BY MICHAEL CRANICK

As a kid, I loved going to museums. I loved exploring science museums with fossils of colossal dinosaurs. I loved exploring cultural museums and learning about places different from my home. I loved exploring history museums with artifacts from the past. I loved all kinds of museums because museums transported me to new worlds the same way board games did. 

My journey to become a museum professional has taken many twists and turns. I earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and went on to work twelve years in retail, but I never stopped dreaming about working in a museum. Like a board game you can’t stop thinking about playing, I kept looking for opportunities and when life reset the board, I jumped at the chance to work part time in a museum. I worked for over ten years in museums before I decided to level up and get my master’s degree.  

Working on my master’s degree has been like building a character in a game. I’ve taken classes to gain skills, just like I would select skills for a board game. In gaming, you would say that I multi-classed, meaning I developed skills in more than one area. In my case I gained skills in museum education, evaluation, curation, and collections care. I expanded my skills with program writing, gained experience writing evaluation reports, I curated an exhibit through my internship, and developed my label writing skills. In class I gained experience developing and proposing exhibit activities. These projects can be explored in my portfolio. My experiences have built a well-rounded museum professional ready to join the game. I’m ready to step out as a museum professional and roll for initiative. I hope you will check out my portfolio to discover what skills I’ve developed as a museum professional. Please explore my journey by visiting my portfolio.

Full Portfolio Link: https://mcranick9.wixsite.com/michaelcranick

Michael Cranick (he/him) received his MA in Museum Studies in May 2024 from Indiana University Indianapolis.