Zeum as Community

What makes Zeum a community? There is many things that makes Zeum a community. One thing that makes Zeum a community is that we care about our visitors. This makes Zeum a community center to the general public. We work very closely with our visitors. We greet them and help them when they walk into the exhibit. We take turns rotating and talking to visitors to make sure everything is running smoothly. When a piece of equipment is broken we walkie the tech person as soon as we are notified of the broken equipment so it is running back up as soon as possible so we can please our visitors.

Another thing that makes Zeum a community is that we are open to anyone, not just to people living in San Francisco. You can be from a totally different country and visit here. We had some people from Europe visting while staying on vacation to San Francisco.

I decided to take pictures of Zeum Staff. The reason why i decided to take pictures of Zeum Staff is because we are a community. What I did was uploaded the pictures from the camera to the computer and opened them up using Adobe Photoshop. Once the program was open, I used the different filters to change how each picture looks. Somethings I did was use the paint brush to paint on the pictures, blur filter, wave filter and so much more.

Everyone on the staff has been like family to me. They all care about me and check up and see if everything is going ok. Besides Zeum being a community center for the general public we also have a community within the staff. Everyone of the staff cares about each other. When ever ZeumMasters need help with a personal problem or a problem with a piece of equipment we know we can turn to each other for support. Being part of the Zeum staff community has changed my life. Before I was all sad and miserable because of home life but being here, away from my home is the happiest place I have ever been to. I wait every week to come here on Fridays because I get away from home.

When Fridays come I am happy because I get to see the people who care about me. I truly love everyone on the Zeum ok. When Perry was giving me a ride home after seeing Assassins, the play that he was in I was talking to him about personal stuff that was going on in my home, he was totally supportive and gave me advice about what to do and how to handle the situation. That showed me that he cares and is there for me whenever I need someone to talk to.

I am going to mention a few words i would like to say about how the staff touched me.
Perry, Ari, and Noel touched me by caring about me. When I would have a problem I would then with my problem and they would listen. They are totally supportive and help me with my situation the best they can. They would come to me on occasion and make sure everything is ok and I'm doing well. They truely ment the most to me and I will miss them.

Debbo and Derrek touched me by making me laugh. Whenever I was sad they would always give me a high five or do something to make me laugh. Sometimes Derrek would say someting to make me laugh.

Paul and Michelle F.,Musiliu,Sharon touched me by caring about me and keep saying that they will miss me so much. It's nice to know that they care so much that they keep telling me that they'll miss me. I WILL MISS THEM MUCH because they are like my brothers and sisters.

Learning Here and There

My name is Musiliu Adewunmi, and i am an "Afropean", which simply means that i was born in Nigeria. I'm from the continent of Africa and also mixed with French. I am a capricorn born in the month of December. I love to listen to music especially hiphop and R&B, play video games, watch the T.V. and go to the movies with friends. My favorite holiday is Christmas, it is a special holiday because it brings family and friends together, sharing presents and enjoying christmas cards from well wishers. My favorite style of breakfast is toasted bagel with cream cheeze and fried bacon with orange juice. There is nothing more delicious than having peaches and cream for desert.

I want to write about education.

School is so fun for me I know that some people will think that Musiliu is insane but you know what, I don't care what other people say or think about others. Education is uplifting for every one including myself as an individual. School allows me to be more experienced in community work.

Education in the states is quite different from that of my Nigerian and French education. Back in Nigeria and in France, the teachers really get strict with the students. Students get hands on experience being at school and a lot from learning the hard way which is teachers being strict about our school work and attendance in school. In America students don't get struck by the teacher at school when there needs to be correction, when homework isn't completed it is suppose to hurt the students grade while they get away with only a warning or two. In Nigeria and France, students get more than just a warning but we realize our mistakes through a little bit of discipline.

School is important for teenagers today because it keeps them motivated towards a higher education, leading them to success and enabling to fulfilling their career goals. Going to school i realized the outcome of having a community which helps in areas of group projects, sport teams, after school programs, and clubs.

I see Zeum as a community because it has given me the opportunity to be more flexible, having a cooperative work force with other Zeum masters at including my supervisors, Christian and Raquel. I have gained more communication skills such as answering phone calls, greeting visitors, teaching visitors how to create their own take home art work. I could relate my work experience in the Zeum community to school because working with different people and even multi-tasking usually on busy work days has given me the chance to realize what responsibility is all about, getting my work done in school and in the work place.

Learning in Zeum is different from learning in school because in the worksite, interns like me are taught how to work with technology in music production,video editing and production, mask making, clay animation and even blogging. In school we are taught with computers but without the involvement of music and video production. The task required in Zeum, takes us all interns to a whole new level of experiencing the art work in technology based on hands on experience.

Storyboarding Basketball

Above is my storyboard for animation. (you can click on it to see it bigger) It's for my community project - I chose to talk and create something that relates to me in my community. When I first started thinking about what I would do for this project, basketball was the first thing to come to mind. I'm talking about how I love to play basketball and how its my thing to do.

