The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Art for everyone in virtual visits
Leslie Mueller brings viewers video access to museums
From Connecticut to Maine to Canada and Alaska, Leslie Mueller is bringing viewers virtual access to museums across the country.
Since the inception of her organization, Museum Access, the Greenwichbased arts advocate has offered the public a low or nocost opportunity to “visit” a list of museums around America.
The idea of expanding access to people who are unable to travel or afford these historical establishments, is one Mueller birthed two years ago. Since then, she’s filmed in 30 museums, five of which were in Connecticut including the Mystic Seaport Museum, and she’s currently inviting the public to volunteer with her organization.
Mueller recently spoke with Hearst Connecticut Media about the organization and its mission, first explaining the Museum Access concept.
LM: It’s a public television series that brings museums to everyone. What I’ve found is we’ve really struck a cord. That cord in the United States is just the human desire to learn.
What our series does is, it brings that learning to people who might not ever have the opportunity to go to a museum. There are people who are perhaps in rural areas. They can’t get to the museum or they can’t afford the museum. They’re not available when the museums have free days. It can be expensive to take a family to museum. There are folks that just aren’t going to be able to get to some of these locations.
TF: When and why did you create this?
LM: It was two years ago. I created it because I was personally interested in seeing these museums and I thought, “can’t be the only one this serious about museums.” That was usually the first thing I would do when I traveled to a new city, whether it was in the United States or abroad, and I would always leave feeling like I learned a little bit more about the culture or about that particular city.
TF: Is Museum Access free? And where and how and when can people use this?
LM: Now, we’re on Youtube, Amazon and Vimeo. We’re just wrapping up editing for Season 3 of the show, which we’ll begin airing this spring. We’ll be on Connecticut PBS, on TV in the whole tristate area, Canada — and we even have viewers in Alaska. People can look at their local public television schedules and check for our listing. On Amazon Prime, people can watch any time for free, if they’re Amazon Prime members. It’s 99 cents if you’re not an Amazon Prime member. Also, each month, I’m putting this blog together that they can look at online. We’re covering all sorts of topics about bringing your kids to museums and behind the scenes stories. But the best thing is just to go online and see what we’re doing on our website, museumaccess.com.
TF: Which museum experience stuck to you most?
LM: One that really stuck in my mind was The Wild Center up in Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks. I just couldn’t believe what was in there.
In the middle of the Adirondacks, they’ve got, 40 feet in the air, these tree top walks, and you literally walk along the tree tops. You’re seeing what the ecology is like and what the wildlife is like from above.
Also, The Getty. I was there last month. I know that they were having fires in Los Angeles recently. The brush fires are coming close to the museum now. The thing that was so amazing to me is it’s an amazinglooking museum on this hill top. When they built it, they knew fires were an issue in L.A. So the fire marshals were all over them when it was in construction. The three things I thought were so interesting were the materials they used — travertine marble and glass. That was the first thing they had to do, which was very expensive. They couldn’t use wood; they couldn’t use things that were going to burn. They had to clear brush within half a mile of the museum and place it near slower burning wood, like oak trees. I asked the director what would happen during a fire? How would the fire truck even get water up there because it’s up on the middle of this mountain? And he said, “one of the stipulations in building this was, this entire museum is sitting on a water tank.” There’s water right beneath the museum, so if there were ever an issue, they would plug into that and put the fire out with the water that the museum is sitting on.
TF: Who is working on your Museum Access team?
LM: My team at this point, is basically myself, an editor in Norwalk and a variety of videographers, depending on where I’m shooting. I’ve got social media help and marketing help from Chicago. We’re a pretty lean group.
TF: How is this all funded?
LM: Right now, we accept taxdeductible donations because we know that there are people that believe in our mission and want to join the journey. Public television does not pay content producers for their content, so it’s on the content producers to find their funding and that’s what we do. We have information on our website where people can donate, on the “donate” page. But it’s a labor of love and I’m passionate about it, so I’m going to keep doing it as long as I can.