Last month, I visited the extraordinary natural history collection at the University of Massachusetts. Hidden in the depths of Morrill Science Center, it’s not easily accessible to public view, and I was shown around by generous and knowledgeable biologist & curator Kate Doyle.
Kate alerted me to a sumptuous art exhibition now on display at the Umass Museum of Contemporary Art by indigenous artist Courtney M. Leonard, whose artwork was inspired by the enormous skeleton of the grandmother right whale Staccato housed at UMass. Right whales are critically endangered and Leonard’s own coastal community is under threat, and I quickly realized I just had to write an article about Leonard’s work, Staccato herself, and the natural history and art collections at the university.
Indigenous art and culture, endangered whales, and low public accessibility of meaningful and useful collections: so many undervalued treasures in our world.
Speaker for the whales: Indigenous artist interprets endangered right whale’s legacy and meaning
Natural history, art museum leaders at UMass raise concerns about storage of collections
And here’s what I posted about the natural history collection on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
Top image: Collections assistant for the UMass Natural History Collections Cristian Paunescu prepares a stand for the flipper bones of a juvenile sperm whale Wednesday afternoon for its upcoming display in the Morrill Science Center. PHOTO BY DAN LITTLE/DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE