Exhibits
I am the project director for all ASM exhibits. I lead large teams consisting of ASM and community curators, exhibit designers, conservation specialists, web and public relations staff, and community program collaborators. I am responsible for project management, the budget, and ensuring that the exhibit flow and content are intellectually assessable to a public audience, which can also include designing hands-on activities for installation within the exhibit. I edit all exhibit scripts for content and flow and contribute to the design ideas for presentation. For exhibits that I am the lead curator or co-curator, I also conduct research, choose materials, and write the exhibit script and related materials. I am the lead for traveling exhibits, researching and arranging for the loan, adding materials to ASM’s display, which may include additional text panels, images, videos, and audience engagement activities. I also research and create related programming and educational materials for each exhibit.
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Click on links under each exhibit to view related materials.
Discovering Community in the Borderlands, an Augmented Reality series of place-based exhibits, 2022-2023
Project Director for a multi-disciplinary collaborative project of three University of Arizona units and five community partners to create a digital museum by placing seven virtual augmented reality (AR) exhibits in outdoor locations around Tucson. The exhibits, collectively entitled, Discovering Community in the Borderlands, introduce you to cultural specialists and tradition bearers, history, art, and community stories. The AR experiences include virtual photo galleries, 360 videos of dance and music, holograms, 3D virtual objects, poetry, and more. Partners on the project are Arizona State Museum (lead) with UA Center for Digital Humanities, UA Poetry Center and Dunbar Pavilion, Borderlands Theater, Mission Garden, Pascua Yaqui Department of Language and Culture, and the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center. The project was funded by a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and a Digital Borderlands grant from the UA Library with funding from the Mellon Foundation.
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Weaving Has a Heartbeat, ASM Exhibit, 2023
Project Director and Co-curator of exhibit about Arizona State Museum's program Honoring Traditions: Connecting Master and Emerging Indigenous Artists across Cultures and Museums. Weaving Has a Heartbeat is an exhibit sharing relationships created, and weaving and natural dyeing skills learned, among participants in the program. The culminating activity of the Honoring Traditions program was the creation of this exhibit, co-curated by the three emerging artist interns Mariah Claw, Harrison Preston, and Desiree and project director Lisa Falk, with input from the master artists with whom we worked. We produced both a traveling panel exhibit and an online exhibit. The online version of Weaving Has a Heartbeat was designed by Mariah Claw, Andie Zelnio, and Lisa Falk. The program and exhibits were funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Cultural Practices at End of Life, ASM Exhibit, 2022
Project Director and Co-curator of exhibit with Kimi Eisele and Leia Maahs of the Southwest Folklife Alliance. Collaborated on writing the script and choosing photographs, developing story booth, and production of related exhibit book. Public programs organizer, producer, facilitator, and moderator. Programs consisted of Community day and three Zoom talks, which were recorded and added to ASM's YouTube channel. Received grant from the Arizona Humanities in support of the exhibit.
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I found the temporary exhibit "Walking Each Other Home: Cultural Practices at The End of Life" to be both informative and emotionally satisfying. Some of the things I particularity valued were the fact that it was created locally in concert with the Southwest Folklife Alliance; that it offered take-away resources for further involvement, such as end-of-life planning packets and information about death doulas; and that it offered opportunities for direct participation while in the gallery, such as the recipe box for family comfort foods, the chance to record and play stories about end-of-life experiences, and the wire-wall for visitors to contribute postcards with their reactions. Particularly relevant to ASM was the focus on the practices of several local cultures, revealed in the exhibits and videos. -community member and ASM docent Lynn Ratener
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Wrapped in Color: Legacies of the Mexican Sarape, ASM Exhibit, 2021
Project Director and Co-curator of exhibit with Porforio Gutiérrez and Andrew Higgins. Collaborated on writing the script and choosing photographs and videos, lead writer for exhibit booklet. Project director and lead curator for online exhibit, including developing additional material for web version, including curator tour videos and a weaving game. Public programs organizer, producer, facilitator, and moderator. Programs consisted of Community Celebration day, natural dye workshop, Zoom Talk Series (1,300 attendees), travel tours to Porforio Gutiérrez's studio in California and Oaxaca, Mexico, as well as providing exhibit tours for special groups. Zoom talks were recorded and added to ASM's YouTube channel. Received grant from the Southwestern Foundation in support of the exhibit.
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One reader of the exhibit booklet, took the time to email ASM's head of marketing:
I received the gallery guide and I thank you so much for sending it. I congratulate its authors for this excellent synopsis of an intriguing subject that nicely covers the period from the origin of the sarape to its status today, with a description of variations in the course of its history. The guide is extremely well-written and clear, and amplified by outstanding and interesting images. -Wayne Barton
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Online exhibit
developed with the UA Center for Digital Humanities
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A History of Walls: The Borders We Build, Traveling Exhibit, 2020
Project director: arranged for loan, researched and obtained "Americans" video from the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian to add, and created visitor engagement activity in gallery. Produced Zoom Talk Series with eight virtual talks and thirteen speakers (attended by 1,700 people across the US and Canada). Developed special outreach workshop to engage youth voices on border issues. Together with Marge Pelligrino, wrote curriculum and taught workshops for three high school classes over six sessions, plus teacher before and after sessions. Served 86 students and three teachers at Pueblo High School and City High School in Tucson. Transformed curriculum into a family activity guide on ASM's website. Co-wrote article published in the Journal for Folklore and Education. Interviewed for KXCI radio show. Received Arizona Humanities grant in support of the programs.
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Pahko’ra - Pahko’ola: Mayo and Yaqui Masks from the James S. Griffith Collection, ASM Exhibit, 2019
Project director and co-curator with Diane Dittemore, Daniel Vega (Yaqui), Modesto Bule (Yaqui), Santiago Benton (Mayo), and Dr. James Griffith. Worked with Diane Dittemore and Yaqui and Mayo cultural specialists to develop and produce the exhibit. Edited the script and facilitated between the collaborators to ensure quotes were correct and interpretation as the Yaqui and Mayo partners desired, added traditional music to gallery installation, produced gallery guide, coordinated exhibit script translation into English, Spanish, Yaqui and Mayo, and created QR code introductions by each curator recorded in their language. Planned and produced programs with representatives of the Yaqui tribe, including an Opening Celebration attended by representatives of the Tribal Counsel, community members, and the Mexican Consul in Tucson. Planned and produced related teacher workshop with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access. Received Arizona Humanities grant in support of the exhibit and programs.
The exhibit was well received. In fact, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe's Department of Language and Culture requested the materials to install at their own site after it closed at ASM.
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The Resiliency of Hopi Agriculture: 2000 Years of Planting, ASM Exhibit, 2018
Project director and co-curator with Michael Johnson (Hopi). Co-wrote all labels, background historical research, worked with designer on design, wrote brochure copy, and worked with Michael to acquire donations. Planned and produced opening program.
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Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi, ASM Exhibit, 2017
Project Director and educator: Edited all labels for accessibility and flow, researched and produced five education hands-on gallery activities, visitor engagement questions, and wrote a family-oriented discussion guide. Coordinated creation of new video of interviews with Hopi cultural experts and arranged for use of two other videos. Conducted visitor evaluation of exhibit, which showed how fascinating visitors found this story. Developed and produced programming including two opening celebration programs and a three-day visit by 11 Hopi students and teachers with activities at ASM and also a cultural exchange program at San Xavier Farm Coop, Tohono O'odham Nation. Copies of education activities and materials were given to the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.
After closing at ASM, the Winslow Art Trust, working in concert with the Arizona State Parks and the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, requested the exhibit panels, which were displayed for two years in Winslow, AZ not far from Homol'ovi State Park. The exhibit informs visitors about the deep story of this important place to the Hopi.
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Through Women’s Eyes: Southeast Asian American Women’s Stories, Tucson Chinese Cultural Center exhibit: 2016
Project director and curator: This exhibit was based on a documentary I did with Uaporn Ang Robinson from 1990-1992. Together we identified the women and interviewed them. I edited all transcriptions and choose quotes and wrote biographies. I photographed all women and community events. The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center invited me to curate an exhibit of the materials. I wrote all label copy, choose photographs, and worked with the graphic designer on design and maps. Ang Robinson and I presented a talk at the opening.
The documentary materials this exhibit was based on are now part of the collection of the Special Collections Research Center, Fenwick Library, George Mason University, in Fairfax, VA. As the result of the relationship I developed with the TCCC, they have participated in other multicultural programs of the ASM and are a community partner on the current Discovering Community in the Borderlands Augmented Reality exhibit project.
