polynesia americana museum of polynesian pop. exhibit design project

Hi all, I am embarking on a year long project that might be of interest to some of you. I have been accepted into the University of Washington Museum Studies certificate program. The program is one year . I plan on doing all of my class projects based on the concept of a Tiki Museum that for now I will call Polynesia Americana museum of poynesian pop. By the time I graduate I will be qualified to work in all aspects of a museum including; exhibits, collections, archives, grant writing,education and managemant. My goal is to have a comprehensive map for an actual Tiki Museum in one year. I hope that my enthusiasm and excitement is contageous and that you enjoy seeing the concept come togeather. Feel free with thoughts and ideas, I have a pretty good vision already going but I dont know everything. The first place to start is the mission statement. every museum has one its what guides them on their day to day operations.
POLYNESIA AMERICANA MISSION STATEMENT
" the mission of Polynesia Americana is to invite visitors to indulge in the experience of mid-century Polynesian culture associated with leisure and recreation. Through exhibits and collections with corresponding education the museum of Polynesian Pop will convey the importance of this form of American Folk art.
Spanning eighty years of history the museum will provide memories for the old and inspire the new. With an emphasis on conservation of artifacts and sites the museum hopes to ensure the survival of tiki culture for future generations.
The museum buildings and tropical gardens will host ongoing social and informative events to entertain the community and attract visitors from all parts of the world. With our full schedule of events we will generate the finances needed to maintain and expand facilities, staff, education, and collections."

I will update this post as projects are assigned and I complete the homework. just think this could actually happen in the near future Maybe this is even my purpose, well for now at lest. Dawn

[ Edited by: sophista-tiki 2006-10-07 06:57 ]

[ Edited by: sophista-tiki 2007-02-05 08:50 ]

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2007-06-17 13:49 ]

[ Edited by: sophista-tiki 2007-07-23 12:19 ]

What a cool way to get credit for drinking Mai Tais!

A BA in Tiki - love it.

Of Course, make sure you get the connection with the Bishop Museum.

You may wish to spend some time at UCLA at the Easter Island Statute Project under the direction of Dr. Joanne Van Tilburg.

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/ioa/eisp/index.htm

Bula, Bula
Heres an update on Polynesia American.
There has been a lot of tedious subjects covered in Museum basics and education. Things like how to set up the museum as an organization and who will run things and be in charge of various department's. I would at some point like to make a governing body consisting of maybe 8 board members. If anyone wants to participate let me know. Remember that for now we are just playing. But with some creative and dedicated people this could turn int reality.

Anyway, I did write one paper that You might find interesting. Its about my grandpa's art box. The assignment was to choose an object that has some personal significance and illustrate whether or not it belongs in a museum. This would be an object that could belong in Polynesia Americana's collections.
My Grandpa's art Box
I am probably the only person in my family who considers my Grandpa's art box to be of any significance. the box , originally purchased in the 6o"s was painted by my Grandpa, Vernon Frasier in 1967. The scenedepicts a black sand beach on the big island of Hawaii, which was covered by a lava flow in 1960. Vernon traveled frequently to the islands, fully participating in the mid-century lure of exotic Polynesia. When my Grandpa died in the early 70's the box passed to my Mom Carol.

Carol Doyle Frasier was a well know Montana artist and teacher. She used the box to carry her paints to various places around the Montana mountains while teaching her painting classes. In the early 90'she died suddenly f as the result of a bizarre accident.

I waited ten years before asking my dad for the box, it was really the only thing I wanted. To me the box is so significant that I display it as a piece of art. I think that the painting on the box and my Grandpa's interest in Polynesia was my earliest influence to becoming a Tiki artist. Since acquiring the box I have added some of my own art, including tapa designs which I am known for and one of my own Tikis. I can see how this box and its story would be an interesting addition to the collections of Polynesia Americana. There are several exhibit scenarios I can think of where my Grandpa's art box could illustrate a particular aspect of Polynesian pop American Folk Art.

I'm sure some of you have even better personal objects that carry the memories that link you to a family members past interest in Tiki or Hawaiiana. I have about thirty Exhibit ideas already going. and of course part of the modern museum is about sharing with other museums, resources information and exhibits.

Dawn

Christiki295 - my read is that Dawn's interested in tiki pop culture, not actual Polynesian culture or artifacts. I've got a moai mug right here on my desk, and it has about as much relation to actual Rapa Nui culture as Burger King does to the House of Windsor.

Dawn - your goal seems noble and I wish you all the best, but is it even possible to seriously study Polynesian Pop in a modern university? Have you received resistance from university groups telling you Poly Pop was the result of a racist culture and is disrespectful of Noble Island Cultures? I hope the answer is no, but I would doubt it. I remember reading several times about mainland universities having luaus shut down by protesters because they "disrespect the Hawaiian culture". If university groups get their malos in a twist about a simple, happy luau, they must go nuts about taking Poly Pop seriously.

