,
What is The Omnimuseum Project?
Museums deliver powerful experiences that enrich our lives. Whether the focus is science, history, culture, or nature, museums provide frameworks for understanding and engaging in the world around us. So, what happens when people who create museum experiences apply their expertise to the everyday world?
This is the question that led to The Omnimuseum Project, a non-profit 501(c)(3) that draws upon the skills and creativity of designers, educators, and subject specialists to transform things, places, and phenomena that surround us into informal learning and enrichment experiences.
Founded in 2012, our initiatives are centered around catalyzing the activation of the "museum experience" in everyday settings. We are developing ways for museums and other cultural and educational institutions to serve the broader public, and gain presence in real-world places that correspond to their work.
What is Ubiquitous Museology?
Ubiquitous museology looks at the world through a museum lens, revealing a dynamic venue and collection in situ. It strives to establish a conceptual and practical framework for museums to adapt their objectives to the dimensions of public space while stressing continuity and relevance to the places it activates. Ubiquitous museology offers a more open and inclusive museum model, one that is more elastic, responsive, and firmly rooted in the real world.
Some of the guiding principles of Ubiquitous Museology include:
Context Drives the Experience
The people, places, things, and activities that constitute a site drive the nature and focus of the museum experience; its content, and its implementation.
The World is Composed of a Ubiquitous Collection
The ubiquitous collection is in-situ and in operation. The ubiquitous collection is not predicated on monetary value, heritage, or uniqueness, but includes all things occurring naturally or artificially. The ubiquitous collection is constituted by the places, things, and phenomena that make up the natural, physical, and material world.
There Are No Spatial or Temporal Limits
There are no dedicated, or prescribed boundaries to the spatial or temporal scope of the museum experience. The museum experience can happen in an instant, or go on indefinitely. It can be focused on a single object, or include an entire city.
What is The Omnimuseum Project?
Museums deliver powerful experiences that enrich our lives. Whether the focus is science, history, culture, or nature, museums provide frameworks for understanding and engaging in the world around us. So, what happens when people who create museum experiences apply their expertise to the everyday world?
This is the question that led to The Omnimuseum Project, a non-profit 501(c)(3) that draws upon the skills and creativity of designers, educators, and subject specialists to transform things, places, and phenomena that surround us into informal learning and enrichment experiences.
Founded in 2012, our initiatives are centered around catalyzing the activation of the "museum experience" in everyday settings. We are developing ways for museums and other cultural and educational institutions to serve the broader public, and gain presence in real-world places that correspond to their work.
What is Ubiquitous Museology?
Ubiquitous museology looks at the world through a museum lens, revealing a dynamic venue and collection in situ. It strives to establish a conceptual and practical framework for museums to adapt their objectives to the dimensions of public space while stressing continuity and relevance to the places it activates. Ubiquitous museology offers a more open and inclusive museum model, one that is more elastic, responsive, and firmly rooted in the real world.
Some of the guiding principles of Ubiquitous Museology include:
Context Drives the Experience
The people, places, things, and activities that constitute a site drive the nature and focus of the museum experience; its content, and its implementation.
The World is Composed of a Ubiquitous Collection
The ubiquitous collection is in-situ and in operation. The ubiquitous collection is not predicated on monetary value, heritage, or uniqueness, but includes all things occurring naturally or artificially. The ubiquitous collection is constituted by the places, things, and phenomena that make up the natural, physical, and material world.
There Are No Spatial or Temporal Limits
There are no dedicated, or prescribed boundaries to the spatial or temporal scope of the museum experience. The museum experience can happen in an instant, or go on indefinitely. It can be focused on a single object, or include an entire city.
BLOG CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Speed is Chair of Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Chris was the Principal Investigator for TOTeM. He has a BA in Alternative Practice (Brighton Polytechnic, 1992), a Masters in Design (Goldsmiths 1999), and a PhD from Plymouth University (‘A Social Dimension to Digital Architectural Practice’, 2007).
Jane Macdonald is Coordinator for Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art and managed the exhibitions, events, marketing, administration and finance for TOTeM.
Dr. Ruth A. Hawkins is the former director of the Arkansas Heritage Sites program at Arkansas State University. She also is Executive Director of Arkansas Delta Byways, Inc., a tourism promotion association serving 15 counties in Eastern Arkansas. Dr. Hawkins has served in various administrative capacities at Arkansas State University for 35 years. She is the recipient of numerous state and national historic preservation awards and was inducted into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame in 2011.
Marti Peran is Professor of Art Theory at the University of Barcelona. Critic and curator of exhibitions, he has collaborated in different contemporary art catalogues and books. Co-editor of Roulotte, he collaborates with specialized journals and magazines (Exit Express, Artforum International). Director of the international program Roundabout. Encounter Program between Barcelona and other cities (Mexico, Reykjavik, Bangkok, Jerusalem, Santiago de Chile, Istanbul). He has recently presented, among others, the following projects: Post-it City. Occasional Cities (CCCB, Barcelona, 2008; MAC Santiago de Chile, Centro Cultural São Paulo, 2009); After Architecture (Arts Santa Mònica. Barcelona, 2009).
Larry Beasley is the former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver. He is now the “Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning” at the University of British Columbia and the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy. He is a Member of the Order of Canada. Beasley works all over the world with recent significant assignments in Ottawa, Dallas, Rotterdam, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Moscow.
John Leigh is a Multi-media Engineer at Quatrefoil Associates, and has been working with Quatrefoil since 2007, helping design, assemble, and install computer-based interactives in a variety of venues. Main interests include: games and the appropriate uses of game-like metaphors, the so-called New Aesthetic, making things work.