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Photo ID: Portraits by Native Youth, ASM Exhibit, 2014
Project Director, curator, and educator: Developed and led outreach program at Ha:san Preparatory and Leadership School related to ASM's exhibit of photographs by Edward S. Curtis. Taught student activities around identity, photo analysis, and how to do studio portrait photography. Created an exhibit of the work based on student chosen photographs, wrote labels, worked with designer.
The exhibit traveled to three other museums in Arizona and is now available online. Borrowers expressed how impactful the exhibit was for their visitors, spurring conversations about cultural identity and assumptions about people different than ourselves. I have continued to find it a powerful tool to use with teachers. I use it in my my sessions for the Community Works Institute, serving an international audience of K-16 educators. Comments from the Institute evaluation about my session stated:
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It changed my perspective around inclusion of student personal identity and cultural identity.
Understanding a place and its history is understanding the people, they are not separate. I realized the importance of noticing how people want to be represented and honoring that.
Lisa's session was so powerful.
Lisa's workshop was amazing.
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Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living, ASM Expansion of Traveling Exhibit, 2011
Project Director, curator, and educator: Through extensive community planning and collaboration, incorporated a local story about Tohono O'odham Community Action's health, food, and cultural work on the Tohono O'odham reservation, added three object cases, and hands-on activities to the traveling exhibit materials. I worked with ASM faculty and staff and UA and community partners to develop three case exhibits, I co-wrote labels and interactive panels, and co-wrote the TOCA labels. I created hands-on activities for the exhibit. I developed and produced extensive programming with this exhibit in conjunction with many community and staff partners. I raised funds, hired educators, and developed community partnerships.
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Project partners: Tohono O'odham Community Action, Native Education Alliance, Tucson Indian Center, Ha:san Prepartory and Leadership School, Pima County Health Department, American Diabetes Association, UA College of Public Health, UA Worlds of Words Library/CoEd, UA College of Agriculture, Raytheon employee groups, Pima County Public Library, UA Student Health Advisory Council; and ASM colleagues who contributed to expanded content: James Watson, Andrew Higgins, Davidson Koenig, and Annamarie Schaecher; as well as ASM educators who worked with me on programs: Annamarie Schaecher, Rachel Paz, Whitney Klotz, and student interns Hannah Mills Evans (UA), Kasey Harrington (Vancouver Island University).
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Evaluation and Impact
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The Center for Disease Control’s evaluation team, led by Dr. Terry Lofton from Westaff, highlighted the project as exemplary in their in-depth report about the use of the book-based exhibit. Dr Lofton contacted me in 2021 while conducting research to write an updated report about the exhibit and its impact. After talking with me, I asked if she would write a letter expressing what she has told me about my work on the project. She wrote me,
Lisa Falk adopted the most innovative approach compared to all other users of the Eagle books across the country and, I would say, created more value from one product than any other… In our understanding of program success and sustainability, leadership emerges as a key explanatory factor. One of the leadership qualities that we immediately noted about Lisa was her integrity in working with the Native community. …Lisa’s style—providing opportunities for the team to be creative, then focusing on the balance between ASM’s role and what the team could practically contribute—commitment, knowledge, skills, and organizational resources—pointed the group toward realistic goals that increased potential for creating positive change. In terms of a single act of leadership, however, I think Lisa’s most impressive action was making Terrol Dew Johnson, the director of TOCA, co-curator of the exhibit. Lisa listened to and valued the opinions and knowledge of TOCA leadership and youth. Moreover, she acted as teacher and mentor to TOCA--involving them in selection of subject matter, design and construction of exhibit displays, video production, and museum curating.
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Visitor surveys revealed that people felt the exhibit and programs as compared with other similar ones were 42% more memorable, enjoyable, interesting, engaging, and informative. The majority of visitors expressed that the experience made them think about and inspired them to focus more on being active, eating healthy, and making others aware of how to live a healthier lifestyle. For ASM, the project deepened the museum’s relationship with the community and provided a way to present Native American history and culture in a contemporary and relevant way. It was a successful example of how an integrated approach to exhibit and program planning with community collaboration makes fundraising easier and provides solutions to needs. Other benefits included the addition of contemporary Native skateboards to ASM’s collections, the creation of videos, education materials, and jobs, and the increase in K-12 school visitation, resulting in the amplification of visibility and reach for ASM and the UA.