Friday Limerick!

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Tomorrow, the Burke opens a new exhibition called A-Y-P: Indigenous Voices Reply as part of a city-wide commemoration of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition centennial. On Limerick Friday, I honor this new exhibit with a rhyme:

If you’re curious about AYPE
There’s a new Burke exhibit you should see
It’s called Indigenous Voices Reply
On Saturday, feel free to stop by
For the Opening Day jamboree!

Come join the festivities tomorrow (Saturday) from 10 am - 4 pm.

Behind-the-Scenes Night photos

Better late than never, I finally got around to putting together a slide show of photos from Members Behind-the-Scenes Night back in April. To those who came, thank you, and to those who did not, consider joining the Burke Museum. Behind-the-Scenes Night is seriously one of the best membership perks you'll find at a museum.

It was a great evening:

Photos by Andrew Waits.

Burke Behind-the-Scenes, Training Future Museologists

Posted by: Nicole Robert, Communications

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that there are many exciting things that go on at the Burke, often behind the scenes. One of the great programs housed here is the Museology Masters of Arts program. Graduate students attend classes, work in the museum and produce their own museological contribution before graduating from this two year program.

Bring together a group of motivated students with a few key resources and you inevitably produce exciting results! Here are two upcoming opportunities organized and produced by our museology students:

Nina Simon, museum design consultant and author of Museums 2.0 Blog, is teaching a class on social technologies in the museum this quarter. With her guidance, students have been asked to create a physical exhibit using social technologies to facilitate interactions between strangers.

We gave these 14 students 7 weeks, $300 and a 72 hour display period. They decided they needed a lot of advice!

More...

They are pulling together a special exhibition all about advice. In this innovative exhibition, advice contributed online and in-person shapes a temporary installation in the Husky Union Building (HUB) at the University of Washington. Advice you love, advice you hate, advice that rocked your world— they want to hear from you! Visit http://adviceexhibit.tumblr.com/ to pass on your advice. Pictures, videos, voice recordings and texts are all welcome.

Or give your advice in person during the physical installation which is on display Saturday June 6 to Monday June 8 from 9 am to 6 pm. Admission is free.

Visit the UW campus on Saturday June 6 and you can also attend an exciting free workshop organized by museology students: Lessons from the Exciting World of Games! with Ken Eklund. Eklund is the designer of the groundbreaking alternate reality game WORLD WITHOUT OIL. This timely serious game challenged players to creatively and collaboratively solve a simulated global oil crisis.

The free lecture takes place at the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium. At 2 pm, Eklund will lecture about alternate reality games and the lessons they hold for museums that seek to become more participatory in a socially networked world. After the lecture, attend a workshop exploring how a game designer might approach exhibit design challenges. Registration forms are available at http://museum.washington.edu/museum/.

Limerick of the day!

It's Friday! That means it's time for a limerick to kick start the long weekend. Enjoy!

Moka Joe is sure to please
With samples of coffee to put you at ease
Beans of fair trade and organically grown
Are sure to delight your funny bone
Your taste buds their coffee will tease

Visit the Burke from 11 am - 2 pm this Saturday to sample select coffees from Moka Joe.

A safer home for our collections

Posted by: Nicole Robert, Communications

Storage facilities here at the Burke are receiving a major upgrade thanks to a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant. Both the ethnology and geology collections will be moving objects from open shelves to brand-new storage compactors! These compactors will not only prevent potential earthquake damage, they will also protect the artifacts from long-term degradation due to light and dust.

Because the compactors roll on tracks, we don’t have to leave space for pathways between shelving. This efficient use of space will allow the Burke to maximize our facilities. More than half of the geology collections, ranging from dinosaur bones to fossil flowers, will be moved into the new compactors.

Ethnology will be re-locating full-size teepees, large textiles, model houses and the Arthur Steinman Collection. The Steinman Collection encompasses over 400 pieces of Native American art, including masks, argillite sculptures, prints, rattles, drums, boxes, garments and panels. This major project will take place over the next two years, during which time the collections will be closed to visitors.

When telling me about the impact of this FEMA grant, geology collections manager Ron Eng was very excited: “This funding supports our goal of working to make the collections safer, both for people and for the objects.”

Photos: (left) Image of similar compactors at the Bishop Museum; (top right) A close up of quartz amethyst from the Geology Collection; (bottom left) A Steve Smith Kwakwaka'wakw Plate from the Steinman Collection in Ethnology.

Limerick of the day!

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Ok, now it's my turn. Julia has inspired me to try writing a limerick (the first in probably 15 years). Here's one I wrote about this weekend's University Street Fair.

Hot dogs, cotton candy, and elephant ears
The University Street Fair is sure to get lots of cheers
To learn about the Alaska-Yukon Exposition
Seek out the City, MOHAI, and the Burke's position
On 42nd street is where you will find souvenirs.

Stop by and say hi! 10 am - 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Mad about Marmots

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

What do you get when you cross an Olympic Marmot, six ambitious 10-year-olds, and a mammalogy curator? A new state law, of course!

