Back
to the
present
The University's history museum
reopens its doors to the pasts
of Oregon and the Northwest
BY CANELA WOOD / HALEY GORDON
NEWS REPORTER / FREELANCE REPORTER
Displays will be dusted off, artifacts
brought out of storage and hammers set
aside for Saturday’s preview of the new
exhibit spaces in the University’s Museum of
Natural and Cultural History.
Construction that has been in progress since
December will be halted to allow visitors to ex
perience the museum’s changes and learn
about the upcoming events there.
During the Saturday preview, from 11 a.m. to
5 p.m., visitors can see the new permanent ex
hibit, “Oregon — Where Past is Present,” which
will re-create sights and sounds from
Oregon’s past with large hand-painted murals
showing the landscapes in four Oregon regions.
Artifacts, sound effects, text panels, diagrams
and re-creations, like one of a 500-year-old
cedar-plank house, will make the exhibit more
than glass-cased artifacts. Visitors will be able
to watch the exhibit “come to life in three di
mensions,” said Cindi Budlong, Museum of
Natural and Cultural History exhibit designer.
“Because the exhibits we had were getting
old, we wanted to restructure to focus on the
cultural and natural history of the Northwest,”
museum Director C. Melvin Aikens said.
The changing exhibit hall will feature “Lewis,
Clark & Company: Explorers, Ambassadors and
Naturalists,” and will stay at the museum for
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Artist Don Prechtel paints a mural from an oil painting in the Museum of Natural History on Thursday afternoon. The Museum will hold an open house this weekend.
six months after the February opening.
Other new additions include a theater space
and an updated media and education room
where children will be able to learn hands-on.
“We’ve created it to appeal to school kids
and to adults ... It’s quite a challenge to span
the whole range,” Aikens said.
“It’s a hutnongous improvement; it’s more co
hesive and easier for teachers to identify a story
instead of bits and pieces,” said Jennifer Willson,
a graduate student in education programming.
“The preview is intended to show the muse
um’s contributors, volunteers, friends and inter
ested public how the project is coming along and
to thank them for their support,” Aikens said.
Cost estimates of the renovation, done by
Presentation Design Group, are at about $1 mil
lion, said Aikens.
The cost of the renovation was covered by
private gifts because there was no University
appropriation for it, Aikens said.
In addition to the preview, the museum will
begin its fall lecture series starting at 5:30 p.m. on
Friday, Oct. 22, in the Knight Law Center and
continuing for five consecutive Fridays. The se
ries will feature “Uncommon Treasures: Stories
from the UO Museums and Library Collections."
During the preview, visitors can buy member
ships at half price, pick up materials on the up
coming lecture series and eat and drink free cook
ies and punch. The event will “build momentum
for our grand re-opening Feb. 11 and 12,” said
Judi Pruitt, administrative program assistant.
“We want to let people know (the renovation
is) happening and coming along. ... I think peo
ple will come all day,” Aikens said.
canelawood @ dailyemerald. com
Haley Gordon is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald
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