Out With the Old and In With the New Old

Since I have been working at Kingman Museum, there have been many changes to the building and exhibits, but most permanent exhibits have been up since the 1980’s. According to museum best practices, a permanent exhibition should not be on display for longer than 10 years. (Obviously the museum is an overachiever in leaving exhibits on display.) Large, permanent exhibits can cost a museum several thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of staff time to complete. Due to Kingman Museum’s small budget, we have only been able to update small areas of the museum. In July 2006 the renovation of the lower level was completed, which included a space for temporary exhibits. Since then Kingman Museum has produced 6 in-house exhibits. Our current exhibit, “Safari Africa: Changing Perspectives” will be closing May 30.

I recently took it upon myself, with help from the Education Department, to change out some of the small mammals and birds in the North Mezzanine Gallery. With the help of our exhibit designer, Ray Wetzel, we completed this project on May 5. (Happy Cinco de Mayo!) The photo to the left shows me cutting labels that I printed on card stock. This was a cheep and easy solution for printing out new labels. Ray used his powers of design to create these new displays. All the animals live in Michigan either year-round or during the summer. We have also noted which are Threatened or Endangered in the Wolverine State. If you are missing a favorite animal, don’t worry, it’s just hibernating in the collection storage room.

Last week Kingman Museum received local funds to renovate the exhibition halls on the mezzanine level. This includes exhibits on the cycle of life, animal adaptations, and Michigan habitats. The wolverine and beaver will return with the new exhibits. Stay tuned for more information.

Some really smart and famous person once said that those who do not change, die.