Update on my work

The past month has been busy in terms of my projects at Campbell House.

The facebook page and blog are doing well. The blog is up to 620 visits over 26 posts, all since May. We're also up to 53 fans and several people regularly "like" the links we post to the blog.

I have been working with the Urban Museum Collaborative this semester. The project, led by project director Barbara Decker, is working to create an overarching education curriculum for Campbell House Museum, the Eugene Field House, and the Griot Museum of Black History. I am working on the online portrait gallery, which introduces the cast of characters for each museum. There will be 15 portraits featured, I have currently finished about 7 of them, but am working on editing the original drafts of those. There is not much new to report for my part, but there is exciting news for the overall project. The collaborative is funded by a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council. This past Monday, it was announced that the Urban Museum Collaborative has been awarded a supplemental grant, which will help us as we continue to create opportunities for children to truly experience history at these 3 museums. Wonderful news! Futhermore, the project has been named "See beyond the gates", a reference to the fact that many times, people drive by the 3 museums and don't realize what it actually is. I'm excited to be a part of this innovative and creative project that will offer so many opportunities to St. Louis schools!

As for my exit project, I turned in the official proposal for the children's book and education program this week. I have created a draft of the story and begun to roughly lay out how I would like it to work. I was also told on Wednesday that the chair of my committee, Dr. Lankford, believes he has found me an illustrator. This is a big relief for me because I am not an artist. If the illustrator does not work out, I will likely use the 1885 and current photographs of Campbell House, animating them with Photoshop and Fotosketcher. However, I had really wanted to have these be done by an illustrator as great pictures truly bring life to a childen's book. This project has started to really gain steam, I can't wait to see the finished project in May!

That is the latest update in my professional life. Thank you.