I began interning at the Maryland Science Center this past Friday, and this is the accompanying post to go along with that (posting this from the work computer).
First of all, getting down to Inner Harbor was incredibly easy (and best of all: free). I took the JHMI shuttle from Homewood to Penn Station, and then took the Purple Line of the Charm City Circulator from there to the Light & Lee St. stop (#321 I believe). The only thing is that it took about an hour because I had to wait for both of the buses for a little while.
I have have a desk area in the basement of the museum, in the same room with nearly everyone else in the Exhibits Department. It's pretty interesting down here -- there are office spaces but also workbenches and construction areas where a lot of fabrication happens. There are also old exhibit pieces lying around that are either waiting repair/maintenance or are essentially retired.
On my first day, I briefly researched some terms regarding Astrobiology for a new exhibit they are in the early stages of planning for. Also, I began familiarizing myself with the building by walking around the 3 levels that the public sees in addition to the basement and 4th floor. There is a museum convention taking place next week, so one of my tasks was to help seal these CD/DVD leaflets that the Maryland Science Center is going to hand out in order to promote their new traveling exhibit, "Cells: The Universe Inside Us", which is a smaller version of the permanent installment here. I learned that despite being named the Maryland Science Center, most of the funding comes from the museum's own profits and outside sponsors. Leasing exhibits is one of the ways the museum brings in funds.
On Saturday (today), I also got to see how a traveling exhibit gets installed. The new Shipwrecks exhibit is on lease for 3 months until January, and its going to be open to the public on Oct. 1. It is really interesting to see the unpacking of artifacts, interactive media, etc. I never previously thought about the logistics of installing new exhibits, but there really is a lot to think about in terms of hiding the working guts of soem things, the layout, the lighting, and the overall flow and feel of a space.
I think that is it for now, so far this is a very exciting place to work at, and it is such a change of pace from my usual internship in scientific research.
