First Speech

After constructing my first speech in Interior Architecture class for this fall semester of second year I feel like I learned quite a bit.  I feel like it was a good assignment because it gave everyone in the class a chance to view all of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C.  That was good because I personally was very curious to see what the others that I did not go to looked like on the inside of them and what they were all about.  For mine I talked about the circulation in the three museums that I visited.  These were the Air and Space Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Freer Gallery of Art.  For mine I discussed how the air and space museum did not have a very good way of circulating through it because there was stuff in all different directions.  For the other two they had a very similar way of circulating through the space, you go around in order in either a circle or a square.  I think I did pretty well at presenting my speech and talking about the museums.  The thing I would like to improve on would be to become more comfortable with speaking in front of the class and not be so nervous.  I also would like to speak more on my own and not rely on looking at my notes quite so much.  I think the speech that the speaking center gave was very helpful, especially the packet of papers that they handed out.  It gave me very god tips for what to do and what not to do when giving a speech.  I however, did not have a chance to visit the speaking center before giving my speech but i do feel like I would of done somewhat better and more organized if I would of went.  I will do better on the next one by being more prepared and actually starting to plan my speech more in advance.  This is something I need to work on because I always tend to procrastinate and put things off until the last minute.  I also will try to seem less nervous when speaking and let my speech just flow naturally as I talk.

Beautiful View!

I came across this picture while on the internet this week and I just thought it was absolutely gorgeous.  I would totally love to have a vacation home that looked out onto a lovely view like this one.  I also love this picture because this is my favorite time of day when the sun is going down and it starting to get dark outside, I love it so much! 

Dreams!

I find this picture to be so incredibly inspiring.  I think this saying is very true and it shows that if you dream and believe that you can do something then you will in fact achieve it without a doubt.  I always look at this when I need to remember this and keep living that way!

Photoshop!

I took the above pictures while I was on the class trip to Washington D.C.  The first one is of the Capitol Building with the Washington Monument in the far background, that is one of the reasons why I love it so much.  I distorted the colors of the photo by playing with the temperature, contrast, color levels, and sharpness.  It was very cool to do, I think that the end result makes it look like a type of picture that you might see on a post card.  The second picture I took while in one of the exhibits in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.  I thought it was the most interesting piece of artwork in there.  I tilted the angle of the picture from its original version and boosted the pink colors in it to make it really stand out strongly with high contrast.  The last picture I took of the Vietnam War Memorial with the Washington Monument in the far distance.  I thought this one was especially special because of how I captured both of these very significant things in one photograph.  I changed the original picture to sepia and then played with the colors to really make monument and the clouds stick out in the back.  I also wanted to really show the reflection that the wall has of all of the things in front of it.

In Class Speeches.

After giving my speech in class today and watching everyone else give there's as well I learned quite a few new things.  I learned about the organization of a slide and which ones were more appealing than others.  The key thing I learned was to never stretch and/or distort pictures.. with that being said I will now know never to do that in the future.  I also learned not to use too many words on a visual representation because it can be overwhelming and hard for the viewer to read or interpret.  Lastly, I gathered that you should always make your visual presentation make sense and go with the order in which you are speaking.

Stop Lights...

As I was riding in the car just entering the city of Washington D.C. one thing that was brought to my attention was the fact that the traffic lights that I was seeing were all mounted on a street light post on the right side corner ahead of all the intersections.  I thought this was quite interesting because all of the stop lights on the roads that I am used to driving on have the lights hanging from a telephone wire going across the roadway.  I began to look to see if all the stop lights were like this in the whole city and for what I could tell all the ones that I saw were.  I also noticed there were no telephone wires hanging around anywhere.  I feel like this concept is pleasing to the eye and it gives the city streets an authentic feeling and looks like it fits in.  I however, do not think it is good for safety reasons because I can see where it would be very easy for one to run a red light if they are from out of state because they are not easily seen but more hidden.

Interesting Artwork.

While I was on the class trip to Washington D.C. I visited the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.  When I was in this museum I found a particular piece of artwork that caught my attention.  It was one of a wall mounted structure that had pink light coming out in between gold squared shaped box like objects.  This was pleasing to me because I really think the color pink is very pretty and particularly this hot pink shade.  I also like how the light and the gold boxes are vertically aligned creating an organized format.  The first thing that came to my mind when approaching this piece was that it reminded me strongly of a Victoria's Secret bag because of the alignment and the color scheme it possesses.

