New Scheduling System for Volunteers: VSys (sounds like V-sis)
At long last EVANS has been replaced by VSys, a state of the art computer database. All Associates Rep volunteers will use VSys to request programs, classes, bus trips and special events. Our office volunteers now use VSys to sign in and out for their shifts. You can learn to navigate around VSys using these how to guides, which you will also find at the top of each blog post, on the navigation bar (go ahead and look there now). Be sure to print them out, or at least save them on your computer. Jenna has hard copies of them in her office if you would like to pick up a set.
Additionally, you may schedule a VSys demonstration session, by appointment, at Jenna's office. This is not mandatory, and you may find you master VSys with the how to guides.
You will notice there are many new functionalities (such as volunteers being able to cancel requests and program assignments), and a more user friendly look. VSys works on all devices, including iPad and iPhones. In no time you will be an ace user, and Jenna is here to assist you in learning how to use this new system.
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Smiling Faces at a Recent Program
At a Smithsonian Associates Program on October 3rd, one of the most popular fiction writers today, Jodi Picoult, discussed her career, her writing process, and why the social issues she tackles speak to her as a writer. She was interviewed by her home state senator, Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. The Event Reps pictured above assisted Programmer Lauren Rosenberg host this the high-profile program, which included a book signing.
Many thanks to these volunteers (pictured from left to right): Bobbie Hertzfeldt, Annmarie Pittman, Alvina Jones, Lois Rothman, (Author Jodi Picoult), Pat Seals and Rita Suffness. Perhaps you or someone you know would like to help at programs like this one. Here are details as to the available position, and applications are available on the Smithsonian Associates website: Volunteer Position Description for Event Concessions Reps
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Studio Arts: A Q&A with Kathy Fuller, Program Manager
by Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
Smithsonian Associates presents over 50 hands-on art making classes every quarter, plus photography courses. The program has grown by leaps and bounds under the direction of Kathy Fuller. Nearly 60 Studio Art Reps assist instructors for up to 8 weekly sessions each semester. Here's Janet Hewitt's interview with Kathy, you will be surprised by some of this information!
How long have you been the Program Coordinator of the Studio Arts Program? What have you learned along the way?
Probably the most important thing I've learned is that even though it can be challenging sometimes to get to us - traffic delays because of races, rallies, parades, etc plus difficult-to-find parking and issues of late with METRO - how wonderfully lucky we all are to be able to be here at the Smithsonian! Art classes here are literally on top of some of the best art museums in the world where students, teachers, and volunteers can take a short walk (or in some cases an elevator ride) from the classroom and get inspiration from everything from world-famous masterpieces and to ancient artifacts. Right outside our building are some of the most beautiful and beloved gardens to be found anywhere. Cross the National Mall and take in the splendor of the Capital to the east and the magnificence of the Washington Monument to the west while listening to enthralled visitors speaking in languages from all around the globe. It's thrilling and wonderful to be part of what it takes to bring visual arts classes to our members and the public and so it's important to keep that in the forefront of your mind when parking is scarce or the metro is single-tracking. You've got to keep looking at that beautiful big picture!
As for the first part of your question, I started out working as an operations coordinator providing part-time support to the studio arts program in 2012. I moved into the full-time program coordinator role in March of 2015. I have learned A LOT about art processes and materials and our instructors teach me more every day! I have learned to juggle many competing priorities and to address the needs of instructors, volunteers, students, and colleagues while meeting editorial and administrative deadlines. And I’ve learned how to keep three semesters worth of classes in my head at any given time: when fall classes kick off in early October, I’ll also be closing out the summer semester, reconciling fiscal year 2018, and finalizing the winter class schedule to be announced on November 1st. Then the spring semester planning begins with that schedule due December 1st. I mostly keep it straight but it depends on when you ask me!
How do you discover new teachers to bring on board?
Sometimes they come to me via connections to our current faculty or staff or they are looking for work and reach out through our main email account. Sometimes I have a need for someone to teach a particular class and I go looking for area teachers to approach.
What are some of the newer areas of the arts you have been branching out into more recently? (floral arts/knitting/neon….etc.?)