I think there may be some misunderstanding here. What I am going to school for is museum studies. What I choose to base my museum on is entirely up to me. The fact is, there are all kinds of museums big and small. There is even a gopher hole museum somewhere in Canada. The teachers of this program don't really care what the subject of your imaginary museum is all we have to do is apply the principles to our choice of museum. Museums can be government run, public institutions or a one man operation about someones quirky obsession. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean that it cant be done. Obviously a museum about Polynesian pop culture would be a privately operated museum with sponsorship from organizations and businesses with the same interests, visited by people who are interested in it. Again I am not trying to go to school for poly pop. I'm in the museum studies program. This gives me the knowledge to work in any kind of museum or to create a new museum.

No, I understand you're in museum studies, but you certainly need to understand the subject matter you've chosen for your museum - I mean, you should know the difference between a Mai Tai and the Mai Kai. Plus you've posted on a forum that's devoted to Polynesian Pop - I'm sure there's plenty of people here who will be happy to help you understand what it's all about, but you probably won't be getting much advice about how to run a museum. Those are tips you can give us, with our little collections of wood and ceramic artifacts.

I look forward to hearing how your studies progress through the year.

Maybe I am posting on the wrong forum, For those of you who don't know who I am, I usually post on creating Tiki. I have been doing tiki art for nearly twenty years. I already have a comprehensive understanding of what Tiki Culture is about and understand the differences between, traditional Oceanic art, Hawaiiana, and Tiki. I don't need someone to explain to me the difference between a beverage and a building. I have been in early issues of Tiki News, Taboo,The Art of Tiki, and most recently Tiki Art Now Three. I have designed tiki products for internationally known companies. and I have written a book on Tapa design. I was collecting Witco long before it became fashionable to do so. blah blah blah. anyway, The point is not to offend anyone, but to include those who also think this might be a fun project. I just want to let you know that I'm not new to the Tiki lifestyle. Dawn

Dawn - you are absolutely correct, I misread your initial post as a request for info, when it is in fact an update on what your doing - my mistake and my apologies.

There is even a gopher hole museum somewhere in Canada

Ha! Yeah, I've been to the Torrington, Alberta Gopher Hole museum. Don't go calling it a "museum" around true "museum people" though. My wife sat on the Alberta museums board for a few years and that was always a sore spot with them.

That said, I'm intrigued by the poly pop museum idea. I know you said yr just playin' at this point, but I think it's an interesting era of North American history (duh...what else would I say?) and i feel it's completely valid to present it's artifacts, whether some would qualify it as a racist portrayal or not. A true poly pop museum could tastefully tackle that issue. After all, racism is an issue with which many museums grapple.

True that!

I would say that even if ALL polypop is or was negatively impacted by an -ism, that ism would be cultural elitism, not racism, hence the old "primitive" tag applied to non Western and non N. Asian Art and culture. I have no pieces with any racialized mammy type features, but people can still say "What gives you the right to appropriate their images?" Those people aren't very well educated as modern Oceanic art has appropriated many Western elements as well, and I don't think that the Melanesians or Polynesians mean it in a racist way either.

ST

Sounds like a story (tiki) that really needs to be brought into the realm of recognized American history may soon get what it has deserved for years. The doors are open...Sven, Otto, James, Jeff, etc., etc. did a lot of the background work for us. I think it's a capitol idea. If you combined it with an authentic dining/drinking secondary experience somewhere on property I think you could have a very sustainable non-profit. I'd personally help out in any way I could once you decide it is a go. I'm sure a lot of people would, there are lots of devoted, highly learned true believers around here... in the name of bringing the story to the masses in a less adulterated, truer way than has been done by corporate America/people with a mere passing/party interest in recent years. I find it hard to believe that so few people on this site now even own a copy of Sven Kirsten's "The Book Of Tiki". It's sad, so sad. Your idea would serve a noble purpose...I say go for it.

i was lucky enough to talk to Dawn over dinner last night ~ and to discuss her project for the UW Certifate Program. holy cow, this project is due in a year! Dawn told me which assignments must be completed by the end of the year and i was thinking,"but, its the holidays! how will there be time?!!"

(to me) the scope is huge! 80 years of Tiki as American Folk Art ~ but that is actually really a focused view for a museum. its still hard to wrap my head around it all, but Dawn's vision for the PAMOPP is clear and exciting! actually, i hadnt thought of Tiki as american folk art..but that's brilliant! and much more cool than quilts and duck decoys!

i dont know how i can help ~ but i'm excited to watch as Dawn's project unfurls...

that's a COOL idea, BK.. the drinking and dining experience at a museum.. a far cry from a stale muffin and coffee from a pump pot! bring on the mai tais and flaming ambrosia!

i hadn't read this thread in a few days, and wish i could have asked Dawn to bring Grandpop's art box to show and tell..

man, i am so lucky to live in Seattle ~ surrounded by cool friends who understand Tiki.. and maybe the home to the first Tiki Museum.. the whole project makes my head spin (in a good way).. i mean.. i've never thought of myself as someone who'd want to volunteer at a museum.. or maybe.. oh i dunno, thinking for when we get old ~ a place to bequeath our assets to..