Industries of the Blind Experience.

As I was approaching the Industries of the Blind building I immediately had a sense of curiosity in my mind.  This was because the exterior of the building was so plain and boring with just a brick facade.  The main reason I was so curious to go inside was because the building had very little windows; therefore I could not see anything whatsoever. 

   As I entered the building I came up a few different lobby like rooms that were all white walls and it gave off a very boring and cold feeling.  I instantly thought of all of the possibilities of colors and decorating that it could use to spruce it up.  There was a desk where one would go for information or for assistance.  My eye was next instantly drawn to the nature garden like area to the right of the staircase.  I thought this was very strange and out of place.  I really felt as though it had no purpose because I’m not really sure why the workers here would go over to this area.  Most people who come to a job want to leave after their day is done not stay and hang out.  I think this area could be useful as something much more purposeful that people would actually get use out of. 

 As I went up the staircase I noticed how it looked so unwelcoming and non-home like.  It seemed so non-modern and cold.  At the top of the staircase I went into a conference room that had a large table with leather chairs all around it.  In this room there was a display case with all of the products that the Industries of the Blind makes.  In my head I was thinking that this should have been on the first floor in the lobby area where people visiting would see it.  It would show what the company really does and what goes on inside the building to people who may not know. 

 As I went into the large rooms where the products are being made by hand my first reaction was “wow”.  I had entirely no idea that all of that was going on inside this building by looking at it from the outside.  The first room was huge, having lots of boxes everywhere with shipments of the products that had come in. 

  The second warehouse room that I entered had people everywhere at little stations working hard to make tan colored t-shit’s.  You could tell that they were producing quite a lot at a rapid pace.  The most fascinating part of this is that seventy five percent of these workers are legally blind.  I find that so amazing that they can accomplish all of these tasks when they are blind.  This just shows how well blind people can really be taught and progressively learn how to do incredible things.  In some of the other rooms the employees were making pens, mops, clipboards, pants and all kinds of other stuff.  The stuff that they make is for the army, which I find to be very interesting. 

Overall, after leaving here I learned that this building is truly more than what you see on the outside brick façade.  There’s a whole other world inside of there that I’m sure no one really even knows about.  The blind employees there are very hard workers, I could tell this just by walking through and viewing what they were doing.   The owner of this company also has a great deal of trust in his employees and I feel as though that is a very important thing.  I am looking forward to helping update this building, redecorating it and making it a more welcoming place to be in and work at. 

D.C. Day One

After arriving in Washington D.C. today me and a few other class members went to eat dinner at this little place downtown that was a pasta and pizza bar.  The architecture inside of it was very intriguing to me.  It had very non-traditional seating.  There was couches that you could sit on to eat your dinner at a coffee table.  There were also tall bar stools at tables to sit at.  On the tables there was very interesting lighting arrangements.  The atmosphere in this restaurant was so relaxed, I really enjoyed it.  The pop like music that was playing also helped to add to the effect.  I would love to go back here sometime and try something else on the menu!  

OBX!

This is a photo that I took while I was at the Outer Banks visiting my uncle for Labor Day weekend.  I thought it was a very pretty picture of the ocean and the sky behind it.  The water was extremely rough from the hurricane and I was trying to capture that in the picture, although you can not tell it very well.  There was nearly no sand on the beach because it had all got washed away from the storm and the tide was very high in addition.  Also there was lots of brush and debris all over the sand, making it quite difficult to find anywhere to sit.  Despite all of this it was interesting to see the effects of what mother nature can do to things.

GHM Exhibit Visit.

After visiting the Greensboro Historical Museum for the second time I visited the exhibits and went viewed them.  The exhibits that I entered were the main exhibition, which was the “Voices” one, the period rooms and the pottery display, the “Gate City” exhibition, and the traveling exhibition called “Down Home”. 

1) The first exhibition that I visited was the “Voices” one.  As I first walked in I saw lots of words and quotes all over a series of walls as I was walking on the curved carpeted pathway.  I next entered a large oval like shaped room with pictures of people all along one wall.  The pictures all had different dates and were all different sizes going in order from way back all the wall until now.    This gallery is called the “Ben and Eugenia Bowers Gallery”.  After this I entered the main room where I saw a series of glass cases filled with objects and artifacts from different time periods and events and things that occurred.  The first thing that caught my attention was a very large wagon that appeared to be very real seeming, although I am not sure if it was a replica or the real thing.  Another thing that caught my attention and I thought was interesting was the banner titled college town.  There was one for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and there was also one for the North Carolina Agricultural and Technological State University.  These were interesting to me because the UNC-G one had a picture of students who attend the school.  I thought that was cool since I am a student there as well.  The last thing that I noticed in the exhibit was the picture of the woods of Greensboro North Carolina, showing what it looked like before they were cut down to create the city. 

