Projects

Research Poster: Provenance Research Leads to Successful Repatriations

This research poster highlights the different methodologies we use to conduct provenance research on cultural materials. As civically engaged CEA scholars, our work for the FBI Art Crime Team involves exploring several leading questions including: what are the origins of these cultural items and ancestral remains and where/who should they be returned to? To answer these questions, we conduct provenance research in hopes to obtain a more complete history of ownership. Using multiple research methods, we draw from numerous sources and consult with content experts from various disciplines. Gathering a more complete history leads to successful repatriation to descendant communities and foreign partners. Museums and other institutions can implement these methods to better understand the objects in their collections and provide a thorough interpretation to the public. This research not only helps us better contextualize the objects in our care, but in some cases may lead to the identification of NAGPRA-eligible items that should be returned to their communities of origin.

Exhibit: No "Compact of Silence:" Black Civil Rights Advocates in the Harrison Era (1889-1893)

This special exhibit highlights national and local Black civil rights activists during President Benjamin Harrison’s term in office (1889-1893). It explores the complex dynamics of race in late 19th century America, including the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago, anti-lynching laws and movements, and black voting suppression. Prominent individuals who will be featured include Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, William D. McCoy, Dolly Johnson and many more local and national advocates.

The exhibit will be open to the public and included with general admission from January 28 through November 1, 2022.

This exhibit is made possible through the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site’s New Century Curator collaboration with the IUPUI Museum Studies program. The initiative seeks to share the Presidential Site’s nationally significant collection in meaningful and relevant ways, while providing unique opportunities for emerging museum professionals to engage in collaborative training, hands-on experience, conservation, preservation, and innovative exhibit design.

Exhibit: "SHIFT: What Can Museums Change?"

"SHIFT: What Can Museums Change" was an exhibit created by IUPUI's Museum Studies course "Exhibit Design and Planning." The focus of this exhibit was centered around historical wrongs of the past and how museums can move into a more progressive stage.

For this exhibit, I primarily worked on the Repatriation section based at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and how they are working as a bicultural museum to return ancestors back to their people of origin. In this section, I wrote and reedited the panels and information. I also helped install the exhibit, primarily cutting panels and positioning them for wall installation.