Collaborative museums
Harvard Museums of Science and Culture (HMSC) celebrated the first day of summer with free admission, solar-telescope viewing from the roof observatory of the Science Center, and music and dancing on the Science Center Plaza. Not only was it a party, it was also a reflection of the successful public programming being developed by the six-museum consortium formed last summer. Judging by the hundreds who came to celebrate the summer solstice, the creation of HMSC is proving a success. “Where I think we’re ahead of the curve is that we have brought together several diverse museums on one campus. They represent disciplines that historically have been separate, so tying them together wouldn’t have happened 50 years ago,” said HMSC Executive Director Jane Pickering. Last spring, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean Michael D. Smith, in collaboration with faculty leaders of the individual museums, announced the consortium as a way to present collections...