A Fair Day

Marcie Landeros works with clay at the Children's Fair

Kids visiting IVDM's booth 

Saturday was a day of fairs across central and western Imperial County and the Imperial Valley Desert Museum was thrilled to be able to join in.


The 39th Annual Children's Fair meant Bucklin Park was the place to be in El Centro- the Imperial Valley Press estimated 15,000 people came out during the day to enjoy music, face painting, food, and arts and crafts!  For the sixth year in a row, the IVDM joined the fun.  Over 600 people came by our booth to talk about the museum, and find out about tonight's Stargazing event. Staff members Anne Morgan and Marcie Landeros, volunteer Neil Zinn, and local student volunteers worked together to show kids how to turn clay into any shape and design they could imagine.  Kids created bowls, hearts, animals, and more and enjoyed every second of it!

Meanwhile, up in In-Ko-Pah, musicians, artists, and families celebrated Earth Day at the Desert View Tower.  IVDM Interim Director David Breeckner and education staff Edgar Bernal Sevilla encouraged visitors to join them in making crafted ceramic pots and figures.  Parents and children alike got in on the fun, working with muddied hands to make something worth taking home!  Over 125 visitors - many from San Diego county - stopped by the booth to learn about the museum's current activities and events.

Fairs and events like these make for long days, but are always immensely rewarding.  We look forward to them every year!  From teaching a father and his two young sons the art of a traditional craft, to watching a little girl laugh with glee as she presents her dirty hands to her mother, the IVDM is thrilled to be a part of the IV community, sharing with them its passion and understanding of the past.

Celebrating Art- Wilson Jr High Art Fest

-from the Education Coordinator

This Tuesday was Wilson Junior High's Annual Art Fair, and the Imperial Valley Desert Museum's History On The Go program was there!  414 participants stopped by our booth this year to learn how to make a coiled clay pot

414 people in 3 hours came by our booth

There were kids of all ages, and some adults, getting their hands dirty to make ceramic pieces. The fair was packed with members of the community as the fair continues to grow every year. Students from around the valley are able to bring their art work to be displayed, and then at the interactive booths, like the one IVDM ran, are able to make brand new pieces of art work. There are also live performances of cheer, dance, and music.

Thanks to Kohl's Cares Associates for volunteering!

Having the booth at these fairs would, of course, not be possible without the support of our wonderful volunteers and staff. A very special thanks to Albert Lutz, Angelina Coble, Neil Zinn, and Sue Hess for helping us make this happen. A huge difference was made by Alejandra, Priscilla, Valerie, Amanda, and Jeffery from Kohl's in El Centro, who volunteered through the Kohl's Cares Associates in Action volunteer program.  Through this program Kohl's Associates donate their personal time to helping support their local communities and non-profit organizations.  Kohl's also awarded the Imperial Valley Desert Museum with a $500 grant to support youth art programs.  This grant money will go towards supporting the coiled clay program, ensuring that there are enough supplies to last for many future events. Thanks Volunteers!   

OctoberCraft Fun

-from the Curator

73 people came out yesterday to join us for our first OctoberCraft event. It was a day for fun and families, crafts and treats. Four different craft stations were set up through the Museum, giving people a chance to explore the new exhibits in between their crafts.

Sue Hess, Marilyn McAllister, Steve Benton, Marcie Rodriguez, Alanna Rodriguez, Michael Field & Stephanie Bedwell volunteered for treats and crafts all day. Thanks guys!

The day went smoothly thanks to some dedicated and creative volunteers: Sue Hess, Marilyn McAllister, Steve Benton, Robin Dodge, Antonio Rivera, Bob Diaz, Michael Field and Stephanie Bedwell spent a fun filled day helping kids with new craft projects.

Bob Diaz with Dia de los Muertos crafts

Bob Diaz, from Sears in El Centro, came out for another year of sharing Dia de los Muertos arts and stories with kids.

Michael teaches a new generation the art of sewing

Michael Field and his wife Stephanie joined us from San Diego. Michael's photography exhibit Michael Field: Designer, Hiker, Photographer just opened at the Museum and includes a look at the hiking bags he designs and makes.

