Zeum
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Zeum is an interactive children's art and technology museum located at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, California. It aims to "foster creativity in young people of all ages, backgrounds and learning styles by providing a hands-on environment for self-expression" [1]. It is mostly known for its exhibits which allow children to create their own media using modern technologies. Zeum began as a San Francisco city project in 1992 and opened to the public on October 31, 1998.
[edit] ZeumMaster program
The ZeumMaster program is an internship program for teens.
The ZeumMaster program is an employment and training internship for teens ages fourteen through eighteen who are interested in developing advanced creative and technical skills. Every year, teens are selected as ZeumMasters who are the core of Zeum, guiding children and their families through different exhibits, such as the Digital Workshop, Animator's Studio, Main Gallery, and Music Production Lab.
ZeumMasters act as facilitators to visitors in the different exhibits. In each exhibit, a visitor is able to take something home that they made.
In the Animator's Studio, children make clay characters and make a clay animation movie, which they can take home. In this exhibit, the ZeumMasters explain the process of making a character and a movie, and show them how to make the movie at the set table, where different backgrounds are placed. The ZeumMasters explain stop motion animation, and they burn their movie onto a DVD, which the visitors can take home.
In the Digital Workshop, visitors are taught how to use Photoshop and morph their picture. There are twelve computers in the Digital Workshop, each with a camera. The ZeumMasters aid the visitors in taking their picture and show them the different applications Photoshop has, such as ‘filters’, which enable the visitor to morph their change their picture and make them look different. The visitors can take their picture home as well.
In the Main Gallery, visitors are able to make masks, dress up in costumes, and perform a skit, play, dance, and do whatever they want on stage. In the Main Gallery, there is a stage where children perform whatever they want. The stage uses green screen technology so children are able to pick from a variety of backgrounds that they would want to be in their performance. The ZeumMasters explain to the visitors what they can do and offer suggestions in order for the children to become less shy and want to perform. The ZeumMasters record the visitor and play their performance back to them at the “Screening Area”. If the family wants their performance, the ZeumMaster burns their performance onto a DVD.
In the final exhibit, the Music Production Lab, children are able to look through a songs book, pick a song, and sing it on stage, where the lyrics pop up, like Karaoke. The ZeumMasters explain to the visitors what they can do, such as offering them costumes to try on, and showing them the different backgrounds they an have in their movie. The ZeumMaster records the visitors singing, and plays back their performance in the “Screening Area”. If the visitors want to take the performance home, the ZeumMasters burn their performance onto a DVD.
[edit] External links
- Zeum website
- SF Weekly: Best Fun Place for Kids (2004) and Best Place for Kids (2005)
- [2] ZeumMaster Website
