modern dance can sometimes be difficult to approach and comprehend. It is the museum's job to educate the audience about modern dance and make them comfortable each and every performance.
     I also finished up the Mixed Kids project I was working on last week. Every summer, the museum hosts a series of lectures called Mixed Taste. Once a week, two experts on very different topics (Absinthe and Arctic Ice Caps or The Stigmata and The Black Panthers, for example) come and give lectures on their specialties and the audience draws parallels between the two topics. Along with these lectures, the museum hosts crafts for kids on the topics covered. Ama wanted me to come up with names for these kids events combining both lecture topics. After spending a few days researching, I came up with the perfect names. Bigfoot and Carl Jung → Dreaming of Mythical Monsters. Bananas and the Tibetan Book of the Dead → Reincarnated as Bananas. However, Ama then informed me that the titles needed to be very simple: ______ and ______. So, Dreaming of Mythical Monsters was changed to Dreams and Monsters and Reincarnated as Bananas changed to Zombies and Bananas.
     I also went to Admitted Students Day at Colorado College last week. I love that place so much! The block program seems to me to be the perfect way to organize classes. Also, every single student that I talked too had only positive things to say. I plan on visiting Tufts next week and hopefully that will help make up my mind.