anyways.. i'm gonna watch as this thread progresses.

elicia

Bula Bula, I just got home from a long day of school. Today we discussed how important Volunteers are to keeping a museum alive. and the assignment is to write a curriculum for training volunteers. so when I'm done Elicia will be the first one to guide you through the museum. Of course there is a dress code, vintage Hawaiian print. My plan does include grandiose tiki architecture. with a bar/restaurant complete with floor show. Also there should be meandering pathways through lush tropical gardens with waterfalls and volcanoes. The exhibit choices are endless.and it could all be housed in a giant A =fame or three. Connections between primitive, modern primitive and neo modern primitive could be illustrated in elaborate dioramas trimmed out in bamboo. There could be carving demonstrations, explanations between Bark Cloth(tapa) and bark cloth Hawaiian print fabric. The list goes on and on. And of course we would want to give recognition to all of the people who got us this far.
I do think that there are some interesting questions being raised with regards to ethics, these are issues that even the most prestigious museums face. I do want everyone to know that their opinion good or bad is valid and encourages dialog to creative problem solvinG Dawn

Meka leka hi. time for some updated info. I had class yesterday and submitted my paper on what the volunteer training would consist of. Very fun project. I included classes such as, the history of the Tiki establishment. tiki architecture and googies in America. Painters and Carvers then and now. Ephemera and its distinctive illustration styles. Decor, what are the elements that make up a "tiki" environment- this class includes mugs, rattan , tapa cloth, puffer fish lamps, and that sort of thing. There was also a class about identifying tropical foliage on the museum grounds and about the simulated rain shower and volcano. Every volunteer training has to include emergency procedures and safety in the museum. The tricky part for this particular museum is how to interpret "tiki" for kids. and I'm still dancing around the whole cocktail issue.
Now I am going to start to research foundations for grant money to get this started.
I might actually find a legitimate funding source. anyone have input on location for this museum?. If not It will be here in Seattle. Still looking for board members too.

Sign me up for the board, Dawn, my hole love for Tiki has its roots in early school outings to the Hamburg Museum of Anthropology. Museums have inspired Picasso and the moderns to create their art. Wherever I stay I seek out the local Natural History Museums. I think every good Tiki Bar, and also the Book of Tiki, are a bit like a museum.

The question of ethics is a good one. Does Tiki still insult indigenous people and their culture? I firmly believe not, if coming from the intention of adoration for the culture. Since it is a dead culture for the most part, ANY translation of it into modern day increases its mana, in my opinion. Often, a country's dead traditions have been taken up by people of OTHER nations, and even if not in the purist sense, have thus been injected with new life. For every ten Tiki fans that just want to get smashed on Mai Tais there is one that genuinely falls in love with the original culture, beyond its pop manifestation. That's one more than before. The key point is to explain that the one does not exclude the other, one person can enjoy both. Or just one, that's OK too, traditionalists and populists do not have to be at odds with each other.

A Tiki/ Poly Pop museum would have a much cleaner conscience as to the artifacts of of midcentury Tiki than the real museums. Granted, the Maori meeting house in the Hamburg Museum was legally sold to it because of its bad luck curse, and it was officially dedicated by a Maori delegation decades after. But a large part of the museum's South Seas Arts stock is based on an official expedition at the turn of the century that travelled the then German colonies of Melanesia and brought back some 50 000 (!) authentic artifacts (though some just fishhooks). Though the argument of this and many other museums is that these indigenous pieces would have been abandoned and left to rot, and now have been preserved, the impact of this type of scientific looting on the decline of native cultures has never been measured.
It is a difficult problem to assess, I myself have seen a giant stone Tiki head in the Marquesan jungle whose features had been almost completely washed a way by the elements, while its twin counterpart in the Berlin Museum has retained its original sculptural quality.

But Polynesian Pop is free of this conflict of tainted acquisition (IF the pieces have not been removed from still active Tiki establishments, of course), because it proudly continues in Picasso's belief that the authenticity is not as important as the piece being done in the correct SPIRIT.

As for the location, I would propose Los Angeles, I believe Oceanic Arts' collection would be a good foundation for a Tiki Museum. Or how about Hawaii, I am aiming to retire there. :)

I further would like to nominate Sabu, Mimi, BK, Humu, Swanky, the Beachbum, Otto, James T., Duke Carter, and some other of the fine Tiki archaeologists on this forum, all for their vast general knowledge but also for their various areas of expertise, as members of the board.

