Technological Communications Team Helps Create Children’s Museum Exhibit

A student and faculty member from SUNY Canton helped arrange the personal narratives and create dynamic imagery for a new exhibit at the North Country Children’s Museum in Potsdam.

Logan Coggins, a student in the Technological Communications bachelor’s degree program from Redwood, worked with Associate Professor Alainya Kavaloski, Ph.D., to shape the oral recollections of residents’ childhood memories for the History of a North Country Childhood display.

History of a North Country Childhood – Pictured (l to r) are Clarkson University Professor Laura Ettinger, SUNY Canton Associate Professor Alainya Kavaloski, and North Country Children’s Museum Director Sharon Vegh Williams. The three collaborated on the new exhibition chronicling the childhood memories of area residents. (Clarkson University Photo)

“We wanted to share senior citizens’ memories and stories so that young visitors can learn from their experiences,” said North Country Children’s Museum Director Sharon Vegh Williams. “Laini met with us at the very beginning of the project. She brought on a student to help figure out some of the digital components. Logan did a very good job editing the stories to an evocative length.”

A large interactive screen is nestled between a series of cubbies, beckoning children to touch it. Images of historical artifacts provided by the Potsdam History Museum, including painted metal toys, teddy bears, candy and vintage soda bottles float on the digital display. Coggins assisted with photographing the antiques, which are housed in the nearby cubes with pictures of the participants who provided the narratives. Each image links to the short north country specific recollections of childhood with audio piped through a vintage radio.

Display Photography – Logan Coggins, a SUNY Canton Technological Communications student from Redwood, takes a photo of one of the artifacts used in a History of a North Country Childhood which is currently on display at the North Country Children’s Museum, Potsdam. Coggins helped provide about a dozen images used in the digital presentation. (SUNY Canton Photo)

Kavaloski said that Coggins was the very first intern from the Technological Communications program.

“Our internships arrive through our strong connections with the community,” she said. “There is another SUNY Canton student slated to start working with the Children’s Museum in the spring. We’d like to do something with augmented reality in the future.”

SUNY Canton’s components of the project were adapted by students and faculty from Clarkson’s Digital Arts & Sciences Program. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. An article highlighting the new attraction was recently published in the Watertown Daily Times/NNY360.