content development & interpretive materials

middle school gallery guide

Award Winner: First Prize for Educational Resources, American Alliance of Museums’ Publication Competition, 2012

It expands upon the elementary guide (below) with additional content and open-ended prompts. With its booklet format, slightly smaller profile, and scaled-down dot motif, the guide complements the playful style of the elementary version, but feels appropriate for older kids. As with the elementary guide, many school groups use this as an interpretive tool following a tour or as a self-guided experience, and kids visiting with their families enjoy it as well. The features open-ended questions and prompts for sketching and drawing. It’s written to work with a variety of objects, so it’s flexible as galleries are reinstalled.

Elementary gallery guide

Award Winner: American Alliance of Museums Publication Awards, Honorable Mention, 2009

I developed and wrote this gallery guide for worked closely with the designer to bring it to life. The goal was to demystify icons for kids who are not familiar with them, and to highlight some universal themes that are present in the icons and also relevant to students’ own lives—for example, celebrating holidays or using symbols as a means of expression. School groups and families both use this guide.

audio tours

I have project managed a number of audio tours, including writing scripts, consulting with experts and reviewers, and hiring voice talent in multiple languages as well as translators. The guiding principle I follow in audio tour development is that the content needs to be focused on the experience of looking at the object. My test: if the audio message would make sense if you listened to it in an empty room, then it’s not using the object effectively. Writing for audio is different than writing for the page, and over the years I’ve developed an ear for it. A few tips: use simple, declarative sentences, without dependent clauses; also, avoid homonyms.