Capturing the Currator Experience

The analysis process started by looking at the source, then taking notes on its author, location, date and importance to the exhibit. The analysis process is an important part of curating because it helps make sure that you're sharing accurate information to the viewers of your exhibit. My group analyzed many sources such as a Canals Map of Great Britain, a steam engine diagram and an image called Cutting a Railroad Line. All four of those sources were images. The Canals Map of Great Britain showed the canal routes in 1800. The steam engine diagram showed the basic parts of a steam engine and helped give a greater understanding of how they work. Cutting a railroad Line by JC Bourne depicts the early stages of a railroad when it was first built. All three of these images contribute to the main idea of our exhibit, which was the evolution of transportation. We also analyzed a letter Robert Fulton wrote about his experiences on the first steam boat ride and an argument between Samuel Smiles and William Wordsworth about whether or not railroads were a good invention. These sources also helped show the evolution of transportation. The last source we analyzed showed the evolution the most. This was a transportation timeline that showed transportation between 1790 and 1850. We tied all the sources to that main idea, because we wanted those who visit our exhibit to learn about transportation over time. To create the exhibit's title, Thomas Takes Great Britain: How did he get to the Island of Sodor?, we thought of something the audience could relate to. Thomas the Tank Engine is a steam engine that most people have heard of, so we tied him into our main idea of evolution. Our title makes people wonder where tank or steam engines started. There would be no Thomas the Tank Engine if it hadn't been for the evolution of transportation and the invention of the steam engine.

The other four exhibits created by my classmates were very intriguing. I saw many unique titles and creative designs. The first exhibit I saw was called, More Cotton More Slaves Less Freedom. This exhibit covered the issue of increased slave population due to an increase in cotton production. This exhibit had many charts that I found surprising because they showed that between 1834 and 1858 there were over 2 million slaves in the United States. The next exhibit was, From Spinning Wheels to Power Looms, which was about the evolution of spinning. At this exhibit I learned from a chart that the city population increased by millions because the spinners who were replaced by things such as the spinning Jenny had to move into the city to find new work. Living in Filth was the next exhibit I went to. This one was about the negative effects the mills had on the environment. An article on this exhibit called, Observation on the Filth of the Thames, was interesting to me because one line said that the beautiful Thames River was an opague pale brown due to the mills nearby. The last exhibit I observed was the Broken Children exhibit about child labor. In this exhibit there were pictures by Lewis Hine that showed many young children working in factories in 1909. These images caught my attention because the children looked so young and they were working large machinery. I learned a lot from these four exhibits!