Student Work at the Burke

It’s the start of a new school year, and we’re excited to see the campus and the museum full of students again! How could you be anything but excited? At the Burke Museum, students are at the heart of our work. They assist and lead in research, volunteer in collections and provide valuable work through internships and practicums.

Arryn Davis and Mary Jane Ides, University of Washington students who are also a part of the Burke education staff, spent part of their summer working on amazing costumes for our ¡Carnaval! exhibit. In this video, Arryn describes some of the pieces she worked on that represent Carnival costumes from communities around the world. You can try on their creations yourself by visiting the exhibit – and if you’re a UW student you get in for FREE with your UW ID!

Posted by: Andrea Barber, Communications

Moving Giants

Sometimes at the Burke Museum, we move giant things. From whale skeletons to dinosaur bones, our collections vary and all require some expert moving skills. So how do you move an art piece that is really tall—as in over 15 feet tall? And not only one piece, but two?

The Burke’s exhibit team was given this unique challenge with two giant parade dolls for our newest exhibit ¡Carnaval! They mirror the style of the giant dolls (or boneco gigante in Portuguese) from the Olinda, Brazil Carnival and were made by local artists as part of a collaboration between the Burke Museum and the Brazil Center.

So how do you move them? The team put the “Midnight Man” and the “Woman of the Day” dolls on a wheeled platform to maneuver them. Dipping is an important skill to learn, not just for dancing, but for getting the dolls through a door frame that’s a few feet too short.

Once through the doorways, the dolls take a quick trip in the Burke’s famous elevator up to the special exhibits gallery that will be their home for the next few months.

The dolls are then taken off of the wheeled platforms and lifted to their mounts. A scissor lift helped steady the “Woman of the Day” doll, which had the higher mount.

Clamps are put in place to temporarily stabilize the dolls, which are then drilled securely into place. And voila! The dolls are ready for their costumes and final touch ups.

You can see these amazing giant dolls yourself in the Burke’s newest exhibit ¡Carnaval! On October 1, come celebrate with the dolls during our ¡Carnaval! Opening Celebration!
 

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

Video: How does a new exhibit get installed at the museum?

The latest Burke exhibit Weaving Heritage: Textile Masterpieces from the Burke Collection opened on Saturday. It's a beautiful exhibition, artfully displaying 130 of the most aesthetically and culturally significant textiles from the museum's collection of over 2,000 textile pieces.

Some might wonder, what does it take to install a major exhibit like this? The day after the last exhibit closed, our exhibit prep team was hard at work preparing for Weaving Heritage. Take a look at this short video to see the transformation of the special exhibit gallery from an empty room to a complete museum exhibit:



Weaving Heritage is on view through February 27, 2011. Keep an eye on our website for a list of special weekend weaving demonstrations and other events.

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

The Science of Art

If you read our blog regularly or follow the Burke Museum in the news, you most likely have heard about our upcoming exhibit, Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway. The exhibit, opening on December 19th, features the collaboration of paleontology and art and includes fossils from the Burke’s collections that will be on public view for the first time. Intriguingly familiar, artist Ray Troll and paleontologist Kirk Johnson see the past as a continuous process that shapes the world today.

For a sneak peek at some of Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway’s artwork, and to hear Ray Troll’s comments about his artistic process throughout the exhibit’s development, watch the video below.



There are also several other videos of Kirk Johnson and Ray Troll as they explore the prehistoric past of Washington State. To view them, click here.

Stay tuned to our blog for more previews and information on our newest exhibit, and don’t forget to come see it for yourself!

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

Behind the scenes with Ray Troll

Ever painted a giant T-Rex onto a wall? I have! With expert instruction from celebrated Alaskan artist Ray Troll, a group of volunteers came together this week in a make-shift studio down in Magnuson Park to paint five large wall murals for the upcoming Burke exhibit Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway, featuring Troll’s latest work.

Troll has hunkered down in Seattle for the past two weeks to create these murals showcasing some of his favorite subjects: dinosaurs, killer pigs, hamburgers, and giant ammonites. The fantastical murals will ultimately hang in the gallery alongside dozens of actual fossils from the Burke’s own paleontology collections beginning December 19th --when the exhibit opens.

The Burke Museum is partnering with Ray Troll and Seattle-born paleontologist Kirk Johnson (who together wrote a book called Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway) to present this new exhibit exploring the abundance of fossils in our midst - and specifically in Washington State - and how fossils shed light on Earth’s past.

As you can see, Ray Troll’s recent “art happening” was both fun and productive:

Ray's team of friends and volunteers worked tirelessly to produce large mural reproductions, such as "Sleeping with the Ichthyosaurs"

Ray Troll grabs a paintbrush for some detail work on "Night of the Ammonites"

Once finished, these murals will hang in the Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway gallery alongside real fossils

I'm not the only one who learned to paint with Ray. Burke Museum director Julie Stein also jumped at the chance to pick up a paint brush. When I asked her how it went, she told me, "My friend Edie and I were afraid we would paint outside the lines. Ray showed us how he adds highlights and we discussed how he comes up with these ideas (he dreams about them!). This was very fun!"

P.S. - Mark your calendars for opening day of Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway Saturday, December 19, when Ray will be on hand to give tours of the exhibit.

Posted by: MaryAnn Barron Wagner, Communications

Giant Aquatic Lizard Fossil Installed in Hitchcock Hall

Burke Museum Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Christian Sidor and Fossil Preparator Bruce Crowley worked with other Burke staff and associates to install a large fossil of a mosasaur in Hitchcock Hall on the University of Washington campus. The mosasaur is a giant aquatic lizard from 85 million years ago. The specimen installed in Hitchcock Hall probably represents the Platecarpus species. This specimen is part of a new collection of over a dozen giant fossils and geological specimens donated by the Hart Family. This wonderful new collection joins over 2.5 million other fossils in the Burke Museum Geology division.


You can also read about the recent installation of an ichthyosaur fossil in the Burke Room.