Hear, hear!!
Tom E.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Ellen Bulger
> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 2:42 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: "Pop" shell museums and Crescent Beach.
>
>
> I do find contemporary museums a dumbed-down bore. Only the iceberg tip
> of most collections are on view and the bulk of the space is given over
> to giant "Gee-Whiz, Water is Wet!" exhibits. The assumption seems to be
> that the typical museum visitor is only as bright as a twenty-watt
> bulb. That is not true, and visitors who are that dim aren't going to
> learn anything despite all the 12-foot tall giant ears and force-fed
> monosyllabic interpretations with lift-the-flap quizzes. People bring
> their kids out of a sense of obligation, but by and large adults are
> bored.
>
> I'll take something like the Cambridge Peabody's victorian collections
> over giant rubber models any day.