Wow, I'm so blown away I couldn't even log in correctly.
Thank you, This is exactly what I wanted. I am not a writer and could never have the words to so eloquently convey the mission of this museum project. I agree with your position on the ethics of poly pop There is a clean slate to tell the story, artifacts haven't been looted we have created them. I have lived in the south Pacific and for me "tiki" stems from my love of original oceanic art. I do believe there is a way to artfully weave the two together to illustrate the whole story.
I also think your recommendations for board members are right on. You are the experts,and my purpose in putting this museum project out there is to reach those with the knowledge. It just seems to me that a museum is the next step. I think Hawaii would be the best location ultimately. Dawn

On 2006-11-05 17:45, Sophista-tiki wrote:
I think Hawaii would be the best location ultimately

Right on!
My friend DeSoto Brown, who is the archivist at the Bishop Museum, is one of the biggest Hawaiiana collectors around, his stuff alone could fill the Museum's "Hawaiiana" department.
Maybe we could get the owner of The Tikis Bar & Grill to finance it, he has the moolah and tried to convince me to go into the "legit" academic lecturing circuit before. And are there still rich Japanese left?
Gecko could offer live carving and pottery classes...

On the ethics side, I have this experience.

In doing Hukilau I have gotten to know performers who are very immersed in their culture and have a great desire to share it. They take their culture as serious as anyone. Besides it being a part of their language and daily lives, they also travel around to various events to compete and share with others. So I was a little worried that they might be offended. I was worried that they might not get what we were doing. It is much the opposite.

The Mai Kai hosts as many as 1200 people a night for their dinner show. The reaction and type of visitor varies greatly. The tiki-phile has nothing but appreciation. Maybe they appreciate it as Poly Pop or maybe as a glimpse of true culture, but they love it.

I have found that feeling in everyone. They are glad to have an enthusiastic audience and someone genuinely interested in their culture and, in perhaps an odd way, promoting it.

I am sure there are things they don't care for just as we don't, but I have not experienced anything but the aloha spirit from the islanders I have worked with. We can all eat Spam Musubi and enjoy a Mai Tai together. We may be hearing things a little differently due to our culture, but our respect and joy is much the same.

Well what I will be doing this week is starting to read about all of the foundations that give grants to museums. there is a VAST wealth of resources out there. Each foundation has their specific criteria and projects that they will fund. One of the things we learned in class this week is that once you have secured grant money from any number of foundations, it becomes much easier to get private donations like those from business owners. These are the kinds of funds that can be used for land purchase, buildings, acquisitions, and special programs like a traveling exhibit. Maybe the board members should meet in Hawaii and look at real estate! I am actually self employed in the real estate field and know a thing or two about buying property. I'm fantasizing, there is still alot of work to do before getting to that part. Its very exciting though! First lets try to get our board officially together. I'm sure that one of my teachers will be happy to be an adviser to me to make sure we go through all the steps. Big Bro if you could talk with some of the people you think would be good board members that would be helpful, (because I have not actually met them). Mimi I know and adore, she has been instrumental in me even being on Tiki central and Otto has always been very supportive of my art . Dawn

That sounds great, Dawn. If you start now, this might actually bear fruit in the future, however distant. I am certain that those TCers I mentioned as possible board members would be thrilled to contribute, even if only through their collections.

I am very bad with money, business, fund raising, etc, many of us collectors are autistic art nerds that way. It's great if you can work on both sides of the brain.

I just read through all these posts.

Basement Kahuna pointed out to me way back when we first met that this is sort of the ultimate genre to get involved with because it encompasses clothes, music, food, drink, decor, etc. and you can participaet with it. It is so wide and it is so accessible. There is a lot of material to work with.

You property comment immediately brought to mind La Mariana in Hawaii. It's practically a museum already, and, reading what was said about the restrictions on the use of the land, it sounds like they would be very pleased to see something like this on the property. And the restrictions on the land make it undesirable by other types of developers. There really might be state money or private money there for such a project.

In my research to open a Polynesian restaurant here in TN (with a Poly Pop museum inside it), I found that state liquor law allows for museums to serve alcohol under certain guidelines. Depending on the state laws, that is a possibility even without a restaurant attached.

But I would hope that you could tear down a Walgreens to build the museum myself...

On 2006-11-06 10:53, Swanky wrote:
But I would hope that you could tear down a Walgreens to build the museum myself...

I love that idea! Let's go one better -- tear down one of Walgreen's oldest locations. According to company testimony to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Walgreen's opens a new location every 17 hours -- they're not likely to notice if one gets bulldozed. Although it looks like Walgreen's has already bulldozed most of their own old locations -- only a couple of old locations still exist, despite it's 100 year history.

But I digress...

I would love to help out any way I can! I've personally been kicking around the idea of a sort of Historical Preservation Society for Polynesian Pop -- a group of people who could act as a resource to owners and managers of historic tiki locations, providing them with reference materials, historic background information, and directing them to craftsmen who specialize in Polynesian Pop and can do good restoration work. Really, not all that different from what we try to do anyway, but a bit more organized and official, with a logo & a website & everything. It would be great to see a "This Restaurant is on the Register of Historic Polynesian Pop" seal at the entrance to great old tiki places! Perhaps that could be a part of the museum's efforts?

