Getting your stuff in a good museum,How to....

[JohnReid]

Not everyone's cup of tea I know but a lot of us do have a wish (secret or otherwise ) to see our stuff in a museum of high reputation some day.

Here is how I did it !

Stand by one while I get organized.

[JohnReid]

Why am I writing on this subject ? well nothing bothers me more than seeing my fellow modelers dioramas,layouts or models etc..get throw in the garbage once they go to the "Happy Hunting (modeling) Ground,that's why !

Lets face it not everyone cares or wants models ,large or otherwise ,in their homes.After Uncle Fred or Grandpa Jones is gone many a family is stuck with the "what to do with his stuff ? " dilemma. This is especially true of large dioramas,layouts or collections of individual models.Now is the time to plan ahead and help relieve your family of this burden.One way to do this is to get your stuff in a museum before you are too far gone over the hill.

I know that I started planning for this when I was around sixty (11 years ago)and finally realized that I wasn't going to live forever. How ? well.....

[havanaholly]

Easy for you, who do museum quality work. I just hope my kids will find enough needy kids to donate all mine to.

[Esther]

I have to agree with Holly. Hey I'm looking for people who want some of the ones I have now so I have room to build more.

[parisbabe]

"Stand by one" Is that a pilots words??? Just curious as my boyfriend says that alot and he says he use to use that term when he flew.

Not everyone's cup of tea I know but a lot of us do have a wish (secret or otherwise ) to see our stuff in a museum of high reputation some day.

Here is how I did it !

Stand by one while I get organized.

[spottedcat83]

Not everyone's cup of tea I know but a lot of us do have a wish (secret or otherwise ) to see our stuff in a museum of high reputation some day.

Here is how I did it !

Stand by one while I get organized.

This is really true; if you're going to put so much into learning a skill, and so much love into what you make, it would be an honor to know that people will see and enjoy what you've done.

So I'm waiting to find out how you did it! :thumb:

[JohnReid]

I guess that it all came about for me this way because I had already done the "donating it to a museum "thing years before when as executor of my fathers will it was up to me to arrange for this to be done for our beautiful '29 Beech Travel Air 4000(D4D) biplane.So contacting museums was not a big scary thing for me although there is always the "fear of rejection" thing to be dealt with.

You have to let it be known wherever you can that your stuff is available.Don't be afraid,if your stuff is good and you know it,it will get picked up.Start by saying "when my stuff goes to the museum" rather than "if my stuff goes to the museum" and your already half way there.

[JohnReid]

Easy for you, who do museum quality work. I just hope my kids will find enough needy kids to donate all mine to.

You would be surprised,no harm in trying but doll houses and kids will always be popular and I am sure that they will find a good home.

[JohnReid]

I have to agree with Holly. Hey I'm looking for people who want some of the ones I have now so I have room to build more.

Cool ! I like your attitude ! Building is really the fun of it all anyway.

[JohnReid]

You are right parisbabe ! it is something pilots say a lot.Give your boyfriend the old "thumbs up" for me.

[JohnReid]

When I started building large scale dioramas there was no question about what I was trying to achieve.Huge 4X6 foot dioramas only have one destination.

Besides the museum thing, my other personal goal was to model like Shep Paine ,who's work I had admired for years and years.I had heard through the grapevine that he was retiring from modeling and he had let it be known that he wanted someone else to pick up the ball and run with it for awhile.I was one of those who wanted to take up the challenge.

My options were do it and write a book about it too,when it was finished,or take a more modern approach and do the modeling in real time and post it free on as many websites as I could reasonably handle.(this aspect now takes up a good 50% of my modeling time and is not recommended for weekend modelers.)

This approach has been more than successful for me especially when I look at the number of my photobucket hits that are recorded or the kind words of my fellow modelers that are posted to my threads on the websites.

One thing I have learned though is that "you can't please all of the people all of the time" so don't even bother to try !

[JohnReid]

Mission Accomplished !

How do I know this ? I have three dioramas now in the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum ,our national museum in Ottawa here in Canada, and a fourth on its way this fall.

How do I know that Shep approves ? Well ..

He appraised my work for the museum and valued it ,in dollar terms , right up there with what he was getting for his best stuff years ago.

Yes Shep the ball got picked up.....

[havanaholly]

...One thing I have learned though is that "you can't please all of the people all of the time" so don't even bother to try !

Amen, Brother John. IMO one of the purposes of a hobby/ art is to express MY individuality through MY creativity. I don't try to please anyone but myself, and if I succeed in doing thatt, I've succeeded in what I set out to do. If it also pleases someone else, that's langiappe.

