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This time last year you helped us reach our #MoreUARKMuseum campaign goal! We wanted to share an update on how that support has made an impact.
Earlier this month, we held Campus Night at the Museum. The event provided a fun opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and alumni to explore the Museum’s offerings and learn about awesome partner organizations in the community.
A highlight of the event was sharing the Museum’s collections facility through an open house experience. We’ve held open houses before, but this particular event marks an improved experience – all thanks to last year’s #MoreUARKMuseum Fundrazor!
240 attendees stopped by over a 3-hour period. Much goes into organizing a gathering of this size to ensure appropriate collections care and security needs. This includes (and wouldn’t be possible without) the awesome support of volunteers, advisory council members, and staff who dedicate time to answering questions and sharing the collections.
Because of #MoreUARKMuseum, we were able to utilize our six new exhibit cases for special displays during the event. These cases enhanced collections security, increased the professional quality of the displays, and expanded what we could display!
Additionally, Fundrazor support made the experience more tangible. The Museum has a small meteorite collection, including a meteorite that fell in Fayetteville in 1934. As a result, we’ve held multiple meteorite and space events throughout the years. Because these are research specimens though, they are only available for the public to view. We solved by purchasing three small meteorite samples to expand our hands-on learning collections.
Council member Karen McGilvery sharing the Fayetteville meteorite in one of the new cases and getting ready to share one of the new meteorite samples!While learning about the Fayetteville meteorite in one of our new display cases at Campus Night, visitors had the chance to hold these new meteorites. This, of course, is a memorable experience – who doesn’t want to hold a rock from space?! However, a tangible experience can be especially helpful when learning about meteorites to feel just how heavy they are for their size and experience their magnetism.
We’re excited to utilize these resources at many more events and programs! In fact, we invite you to check them out on October 4th at Family Night at the Museum (Campus Night’s sister event)!
See your support in action!
The new exhibit cases funded through #MoreUARKMuseum are in use for the first time!
Dr. Ana Pulido Rull and her students on install day!
Learn more about what's on display:
An exhibition of artwork from Mesoamerica (pre-Hispanic Mexico) and the south of the United States is on display at the Fayetteville Public Library's Lucky Day Gallery through March 29. It is the result of a collaboration between the U of A Art History Program and the U of A Museum.
The exhibition, Precious Possessions: The Arts and Artists of the Ancient Americas and Their Stories, seeks to highlight the creativity and artistic skills of Mesoamerican artists and stimulate new conversations about the art of the Ancient Americas. It challenges old interpretations that viewed this art as “functional,” “exotic” and “curious,” focusing instead on its sophistication and aesthetic value.
The artworks on display at the Fayetteville Public Library represent the work of Indigenous artists from different regions of pre-Hispanic Mexico and the south of the United States. These artists were professionally trained—both in specialized schools and by masters of the trade—and created pieces of high artistic value. The U of A Museum holds a remarkable collection of art from the ancient Americas, encompassing pieces from the various cultures that flourished in this region between 1500 BCE – 1500 CE, including the Olmecs, the cultures from West Mexico; the Zapotec and Mixtec from Oaxaca; Teotihuacan, the Aztec or Mexica civilization; and North Alves and Arizona, in the Southwest United States. We are glad to show these objects—some for the first time—to the Northwest Arkansas community.
This exhibition was curated by the students in professor Ana Pulido Rull’s class The Art of Mesoamerica, in collaboration with curators Laurel Lamb and Mary Suter from the U of A Museum, with the support of the Art History Program, the School of Art and the Fayetteville Public Library.
“This exhibition has been in the making for several months, and it is very exciting to see it come together," Pulido said. "The students from my seminar and I visited the University Museum several times during the fall to work with these objects, design and curate the exhibit. They have done an impressive amount of research on these pieces for the exhibition catalogue—available online and in print. The work of the design team on this catalogue and the website has been remarkable and will allow viewers to further engage with the art of the ancient Americas.”