Critiki - Ooga-Mooga - Humu Kon Tiki

[ Edited by: Humuhumu 2006-11-06 11:21 ]

did you get your Museum Volunteer paper back yet? i'd LOVE to read it. and i'm not sure if im "wise"enough to be on your board, but i'd love to help in any way i can.

you're getting really good advice from TC, except when Sven said to have the museum in hawaii ~ i think it should be somewhere on the mainland Seattle. somewhere that is not already a tropical paradise Seattle. someplace where you can show HOW a tiki wasteland BECOMES a Bali Hai Seattle, how imagination and desire to excape surburbia is attained by the Average Joe..

there's enough things to do in hawaii already.. keep polypop on the mainland!

...but there is not enough Poly Pop left in Hawaii itself...and that's were people still go to find it, looking to fulfill their escapist fantasies.
I shudder at the thought of busloads of Mid-western and Japanese tourists, but a place has to sustain itself. We'll have yearly conferences for TCers to recover from that.

Maybe we could start with Humu's plan for a Historical Society. I love the idea of declaring a restaurant as a historical location in the poly pop context. Preserving sites is already part of Polynesia Americana's mission statement. This alone could save the remaining establishments from being demolished or worse remodeled into some hideous gentrification problem.. Since none of us who are discussing this seriously actually live in Hawaii now, maybe we could start with a virtual museum. Then there could be traveling exhibitions that could go all over the world. and each person involved with the museum could travel to exhibit locations and teach docents or give special lectures, or host gala openings! then we could work our way up to Hawaii. We could also create satellite locations where the local chapter of the historical society could meet and plan events, do fund-raising, and learn and or teach about poly pop. I'm with you Sven, its also hard for me as an artist to think on the left side. I cant even get my web site up and Ive been trying to do that for 10yrs. I have the creative part all worked out but cant get past that point. Anyway big ideas always start out with creative thinkers

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2006-11-06 15:30 ]

if preservation is a key point to your mission, why not choose a historic tiki landmark structure that's slated for the chopping block to house your museum? Seek the exotic "here" as opposed to Hawaii or another already exotic destination. Wasn't that where contemporary poly-pop rooted from - bringing the exotic back to the mainland?

Good point about choosing an existing historic site. But...... what I know about building codes and such is that often times it is much ceaper to build new as opposed to trying to bring an older building up to code. And Im sure that in reference to a public facility there are even more stringent codes. Maybe the solution is to copy the plans for one or more of the best estabishments be it restaurant, or hotel. Location is very key, because we want to make sure visitors can actually visit. Part of me is with Dogbytes, Seattle(only because we live here) then it would be easy for me to go to work att the museum everyday and still keep my mid-century modern house that I love so much. Dawn

Maybe you could lay it out like the old Kahiki Supper Club, with individual "Long Houses"/Grass Huts for art from different regions of Polynesia vs. American Poly-Pop?

Hey Dawn!

HooRah for you! Thank you!
I was just posting about our losses of Tiki locations http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=21689&forum=1&start=0
and talking about how we can help preserve them. A Museum would give "credibility" to the Tiki scene and thereby also help to preserve other locations as Historic Landmarks!
My wife and I are members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and would love to know more on how we can help!

A funny side note about the deciding on the location....any one remember all the fights over the location of the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME? :D

I honestly hope this works out....no matter where the location!
I also LOVED the lay out plan in Memorial to the Kahiki!

Bula Bula everyone,
I have been hours and hours on line researching organizations, societies, etc that may apply to Polynesia Americana. I have contacted several people who could give me advise and direction. Including the curators of the SF airport poly pop exhibit.
Still waiting for reply. I checked out the Historical preservation angle that would be instrumental in saving "tiki" establishments. According to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, any building or site can be nominated for the list. Nominations are on a State by State basis. one of the qualifications is that a building needs to be at least 50yrs old.

well, I just read in an email from Otto that the Mai Kai is about to celebrate its 5oth birthday, I know how you all love the Mai Kai, so someone in Florida needs to nominate it for the historical registry.
Dr Tiki Mojo provided me with the link to the information about nominating a site.
I would be happy to help write the nomination if some devoted tiki fan from Florida wants to PM me to get started and be responsible for submitting the nomination. As Dr.TikiMojo pointed out he has tried several times in various threads to light a fire under your butts about conservation of "Historically Tiki" sites... so lets just do it. I have the email for the Mai Kai and I will be making an inquiry to them today about this matter. There are so many other things Ive been looking into,
I have been in contact with the Smithsonian about starting up a museum, and classification of poly pop.
of course, I need to spend some time trying to make money to have the time to do this research. (Plug for my tiki Christmas stockings) any purchase of my art or products would help me to have more time to spend working on the museum.
As soon as I hear from some of the people I have contacted I'll update, there may be exciting news just around the corner.
Next I am going to pursue the question of what makes an Historical society, how do we get official recognition, what are the qualifcations.
Later on, Dawn

Bula Bula everyone.
Ive seen alot of discussion on the topic of how to save tiki establishments. Thats cool, at least you are talking about it.

