NIU Anthropology Museum Annual Report

The Anthropology Museumat Northern Illinois University

2012 - 2013 Annual Report

Welcome to the New Anthropology Museum,

This year, the Anthropology Museum celebrates its 49th year at NIU. Founded in 1964 as part of the new Department of Anthropology, the Museum was founded to engage students and faculty with rich ethnographic and archaeological collections. Revitalized with new staff and new facilities, the Museum is now stronger than ever and excited to inspire new generations to the adventure of anthropology.

In the words of NIU President John Peters, the new Museum and Cole Hall now honor our heritage, serve as a tribute to the NIU Huskie spirit and demonstrate how technology can enrich the classroom experience.

Designed by the architectural firm Cordogan, Clark and Associates, the new Museum features a welcoming façade of glass object cases that provide a glimpse of the exhibits within. The interior space is dynamic, easily changing to accommodate each exhibition. State-of-the-art lighting, security systems, and HVAC systems ensure a stable climate for the preservation of museum objects.

The Museum has been a whirlwind of activity this year. The Museum’s collection of more than 12,000 objects was moved out of temporary storage and into the renovated Collections area in the basement of Cole Hall. Students were hired to assist in every aspect of packing, tracking, moving and unpacking the collection objects. Dozens of NIU classes scheduled specialized tours with Museum staff to augment their curriculum. Thousands of visitors came to experience anthropology through Museum exhibits and programs, including the Governor of Illinois!

We have exciting plans underway for next year and look forward to sharing them with you at the Museum.

Visitors = 1889

125% increase over average museum attendance at Stevens Building

Student Engagement

Graduate Assistants, Ashlee Craig and Kweku Williams, acquired extensive

career experience in museum work, especially collections moving,

management, and exhibition development. They worked as a team with

museum staff in regular operations and made major contributions to

production of exhibitions.

Undergraduate students packed, moved and unpacked over 10,000 museum

objects from Stevens to Cole Hall: Cassie Colon (anthropology),

Rachel Rudolph (theater), Claire Mrzlak (history), Tom Passas (theater),

Karissa Kessen (anthropology), Nicole Bodenstein (anthropology),

Olivia Sandstrom (fine arts), and Francesca Zombowski (anthropology).

Anthropology graduate students were trained as supervisors for the collections move:

Adam Kutryb, Molly Fitzpatrick, Anna Kordek, and Dustin Hume.

Undergraduate Research Assistants:

Michael Janas, Anthropology major, Fall semester 2012;

research for Beyond Machu Picchu exhibition

Claire Mrzlak, History major with Anthropology minor, Spring 2013;

collections research and curatorial assistant

Undergraduate internship: Paige Drauden, Anthropology major, Spring 2013;

coordinated logistics for 41st Annual Conference of the Midwest Andean

Archaeologists at NIU in February 2013 and created a unique database of over

150 university museums with anthropology collections in the U.S.


Faculty Engagement Fall 2012HIST 370 with Dr. Natalie Joy: hands-on lab provided so students could experience

historic Native American objects first hand

ILAS 225 with Dr. Patricia Henry: loaned Indonesian shadow puppets to show to

class; provided tour of Rarely Seen Southeast Asia exhibit

ART 565 with Jo Burke: provided special tour to Intro to Museum Studies class

-Dr. Andrea Molnar: extra credit was given to students who visited the museum


Winter 2013ART 294 with Dr. Catherine Raymond: tour of museum and collections area

HIST 295 with Dr. Natalie Joy: 2 separate days of tours, one class period spent in

collections storage and one class period in exhibitions area

HIST 592 with Dr. Stanley Arnold: special program in which both Director and

Curator discussed special issues in exhibition development and design

ART 565 with Dr. Sinclair Bell: provided special tour to Intro to Museum Studies class

ANTH 120 with Dr. Judith Calleja: tour of exhibitions area

ANTH 220 with Dr. Susan Russell: graduate assistants Kweku Williams and Ashlee

Craig gave a tour of their exhibition in Holmes Student Center

ANTH 491/591 with Dr. Kerry Sagebiel: provided complete ceramic vessels for

ceramic analysis in class

Exhibitions

Weavings from Asia

Let’s Play: Toys and Games from around the world

Fast Food Nation 10,000BC Student curated exhibit

Mending Our Unraveled Tapestry Student curated exhibit

Rarely Seen Southeast Asia

Saving Endangered Species Travelling exhibit from Bell Museum

Water for Life

Touch the Sky Travelling photography exhibit by Jim Brandenburg

Dancing with Spirit: Korean Masks Exhibit on loan from Kathy Foley


Student Spotlight

NIU undergraduate student Claire Mrzlak began

working at the Anthropology Museum at the beginning of her senior

year. Hired as a one semester Collections Move Assistant, Claire’s

interest in anthropology led her to be hired for the remainder of the

academic year as a Collections Assistant. From inventorying ancient

mastodon bones to modern African beadwork, her work in the

museum’s collections is always fascinating. “My favorite thing about

working at the Anthropology Museum is that every day is different,”

Claire says. “Every time I come into work I never know what I’m going

to unwrap or discover from people’s past lives.”

Her work at the Anthropology Museum, as well as previous

archaeological dig experience in Ireland, has encouraged Claire to

pursue a graduate degree from the National University of Ireland

at Galway next year. “My work here has given me the push to

pursue further education in pursuit of a Masters in Landscape

Archaeology so that I can better understand cultural diversity.”

Congratulations, Claire!

Staff Spotlight

Laura McDowell Hopper is a museum

professional focused on collections management and

the development of engaging, community driven

exhibits. Prior to joining the Anthropology Museum as

Curator, she worked at the Mitchell Museum of

the American Indian in the role of Exhibit and

Collections Manager.

Laura earned a master’s degree in Public History from

Loyola University Chicago and a bachelor’s in History

and Museum Studies from Michigan State University.

She has worked in museums since 2005 and has

previous experience at the Michigan State University

Museum, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education

Center, Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies, Newberry

Library, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and

Museum. In 2010 she received the New Professional

Award from the National Council on Public History

and was the recipient of the 2012 Malkovich Award

for a Young Museum Professional from the Illinois

State Historical Society. Since 2012, she has served on

committees for the Association of Registrars and

Collections Specialists.

diversity.” Congratulations, Claire!



Publicity

Article in Northern Now, the NIU Alumni magazine, winter 2012

Article in the DeKalb County Historical Society newsletter, fall 2012

Article in the Northern Star, fall 2012

Commercial finalized and launched fall 2012

Semesterly articles in NIU Today

International coverage for Peru exhibition and programming

Social media attention up 35% since July 2012

Events

Grand Opening February 2012

Exhibit opening for Rarely Seen Southeast Asia in October 2012

Extended hours and reception for the 41st Annual meeting of the

Midwest Andean Archaeologists in February 2013

Visit by the Governor on February 14, 2013

Acquisitions

12 West African objects from the Gaples collection at the Logan Museum

at Beloit College

Fundraising

Grant awarded for $5000 from the Illinois Humanities Council to support

Beyond Machu Picchu: Culture and Identity in the Andes

Direct mail campaign in February 2013 to over one thousand alumni

of NIU Anthropology program

NIU Anthropology Museum Annual Report

Documents

Transcript of NIU Anthropology Museum Annual Report