"This exhibition showcases the artistic sophistication of Indigenous artists who worked in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of Spanish colonizers," said John Blakinger, director of the U of A art history program. "It presents a fresh view of the ancient Americas through unique objects, demonstrating the innovative work our students and faculty in art history as well as the value of our partnerships with the University of Arkansas Museum and the Fayetteville Public Library."
"It was a wonderful experience to work with the class and see the exhibit come together from start to finish," said Laurel Lamb, curator of education and engagement for the University Museum."
We hope you have a chance to see this exhibition! Thank you for helping increase community access to the Museum's collections! We are so appreciative of your support.
They're in! One of our big goals for this campaign was new display cases and you made it happen. A huge thank you to our donors - this wouldn't have been possible without you!
We often work with UARK classes to create temporary exhibits on and off campus. These new cases will replace our well-used and well-loved existing ones. They'll keep collection materials safe and increase community exhibit opportunities, plus enhance on-site programming, like collections tours and open house experiences.
Aren't they lovely? There are six total and split between two nesting sets. What this means is three will stack together, which saves space while they're not in use. This feature also makes them easy to transport, which is handy since they'll often be used in exhibits off-site. Their vitrine tops are ordered and will be here soon, too. Once they arrive, the wooden pedestals are specially fitted so we can lock the tops in place and provide the most security for artifacts.
The cases will debut in a new exhibit very soon. We can't wait to share more details in the new year!
Great things are happening here at the museum! Stay tuned!
This past month has been a wild ride. The state dinosaur was on the news, and the museum had over 200 UA students and 300 local families come visit the collections. We even raised over our goal, and will be able to do so much more here at the museum because of it! 
I say "we" because the real numbers that matter are the 72 donors, 42 ambassadors, and countless volunteers that made this all possible. In just these last few weeks, we've gone from a team of 3 people to over 100, and the future has never looked brighter!
Our next step is to put the 5-year strategic plan into motion. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates to come as we put all of your generosity and handwork into bringing more museum to NWA!
Hello everyone,
Thank you for coming on this journey with us. Over the last month, we've raised so much awareness and funding for the museum. We're going to start our 5 year plan strong, and can't wait to bring more UARK museum to NWA.
We've got about 1 hour left before we ride off into the sunset. Can you or a friend give just $1 dollar? Any funding over our goal can be put towards our savings for a 3D printer, more events, or programming supplies. Every dollar counts!
Thank you for helping make more museum possible!
- Shannon & Dino
A HUGE thanks to each one of you! We met our $5,000 goal to bring #MoreUARKMuseum to the community! This will include a tablet and tablet stand for virtual tours, new hands-on learning materials for programming, and new display cases for exhibitions. Stay tuned in the coming months for updates as we begin to implement these goals!
The campaign still has three days left though. Spread the word! Any additional gifts received between now and August 25th will also make a big impact for #MoreUARKMuseum initiatives!
Once again, thank you! We are so appreciate of the support. You made this happen!
- Dino, Shannon, and Laurel
Happy Monday, everyone!
We are now an incredible 96% of the way to our final goal! Thank you to the Meierhoff family for their generous $250 gift match. It was met and unlocked over the weekend - and what a great weekend it was!
Students, staff, and faculty chatted with visitors at our Campus Night at the Museum on Saturday. These individuals have worked with the Museum’s collections in different ways – from research projects to class visits. School of Art Associate Professor Dr. Ana Pulido and student Luke Wisdom highlighted ceramic Colima dogs from Mexico. Dr. Pulido has brought her Mesoamerican classes out to study these pieces many times through the years.
Dr. Pulido and Luke Wisdom chatting with visitors!Dr. Pulido will once again have her students study the Museum’s Mesoamerican archeology collection this fall. In fact, this class will create an exhibit featuring the collection at the Fayetteville Public Library this spring 2024!
Help us reach our final goal of $5,000 so Dr. Pulido’s class can be the first to use a brand-new set of display cases! We have utilized our current cases for almost ten years and they were already used when the Museum acquired them. They all have knicks and scratches, as well as need new acrylic tops.