Ive done alot of research and thinking about the right place to start with this museum project. Remember that the original plan is to have a comprehensive plan for a museum in one year. so i don't want to get ahead of myself by trying to do things that I haven't learned yet.

this is what I think the plan should be:
-Research grant money for myself to get started
-establish a non profit
-create a Polynesia Americana web site - this will act as an online museum where collections, information, and programs can be organized and a place for traveling exhibits to be launched from
-create traveling exhibits to tour existing established museums and a more formal level of education about the subject

these steps will create awareness for the subject of poly pop in the right way and will give it a level of legitimacy that will create much larger financial support for an actual museum.

The web site will also provide a place for board members to make decisions about direction.
Today I checked into doing a practicum about a traveling poly pop exhibit. I have also spoken with Mimi and Otto about being board members. The're in, I would like to communicate with the other nominees to see how you feel abot all of this. Please pm me.
Dawn

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2006-11-16 09:38 ]

Post class update

Saturday was the next to last class for this quarter. I had the chance to listen to a couple who has been in the museum field for decades.together they have opened several small museums, and were very helpful. I still have a thousand questions for them. but for now the key piece of information is that it takes at least three years of development to open a museum. Good to have a realistic time line.

I have two weeks to develop a traveling poly pop exhibit.with a corresponding educational program for the general public. with that I have to do the budget, find a legitimate funding source, and write a grant proposal.

In addition to completing my assignment I will also be designing a museum logo, and brochure to be used for fund raising. Then I will start to look for ways to fund raise for the future museum. All of my ideas will play off of the traveling exhibit which may be coming to a museum in your city sometime within the next year or so.

Sooooo, what I want to know from tikiphiles at large is.....IF YOU WERE TO GO TO YOUR LOCAL MUSEUM TO SEE A POLY POP EXHIBIT WHAT (IN YOUR WILDEST FANTASIES) WOULD YOU MOST ENJOY SEEING AND WHAT INFORMATION WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE GO ALONG WITH THE EXHIBIT?
please feel free to answer here or PM me if you have a top secret idea. I really want to hear what you have to say, because it will help make the traveling exhibit as good as possible. without some outside in-put it would just be what I would want to see and I may overlook something really important.

i'd love to see a map of the United States, during the PolyPop Heyday ~ with the significant tiki establishments represented, either by their signature mug (Tiki Bob, in SF) or archetecture (Hanalei A Freame in San Diego)~ done up Miguel Covarrubias sytle.. that'll help keep focus that its about Polynesian Pop in the USA.

We talked about this idea last night over cocktails, and I have already done the initial sketches for this painting, and I think a GIANT version is cool for the exhibit with a small version in the brochure. Suitable for framing as the souvenir
dawn

Your project sounds very exciting. I don't know if this would be of any help, but I was very impressed with the Auckland Museum when I was in NZ on vaction with my travel cronies. Here are some links that might give you some ideas too.

http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/

http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/research/index.cfm?S=R_ARCAMPM The website does not show a lot of pictures of the exhibits, but I think would be of intrest in that it has a lot about how the museum functions....plus attached to a University, so there is some pretty serious structure to the administration of the facility.

Best of luck...I'm sure you will do a great job!!!

Thanks for the link to the Aukland museum. I will check it out today. My assignment is due in just a few days, nothing on paper yet, Ive been busy trying to get ready for a show in Vancouver, and my holiday sale. But the whole time Im thinking about the museum project. Still trying to come up with the idea for the educational program. I do have the brochure designed with a Polynesia Americana logo tiki.......that could be available as a mug! Dawn

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2006-11-27 10:08 ]

I'm excited about your project!

It looks like everyone has been chiming in on the benefit of a museum to encourage preservation efforts, and on the exhibits they'd like to see, but I didn't notice in the previous posts if anyone had responded to your concerns on educational programs or making pop polynesian exhibits "kid friendly." So, here goes some brainstorming...just what came to my mind...not sure if any of it will be useful.

FOR YOUNG CHILDREN:
The Magic House in St. Louis had a number of exhibits and activities that I remember enjoying as a young child. Their website is at http://www.magichouse.com/index.htm. I thought of them because the last Tiki Oasis in San Diego had a magic theme. The Magic House has an exhibit where young children are encouraged to try and identify different smells and another where they try to identify objects by texture. You could easily do similar exhibits with a tiki theme. They could try to identify smells of tropical fruits, etc...

Hula dancing has been popular with the little girls at almost every tiki event I've been to. Some classes in this would be popular.

Music is also a great component to think about. It might be a bit much to expect young children to learn the ukelele (and I foresee lots of broken strings), but they could sing or play small drums and flutes.

FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
Craft-based lessons could center around tapa cloth decorating or glazing ceramic tiki mugs. There are tons of paint-your-own pottery places in California and around the country where ceramics are ready to be glazed, are gathered up to be fired in the kiln, and then are given back to customers soon after. The museum could contract with Tiki Farm or Munktiki or someone to have an inventory of unglazed mugs. Then kids could pay to decorate them and have a personalized souvenir.