Yesterday afternoon, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed a new law designating the Olympic Marmot as the official endemic mammal of Washington State. So now, in addition to having a State Bird (Willow Goldfinch), State Tree (Western Hemlock), State Flower (Coast Rhododendron) and other official symbols, the state of Washington has a State Endemic Mammal (endemic, by the way, refers to a species that is only found in one location, so the Olympic Marmot is only found in our state).

I joined a small team of Burke staff and one Olympic Marmot specimen from the museum collection in taking a trip down to the Seattle Aquarium to witness the signing of the bill into law. I met the six enthusiastic students from Wedgwood Elementary school who had testified twice to the state legislature about the importance of the Olympic Marmot to Washington’s heritage and who had essentially driven the passing of this law. While I was pretty excited to see the governor in person for the first time, I was equally honored to be in the presence of such inspiring kids. The best thing I overheard all afternoon was one of the students commenting, “I hope we set an example for students around Washington and show them that kids can make a difference too!” Hear, hear!

Images: (top center) Olympic Marmot drawing by Eric Buzard; (center left) Wedgwood Elementary School students (back row, L to R) Garrett Lawrence, Claire Demorest, Gabe Briggs, Erin Cunningham, (front row, L to R) Caroline Malone, and Nick Jansen testified twice in Olympia to pass a new bill that names the Olympic Marmot (specimen seen in photo) as the official state endemic mammal, photo by Owen Lawrence; (bottom center) Wedgwood students and staff celebrate as Gov. Gregoire signs the endemic mammal law.

Pacific Voices Valued Objects: Maori Korowai

Posted by: Nicole Robert

Aotaumarewa Lorraine Elkington Morehouse is a woman of Maori ancestry who collaborated in the creation of the Pacific Voices exhibit, as well as the accompanying book that features personally significant cultural objects from communities of the Pacific.

When asked to select one object that represents both the richness of Maori culture and creates a sense of cultural identity, Morehouse chose the Korowai.

“The korowai, or cloak, is made from the materials of the land from which we come. These strands are woven together to keep us warm and to show our status. A cloak touches the most important celebrations in a Maori person’s life: weddings and funerals. How it is worn depends on the occasion and the status of the person. Usually, it’s the eldest of the tribe or the family who wears the korowai. When you go onto the manrae, the gathering area in a Maori village, chieftain’s families have a representative on the paepae, or dignitaries’ platform. That’ s where the eldest male wears his korowai.” --Aotaumarewa Lorraine Elkington Morehouse

This information is excerpted from Chapter 4 of Pacific Voices: Keeping our Cultures Alive.

Photo (top) Feather cloak, like the one Morehouse describes, from the Burke’s Ethnology Collection. Photo (bottom) Close-up of the border done in a traditional twining technique, called taniko.

Limerick of the day!

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

Sometimes, on a dreary Friday afternoon, you just need to write a limerick:

This is one I wrote about the Burke:

To see real dino bones on display
To the NW corner of campus, make your way
It’s the Burke, and it’s free
With your UW ID
And it’s open ‘till 5 every day

What limericks will you write?

Local events

Check out this months events organized by our friends at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center. Don't miss out on fry bread (yumm) and surprises! For a complete listing check out their events website.

Cecile's Fry Bread for Justice, May 9th, 10am - 5 pm.
A Fundraiser for the Duwamish Tribe's Legal Defense Fund. Fun day full of surprises. Native entertainment. All you can eat fry bread. Indian tacos, honey, jams and jellies. Surprises. $20 donation at the door.

State of the River, State of the Sound, May 14, doors at 6 pm, forum at 7 pm.
A gathering to promote the health and prosperity of our waterways. People for Puget Sound (PPS), the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC), and the Duwamish Tribe join together to present this forum focusing on the current state of both the Duwamish River and the Puget Sound, and ways in which the greater Seattle Community can help fix this ever growing problem. $5 suggested donation.

An Evening with Roger Fernandez, May 23, doors at 6 pm, show begins at 7 pm.

Roger Fernandez, master artist in traditional Salish art and design, is renowned throughout the northwest for his storytelling and artistic gifts. Roger’s presentation of traditional stories and song is an experience that should be had by all. General Admission: $25, Elders/ Students: $20

Native Plant Appreciation Week

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Washington is home to over 3,000 native plant species. Could you identify Candystick, Mountain Lady Slipper, Lady Fern and Devil’s Club (an appropriate name for a plant containing brittle yellow spines that easily find their way into your hands,) if you saw it in your backyard or on a hike in the Cascades? This week (May 3-9) is your chance to learn more about the plants that call Washington and the Northwest home - it's Native Plant Appreciation Week!

The Washington Native Plant Society has assembled various non-profit and environmental organizations and governmental agencies to offer a fabulous line-up of hikes, classes and presentations aimed at teaching about native plant species and their habitats and what you can do to help protect them.

Take a tour of the Herbarium at the University of Washington, attend a lecture by Terry Domico about foraging for edible wild plants or participate in a restoration project at Timberlake Park in Sammamish.

Check out the listing of events to see what’s being offered in your area.

In need of a guide to NW plant identification or a book on gardening with native plants? Check out the Burke gift shop.

Photo: Cypripedium montanum, Mountain Lady Slipper