Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum

NYSM in person
Ryan Fitzpatrick
of Visitor Services
Q. Describe your typical
day at the Museum.
A. Every day brings such a
variety that I often have
difficulty describing what I
do at the Museum.
On a regular weekday while
school is in session, my morning
typically involves interacting
with incoming students and
their chaperones for field trips
and Museum visits. When
assigned to receive school
groups, I give an orientation
suited to the goals of their
visit and must be prepared
to accommodate anyone with
special needs. Some days
Visitor Services staff will
receive and process hundreds
of visitors before lunch.
During the summer months,
the second floor is less trafficked
by outside groups but is
used by our own Time Tunnel
Summer Camp. Having helped
to create the themes for Time
Tunnel, my job is to execute a
series of educational programs
for the children that tie in with
what they have learned that
week. Keeping today’s overstimulated
youth entertained
and educated is an energysapping
challenge, but as the
eldest of seven children, it is
something that I’ve been doing
most of my life.
At any other time I could be
speaking with other visitors
regarding exhibits. During our
informal cart talks, we use the
Museum’s teaching collection
to educate our visitors. I need
to be able to carry a discussion
beyond a perfunctory explanation
of the exhibit.
Visitors are both curious and
knowledgeable, and as part of
the Museum’s face toward the
public, I need to stay abreast
of current information as best
I can. I also take my turn
supervising Discovery Place
and operating the Herschell-
Spillman Carousel. I also
typically run programs in
the Star Lab or use our Starry
Night software to teach about
astronomy for our Family Fun
Weekends. In addition to the
Time Tunnel Summer Camp,
seasonal events also include
working New York in Bloom,
the Gem, Mineral & Fossil
Show, and Chocolate Expo,
and building and acting in the
annual Haunted Museum of
Unnatural History. Recently, I
have been assisting with the
after-school program as well.
Q. What do you enjoy most
about working here?
A. I most enjoy the variety of
exhibits that are displayed at
the Museum. If there’s anything
this job gives me besides
a paycheck, it’s the constant
immersion within a cultured
environment. I appreciate
lifelong learning.
Q. What would you like
visitors to be thinking as
they leave the Museum?
A. I want their heads to be
spinning, so much so that they
need to return to absorb it all.
I want them to think, “I want
to know all I can about that.”
I want to be the catalyst that
helps young children grow into
scholars. I want the public to
know that we haven’t squandered
their hard-earned tax
dollars. With the body of learning
that we have accumulated
upstairs [in the Research and
Collections Division], I want the
public to first understand it and
then to love it. For the deeper
they love it, the deeper they will
want to understand it. Then
they, too, will pass it on. n
Ryan Fitzpatrick of Visitor Services leads
presentations in the popular Star Lab.
“The Star Lab Planetarium has proved quite
popular with the kids and the counselors
alike, and I use it roughly two to four
times a month during the summer,”
says Fitzpatrick. He joined the New
York Museum in February 2005.
Summer 2009 n 17