I'd check out the Boy Scout Merit Badge books series on woodcarving and other scoutcrafts. These could be used as templates, re-written, and tikified. They could serve as class guides or could be sold in the gift shop. Having taught woodcarving at several scout summer camps, I would tend to shy away from having kids being able to carve tikis on the premises. Kids almost always end up cutting themselves and that's not a good association to have with their first trip to the museum. However, there's nothing wrong with offering seminars and selling videos and books on the topic. Maybe have little tiki carving kits they can buy (Rockler Woodworking could put together a package I'm sure).

You expressed concern about the emphasis in Polynesian Pop on alcoholic beverages and how to reconcile this with children. I think stripping the alcohol out of the equation and making a juice bar where kids can experiment with making their own concoctions with syrups and other flavors would be a big hit. I'm sure there will be some that see this as a slippery slope that promotes alcohol consumption, but I think you can handle this tactfully. We don't want it to look like we've taken a page from Joe Camel's playbook and are using cartoon tikis to promote rum products, but we've got to consider how to handle it in a graceful and appropriate manner.

FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
I think you could really draw older children in with a climbing wall or ropes course. The climbing wall could be made to look like a series of tikis carved into volcanic rock. You'd need to have certified instructors available to teach this, but it would be really cool! Maybe have some races or have an adjustable wall so you could make some more difficult routines. Those who complete the routines or win the races could get small prizes.

SIDE NOTE
I know there has been a much anticipated documentary on Polynesian Pop languishing in post production for some time. I've also seen some short films floating around the web on Bosko and Crazy Al. However, you should think about putting together a documentary film on the building of the museum. Almost every museum has a multimedia room where everyone watches a film about the museum's intent as well as other related films that expound on different aspects of the museum. Might as well start thinking about the museum film now and make a good one, rather than hiring someone to cobble something together afterwards when your budget has been depleted.

Anyway, these were just some thoughts. Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

Absolutelly love the idea! For the travelling version, I'd love to see a minature diarama of the Mai Kai or another polypop mecca like the miniature tikiroom version below. Also, I'd love to see an old crate hanging from the ceiling by an old stained rope and a rusty pully that had a tv hidden in it with just the screen showing with a slide show of images from this wonderful thread that Sabu started:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11068&forum=1

On top of the crate I picture an animatronic tiki room bird:

Time for some new information. The first quarter of school is finished whew! Glad to have a break. One of the things we talked about on the last day of class was the role of alcohol in museums. European museums have great bars that are a big part of the museum visit. So we are good to go with a full on bar and can make cocktails a part of the museum, as it should be.

Next quarter is about collections and curating. Don't think we will have any problems with the collections part.

I am poised to file the non profit paperwork. but there are a few things I need to do first. like write by laws and board member information . I'm hoping that after the first of the year I can get some more people involved. I for now would love to see a virtual museum with a traveling exhibit. The best museums theses days are the ones that provide an entertainment value. Thats perfect for a tiki museum. I will also start on a couple of presentations that can be used for fund raising at events.
still would like to hear what you think. and if you have any ideas of what you would like to see please participate here. dawn

happy new and better year to all.
Its time to get back to work in museum land. I will be starting the next quarter of museum studies tomorrow. This quarter is about curating and collections.

the final projects for last quarter were about grant writing and developing an educational program that aligns with state school curriculum. that project took two trys, but I came up with a really cool program for Jr high and High school age kids.

Basically the program uses maps of the Pacific and the US and illustrates locations of US WWII Pacific involvement and locations of Tiki establishments across the US post WWII. then makes comparisons of locations based on where servicemen settled when they returned home.

There is also an art element to the program based on Covarrubias style illustrations and maps.
Its a legitimate educational program that I can find funding for and would easily be able to accompany the traveling exhibit to any museum.

I still have to put in my research in development and present an organized forum for board members to have a place to start. Hopefully soon I can set up a simple website about The museum. then I can build from there. at this point I'm blindly moving forward.

Most of the wonderful talented people that Sven has nominated for board members have contacted me and are waiting for me too lead them in the right direction.

I'm excited to start the next quarter and get myself out of the post holiday hibernation faze. Dawn

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2007-01-05 15:32 ]

On 2007-01-05 11:06, Sophista-tiki wrote:
Basically the program uses maps of the Pacific and the US and illustrates locations of US WWII Pacific involvement and locations of Tiki establishments across the US post WWII. then makes comparisons of locations based on where servicemen settled when they returned home.

There is also an art element to the program based on Covorubious style illustrations and maps.

That's a great concept! We could connect to Poly Pop personalities who actually had the personal experience of being stationed in the Pacific, like Barney West, and Bill Westenhaver, and some Tiki Bar owners.
And of course I am a big fan of pictograph maps, and how Covarrubias maps inspired Poly Pop entrepreneurs.

