Laurie Stepp
I currently work on contract with the National Museum of the American Indian, in Digital Asset Management for Conservation and for video produced at the museum. I hold a Museum Studies Masters from the Johns Hopkins University (with emphasis on museums and technologies) and began work at the Smithsonian with research on new mobile technologies. Other contracts included collaborative redesign of the Great Hall of the Smithsonian Castle, and testing of location-aware technologies in the National Air & Space Museum. Previously, I spent a dozen years working with the Associated Press Broadcast news image archive, creating and archiving images for use worldwide, taught art and worked on creative projects with at-risk youth and other marginalized populations (shelters, low-income seniors).
Relevant Projects
After art school (MICA, Baltimore), I was a founding member of collaborative group using projection and performance based on text like Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, highlighting social issues with technologically created spectacle. The company toured art spaces and universities, and received NEA funding. Many years later, I still believe in the power of technologies to direct attention and understanding to ideas and individuals not otherwise accessible to the general public. Community created mosaic, Takoma Park, Md: Bringing diverse communities together for purposeful work. Several projects around town, including 500 sq ft on the town library with 300 participants. Collaborative design and execution. Ongoing.
Affiliation
Smithsonian (contract)
Sector
Archive, Museum, Research
Country
United States
Lauriestepp