[Music] the national medal for Museum and
Library Services is the nation's highest honor for libraries and museums that are
serving their communities in exceptional ways Columbus Museum of Art executive
director Nanette Macy Junes and Community member Jeffrey Tucker traveled
to Washington from Columbus Ohio to receive the national medal and spoke to
imls about how the museum impacts the community well the Columbus Museum of
Art has been on a great journey uh it's it's been an incredible ride so we
wanted to go on a journey where people wanted to spend time with us they wanted
to come and be at the art museum in fact one of the things we talk about a lot is
when you talk about a library you always talk about using a library but you
always talk about visiting a museum what would it look like to use a museum what
would that look like if it was really part of your life and it was you know
there was this sort of you know interactive relationship with your art
museum what that look like so that's the journey we decided to go on and so one
of the things we did was we embraced the idea of being about creativity because
there isn't anyone if if you're really talking about everyone talk about
something everyone needs and every one of us needs creativity in their lives I
mean we're GNA solve the problems of the 21st century we need creativity we need
people to think outside the box think in entirely new thoughts um art lab is one
of our new programs so this is an immersion program where it's 12 to 20
kids from different schools you know they're regularly with us you know each
week all year long and the idea is for them to for us to find out what
interests them related to creativity in the Arts and then also how do they see
the museum in a different way I didn't really know what art lab was but I knew
my intership was at a museum but once we actually start doing stuff in art lab I
realized it was a cool program we like make videos we traveled all around
Columbus we played with like MacBooks and HD cameras like oh my it was just so
cool like we had a certain topic and our topic was how does something relate back
to the museum so we'll go out we'll make a video but it has to relate back to the
museum if that makes sense but now it has completely broaden like this year we
did a social Sunday for this year art lab interns and there were so many
different topics like there was a group that talked about um how do you save
puppies and there was also a group about how um how you recycling more can help
with the water and pollution so honestly arap has truly involved to something
like what you really enjoy doing and try and make it more public and known like
media based I was the master disaster of Technology seriously do not give me a
computer because I feel like I'll break it like I just refuse to touch it but
once I like done artart lab like my mentor Kristen Lance like she made me go
touch a camera she made me go on MacBook like she like made me do it cuz she said
like the only way for you to enjoy it is for you to get used to it so like I was
really nervous I knew nothing like but now I can't see myself living without it
I really want to make a statement on how I can make it as a film producer or
something across media like that's my big dream that's my big goal that I have
in mind and I couldn't have done that without the museum I think that Jeffrey
embodies what we're trying to do because Jeffrey has discovered his his
creativity he's discovered his passion for life by connecting with the art
museum the fact that he discovered that at the art museum I think for me is the
most validating thing about what we've done he he found it at the Museum and
he'll take it out into the world from the art
museum connecting people in art is so is so important because I think that's
at its core what art museums started out to be you know art museums live in this
wonderful tension between uh between the art and the
people because art museums or any kinds of museums and libraries are about
they're the and they're the art and people it is the connection it is the
the discoveries it is the AHA moments it's it's all that you discover when
you with the object and one thing that makes us very unique as an art museum um
is that a lot a lot of people are trying very experimental programs but to change
to be willing to experiment with the experience inside the gallery and we
have been very bold and I think that sets the Columbus Museum of Art apart we
call these interactive elements inside our regular galleries I mean there are
wonderful works of art surrounding you they you know Renaissance paintings
modern pictures around you on the walls a regular gallery and we'll introduce uh
a Post-It note station where you we ask you a question and then you can write on
a Post-It note and put it there and and sometimes we'll these are hugely popular
people love to have a conversation around posted through Post-it notes and
they'll even like draw arrows to the other Post-it notes say I totally
disagree with this person and they should not say that you know or I agree
or I think this or you know so this idea of having interactive Post-It note
station in an art museum Gallery is very unusual
those conversations that you have at Art Museums those connections between people
and then between people and the art object and the artist that created it
those are things that for us has been the journey we've been trying to go
on