Sounds like a very interesting class. How is your work and ideas being received? I did a social ecology subject (real hippy stuff - I studied land management and majored in community engagement) on "sense of place". Real interesting, talking about how different places have different atmospheres, different senses of place. This is what urban planners try to do with new developments - "develop a community/village atmosphere". To me, I saw an obvious link with poly pop, and included it in one of my essays. It wasnt received very well at all (poly pop doesnt sit well with hippies - too crass and commercialised)! I soon learnt that if you write essays that are closely aligned with the lecturers values, the better the marks....

As far as the poly pop musuem, sounds like a great concept. A way to start might be to try and include a poly pop exhibition in an established museum. A museum in Sydney has had features on the making Lord of The Rings (awesome sets and props!), movie/scifi special effects and making monsters, and a feature on the history of Harley Davidson, with a strong focus on the Harley culture, and guys who modify them. They even had an interactive display where you could make your own bike!

I think a good way to do it is to have a "story". I think focusing on the sociological aspects of poly pop would give it the most "authenticity" in the eyes of the stereotypical historian. How is poly pop a reflection of the times it occured in? eg. WWII, soldiers returning home, romanticism, the start of society becoming more wild (which lead into the wild 60s), how some of the architecture of the time was reminiscent of the space race, and how that was poly pop-ised etc etc. Basically, poly pop was so big at that time due to a numbner of reasons, and so os therefore unique and an interesting "porthole" back into the past. I think it might also make an interesting last stop to look at the current state of poly pop. Both the old institions being run down and demolished in the name of progress, but also the new wave of poly popbeing rebirthed and how that is a reflection of kids romanticising about tiki restaurants when they were kids, hoe people want to escape world issues like wars and terrorism by kicking back with a mai tai in a pseudo polynesian themed bar...

Have fun!

Thats my 2c

Nice 2c worth Hewey!, The educational program I developed actually has some elements of what you're talking about. one of the post visit activities for the students is to interview a family member or friend who has direct memories of the post war poly pop era, and write a paper including comparisons of its influence then and now.. The question of how well Poly pop is being received has come up here before. I haven't had anyone in my class say boo about it. I have done all of my homework papers following the guidelines of the assignments,just inserting 'tiki' instead of quilts or whatever.

One of the main focuses of this museum studies course is that museums are changing. What is required for museum employees is to be more well rounded and informed about all aspects of museum work. There is a lot of encouragement for innovative ideas and approaches.
I did very well on all of my papers and received 9/10 and 10/10 on every one.

I have already decided that the best thing to do is develop a traveling exhibit and have an on-line virtual museum. this solves a lot of issues about where, and how, and doesn't require millions of $. I have been talking with some major museums about this idea and everyone is very excited .

Big Bro, I thank you for your missing piece to the education program, thats a great idea. I will work it into the outline. The program actually has alot more to it, I just gave the rough idea. Still waiting to get thepaper back from my teacher

I will let eveyone know how things go tomrow, and what new inspirations arise. dawn

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2007-01-05 15:36 ]

Its been a while. There's been tons of stuff going. This quarter , about collections and collections management is far more involved than I had imagined. There really is alot to "collections". most of it involves copious amounts of documentation! in triplicate! Twice! There have been three classes so far, alot about policy and procedure. We are at the Nordic Heritage Museum here in Seattle and most of the homework assignments have applied specifically to that museum. So I have not yet had the chance to craft an assignment for Polynesia Americana.

My morning teacher is Joanna Sykes. she is the Director, Special Projects person for Chihuly. Those of you from this area will know that he is a super famous glass artist. Anyway my point is that she talks alot about their traveling exhibitions. They cost millions of dollars , several people get to travel with the exhibit to help get is set up, and they go all over the world ! Cool, all that just reinforces my plan to do an online museum with traveling exhibit/experience/environment.

Right now Im working on setting up a blog for the museum, I just successfully created my own myspace page, and it was fun. So Im taking baby steps to figure out all of this web stuff and will eventually be able to get the official Polynesia Americana web site up. I have had offers of help to get me started on the web site from Chongolio, Yeah THANKS!!!!!! (I will be contacting you)

The final project for this quarter will be a disater plan, which will be about PA.
There has to be a plan about what to do with the stuff for the exhibit if something major happens, especially if things are on loan from private collectors.

Im also learning some preservation , so I will know how to repair, clean, and store objects and archival materials.

Lastly, I am starting to build this fairly large model of what I want the whole exhibit envirnment to look like. Might not be able to get it out of my house. Luckily I will be taking out the wall between the dining room and the deck, so I could get it out then.
Dawn

I'd suggested a ropes course or climbing wall for older kids as an activity at the museum...but was surprised to run across the following the other day:

Apparently, it's a blow-up tiki climbing wall that can be broken down and stored when not in use. Very cool. And, if anybody falls, it looks pretty cushy.

These are being rented out for parties by several dealers. Here's one at http://www.airtimeinflatables.net/catalog.html

$250 for 8 hours is their rate. I'm surprised I haven't seen this at any tiki events. The kids would go wild.

It was also mentioned on TC here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=18357&forum=12&hilite=climbing%20wall

[ Edited by: Trader Tom 2007-04-23 05:13 ]