Balboa Park Beat

San Diego Museum of Man appoints executive director

Thirteen years ago, Dr. Micah Parzen was living in the Navajo Nation. Today, he’s sitting at a shiny conference table on the 26th floor of a downtown high rise. On Monday, August 9, he’ll settle into a new office at the San Diego Museum of Man in Balboa Park.

When the Museum of Man announced on July 14 that Micah would be its new executive director, I skimmed through the press release. Corporate attorney? That’s random, I thought.

But after a more thorough reading of the release—and a discussion with Micah—it’s clear that he’s the perfect person for the job. In addition to his legal education and expertise as an attorney for a top San Diego law firm, Micah has a Ph.D. in anthropology and significant nonprofit leadership experience. He has worked on a pro bono basis for the Museum of Man and the San Diego Natural History Museum, and served for two years as the board president of ElderHelp of San Diego. These days, Micah is as likely to mention nonprofit buzzwords like “strategic planning,” “cross-cultural perspectives,” and “sustainability” as he is to say any kind of legal jargon.

In 2000, Micah earned his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University and conducted extensive fieldwork with the Navajo community. He said he enjoyed graduate school and the various internships he had that focused on mental health advocacy but that he wasn’t sure if the life of a scholar was for him.

“I thought, I don’t know if I want to teach and do research for the rest of my career.”

Micah then went to law school at the University of California, Davis and, upon graduation, he moved back to his hometown of San Diego to work at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, LLP.

“I became an employment attorney, which is really a perfect home for an anthropologist. What I’ve done is help employers solve human behavioral problems in the workplace.”

Micah said that he’ll continue to apply his psychological anthropology knowledge to his new role at the Museum of Man.

“It’s all about people, understanding people, working with people,” he said. Emphasizing the divided nature of the post-9/11 global community, he said that an institution like the Museum of Man couldn’t be more relevant.

“There is a lot of tension between various individuals and groups in the world right now. We have the potential to help the community learn about themselves and others. I know it sounds idealistic but we can change the world.”

Landing a dream gig: Profile of Mike Griffin, zookeeper

By David Kinsey, contributing writer

“I take care of animals that a handful of people in the world will get to experience.”

Two weeks ago, the San Diego Zoo hired Mike Griffin to be its newest zookeeper at the Children’s Zoo, a section of the Zoo with more than 200 animals and 30 special exhibits. Previously, Mike had been with the Zoo as part of its security staff.

“I went into that job knowing that I wanted to get back to my passion and I had to do whatever it took,” Mike said.

Mike is a certified veterinary assistant who started his career with animals at the San Diego Humane Society as an animal care specialist. He then went through the police academy and become a humane society officer. In this role, he led a distinguished career, that included the creation of the Puppy Task Force that investigated the smuggling of sick puppies from Mexico.

“We had a serious problem with dogs with parvo being brought across border, sold, possibly infecting other puppies and then dying. It was heartbreaking. It needed to be stopped,” he said. Mike’s investigation eventually led State Senator Christine Kehoe to introduce a bill in 2005 to make the sale of puppies under the age of 8 weeks a misdemeanor offense.

After nine years of working as a Humane Society officer, Mike realized he needed a change so he started the security job with the Zoo. Four and a half years later, he is a zookeeper. Now, he spends his days feeding Agra, the indian crested porcupine, hanging out with Victor the short-nosed echidna who is also the oldest mammal in the Zoo, and keeping watch over the delicate sensitivities of the two pangolins Baba and Baka.

Bob Breitbard, founder of the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum, dies at the age of 91

Bob Breitbard, the founder of the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum, passed away on Monday, May 17, 2010, at the age of 91. He was involved in the local sports scene for more than 50 years as a player, coach, team owner, builder and benefactor of institutions and organizations that have helped make San Diego a big-league sports capital that appreciates its history and honors its own.Visit the Hall of Champions site for more photos, full biography and more.

Craig Noel, icon of the Old Globe Theater, dies at age 94 in San Diego

Everyone in the park was saddened to learn of the death of Craig Noel, an enormous influence and presence at the Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park for over 60 years. Many who knew and worked with him called him an icon of the San Diego theater scene, and both the coverage of his death and reflections on his amazing impact on theater have spanned across the country and the world. A sampling of news outlets and coverage:

• A detailed look back at his life and work from the CBC news in Canada
• San Diego Union Tribune writes of "the father of San Diego Theater" and includes a recent photo.
• Angela Carone's Culture Lust blog captures historical photos and notes his 2007 National Medal for the Arts.
• North County Times quotes several Tony Award-winning theater professionals and recalls the Craig Noel Awards, San Diego's local theater award series named in his honor.
• Coverage from Playbill.com

Dinosaurs Coming Alive This Week at San Diego Natural History Museum

Check out the photos below taken during the final days of setup for the new Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening at the San Diego Natural History Museum this weekend. It takes dozens of staff members, construction crews and security staff to get all the bones in place and raptors hung just right, and we got behind the scenes access last week while crews finishing setup. Check out the photos below, plus a Q&A with SDNHM Dinosaurs exhibition manager Tim Murray.

And don't forget to visit the exhibit opening this weekend, March 27th, 2010 at the San Diego Natural History Museum. 