[KathieB]

John ... congratulations on the approval of Shep Paine and the acceptance of your remarkable work by the museum. The "how" in the subject of this thread is clear: produce a high-quality item that fits into the holdings of the museum. This you have done.

In general, though, when aspiring to have one's work in a museum, one needs to consider the needs of the museum as well as the quality of one's work. Your work is a perfect fit for the aviation museum. Most museums have limited display and storage space and can't take every dollhouse offered to them.

The Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky, asked to have my quilt shop for inclusion in their permanent display, which tickled me all shades of pink. It wasn't to be, however, as the house itself belongs to a family member who prefers to keep it at her home. C'est la vie.

[JohnReid]

John ... congratulations on the approval of Shep Paine and the acceptance of your remarkable work by the museum. The "how" in the subject of this thread is clear: produce a high-quality item that fits into the holdings of the museum. This you have done.

In general, though, when aspiring to have one's work in a museum, one needs to consider the needs of the museum as well as the quality of one's work. Your work is a perfect fit for the aviation museum. Most museums have limited display and storage space and can't take every dollhouse offered to them.

The Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville, Kentucky, asked to have my quilt shop for inclusion in their permanent display, which tickled me all shades of pink. It wasn't to be, however, as the house itself belongs to a family member who prefers to keep it at her home. C'est la vie.

Thank you so much Kathie for your kind words.Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

A lot of the feedback that I get on this subject especially from dioramists(word?) and the RR layout guys is that there stuff can't be moved or the museums that they have already contacted have no room for such large pieces.

Have you ever thought of breaking your stuff down into small storyboard type vignettes or mini-dioramas ?

Often there are already, within the larger piece, lots of mini-dioramas going on.Why not just isolate these into a static storyboard piece that would be more acceptable in your relatives homes or interested museums ? With a little creative thinking the subject matter could be humorous or serious depending upon your interests. Later I will post a few examples of what I mean.

[chellebelle]

congratulations!

[JohnReid]

My story.

What do they want?

Getting my stuff in a museum was a personal goal on mine that was born out of my fear of rejection.Actually rejection can be a very stimulating thing if taken as a challenge.

After completing my 1/72 scale Victory model after many years of work I thought that it might be a good idea to find a permanent home for it.I really didn't want to sell it and have it go to someones basement never to see the light of day again,after all I had built it as a diorama type model for kids and the young at heart to enjoy.

I contacted many museums and none of them seemed to want just another model of HMS Victory.But mine is different, a diorama I explained but to no avail,most were only interested in sailing ship models that depicted how they were built,antique models,sailors bone models or modern subject matter without sails.

I had experienced this rejection thing before when I was wood carving, I had tried to offer my work to galleries only to be told that they wanted in-the-round stuff, not relief carving like I was doing at the time ,as it wasn't really art.I took up the "in the round" style but this was rejected too because the subject matter was birds.And besides it was wood and not bronze or stone.

So I sat myself down and realized that if I wanted to achieve my museum goal it was going to take some planning on my part.To find out what they wanted I would have to research what had already been accepted, so I took one of the best the Smithsonian ,as my guide.First I noticed that 1/16th scale seemed to be the scale that they were looking for, as most of their single subject model were in that scale.Next I noticed that they had already broken the ice and had accepted dioramas,modified plastic kit models ,and models in smaller scales if they were dioramas.But mine would be different, mine would be dioramas in 1/16th scale that were meant for museums that otherwise couldn't be displayed in your average home setting.

I also noticed that the models were mostly all donated by the builder for the pure joy of having them accepted, I am sure.

While doing this research I had noticed that my local hobby store had 1/16th wood model kits for sale.Their other specialty happened to be doll houses.

Well that got me to thinking, why not marry up the two and call the dollhouse a hangar.I have never seen that before and here was my opportunity to add something new to our art form.

I also quickly realized that this idea could be expensive for me to undertake,the cost of this stuff is not cheap.Luckily during my woodcarving days I had accumulated, over the years, most of the tools and raw materials that would be required.However the kits alone would be a major expense, especially in the quantities that I required,so I decided to buy them only as I needed them.

Lighting and ease of maintenance are also important considerations,in order to make their job as easy as possible.

How to get it in ?

Number one,let it be known that your stuff is available ,network and don't listen to nay sayers that say it can't be done.

