Welcome, Dr. Breeckner, to IVDM!

~Education Coordinator, Marcie Rodriguez

This week we have a new face here at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, Dr. David Breeckner. Dr. Breeckner is our new Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. Hailing orginally from Connecticut, he graduated from Trinity College Dublin, in Dublin Ireland in June of 2017.

His backgroung is in Minoan ceramics, but is looking forward to expanding his expertise into our local pottery. Dr. Breeckner will be spending the next few months with us at the museum, and we are looking forward to seeing the research he produces.

Hello Wood Published in ArchDaily this week

Arch Daily, a weblog covering architectural news, projects, events, and competitions published an article on the Hello Wood art and architecture camp that museum staff participated in this past July.

http://www.archdaily.com/877424/students-construct-7-inhabitation-structures-at-hello-woods-2017-project-village

The review of the Alt Cathedral is very nice:

The cathedral in the Hello Wood village is under construction and has been expanding now for a second year running. This year, the church built on the ruins of the settlement that existed here three hundred years ago has been expanded with further elements: the communal spaces of a chapter house and a cloister. A special feature of the latter is that it is always open towards the interior garden of the chapter house, and so though it shuts out the outside world, this does not mean that its structure is not welcoming: inside, it makes space for people to gather.

One part of the communal spaces, also newly created, is reminiscent of a living room, while another is more fitted to fulfilling the functions of a bedroom thanks to the reclining spaces within. The residents of Hello Wood may just be visiting, staying temporarily in the village, but they still need places that can provide them with the comforts of home. At the same time, the expanded cathedral is a structure that can adapt flexibly to any kind of need. It can be a private residence for its builders, but it can also accommodate the more than one hundred residents of the village on a more spiritual occasion, such as for example a concert.

Geology Tool Box Lables!

~Marcie Rodriguez, Education Coordinator

How rocks are defined with examples!

With the school year coming, the museum is finishing Geology: The Science of Getting Your Hands Dirty tool box. While the bottom half was desgined to meet 4th grade curriculum standards, the top we designed to me more flexible. It explores how rocks are defined using geologic terms, what sort of uses different rocks have, and what local rocks are being used for. They also get to see a variety of fossils, many of which are from our valley.

A collection of fossils!