For my project, I'm going to make two clay male characters and animate them using stop motion animation. Just to let you know, one of the characters out of the two clay male characters is me and I make the basketball go into the net of the court, all net, at the end of my performance.

Also, something cool about my project is that I will speak a rap to the audience and as the two clay male characters move the rap music I say goes exactly to what the characters are doing regarding movement wise. In the end I look forward to seeing everybody who gets the chance to see my work to say, "Cool", after I, the clay character hits the shot and it swishes threw a clay basketball court.

A Little Local Theater....Assassins!

Last night we went to see Perry's show, Assassins. It was fun to see a live performance because everything becomes a lot more real to you since the characters are basically right there in front of you. You may not get the special effects of Hollywood but its fun to have a front row seat (and we did!) to see the action that is going on on stage. It was also great because we actually got to see Perry on stage performing to his fullest. I liked saying that I personally knew one of the actors in the show.

Assassins was different from what I'd expected. I assumed it would be another history lesson on people that have killed presidents. Instead it was told from the side of the assassins in a not so depressing way so it wasn't at all boring. What really kept my interest was all the songs that the characters sang - they weren't so serious, actually they had a comic overtone. They told the story with sort of a carnival background "Win a prize try to kill a President." Instead of just having one person come out at a time and tell their story they made it seem like they were all friends and tied all their assassinations in together with one another.

Seeing the way the actors portrayed the characters was good for me - It was great to see all the different kinds of emotions coming out of each person they played. They didn't have to be sad all the time they could go from mad to even happy or just crazy. It's good to know the different type of acting techniques that people can do on stage. I love seeing different styles and ways people act. It's like a mini acting lesson for me.

I love acting, especially in musicals. When I go see plays it only helps me get more into what I am doing because I have a chance to see how other actors work in their space, with their characters, and in the performance they are doing.

Even though it was a small space, the performers used all the open areas they could find to perform in making us feel like we were involved in what was going on in that scene. At Zeum we could do the same we have a lot of space and its fun to use it all because you get a bigger effect when you take up all you have. We could use things like the spiral walkway to do something fun or the metafield maze to get everyone involved. What if??

An special addition to getting treated to a performance was we got CREAMPUFFS that Ari bought for us. They were vanilla and strawberry and extremely good and we ate almost all of them. Good show and good creampuffs.

Music as Community

Hello fellow BLOGGERS!

I've been at Zeum for 3-4 weeks now... And now ZeumMasters are in the process of starting our own projects.... topic = community. The definitions of community that I took to heart were support and family. My project is about music as community. I find support in connecting with other people who like the music I listen to and especially in my school marching band.

I truly am in a school marching band. I consider a band to be a community because a lot of people gather together and help each other out. Without support from every single person, a band wouldn't function. In the summer before my freshman year, I had to make a decision whether to take a music class, a video production class, or a theater class. After thinking it over, I decided to choose a music class because of my passion for music. I play the trumpet, saxophone, and a little piano.

Just think! What would life or the world be without music? In my opinion, life would be empty and dull. If music was never created we wouldn't have composers or songs such as: Beethoven, Bach, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Bohemian Rhapsody, Beat it, or High School Musical.

music is my LIFE. It helps me relax, be happy, be sad. Without music, I probably wouldn't be the person I am today. I probably would be lost, and a whole different person. Just listening to what artists sing and rap about is a big thing for me. They rap and sing about their own life experiences and how they feel about things. I relate to what they sing about.

For my project, I want to make a "beat" for a song. I'm going to do this in the "Sound Lab" in the middle of Zeum's Main Gallery. Super Duper Music Looper can help me play all the different types of instruments that all of my band members usually play. I can be the whole community at once.

"MUSIC IS MY LIFE." -- me.

First Job: Under Pressure and Lovin' it!

Time flies! It's my first blog-so be easy on me. Before working at Zeum I was volunteering at the store with Bob, who manages the store. That was a customer service job mostly. But part of volunteering at the store is that you have to "walk around Zeum." I didn't feel comfortable walking around Zeum at the time because I was agoraphobic. :)

I'm a ZeumMaster now....and becoming less agoraphobic!

Being a ZeumMaster is more than just customer service because there are times where you have to sit down and work with kids. The very first day when I started working at Zeum I was really too scared to greet customers because they would come in as a big group lunging at me and asking questions rapidly and I just wasn't prepared.

Zeum is my very first paying job I ever had. I had to get used to a lot of different things such as talking to strangers, having a set schedule, having to soak up so much information at once, and going to meetings. It was sooper hard for me to adjust to real work life.

But with the support of senior ZeumMasters and educators I've been becoming more and more comfortable greeting customers and assisting all kinds of people with different exhibits, and it made me come out of my shell that I was hiding in!

Okay!!! Now one of my favorite movie that I've watched twice is Ratatouille. It's totally incredible. In the movie Remie was helping the janitor to cook by pulling his hair and the Janitor was really scared that his boss would figure out that he had a rat cooking for him. That was a ton of pressure on him. At the end of the movie Mr. Janitor comes out of his shell by telling everyone about Remie, the rat in his hat.