 He and Stephanie helped kids cut and color skull designs (in honor of Dia de los Muertos) and helped them sew their own bags on a sewing machine.  Several kids came back to work on more than one- a new generation of designers in the works!

Photobomb! The photographer gets photographed while a new student shows off her work

Making their own bags got kids excited to go trick-or-treating later!

Coiled Clay and Spooky Lanterns were also big hits. These crafty kids came with creativity to make some great projects!

#Ramseselfie with some raffle winners!

 OctoberCraft was sponsored by Sears and Antonio Rivera, Realtor.  Antonio raffled off $150 in gift certificates to the IVDM gift shop every hour and to lots of excited winners!

Season's First Field Trip: Imperial Valley Home School Academy

-from the Curator

Students explore the "Land of Extremes"

Today we had our first field trip of the 2015-2016 school year. 38 students and 27 parents with the Imperial Valley Home School Academy joined us for the day.  This was the first field trip for the Museum since the second round of installations for the permanent exhibit.

We were excited to see how into the exhibits everyone was- exploring our panoramic photograph projector, reading "Rock Talks" to explore what they'd see hiking, and watching an exhibit video of master potter Teresa Castro making a ceramic pot. Kids and parents all got very involved- especially making clay pots!

They were amazed when they went from making their own pots to looking at the ones in our exhibit and thinking about the time and skill needed to make the large ollas.

Getting ready for coiled clay!

We were very happy everyone was so excited to join us and to hear the kids and parents unanimously claim "This was so much fun! This was the best field trip ever!"

Coiled Clay Art Program goes national!

-Anne C. Morgan, Head Curator

This week I went to the Society of American Archivists national convention, held this year in Cleveland.  I had the honor of being a part of a panel discussion on nontraditional outreach in archives and museums and how institutions of any size could reach new audiences through creative programs.  

Caitlin Brennecke with Troy Historic Village; Caitlin Christian-Lamb with Davidson College; Kelsey Duinkerke with Thomas Jefferson University; Jessica Holden with the University of Massachusetts, Boston; and I gave a panel discussion moderated by the wonderful Michelle Ganz from Lincoln Memorial University, Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.  We each discussed specific outreach programs from our institutions that step a little bit outside the box.

Cleveland Convention Center, home of SAA 2015

 In my case, I talked about the IVDM's Coiled Clay Art Program.  As our signature program, we have done it so often the staff doesn't think of it as 'outreach'- just fun.  But one of the big questions we asked on this panel was: "If you're not having fun, why would anyone else?"  Each of us explored the idea that outreach events should be fun and engaging as well as educational.  Being unique and going beyond the walls of our institutions means that we reach wider audiences and interest them in different ways. Through the fairs, festivals, and field trips the Museum has done, I know we've met many people we might not otherwise have gotten the chance to talk to, and introduced many kids to the idea that museums can be fun.

Between 125-150 people attended our session, and we were thrilled by the many interesting and insightful questions asked after the talk.  Clearly a lot of people were already starting to think about what new and exciting programs they could start at their own institutions.  We were also surprised and flattered by the amount of positive feedback we got after our talk.  It was very encouraging to a group of young professionals giving their first large conference presentation!  If you follow the Museum on Twitter ( @IVDesertMuseum) you saw some of the lovely comments people tweeted about our session: "Just saw a fabulous session on outreach. Thanks to the panelists on #s303 #saa15!"

It was a wonderful experience for me as a young archival professional, and a great spotlight for the IVDM on the national stage.  

Caitlin, Anne, Jessica, Kelsey, & Caitlin, celebrating a presentation well done!

Campo Indian Education Center Field trip

-from the Curator

Staff member Frank Salazar, Campo, welcomes kids to museum

Yesterday we had over 30 kids ages 6-13 come out to the Museum on a field trip from the Campo Indian Education Center.  This was their first visit to the Museum and they were very excited to get to see everything.

Students explore topographic map 

The kids divided into two group. One group started the field trip with a tour of the Museum and the new exhibit.  They especially enjoyed our new topographic map projecting the history of water in the Valley, from the ocean to the filling and receding of Lake Cahuilla.

Students explore the Valley's History of Water

The second group started with our coiled clay program.  Both groups got the opportunity to do both activities. There was a lot of competition to make the best pot and plenty of kids got creative with decorations- including occasionally adding 'feet' to their bowls.