Be proud of your stuff and display it locally or put it up on the web wherever or however you can. Sell yourself.Know that your stuff is good, and don't be afraid to let others know that you know it is.Be confident that if your stuff is as good as you think it is,it will get picked up.Don't be afraid to get yourself called a publicity seeker or ego maniac ,if you don't believe in yourself how can you expect others to do so.

Contact the museum directly and if possible speak to someone that has Arts training.These people can be you best friend and if they like your stuff, they will sell it for you to their colleagues and the higher ups in the chain of command.

Think big and go for the well recognized museums first.You may just surprise yourself and get in.

Donate your stuff and forget about money but don't forget that some museums will give you a personal tax break if you ask for it.Even then don't expect to get more for your stuff than your personal expenses,remember most museums are on very tight budgets today. Good luck !

[JohnReid]

congratulations!

Thank you so much ! Cheers ! John.

[JohnReid]

Goal #2 My goal number two,picking up the ball and running with it for awhile.

When Shep Paine let it be known that he was retiring from active model making and was hoping that others would pick up the diorama ball and run with it for awhile, unbeknown to him I volunteered ,as I am sure many others did.

This may sound like I am comparing my work to his but nothing is farther from the truth.Even today ,I still have a long way to go.His painting and modifying of kit figures is in a class by itself.No,what I mean is his creativity and his courage to try new things,which I have always very highly admired.That is the ball that I wanted to run with.Therefore ,I will just let my work speak for itself.

[pdlnpeabody]

John,

I worked for a couple of companies that built full-size replicas for museums, theme park scenery and zoo habitats. The U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum is one of them. We even refurbished a real C-47 Sky Train fuselage for them.

While I would like my houses to be viewed and enjoyed by anyone who would like to see them, I won't be able to maintain this hobby without making a few sales, so giving them away wouldn't work. One of the main reasons I like to scratch-build is the low start-up costs of raw materials, but in the end I'll have around $10,000 invested in my current project. I would seriously consider loaning them temporarily to a museum if one would be interested.

If you know of a good source for fiber optics I have an old 1/350 scale Titanic I need to finish. I'm lighting the windows and deck before setting it at a 6 degree angle with the bow just submerged under an epoxy North Atlantic.

[JohnReid]

John,

I worked for a couple of companies that built full-size replicas for museums, theme park scenery and zoo habitats. The U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum is one of them. We even refurbished a real C-47 Sky Train fuselage for them.

While I would like my houses to be viewed and enjoyed by anyone who would like to see them, I won't be able to maintain this hobby without making a few sales, so giving them away wouldn't work. One of the main reasons I like to scratch-build is the low start-up costs of raw materials, but in the end I'll have around $10,000 invested in my current project. I would seriously consider loaning them temporarily to a museum if one would be interested.

If you know of a good source for fiber optics I have an old 1/350 scale Titanic I need to finish. I'm lighting the windows and deck before setting it at a 6 degree angle with the bow just submerged under an epoxy North Atlantic.

Hi Jeremy ! I am afraid that lighting is a learning experience for me too ! Good luck with the Titanic,sounds cool!

[pdlnpeabody]

Haven't had too many problems with lighting. Electrifying an 88 year-old house and finding bare, small diameter fiber optic line have been the only real difficulties I've encountered.

Do post more pics in your gallery if you have any. If you ever head down to central Florida you'll have to check out Fantasy of Flight (if its still open). They have the largest private collection of flying vintage aircraft in the world and several inline motors like the one in your diorama.

[JohnReid]

Jeremy,thanks for the heads up about the museum in Florida. Cheers! John.

[JohnReid]

I have been asked why do I not write a book about my stuff and stop cluttering up the forums with "How to...." ?

My reasoning is basically as follows.

I consider the art of the diorama, just that an art.Art is a living thing and anything you may contribute only is relevant for a short time.The important thing is not the finished piece that your work represents but the influence that it may have others imaginations while you were contributing your little bit to the evolution of the art form that you are involved with.Artists have always been influenced by their peers and always will be but it all is constantly evolving in new and wonderful ways.

Most "how to's... are out of date sometimes before they are even written.The only contribution you can really make to your art form is in the here and now. If I can reach the imagination of just one other artist ,especially a young imagination and they are influenced by my work, and then they build upon it and add their contribution and pass it on, then it has all been worthwhile.That is the same reason why I donate my work to museums where they will be seen, and later if they are sold off the money will go back to support the museum so that future artists will have the same opportunity to influence the young minds of their generation.

However today we have a new way to influence things.Even if someone acquires your stuff and puts it in his basement never again to see the light of day,by your having used the internet to get your ideas out there it really doesn't matter anymore as your have already accomplished your goals.