Museum Work

Museum Work

A more elaborated narrative related to my museum work should appear here eventually. For now, a telegraphic version, followed by a list of exhibition projects on which I have worked is given below. My museum work career began as an undergraduate at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History, where I volunteered on archaeology research projects and studied parts of the museum’s ethnographic collections. As a first-year graduate student at Indiana University, I worked at the Mathers Museum doing cataloging and collections research, focusing on the museum’s Native American collections. I completed a student exhibition (see below) presenting the museum’s fine Florida Seminole collections and did work with its Plains collections as part of a project directed by Raymond J. DeMallie. Upon moving to Oklahoma in 1995, I began work at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, where I collaborated closely with the museum’s then-senior curator Daniel C. Swan. I filled a number of roles at Gilcrease, ultimately working as Curator of Anthropology. In 2000 I moved to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH), where I became the museum’s first Curator of Ethnology. While at Gilcrease, I taught museum and material culture studies in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa. At SNOMNH, my appointment was a joint one split between the museum and the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Anthropology. In that capacity, I also taught museum and material culture studies courses. Returning to Indiana University in 2004, I have continued teaching in these fields and collaborating with several museums on exhibitions, research and outreach programs. Many of the students with whom I work have strong museum interests and are pursuing their own exhibition and research projects in preparation for museum careers.

In 2012 I was named Faculty Curator of American Ethnology at the Mathers Museum, a welcome role that is providing me with opportunities to continue my collections based research, integrating it with new digital humanities work.

Exhibition Projects

2006    (scientific consultant) “Faszination Fußball.” Museums für Völkerkunde Hamburg, Germany.  (E2006-1)

2004    (co-curator)  “Spider Woman’s Gift:  A History of Navajo Weaving.”  Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E2004-1)

2002    (co-curator) “From Navajoland to Oklahoma: Diné Textile Art.”  Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.  (E2002-3)

2002    (project director)  “The Mark Allen Everett Collection:  Ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Pottery.”  Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.  An online exhibition available here. (E2002-2)

2002    (project director) “The Fabric of Mayan Life:  An Exhibition of Textiles.”  Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.  An online exhibition available here. (E2002-1)

2001    (curator) “World Cultures.” Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.  (E2001-1)

2000    (project director)  “Creativity and Resistance:  Maroon Cultures in the Americas.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E2000-2)

2000    (co-curator) “Recent Acquisitions.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E2000-1)

1999    (curator) “Children of the Sun: Euchee Indian Culture and Tradition.” University Museum, University of Arkansas.  (E1999-4)

1999    (project director) “Gifts of Pride and Love: The Cultural Significance of Kiowa and Comanche Lattice Cradles.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1999-3)

1999    (assistant curator) “Symbols of Faith and Belief: Art of the Native American Church.”  Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1999-2)

1999    (curator) “Inuit Art of Land and Sea.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1999-1)

1998    (curator) “Children of the Sun: Euchee Indian Culture and Tradition.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1998-3)

1998    (curator) “Native North American Arts and Cultures Gallery.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1998-2)

1998    (curator) “Native Arts of the Southwest.”  Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma. (E1998-1)

1997    (curator) “After the Trail of Tears: Southeastern Indian Culture in Oklahoma.” Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (E1997-1)

1993    (curatorial assistant) “Pawnee Images.” Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.  (E1993-2)

1993    (curator) “Changing Florida Seminole Life, 1930-1960.” Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. (E1993-1)