A close-up on one of the Museum's current display cases showing signs of being well-used. They were last utilized for Dr. Janine Sytsma's art history class exhibit featuring material culture from Nigeria and Ghana. It was held at the Fayetteville Public Library this spring.New and more display cases to replace our well-used and well-loved existing ones will keep collection materials safe and enhance community exhibit opportunities and on-site programming, like collections tours and open house experiences.
We’re so close to meeting our goal by August 25th. Only four days left! We appreciate all the support this campaign has received! Please help spread the word for our final push! As little as $7.50 will make a huge impact!
Thank you so much!
- Laurel
Hello everyone,
I have some EGGCELLENT news! Starting at tomorrow's Night at the Museum event, the Meierhoff family will be matching all gifts up to $250. With only 7 days to reach our goal, this couldn't come at a better time!
The Night at the Museum begins at 6pm at 2475 N Hatch Ave, just off of Garland Ave. There will be crafts, take home souvenirs, games, a scavenger hunt, drawing lessons, museum tours, refreshments and possibly dinosaur sightings.
We'll end the night at 11pm after an outdoor screening of a popular dinosaur film, so bring blankets or lawn chairs. As always, the event and parking are free, so invite the whole herd!
We hope you'll join us and double your impact on the museum!
- Shannon
Hello Everyone!
With just 11 days left to reach our goal, I've been a Tyrannosaurus-wreck. But I'm happy to announce that because of all of you dino-mite donors we're now past the halfway mark! We are going to be able to do so much MOOOOARRR for the museum!
As a thank you, I thought everyone would enjoy playing some games:
There's always something happening at the museum, so I wanted to close out this update by highlighting some recent visitors.
We partnered with the University of Arkansas Clinic for Literacy this summer to host a camp for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Master of Art in Teaching students from the College of Education and Health Professions provided literacy interventions at the camp. Campers conducted their own research using non-fiction resources and specimens at the museum.
Campers taking a close look at birds in the collections!T-Rexcellent work everyone!
Dino
The #MoreUARKMuseum campaign continues! A huge thank you to each and every one of our supporters.
It’s been a whirlwind week! Beyond reaching 40% of our goal, we recently hosted Family Night here at the Museum, inviting the community to visit the collections and enjoy fun activities, like a scavenger hunt! It was a great event and we loved seeing so many people (over 400!) experience the Museum. It's programming like this that is at the heart of the #MoreUARKMuseum campaign - we want to see more of it and better each time!
Scavenger hunt in progress!Haven’t made your gift yet? Now’s the time to make your impact on this worthwhile project. Already made a gift? Encourage others to donate and help make #MoreUARKMuseum happen by sharing the URL: fundrazor.uark.edu/moreuarkmuseum
Thank you!
Laurel Lamb, Curator of Education and Engagement
Thanks to everyone who has donated and shared our fundraiser, we've made our first goal!
Your gifts will provide a tablet and stand, that will enable quality virtual collection tours and activities. This will eliminate the barriers of planning physical field trips, and allow classes from around the state to be able to engage with our collections.
Thank you for helping us bring the world to Arkansas, and for making #moremuseum possible!
Sending Love,
Dino 
7.5 million objects in the Museum’s collections! Donate $7.50 and receive a shout-out on our social media accounts and monthly newsletter!
Featured artifact: Arkansaurus fridayi, the state dinosaur, was discovered in 1972. Consider donating $19.72 and you’ll receive a thank you postcard!
Featured artifact: Out of this world! A meteorite fell right here in Fayetteville on December 26th, 1934. Donate $34 and we’ll send along a video highlighting staff favorites in the collections.
Featured artifact: Purchased in 1957 for the Animal Sciences department, we hold the first computer on campus and in the state of Arkansas! Consider donating at this level and receive a personalized thank you video.
Featured artifact: Wooooooooo. Pig. Sooie! Our special edition Razorback Barbie has been cheering since 1996. Donate $96 and receive a personalized tour of the Museum’s collections!
Explore our online collections database, which was established last year: uamuseum.omeka.net There are currently 551 featured objects with new ones being added each month! Donate $551 and receive all the previous perks!