2) The second thing I went to was the period rooms and the pottery display.  In my opinion the period rooms were very intriguing.  I think they did an excellent job of displaying the furniture from the time period of 1867.  When I looked in the rooms I felt as though I was in an actual house from the 1800’s, not in a museum.  The first of the rooms that I looked in at was “The Belle Meade Bedroom”.  In this room there was a somewhat small bed that had a very rich dark colored wood, the walls were covered with a peach like wall paper that had a design that was repetitive all over, it was very busy and confusing to the eye.  Next there was “The Belle Meade Dining Room” which was a typical fancy set up with six chairs and the table was set with place settings.  I next moved on to “The Belle Meade Parlor” it included very busy patterned carpet and fancy curtains.  Next I viewed “The Mendenhall-Simpson Room” which had a sign stating that it was from 1800-1850.  This room was quite different than the others because it was not fancy at all, it was rather plain, simple, and old fashioned.  Encircling the room was all sorts of pottery displays behind glass.  These were mostly plates, bowls, and vase like objects of all shapes, sizes and colors.  These looked as though they were hand made very well and with good care. 

3) The “Gate City” exhibition was the next place I ventured to in the Greensboro Historical Museum.  Upon entering this exhibit I entered a room in which I had to climb up a flight of stairs to get to the main attraction.  Along the curved wall of the stairs was a large white hanging sign that read “Welcome To The Gate City”.  At the top of the staircase I entered a large room that was very busy with things every where.  My eyes did not know where to look first.  So I decided to start with what was to the right of me.  That was a car that was fenced in, it was very small in size compared to vehicles of today.  Behind the automobile was a room that I stepped inside.  It was filled with all sorts of medicines and it included writing that told about them and how they were used and such from back then.  There was a sign above the medicine cabinet that read “Vick’s Family Remedies Sold Here”.  Next I went into the room that was the “Crystal Movie Theater” where there were only a few chairs to help one get the idea and a large screen.  On one of the signs it stated that there were typically less than two hundred seats in a typical one and that it was the first theater for moving pictures.  After that I went to “The Hotel Clegg”, this was in 1884.  It included a check in desk and telephone booths.  The room to the left of that was one that had the “General Greene Steam Fire Engine” and it opened in 1888.  To me this was  very interesting to see because it was so large in size and so complex, it had many different contributing factors that run  and power it.  The last part of this exhibit was “Miss Lina Porters School House” which was built in 1872 and schooled forty kids.  This was after the Civil War had cause closure of NC schools.  This exhibit as a whole was my favorite because of all of the neat aspects that it included and it was very organized in its layout mostly because it was set up as an actual city and you felt like you were outdoors. 

4) The last exhibit that I came to was entitled “Down Home”  which featured Jewish Life In North Carolina.  It was a big room that had displays and objects and information in all corners and parts of it.  My favorite part of this room was the kitchen area.  It featured a stove and cabinets, but most importantly a fridge from this time period that you could actually open and look into.  On the inside of the fridge there was all sorts of food that would be typical Jewish home, therefore it was kosher food.  Next I continued in a circular pattern and came upon an area that included a table and chair with letters hanging up on a line.  This is where one would sit to write letters for mailing purposes.  As I was making my exit out of this room I saw a spot where they had Jewish clothing that people could try on for themselves. 

Before I left the museum I made a stop in the gift shop and I feel as though it did a good job at selling things that were related to what was in the exhibits.  It doesn’t really help me to better understand the identity of the museum better because it was basically everything that I had already seen.  Overall, my second visit to the museum made me truly appreciate Greensboro as a city and I learned so entirely much about it that I did not know prior.

Project:

~The project that I feel I can most contribute to is that of the Weatherspoon Art Museum and the cabinet that goes in the space.


~The skills that I am able to contribute to my group are organization skills and building upon already existing ideas and contributing to them as well.

Industries of the Blind

Greensboro Historical Museum

Weatherspoon Art Museum