Roula Tsapalas is a Senior Exhibit Designer and Principal at Quatrefoil Associates. Trained as an architect, she is interested in the sense of place as a powerful tool for learning. Roula has worked with Head Start facilitating teacher trainings, family events and creating curricula for enrichment programs like Messages of the Built Environment. This enrichment program engaged families with informal learning opportunities in their everyday surroundings. She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Maryland and practiced commercial design for 15 years before branching into education. Roula is an accredited LEED Green Associate.
Eric Leonardson is a Chicago-based composer, radio artist, sound designer, instrument inventor, improvisor, visual artist, and teacher. Leonardson is director of the World Listening Project (founded in 2008) and founder (in 2009) of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, a regional chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology (ASAE). He is currently President of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Sound at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jayna Champeau is an Exhibition Designer, and graduate of the Corcoran College of Art + Design’s MA Exhibition Design program and has a BFA in Photography from Virginia Commonwealth University. She was led to continued studies through her years spent as part of the Exhibition Graphics team at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). Jayna returned to the VMFA during graduate studies as an instructor of exhibitions and curatorial practice for a teen leadership program and has previous experience as a photography instructor. Additionally, she has completed internships with the National Museum of American History and National Portrait Gallery.
Michael W. Burns is the founder and executive director of The Omnimuseum Project. He is a partner and Director of Design Strategies at the experience design firm Quatrefoil Associates. Michael has been designing award winning museum exhibitions, public environments and events for over 25 years. Formerly, Michael was director of exhibition design at the Field Museum, and creative director at the Shedd Aquarium. His museum career emerged from a background in Time Arts, and public sound installation. Michael is a regular speaker and presenter at conferences and workshops for museums and other cultural institutions.
Chris Speed is Chair of Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Chris was the Principal Investigator for TOTeM. He has a BA in Alternative Practice (Brighton Polytechnic, 1992), a Masters in Design (Goldsmiths 1999), and a PhD from Plymouth University (‘A Social Dimension to Digital Architectural Practice’, 2007).
Jane Macdonald is Coordinator for Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art and managed the exhibitions, events, marketing, administration and finance for TOTeM.
Dr. Ruth A. Hawkins is the former director of the Arkansas Heritage Sites program at Arkansas State University. She also is Executive Director of Arkansas Delta Byways, Inc., a tourism promotion association serving 15 counties in Eastern Arkansas. Dr. Hawkins has served in various administrative capacities at Arkansas State University for 35 years. She is the recipient of numerous state and national historic preservation awards and was inducted into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame in 2011.
Marti Peran is Professor of Art Theory at the University of Barcelona. Critic and curator of exhibitions, he has collaborated in different contemporary art catalogues and books. Co-editor of Roulotte, he collaborates with specialized journals and magazines (Exit Express, Artforum International). Director of the international program Roundabout. Encounter Program between Barcelona and other cities (Mexico, Reykjavik, Bangkok, Jerusalem, Santiago de Chile, Istanbul). He has recently presented, among others, the following projects: Post-it City. Occasional Cities (CCCB, Barcelona, 2008; MAC Santiago de Chile, Centro Cultural São Paulo, 2009); After Architecture (Arts Santa Mònica. Barcelona, 2009).
Larry Beasley is the former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver. He is now the “Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning” at the University of British Columbia and the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy. He is a Member of the Order of Canada. Beasley works all over the world with recent significant assignments in Ottawa, Dallas, Rotterdam, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Moscow.
John Leigh is a Multi-media Engineer at Quatrefoil Associates, and has been working with Quatrefoil since 2007, helping design, assemble, and install computer-based interactives in a variety of venues. Main interests include: games and the appropriate uses of game-like metaphors, the so-called New Aesthetic, making things work.
Roula Tsapalas is a Senior Exhibit Designer and Principal at Quatrefoil Associates. Trained as an architect, she is interested in the sense of place as a powerful tool for learning. Roula has worked with Head Start facilitating teacher trainings, family events and creating curricula for enrichment programs like Messages of the Built Environment. This enrichment program engaged families with informal learning opportunities in their everyday surroundings. She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Maryland and practiced commercial design for 15 years before branching into education. Roula is an accredited LEED Green Associate.
Eric Leonardson is a Chicago-based composer, radio artist, sound designer, instrument inventor, improvisor, visual artist, and teacher. Leonardson is director of the World Listening Project (founded in 2008) and founder (in 2009) of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, a regional chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology (ASAE). He is currently President of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Sound at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jayna Champeau is an Exhibition Designer, and graduate of the Corcoran College of Art + Design’s MA Exhibition Design program and has a BFA in Photography from Virginia Commonwealth University. She was led to continued studies through her years spent as part of the Exhibition Graphics team at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). Jayna returned to the VMFA during graduate studies as an instructor of exhibitions and curatorial practice for a teen leadership program and has previous experience as a photography instructor. Additionally, she has completed internships with the National Museum of American History and National Portrait Gallery.
Michael W. Burns is the founder and executive director of The Omnimuseum Project. He is a partner and Director of Design Strategies at the experience design firm Quatrefoil Associates. Michael has been designing award winning museum exhibitions, public environments and events for over 25 years. Formerly, Michael was director of exhibition design at the Field Museum, and creative director at the Shedd Aquarium. His museum career emerged from a background in Time Arts, and public sound installation. Michael is a regular speaker and presenter at conferences and workshops for museums and other cultural institutions.