This totally relates Zeum: almost everyday there's a lot of visitors coming in and out and that can be stressful. Like the pressure of working in a restaurant's kitchen with a rat in your hat. But when I actually stood up and told one of the educators how I was feeling about greeting customers and how I was scared of big groups and that I needed help and more support. Now that I've gotten the support I needed I am now lovin' the job!

The Sky's the Limit: Considering Photoshop

So...this is my first entry as a ZeumMaster, but definitely not my first time reading this Blog. I first came across this page when I was applying to become a ZeumMaster back in marchish aprilish. What really drew me into applying in the first place was the opportunity to work with arts and technology. I hail from a long line of photography lovers, and I myself take a photography class at my high school.

Its quite amazing how art and technology can both be meshed together, and I think photography is the best example of that. At school, we mostly worked on dark room stuff (for now at least), and my mother, being from the olden days and all, never worked with digital photography. So I saw Zeum as a wonderful chance to get into different aspects of digital photography, like photoshop.

Basically the only thing I can do with photoshop is open it. ... ok, thats a lie, I can do some basic things on the program. But my experience with photoshop has barely begun and I'm totally ready for 20 more tons of it to smack me in the face. Here at Zeum we have a "space" called Digital Workshop, which is where people can take a picture of themselves on the computer and use photoshop filters and brushes to change it up. ... Sound familiar? Maybe some of you Myspace freaks out there (ugh!) like to go to the apple store and change up your picture too. For those of you who deny you like to take pictures of yourself, don't worry, cause theres plenty of photoshop out there, it's just camouflaged. How else do the stars hide their blemishes? Why do you think everyone in advertisement look sooo beautiful? one word: photoshop (well actually this computer is telling me photoshop isn't a word...).

Photoshop....the root of evil, the reason why we're all living a lie? or a miracle of a program that was the best thing that ever happened? This all depends of course on how you use it. Unfortunately photoshop is used to perfect everyone in the media and set unhealthy goals for 12 year old girls, but this program also holds so many different opportunities! Photoshop itself could be considered a form of art, a way to exercise your creativity. The ability to change the image of reality and beautify everything is so powerful and fun. And that is exactly what I want to do with photoshop here at Zeum.

I want to learn how to use this program to change the ordinary to extraordinary, and I'm so glad that Zeum is providing this program to its many many visitors. This is a chance for so many people to learn about this great program, not just how it can turn people into sticks, but how it can be just a fun tool to use, a tool that could create wonders with a couple of clicks.

I feel like Zeum is giving everyone the chance to see that photoshop is accessible to all , and everyone can be an artist. The sky is the limit, and photoshop is here to help. I am so excited to learn more about the program and I'm so thankful that Zeum is giving me the chance to do so!

Watch out, one day I'll be working my photoshop like no other at some big magazine company, and you'll say: wow, I knew her back when she was a ZeumMaster, look at her now...shes a pro. And I'll be like: thats right....

Working for the Summertime Zoo

I've been a ZeumMaster for two years now, and I have truly enjoyed every day I have worked. The part of my job that I love the most is working with kids, helping them and teaching them how to make clay animation and how to perform.

There is one part of being a ZeumMaster that I don't like - I don't get to see the same kids everyday. A lot of the time, after helping a visitor with the clay animation process, I often feel like I'm a part of their experience, and I begin to miss some of the kids after they leave Zeum.

Throughout my two years as a ZeumMaster, I thought of learning to do other things at Zeum, such as learning how to work the store, but I never thought of working as an assistant at a Zeum Summer Camp. About a month ago, Christian, Raquel and I were talking about summer and Christian suggested that I work at the Zeum Camp. I was really excited because I remembered when I was at camp and how much I loved my counselors.

I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew about the camp was that I had to start earlier (which I hated at first), and get a longer break (which I loved of course).

Then I realized: Now I would be a counselor and kids would look up to me and love me, and I would get close to them and get to know them more than any typical visitor at Zeum.

On the first day of camp, I met all the kids and attempted to learn their names as quickly as I could, and on that first day I ALREADY grew attached to them.

Throughout the two weeks of camp, I used my ZeumMaster skills while also being a Camp Counselor, so I did what I always wanted to do with my job-work with the same kids everyday. I helped the campers with their animation, just like I do on the floor, helping them make their character and assisting them while they made their movie. But by the end of the two weeks, I felt like I was also a mentor to the campers, who at times would come to me with their problems, sometimes in tears. I felt like I had an impact, not only in their camp experience but in their daily lives.

Being a counselor for these two weeks has made me want to work at my summer camp that I went to when I was younger.

On the last day of camp, the campers put on a show for all their parents and friends, showing them their clay animation movies and sets.

I was so proud of my campers, and they were proud of their work too. All the pics in this post are of their creations in the session I helped with "Zeum Zoo".

To all Zeum Masters: I recommend working in at least one summer camp session at Zeum. It is a great experience.