We’ve been offering a very popular new painting class called Neuroscience and Art which combines lecture about new findings on visual perception with painting exercises that merge those new findings with familiar elements of art such as value, shape, and color. The prevalence of smartphones – with their highly developed camera functions – means that there is a huge demand for our iPhone Photography workshops. And since “Paint and Sip” evenings have become so popular elsewhere, we’ve developed our own “Sip and Sample” format that features three of our most popular studio arts courses for a single night each along with wine and snacks. The September Sip and Sample class featured a night each of watercolor, collage, and mosaics.
Why are there no volunteers for the photography classes?
By and large the photography classes are smaller and don’t have much in the way of set up or clean up because of the medium.
How do you decide what classes to offer in the evenings, versus weekends, versus weekdays?
Frequently these decisions are based on instructor availability. I try to schedule the most popular classes on evenings or weekends, whenever possible, so that the maximum number of people will have the opportunity to attend.
How do you decide what classes to offer and what media to feature? Are there some classes like pottery/glass blowing etc. that you can’t offer because of limitations at the Ripley facilities?
We have a number of core classes that are offered every semester that always have appeal to new and returning students: Beginning Drawing, Painting, Photography, for example, will always be offered. Our instructors are working artists who are endlessly creative and who are always coming up with new ideas for class focus within our core media areas. This keeps things varied and exciting for our returning students! We also ask our students to make suggestions for future classes every time they fill out an evaluation, so we get lots of good ideas that way, too. Unfortunately, there are some great ideas for programs that can’t happen at the Ripley Center because of lack of equipment or Smithsonian building restrictions; that doesn’t mean we can’t explore doing them in alternate facilities. Neon Light Sculpture, for instance, takes place in the artist’s Anacostia studio.
What is the best trait you can think of for a studio arts volunteer? Is having a sense of humor a requirement?
Dedication. Our studio arts volunteers are the greatest and they are invested in the success of the program, their relationships with our talented instructors, and their contributions to the students and our art classrooms. And LOL, yes, a sense of humor never hurts.
What are the most common things you hear from the instructors as to what they love to see in a volunteer?
A willing and cheerful attitude plus a love of art!
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Where Am I?
By Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
Washington has some pretty famous rooms. Take the Situation Room, for example. Alas, our mystery object this month does not reside in there - I’m pretty sure taking pictures of objects in the Situation Room might get a little dicey. Nor does it occupy a spot in the East Room of the White House. And if you are trying to be serious about guessing, the Oval Office is way off the mark. So where does this mystery object reside today?
The actual room where our object sits today once occupied a spot in England. It was part of a rather extravagant townhouse in London. It belonged to a Liverpool ship owner who hired a high-profile designer to posh up his entrance hall and then consult on the design of his dining room. Unfortunately, the fully renovated room was so over the top, the patron threw a fit, fired the designer and refused to pay the full decorating bill. It did not help matters that the designer snuck back in to make the dining room walls even more glam, after the owner had already registered his intense displeasure. Needless to say, the Fleet Street crowd was all a buzz about it. (It would have made a great episode of Love It or List It.)
Okay, so fast-forward to our current detective story. Where in the vast Smithsonian complex does our object live today?
Here are some hints:
Hint One: The room where our object rests today lived for a time in Detroit. The original British owner’s heirs sold the room in 1904 to an anonymous American buyer who put it in his mansion in the Motor City.
Hint Two: Before the rogue designer started painting his designs on the walls, the room was covered in 6th century leather wall hangings featuring red roses that were part of Catherine of Aragon’s dowry when she came to England to marry Henry VIII. The designer thought the color clashed with his design and painted over it.
Hint Three: The museum gallery where this object appears opened to the public in 1923 in Washington, DC.
ANSWERS TO LAST ISSUE’S Where Are We?
Last issue’s mystery for readers involved three Barbie dolls of Native American heritage. We asked three questions: 1) When did Mattel first release them? 2) What museum/exhibit can you find them in? and 3) How much are they currently worth? If you check the photos in last month’s issue from left to right, the vintages are 1993, 1999 and 1996. They are all on view in the Museum of the American Indian in the “Americans” exhibit.
The one that currently is worth the most is the 1999 Northwest Coast Native American Collector Edition. A “like new” version is selling for $57 online (a used one sells for $38.71 on eBay.) The 1996 Native American Indian Barbie from the Dolls of the World Collection sells for $19.99 new on eBay. The 1993 Second Edition Dolls of the World Collection Native American Barbie is going for $17.99 new and $9.89 used on eBay. (So the bottom line here is if the stock market goes bust, you probably should not move your retirement funds into Barbies. Just saying.)