 


Special thanks to the folks at SDNHM for getting us access to Dinosaurs exhibition manager Tim Murray. We asked Murray a few questions about what it's like to get an exhibition of this size up and running. Edited Excerpts follow:


Q. How long, start to finish, does setup of an exhibition of this size take? How many people are involved in the process?
A. Typically 15 – 20 days to set up. This time we only had 12 days to set up. Between loading and shipping the Darwin exhibit and receiving and setting up Dinosaurs, we loaded and unloaded 25 50-foot semi trailers of exhibits stuff. We have a crew of about 20 for this exhibition.

 Q.I saw a lot of crates with the word “fragile” on them. How are all the bones and exhibit pieces transported here?
A. Objects are shipped on a special truck equipped with “air ride” and climate control. They are shipped from the previous venue directly to us – no switching trucks, trailers or drivers.

Q. When an exhibit comes from the American Museum of Natural History, do they send a blueprint for how to set it up? Or do you have to adapt the exhibit to fit the San Diego Natural History Museum’s dimensions?
A. Typically, AMNH sends electronic files of the layout at their venue. We would then copy components from their floor plan to our floor plan and arrange/design the exhibit to best fit our gallery. We would send our floor plan back to the designers at AMNH to get feedback. (ex. - “That component usually goes against a wall because it does not have a attractive back to it.”)

Q. Can you give us an example of something “new” people will learn from this exhibit that we didn’t know before about Dinosaurs?
A. The diorama that depicts the environment where the dinosaurs existed looks very different from what was depicted before.

Q. What is the most notable part of the Dinosaurs exhibition, in your opinion?
A. The “walking” T rex. (pictured with Murray at right)

Q. How did you find yourself in this position? What exhibitions have you worked on in the past? What has been your favorite?
A. I have been here for the past 26 years. Many traveling and permanent exhibits, including Dead Sea Scrolls, Fossil Mysteries, and Backyard Monsters. A favorite of mine would be Jurassic Park because it was so popular and fun. Another favorite is Cats. The mounted cats were so well done and beautiful.

Q. What advice would you give someone who wants to become an exhibition manager at a museum?
A. Be very organized, see lots of exhibitions, have a diversity of personal interests, and get some experience doing the actual work of designing and installing exhibits.

Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opens March 27th at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

People in the Park: Al Kidd inked in the San Diego Daily Transcript

 

"He's not as well known as Adrian Gonzalez, Phillip Rivers or Dean Spanos, but Al Kidd is just as integral to San Diego's sporting landscape."

A great opening line about one of Balboa Park's greatest assets, President of the San Diego Sports Commission and Director of the Hall of Champions Sports Museum Al Kidd (at right int he photo above). Check out the whole story here in the SDDT by writer Doug Sherwin. We love to see Balboa Park people in the press!

A Job in the Park: Balboa Park is Hiring Museum Positions in San Diego

Are you one of 10% of San Diegans looking for work? Well, look over this way towards the gorgeous grounds of Balboa Park. A few Balboa Park museums have posted some pretty cool job openings in recent weeks, and I thought I'd bring them all together in one post here. We're working on a centralized jobs page for the new and improved www.balboapark.org site launching later this year.

Check out these Balboa Park museum job openings:

• Director of Public Programs at the Museum of Man (Editor's tip: Working at the Museum of Man means you get to work in the building that houses the iconic California Building tower -- so cool!)
• Marketing Communications Manager at Museum of Photographic Arts (Editor's tip: MoPA is already oh-so-hip and getting more hip every day. Love their POP Thursday events, and this position gets to help plan and manage that program!)
• Science Educator at the RH Fleet Science Center (Editor's tip: Perfect for Teachers!)
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Mingei International Museum (Editor's tip: Calling all jaded bankers! Put those accounting and finance skills to work for one of the county's most diverse collections of folk art!)
• Director of Collections and Director of Development at San Diego History Center (Want to be on the inside track for all things San Diego? SD History Center is IT!)

A Q&A with Hugo Crosthwaite -- San Diego Museum of Art

Kudos to San Diego Museum of Art's Public Programs Manager Alexander Jarman, who published his insightful question and answer session with artist Huge Crosthwaite on The Gallery's blog today. Crosthwaite's drawings are currently on exhibit at SDMA in Balboa Park, and Jarman's Q&A really reveals some interesting elements about the artist's past (he was born in Tijuana) and his path to exhibition (he now hails from new York City).

You can read the Full Q&A on The Gallery's Blog.

Balboa Park Facebook fans are smart, from Montana

... from the Balboa Park social media metrics files: An analysis of the Balboa Park Facebook fans (check out the Facebook fanpage run most expertly by Debbie Petruzzelli), reveals that our fans are also most likely to be fans of "I hate stupid people" and "wine." Oh, and a lot of them are from Montana. Check out the screen shots below from FanPage Analytics for more interesting tidbits on our biggest fans.

Balboa Park Going Mobile: Planning for audience, content and technology in the Museum

 Today kicks off a two-day seminar for museum professionals who want to explore the value of mobile devices and portable computing for their institutions, patrons and learners with renowned leaders in the new media field. Attendees will learn how to evaluate technology platforms and options--including the Apple iPhone and iPad devices--create interpretive content and deploy systems for supporting them. Today, speaker will emphasize content and strategy and tomorrow will shift focus to technology and strategy.

Check out BPCP for a detailed agenda and speaker biographies, including that of Nancy Proctor, Head of New Media, Smithsonian American Art Museum.