Ph Group Project Mtg. 22 Oct 09

Food on the Move Group Meeting – 22 October 2009 Present: Annie, Ron, Adrian, Anna, Krystal, Jonathan, Amy A., Kaitlynne, Elena, Shana, Meghan, Steve, Chelsea, Janet Our focus was on defining our next steps for the project. Steve, Annie, Chelsea, and Ron agree that our project of building out the exhibits at the Culinary Museum by selecting key objects and interpreting them along with the plan to take panels out to sites in Providence and incorporate a printed item (passport / map) is not too ambitious. However, we need to refine our project and create a detailed plan as follows: •

Need to define our relationship with the Culinary Museum in a meeting over the next three weeks. o We’ll come to the meeting prepared with a timeline, budget (including a request for a contribution from the museum), and questions for Richard. (FIGURING OUT THE TL, BUDGET, AND QUESTIONS WILL BE THE FOCUS OF OUR NEXT GROUP MEETING.)  Ex what do we do if an object needs conservation? Who pays for it?  Budget for acquiring things not in the collection?  Does culinary museum do its own design?  Do they approve texts?  Other projects planned that might conflict?  Process for graphics?  When can we work there for research and installation?  Requirements about layout? Overseeing installation?  Does construction need to happen there?  Who should we contact from the student body? • Need to set up a meeting ASAP • Get timeline constraints from students  o Janet will begin to find possible meeting times with Richard. o At this meeting, we’ll formally request the space, use of the collections, flexibility to say what we want in our interpretation spaces, recognition, and anything else we need. We should be explicit about the relationship. (LET’S DISCUSS OUR NEEDS IN THE NEXT MEETING.)

Thinking about the exhibit component: 1830s – Present Easy to break into pieces

Ex. 10 panels (~1/curator), each w/ an object. Good way into their collections Need to build in lots of time for research Richard mentioned other types of materials (pamphlets and brochures) in collection that might be sources for us to look into for research It would be nice to tie into the rest of the museum (beyond the tap room, hotel bar, and wall between), possibly via little interpretive signs throughout the museum that relate to our larger interpretations. But, we need to define our scope and not bite off more than we can chew. What do we really mean by food on the move? Food while traveling? Food as destination? Portable food?  need to write down a specific parameter Outside the museum: Will there be a website component? Build like AOTM? Design to add to it? Need to discuss Printed piece Brochure / map / passport ties back to the exhibition and delves deeper into local themes Scavenger hunt? Use to go deeper into local history? Copies of panels around providence? Steve says two separate texts on same material. What if it’s not a physical panel, it’s a cell phone tour? Need to make it local in a way that’s not necessarily important at the museum. Or maybe use all local examples in the museum. Locations? • Amtrak • Port authority • Ripta – don’t count on it? Not as related to food… • Gas stations (Sara) • Diner (Liberty Elm per Annie?) • Dunkin donuts? Cell phone tour??

What do we do about the negative elements of travel foods? In panel…not history of airline food, moment in airline food. How do we integrate more context at the sites? Fast food v. slow food. What happened? How did those diverge? Good conclusion  alternative Process of FOTM has been faster, cheaper, easier. Now we want to move in another direction. Reaction. Need to define our narrative arc Are we telling a story of brilliant food engineers who designed fast food? Decline of American civilization as seen through dunkin donuts? Where are our politics in the narrative? How does that affect the partners we work with? PROCESS: We don’t want to each pick an object and write about it, because we need a coherent narrative arc. -

Tentative opening date and plan process from there. o Set up project management including dates and responsibilities o Budget  Jnbc 10,000 isn’t guaranteed. Based on needs.

-

Individual research on objects / panels Meeting together re story line Adrian will set up our meeting for next week. We’ll send Richard some information and questions during the week of Nov. 4 Janet find times for a meeting w/ Richard for the week of Nov. 9 or Nov. 16.