What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1021166
10 WHAT'S UP! SEPTEMBER 2-8, 2018 With its 50th birthday approaching in 2018, the museum staff embarked in 2013 on the biggest project since the new facility opened — a redesign of all of its galleries. "We had a number of major projects on our to-do list and nowhere near the funding we'd need to get them done," Lord remembers. "There was only one project that, instead of hiring a contractor to do, we could do using our own expertise, time and skills — and that was an entire exhibit hall renovation. Many of our exhibits were more than 20 years old and desperately needed a makeover. We knew that it might not be as slick and snazzy as a professional museum exhibit firm would create, but we figured that we didn't really need slick and snazzy, just excellent — and we knew we had the skills to do that. And we knew we could do it for much less than one of those out-of-state companies; in fact, it turns out we've done it at about one- sixteenth the cost — around $100,000 rather than about $1.6 million!" Lord says she and the staff were all committed to one thing — "staying true to our mission, telling the stories of the everyday men, women and children who make history every day. We wanted to be inclusive, making sure that the stories were broad enough to give everyone a voice, as well as making the stories accessible. That also meant presenting the stories in both English and Spanish — as far as we know, we're the only museum in Arkansas whose core exhibits are bilingual. Accessibility was also important in other ways, such as interactive elements, large print, good lighting, wide circulation routes, and label and object placement at a height for children and those in wheelchairs. "Each senior staff member volunteered to curate one of the five galleries, and we set a schedule so that we'd complete the entire exhibit hall in time for our 50th anniversary." At this very moment, the museum staff is sliding in under the wire to be ready to celebrate on Sept. 8 & 22. But they've moved every exhibit hall wall, written all the text, edited all the photographs and gotten help in the places they lacked expertise — Spanish translation, film creation, mural painting and more. "Surprises?" Lord says with a laugh, saying there were some that were stranger than others. "Who knew you could get a real (taxidermied) razorback to help illustrate 19th-century food and hunting? Imagine acrylic spraying chicken feed for a poultry-raising exhibit (because without the sealant, the feed is a pest attractant). You can make a railroad depot wall double as a door without anyone knowing it. Creating a fake limestone Ozark bluff shelter is equal parts ingenuity, art, shoulder- distressing tool use, optical illusion, expertise and happy mistake. "We're proud of our exhibits and will continue to offer fresh, interesting, educational, and timely updates and changes as we move forward from our 50th." COVER STORY Shiloh Continued From Page 9 More Shiloh coverage on page 39 Photo courtesy Shiloh Museum Lynda Hicklin chats in front of her quilt display during the Ozark Quilt Fair in September 2010. In 1995 the Arts Center of the Ozarks handed over the sponsorship and operation of the fair to the museum. Held on the lawn under an ancient burr oak tree, the fair features colorful quilts, old and new, hanging from clotheslines. Photo courtesy Shiloh Museum Wayne Martin (left) shares historic photos at Pettigrew Day in April 2004. For over 20 years, the museum cosponsored the annual Pettigrew Day, along with community leaders like Wayne and June Martin. The event honored, collected and preserved the rich history of Pettigrew and south Madison County. Photo courtesy Shiloh Museum Master boat-builder Liton Beasa (left) works with others to build a korkor, a traditional wooden fishing canoe of the Marshall Islands, in April 2018. The project was co-sponsored by the Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese with grants from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.