Eleanor Schnarr | Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

My summer internship at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens (PMG) was focused on the professional documentation of Isaiah Zagar’s complex and immersive mosaic art environment. The experience was structured as a hybrid of remote work and extensive on-site fieldwork, requiring a self-directed and adaptive approach to project management. While my colleague focused on producing a rectified photograph of the West Wall, my primary responsibilities were the comprehensive photographic documentation of the garden's walls and the development of a sophisticated digital database to manage the thousands of images produced. My day-to-day tasks involved systematic photographic surveys of the site, which we subdivided into granular zones to ensure thorough coverage. The core of my work, however, was a long-term project to create an efficient and sustainable data management workflow. This culminated in the development of a custom software application that automates the creation and embedding of descriptive metadata, transforming a simple image collection into a powerful, searchable archive for PMG’s staff.

This project provided a direct opportunity to apply methodologies from my coursework at Penn. The process of creating a systematic documentation plan and establishing a clear folder hierarchy for digital assets drew upon foundational principles learned in HSPV 600 (Documentation and Recording). The challenges of documenting the site’s complex geometry and the subsequent processing of images in Adobe Photoshop were practical applications of skills developed in our program's digital media courses. Furthermore, an experimental survey using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) allowed me to engage with advanced documentation technologies, assessing the tool's practical viability in a complex, real-world setting—a task informed by discussions in our conservation science seminars.

Throughout the internship, I significantly improved both my technical and problem-solving skills. The most impactful achievement was designing and building the "PMG AI Metadata App". Using Python and the Google Gemini AI model, I developed a tool that automates image analysis, keyword extraction, and metadata embedding, reducing a task that would have taken weeks of manual entry to just a few hours. This project was a powerful lesson in leveraging technology to solve a common bottleneck in cultural heritage documentation. I also learned a valuable lesson from the GPR survey: the critical gap that can exist between a technology's theoretical potential and its practical applicability on a site with irregular, vertical surfaces. Adapting to challenges such as variable lighting and constrained spaces also honed my ability to devise creative and effective solutions on the fly.

The internship was a fantastic opportunity for professional development. I worked under the direct supervision of Stacey Holder, PMG’s Preservation & Facilities Manager, and received academic oversight from John Hinchman. This collaborative structure allowed me to learn from experienced professionals in both the museum and academic fields. Discussing project progress and receiving guidance from Ms. Holder provided invaluable insight into the day-to-day realities of preservation management at a unique and active public art site, while regular check-ins with Mr. Hinchman helped connect our practical fieldwork to broader academic and theoretical concerns in historic preservation.