Practicum Learning Objectives:
1) To place arts and culture activities, projects, and communities on the map for Oregon in partnership with OFN
2) To actively engage the RACM platform (PlaceStories.com), gaining hands-on experience with the use of this digital tool and reflecting on the potential it holds for arts and culture work.
3) To assist OFN and its partners in documenting and promoting the variety of artists, programs, and communities it serves across Oregon.
The first point was the main purpose of this practicum. As I explained in my weekly posts and evaluation, the posting process took longer than expected. Maya and I spent a bulk of our time researching artists and building a foundation of information for the next practicum students. Thus, we were only able to post 4 stories all together to the RACM, but they were high quality posts that will serve as good examples for future students. Emily and Riki agreed that it would be better for us to post a small number of quality stories then to rush in posting mediocre stories. This meant that we spent a lot of time editing our postcards and didn’t get to post them till the last 2 weeks. However, these stories represent the OFN and rural artists, so it was important to post our best possible work. Furthermore, I don’t know if it would have been possible to post more based on the time constraints of having to balance multiple people’s schedules. This is why I suggested on my evaluation that the practicum should just be 1-3 students at max in order to insure efficiency.
The 2nd objective connects to the first. As just mentioned, we were not able to really use the RACM platform till the last few weeks of the practicum, however I wrote in my log that the platform was extremely easy to use and very interactive. We have also created practicum guidelines for future students that describes a step by step process on how to post to Placestories.com for the RACM. Hopefully, over time the types of artists and media represented on the RACM will grow. This platform is a great transmedia tool for representing local and national rural artists. I’m excited to see how the map advances.
The last objective was the underlying point of the practicum. Everything we posted on the RACM had to also represent the OFN with the goal of enticing people to learn more about the OFN. This was why we had to edit our postcards to sound more promotional and personal rather than informational and formal. We want these stories to catch people’s attention and direct them to the OFN website. This was an interesting challenge, since I had to figure out how to write a promotional piece based on limited information. However, I think the stories turned out well and will hopefully bring more people to the OFN!
Overall, I really enjoyed working the OFN! Emily was a great supervisor and was very open to us leading the practicum as well as discussing challenges and solutions. It was somewhat difficult to get Riki involved with the project, but I do feel she should edit the postcards before they are posted. Hopefully, the work Maya and I did will be a good foundation for streamlining this practicum in the future.