MOPA Staff Blogs

Have you ever purchased a car and then suddenly saw the model and make of your car everywhere on the road? Those cars were there all along, but suddenly you see them more powerfully than before. There's a fun word to describe the brain's curious filtering ability, to suddenly bring to our attention things or sounds that might resonate strongly with us. It's called "diegogarcity." But more than providing us with an opportunity to examine the popularity of our car choices, we can also put the diegogarcity effect into good use to help apply new knowledge and ideas.

For one of the first times in recent memory, I'm at a loss for words, so I'll start simply: Today is my last day as the marketing and communications manager at MOPA. Although everyone (ok, almost everyone) says this, it has truly been a pleasure to work with such an amazingly talented and truly dedicated team--the mission you see on the website is what I see lived out at this organization week in and week out. From my experience, this is somewhat unique among organizations and makes MOPA a very special place to work.

Yes, you can! In September this year, I had the pleasure of meeting with and seeing the work of David Emmit Adams, an emerging photographer who creates compelling tintype images on discarded cans he collects from Arizona’s Sonoran Desert.  Each piece a unique object, the image he chooses for each can is a photograph of the landscape where it was found. His use of this 19^th century photographic process is imaginative and captivating.

Until recently, Rwanda operated in two languages: Kinyarwanda and French. But in 2008, the government declared that English would replace French as an official language, a move designed to position the populace to better compete in the global marketplace. Students now have to learn the language in their schools, and--more daunting--teachers have to learn how to teach it.