Geology, Mineralogy, Curatorology…

Have you ever been to the Minerals Gallery in the Natural History Museum London?  Surprisingly, despite the dinosaurs, it is my favourite room in the grand old institution.  Part of its attraction is its old-fashioned style, it is like a museum of a museum.  A little research (on their website) tells me that it is the space that remains most faithful to the architect’s original vision.  Every time I go to the NHM I must visit this gallery, I must walk along the neatly organised low display cases, I have to marvel at the colours of the mineral (colours we have been conditioned to believe are the work of man), and to try and understand a little more of our earth.

The reason I am wittering on about this is because at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum I have the privilege of working with the Anaconda Collection of Minerals.  It is like being let loose in a bank vault, or a children’s toy box.  Everything is so shiny and colourful.  But the real reason I am enjoying this project so much is that I am learning.  These minerals are not only pretty to look at; they play a huge part in our every day lives.

Anaconda Collection of Minerals, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum

Take this stunning specimen of mica schist studded with garnets.  Clearly garnets are gemstones mostly common know for their use in jewellery, however the metallic, sparkling mica is also used in paints, cements, and pretty much everything you would build your house with.

Garnet in Mica Schist, Anacoda Collection, NMHFM

And here is a lovely specimen studded with crystals of white quartz, amongst other things.  Sometimes used as a semi-precious stone in jewellery, quartz is also used in heat-ray lamps, prism and spectrographic lenses, and in the manufacture of glass.

Quartz studded specimen, Anaconda Collection, NMHFM

I will finish with this beautiful piece of obsidian with incorporated nodules of calcite, for no other reason than I like how shiny it is, and because it is volcanic glass that in the world of GoT is named ‘dragonglass’ and can kill white walkers.

Obsidian with white calcite nodules, Anaconda Collection, NMHFM

In progress unrelated to work, I have managed to hike to 12,500ft.  That 14’er is in sight.

Hiking at Altitude, Leadville, CO

Currently listening to:  Alt-J – The Hunger of the Pine.

Cloud City.

Life in Leadville, also known as Cloud City, is good, very good.  It is honestly a quality of life that I have never experienced before.

Much of this feeling is very obviously down to my surroundings.  The air honestly feels cleaner here (despite the fact a lot of the time you can’t get enough oxygen).  Everyone is constantly outdoors, doing outdoorsy things; it would be rude not to do the same.  Since I have arrived here I have hiked, biked, and ran.  And whilst doing so I have crossed paths with all types of people doing the same; men, women, children, families, friends, elderly, and everything in between.  I don’t know anyone here who doesn’t spend at least part of their day outside.  I think the Leadvillians are onto something here.  Glasgow take note; spending time exploring the outdoors makes you happier (and healthier)!

The realisation that is perhaps of greatest value to me is that this is the kind of life I want for myself.  When I am forced to return home I anticipate actively seeking a similar set-up to Colorado.  But!  I do realise that the lustre and appeal of somewhere that is new, somewhere I have yet to discover the faults of, could be a canny trap that I am falling straight into.  Maybe you should talk to me again in a few weeks…

And where does the rest of my warm feelings for my location come from?  My internship.  I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was missing collections-based, curatorial experience.  Well I think that come August 9th that gap will be well and truly filled.  The breadth of the experience I will gain is down to the curators allowing me to work on several projects at once.  Currently I am working to accession a group of rocks – sounds rather silly – but each rock in this collection represents a state in the US, and has been donated by the geological society/survey/organisation of each state.  My favourite so far?  The petrified wood of Mississippi.

Petrified Wood – The State Rock of Mississippi

The second major project I am privileged to work on is the Colorado Digitization Project (I have to spell it with a V because its ‘Merican).  This state-wide project aims to provide wider access to historical documentation, and in the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum‘s case, photographs.  The photographs I am working with are late 19th Century – mid 20th Century Leadville related mining archives.  They are totally fascinating.  For me, the value lies in the social history they have unwittingly captured.  In photographing the growth of mine we see the workers, and we see how the workers lived.  The conditions they withstood, up in the Rocky Mountains are astounding.  Feet of snow, isolation, and worse.  And all for the prospect of a fortune.  Worse is that for some, this was an indentured position.  Lured away from their homes and families in countries like Greece and Italy workers were lured abroad by the promise of free transportation to Leadville, and the riches that surely awaited them.  When they arrived, those that paid for their journey forced them to work for upwards of three years to pay off the cost of their transportation.  Cut off from their loved ones, with no way of escape, their lives must have been desolate to say the least.  On a more lighthearted note, there were some miners who made the most of their situations, often by holding their nation’s traditions closely, such as the Finnish miners who built their very own sauna in their settlement, aptly named Finntown.

Amongst my other projects is the creation of a education kit that will travel to schools in the area.  My kit will focus upon geology, a wide, expansive subject, but I think this is a story for another time.

I bid adieu with some photographs of my recent hike to the abandoned Interlaken Hotel on the shore of Twin Lakes.

The Owner of Interlaken Hotel’s House (also abandoned)

The boat Shed of Interlaken Hotel

The Abandoned Interlaken Hotel

The view from the abandoned Interlaken Hotel

Currently listening to:  Citizen Cope, Sideways.

