WORTH NOTING

Creation Museum

A new museum will open this spring to provide a strict, exhibition-based interpretation of the Bible. It will teach, among other things, that the earth is 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs were part of Noah's contingent on the Ark. The $26.4 million Creation Museum (www.answersingenesis.org/museum) has been constructed with the vast support of the general public—$15 million of the donated funds comes from gifts of $100 or less—indicating the extent of the belief in its mission. The museum portrays evolution and creation as equally valid, opposing scientific hypotheses. Yet many of the underlying premises which form the foundation for the creation hypothesis have been conclusively disproved by substantial scientific evidence. The adoption of the cloak of research-based science by a faith center is troubling. Reportedly, evolution experts find the Museum "amusing but scientifically in error," but the fundraising data suggests that the public finds the museum credible. As the evidence has mounted in favor of evolution, creationism has been treated dismissively by the scientific community, but perhaps science museums may want to deal more explicitly with creationism and clarify what distinguishes scientific scholarship. Next month, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Museum (www.venganza.org).

A Toolkit for Cultural Planning

In June Culture South East in the UK released a comprehensive "toolkit" (www.culturesoutheast.org.uk/pages/content.asp?PageID=415) for planning cultural projects. The premise is that culture is at the heart of the health of communities but only if and insofar as it is developed in a way that is sustainable over the long term. Perhaps the most useful part of the toolkit is a checklist by which a proposed project can be tested against four top line issues: does it fit with the regions' defined priorities, does it fill a gap in cultural provision, does it meets a demonstrable community need, and (if relevant) have alternatives to building a new facility been considered. The toolkit also pushes planners to consider at the outset the resources that will be necessary to sustain a cultural investment over its entire lifespan, from conception through operation. Although the toolkit is targeted toward the Thames Gateway North Kent specifically, it is a flexible mechanism that can be adapted by regions elsewhere to ensure that locally defined cultural values and needs are integrated in a sustainable way within the broader context of the community.

Brooklyn Museum and MySpace

What a surprise to open my email and find a request from the Brooklyn Museum (www.myspace.com/brooklynmuseum) to be MySpace friends. Although there are only a couple of physical blocks between us, I haven't stopped by in ages, so I was heartened to see that it hasn't taken my absence personally. Currently the content on its page consists mainly of fliers of its shows, which feels a little impersonal and uni-directional. Hopefully, with a little investment of time and energy, the Museum will master the conversational nature of the MySpace vernacular and capitalize on the opportunity to build relationships and get feedback from visitors (friends?) in a non-hierarchical setting.