San Diego Museum Of Man's Offers Itself To The Fight Against COVID-19

Speaker 1: 00:00 Balboa park has been closed because of the Corona virus pandemic. But the San Diego museum of man is looking for a way to remain vital while its doors are officially close to the public. Last week had offered a proposal to serve community need. KPBS arts reporter Beth OCHA, Mondo speaks with the museums CEO Micah Parson, to explain what that means. Speaker 2: 00:23 So about a week ago you sent out an email offering the museum of man up for anyone who might need it during this Corona virus pandemics. So what was your reason for doing that? Speaker 3: 00:35 The museum closed, as you likely know, on, I believe it was March 14th is Saturday. And it was a part of a collective effort of all the institutions in the park closing as a way of doing our part to try to flatten the curve. And at that point, you know, everything that we had always been doing to serve the public consistent with our mission had all the sudden gone by the wayside. And with our doors shattered. We started trying to think outside the box in terms of even though we can't be open to the public, um, how can we still serve the community? And clearly there were so many needs that were kind of bubbling out there and were, we knew we weren't the experts, but we knew that if we put out a call to the experts and to people who are in the know and who were, we're thinking ahead and in the days and weeks and months down the road, um, that maybe we could come up with something in partnership with another organization. So we, we put out the word and have just had a phenomenal response. Speaker 2: 01:41 What were you offering in terms of kind of like the amount of space and, and what part of the museum? Speaker 3: 01:46 We have about 60,000 square feet of space at the museum and we were, are certainly, I'm more than willing to make any or all of that space available. Um, back in world war two, the a Navy actually took over the museum and several other institutions in the park and converted it into a hospital to care for the, the sick and the wounded. And part of our, I'm thinking in terms of putting out this proposal to serve community need was we've done it once before. Why can't we do something like that again? Speaker 2: 02:23 And so this was about 10 days ago that she put this out. So what kind of response have you been getting? Speaker 3: 02:28 We've gotten dozens and dozens of emails and I posted it on LinkedIn, so it got a huge outpouring, just a swell of enthusiastic support first and foremost. I think it just inspired people to think about how perhaps they could serve to whether from an organizational perspective or from where they're positioned, uh, in their own community. So there was a lot of, um, wonderful, kind of enthusiastic, just wow, we didn't even think that that could be possible. That a place like a museum could be used for something other than exhibits and in public programs, but yet it's sort of opened up a portal of sorts, right to, to a different way of thinking. We also got a huge number of responses that had all sorts of ideas, um, many of which were similar to the ones we put out in our proposal as possibilities. Could we be at a testing site for covert 19, could we be an overflow for folks who don't have coven but who still need care? Could we be a food distribution site of some kind? All sorts of responses along those lines. Um, some other ones that, uh, we're uh, innovative and creative in their own right. One said, you know, do what you do best, create an exhibit on pandemics over time and, and across cultures and the impact. Um, do it virtually and then springboard that into a, a physical exhibit when you reopen. Speaker 2: 03:58 And are any of these ideas ones that you're moving forward with? Speaker 3: 04:03 You've had some sort of nibbles from various partners? Um, we are very much hoping that we can find a way to turn those into bites. Those are mostly in sort of the food distribution or the homeless resource space. Um, the challenge we're having is that, uh, as you likely know, the park is closed and it is barricaded off, um, to the public. We're hoping that we'll be able to do something, you know, the first step was to put the word out there. Um, if nothing else, it's, it's motivating others to sort of think a little differently, uh, about ways that they can serve that, that aren't squarely in, in what they're, yeah. Accustomed to are the traditional ways, but nonetheless are part of this effort of bringing us all together. Speaker 2: 04:48 Um, you mentioned this idea of, um, looking to, uh, doing an exhibit on pandemics. Has that ever been something that the museum has looked to and uh, is that something that you might be interested in doing? Speaker 3: 05:00 No, we haven't considered that in the past. You know, it's one of those topics that of course I'm not sure people will have the appetite for, uh, whether, you know, we're all so inundated by information and certainly from an anthropological perspective is a really interesting question, right? In terms of pandemics of the past, in terms of a, a, an exhibit, it's easier said than done with a very small team. Um, I do however think that within all of this pain and suffering and sort of horror that is occurring all around us, there also will be huge opportunities for us to emerge as a better version of ourselves, both as a community, um, but also as a, as a society and as, as a species. I was reading somewhere that, that the pandemic could serve as a portal of sorts, right? To a process by which everybody is getting so shaken to core that we are all going to have to re-imagine and sort of re-invent who we are as individuals, who we are as organizations, who we are as a community and as a society. And, um, we're sort of stripped air to the point that, you know, we can learn from the lessons of the past. Things that have not worked for us so well and, and move forward in ways that we feel are going to be far more productive for us as a, as a species. So I very much hope that's the case. And, and I think that there will be exhibit opportunities that emerge out of thinking through those kinds of issues. Speaker 1: 06:32 That was Micah Parson of the San Diego museum of man speaking with Beth. Armando.