Life at 10,152ft.

As I alluded to in my previous post, on 29th May I began a Curatorial Internship at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum.  Here I hope to build upon my existing museum-based experience by developing more curatorial skills.  Past roles have educated me in the ways of visitor studies, interpretation, exhibition design, and digital communications.  At the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum I will work on projects accessioning mineral collections, assist with the digitisation of historic photographs, and create a travelling education kit.  All in all, a darn good range of experience.

There is one other special thing about this museum; its location – Leadville, Colorado.  Leadville is the highest incorporated city in America at 10, 152ft, quite the height.  And let me tell you altitude sickness is a real thing.  Shortness of breath, aching calves, dehydration, and constant headaches are the symptoms.  I have been lucky enough to get away with experiencing them only mildly, but the thing I can’t get over is the inability to walk up a flight of stairs or a little hill without feeling breathless.  Supposedly this will abate with time – well that time can’t come quickly enough.

Saying that, it is truly an unbeatable location, and an opportunity to learn something of which I know nothing, namely mining.  Prepare for this blog, Facebook, and Twitter to be spammed with countless photographs of mountains and trees.

My wee Leadville house

The view from my street in Leadville

Mountains, mountains everywhere

The Matchless Mine, Leadville, CO.

Amazingly coloured water (unfortunately due to mining pollution).

Cyclist on the Mineral Belt Trail, Leadville, CO.

Sunset, Leadville, CO.

Currently listening to:  Half Moon Run, Nerve.

And the end begins.

Here is the point in the year why I try to make up for my lack of blogging during university semesters so prepare yourselves for an onslaught of words and pictures.

Currently I am sitting in a lovely coffee shop in Leadville (City on a Hill) enjoying my first day off from my new internship.  But to start here would be to skip far too far ahead, so let me rewind to the end of my second semester at Brown, which is also the end of my time studying in America.

I am not going to lie The Devil That Was Semester Two, I found trying to say the least.  For some reason the combination of my four chosen courses for the Spring Semester did not seem to fit together as nicely as Fall’s.  Don’t misunderstand me, each course was rewarding in its own right, but together they seemed to become a time-sink, black hole of energy, and so on.  Nevertheless the amount of knowledge I accumulated could be described as incomparable to any other educational experience of my life (perhaps this was part of my problem – disparate course selection infinitely increases your work load).  Thus I can now count structural violence, the early history of Chinatowns across America, and the concept of Primo Levi’s Gray Zone as subject matters in which I am at least partially versed in.  In fact, writing a paper on the (im)possibility of representing the Gray Zone through theatre or film is probably the highlight of my time at Brown (did you know there is a film The Gray Zone? Neither did I. It is certainly worth a watch, not for the acting, but for the admirable attempt to address the above issue).

The culmination of all this work?  A degree from Brown University, conferred upon me during Commencement, May 25th, 2014.  This is the point where I mention the difference between UK and US graduation ceremonies, which is A LOT.  Although I very much enjoyed my American experience, I have to say that in no way did it match up to its Scottish counterpart.  The talking, eating, disorganisation, all during the ceremony, definitely detracted from the honouring of the achievement of Brown’s talented students (here I am talking about the PhDs!).  But it was endearing nevertheless, and the presence of my family, and all of the friends I was lucky enough to make in Providence, meant that it was an occasion to treasure.  Post-commencement was time to spend with my family exploring Boston, Cape Cod and Providence (and also NYC and Nashville between finals and graduation).

Energy completely spent, I moved forward to the last chapter of my time in America – a Curatorial Internship at the National Mining Hall of Fame in Leadville, Colorado, the highest incorporated city in the US at 10,152ft.  But that is a story for another post.

Back to Chatham, MA.

Typical American church sign, Hyannis, MA.

View from Belvedere Castle, Central Park, NYC.

Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum, NYC.

Nashville has its own Parthenon? TN.

Yes, I actually graduated.

Listening to:  The Afghan Whigs, Matamoros.

Escape to Chatham.

Yesterday (Sunday) I escaped to the Cape.  Despite a final, final paper looming over me, I could not pass up the opportunity to explore more of New England, something I have done far too little of during my time her.  A beautiful drive through Rhode Island and Massachusetts ended at the ‘heel of the Cape’, Chatham.  Full of little independent shops, boutiques, and even a bookstore, the day was spent in blissful ignorance of my impending deadline.  A walk along the beach and a paddle in the sea (apparently paddling is not a word used in the US – they say ‘walking in the water’ – boring, yes?) we left in search of the perfect lobster roll, a New England speciality.  This fine invention was to be found at Captain Frosty’s in Dennis – huge chunks of lobster in a light mayo dressing on a toasted brioche bun, consumed in the closest thing to an old fashioned chippy I have seen here, was heaven.

And yes, I probably shouldn’t be writing this post with my paper still in unreadable disarray…

Chatham, Cape Cod, MA.

A fine sea for paddling.

Captain Frosty’s – Lobster rolls ahoy.

Ummmm….

The view some enviable people have from their garden.

 

Currently listening to:  Hozier, From Eden.