Creative bowl with carved designs and supporting 'feet'

Enjoying making clay bowls

They enjoyed exploring the museum, and we hope next time they come the weather will be cool enough that we can also go outside and explore the desert.  A great day for everyone!

Jacumba Blues Festival

-from the Curator

Saturday, May 2 we took our coiled clay booth up to Jacumba for this year's Jazz & Blues Festival.  A great group of kids joined us to learn how to make clay bowls- all first timers to our program.  About 125 people came out for great music and great food.  We saw old friends, met new ones, and everyone had a great time!
Thanks for inviting us Jacumba Arts Council!

Learning to make pots

History on the Go! in Jacumba

Wilson Jr. High Art Fair

-from the Curator

Yesterday Wilson Jr. High sponsored the 7th Annual Art Festival for the El Centro Elementary School District.  Students showcased their talents in music, dance, painting, and sculpture for visitors to see.  The IVDM was again one of the groups invited to participate in the Festival and we enjoyed spending the afternoon with very talented and enthusiastic kids of all ages!

Learning to make a pot

Over 230 students came by our tables to participate in our coiled clay program. Sometimes we had as many as 20 kids at one time! Several remembered us from last year, or from field trips they'd been on earlier this year, and were eager to show off their clay skills to their friends and family.  Others were excited to dive in and give it a try.  Everyone had a great time! Thanks for inviting us again this year Wilson!

Face painting and clay- art of all kinds!

Field Trip Fun (Part 2)

-from the Curator

Sunflower students exploring the mysteries of the desert

Today was our last field trip before major exhibit installation starts.  Over the last two weeks we've had three 6th grade classes and a 5th grade class from Sunflower Elementary, and 7th-8th graders from Westmoreland- a total of 137 kids in just three days!

Making a pot is harder than it looks!

Our Sunflower students came out to do an extended hike through our property and talk about desert biomes.  They learned how different plants and animals adapt to live and thrive in the desert, and how long you can live without water (3 days).  They also got to work with clay and try making pots while finding out how important making a good pot was to living in the desert.

Flint knapping with glass

Flint knapping with glass

The older Westmoreland students helped us pilot a new field trip program- an intense look at archaeology. We looked at artifacts, talked about some of the reasons artifacts are left behind and what archaeologists learn from them, and tried our hand at flint knapping.  That one met with mixed success, but it was a good first try for everyone.

In depth archaeology with reproductions you can touch!

Since January we've had over 330 kids come through the museum on field trips. They've gotten to see some of the behind the scenes aspects of building an exhibit that people rarely see.  They've also discovered how many people are involved with very different jobs to put it all together.  Maybe we have some future exhibit designers in the making?




Hopefully they've come away excited to come back and see our final exhibit and be able to tell their families what changes they see.  They all certainly had fun while they were here, and so did we!

Out of the whole class, 1 successful point was made

Field Trip Fun (Part 1)

-Anne C. Morgan, Head Curator

Springtime means field trip time and even with all the construction going on here at the museum we've had several classes come out for field trips.

For the third year in a row every 4th grader with McCabe Elementary came out for field trips.  159 students over five different field trips enjoyed hiking on our property and learning about desert plants and animals; looking at rocks and applying the geology they've been studying in the class to the Imperial Valley; and learning to make pots with our signature coiled clay program.

Sunflower Elementary School's Mrs. Arguelles and Mrs. Diaz brought their 2nd graders out earlier this year.  They were kind enough to send us handwritten (and drawn!) thank you letters telling us how much fun they had with us.  From the letters it looks like making pots was the biggest hit, although hiking with cactus was a close second.  We've been fortunate enough to have great weather for our field trips so far- here's hoping that continues for the next few!

Cattle Call Farmer's Market

This is the first year the museum was part of Brawley's Cattle Call events. We set up in the kids corner and worked with about 82 students from 6 - 16 years.

One student remembered his fourth grade field trip 2 years ago and stayed to make a really nice pot. It seemed like a lot of kids were engaged enough to work for a long time, trying to get their pot shaped just right. A lot succeeded, and a lot of others are willing to keep trying at our next event. 

A big thanks to Lorraine Pritchett for donating the clay, which makes these types of events possible.