Museum diorama getting too old?

[major bill]

Working at the Museum waiting for students to arrive. The Museum staff does not overly like this diorama because it is a major draw for the students and keeps them from looking at other things. I guess this is true, but many student love the diorama. The staff keeps thinking of removing it.

I agree that the diorama has seen better days and a few of the figures have came unglued. Any guess what it depicts?

So do well done dioramas help a museum? I still enjoy seeing a well done diorama, but some are not so well done. Note here a one man Confederate cannon crew. See anything wrong? What kind of gun powder turns a sponge red?

 

[Bruce Vail]

If it is meant to portray a specific action, I would guess Petersburg.

 

[mkarpovage]

That diorama actually kicks ***! What in the hell is wrong with the other museum staffers to want to replace it? If it is so popular and a magnet for students at the museum, then mission accomplished for getting them inside. Don't fix what's not broken tell those staffers.

 

[bayonet]

So removing the biggest draw of kids from your museum? That makes absolutely no sense to me. Maybe inform the "Staff" that the rest of the museum is boring to kids and remove some of that ****! Add more dioramas then! Oh maybe way too many flags on both sides in that diorama.

 

[major bill]

The diorama is getting old. I do wonder if it could be reconditioned. Any guesses what it depicts

 

[Pat Answer]

Yeah, I'm definitely in the spruce-it-up if you need to rather than discard it camp. Seriously, getting rid of "a major draw for the students" makes no sense to me… but I'm old…

 

[Private Joseph]

I took my grandsons, aged 8 and 10, to Gettysburg last summer. They had a great time and really fixated on the Culp's Hill diorama in the visitors center. So much so that they ended up with some toy soldiers to take home. They are still playing with them along with shouts of 'bayonets!' and 'General, I have no division'.
So maybe spruce up your diorama a little bit and put some toy soldiers in the gift shop?

 

[Kurtlg]

So something that actually interests the children should be removed to force them to look at something that may bore them. Got it. Perhaps they should actually make more historical dioramas instead. Let's see... Native American dioramas showing the building of canoes, early French explorers , logging , mining , a diorama of B-24s being built at Willow Run etc. , etc.
Seeing the dioramas as a child at Fort Michilimackinac really made an impact on me.
Is it possible that the real issue is the Confederate flags in the diorama. Has anyone asked the children what they like best about the museum ?

 

[Kurtlg]

I took my grandsons, aged 8 and 10, to Gettysburg last summer. They had a great time and really fixated on the Culp's Hill diorama in the visitors center. So much so that they ended up with some toy soldiers to take home. They are still playing with them along with shouts of 'bayonets!' and 'General, I have no division'.
So maybe spruce up your diorama a little bit and put some toy soldiers in the gift shop?

That is great ! A wonderful way to get them interested in history.

 

[Pat Answer]

I took my grandsons, aged 8 and 10, to Gettysburg last summer. They had a great time and really fixated on the Culp's Hill diorama in the visitors center. So much so that they ended up with some toy soldiers to take home. They are still playing with them along with shouts of 'bayonets!' and 'General, I have no division'.

Love it.
When my sons were little, they knew a Gettysburg trip involved walking around and looking at big guns, but then fast food and toy soldiers to take home. I still cherish the years before I lost them to video games and cell phones. Sigh.

 

[R. Porter]

Perhaps if you could point out where the other things on exhibit can be found in the diorama they would have a better feel for what those things can tell them. That would suggest that you need more dioramas. A diorama is like an actual event frozen in time, assuming it is historically accurate. There are opportunities to display dramatic vignettes involving individuals interacting with one another using items like those on display in the rest of the museum. You already see how a battle scene grabs attention; point out how guns, swords, uniforms, and equipment are used by displaying a drawing or painting of figures from the diorama using the items on display. You might even use photographs of figures from the diorama blown up to a large size as a background. Imagine how dramatic a diorama of a field hospital would be with a pile of arms and legs over to the side while a surgeon works on the next one. You should focus on what draws people and use those things to direct them to the stories and concepts on which history is built.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Ultimately you want to get butts in seats.
As for what It looks like? It reminds me most of the battle scene from good bad and the ugly

 

[dgfred]

Petersburg is a nice pick... what city/town is the museum located maj Bill?

 

[major bill]

The person who built this had limited Civil War figures avaiable. Some may recognize some of the figures used.

 

[major bill]

The person who built this had limited Civil War figures avaiable. Some may recognize some of the figures used.

 

[JeffBrooks]

Don't remove the diorama. Add more.

 

[major bill]

I sometimes take up several kid sized sack coats, overcoats, and equipment. Kids like wearing them, but this takes time. Problem often is they run out of time before they see the entire museum. So too much time in any one gallery can eat up their alloted time. It can be a trade off.

 

[limberbox]

The person who built this had limited Civil War figures avaiable. Some may recognize some of the figures used.

I recognize a number of the 58 mm size Marx figures from their early 1960s playsets -- the figures themselves modeled after poses in Thure de Thulstrap paintings.

 

[archieclement]

Remove it for some giant storyboard with little on it. They seem all the rage these days...........

 

[Bradley]

I don't want to sound as though I am disparaging anyone's work because I have seen many very effective dioramas, but historically speaking, the above diorama is a complete mess. Kids love these things because they look like toys, and in the worst cases are often arranged like a child has been playing with them.

If a diorama isn't historically accurate, and the example above isn't, I would rather this space be occupied with a collection of artifacts.

Remove it for some giant storyboard with little on it. They seem all the rage these days...........

I have mentioned here before what a disappointing experience the Corinth Interpretive Center was for my little boy. A large portion of the building is wall-to-wall text. I know it isn't a "museum" but my home office has more artifacts than this place. From an educator's perspective, why even go through the trouble of making a school field trip to this place? Why not just distribute a PDF?