UNM Museum of Southwestern Biology hosts a studio night
March 6, 2023 - Talullah Begaye
The sun was setting behind Centennial Library as local artists slowly meandered into the Natural History Science Center on February 24th for a truly unique event hosted by The Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB).
While the external public is generally invited to the MSB on a scheduled basis, the inaugural Studio Night provided attendees with an inside look at the research space. As an internationally recognized museum, the MSB houses millions of plant and animal specimens. On Studio Night, attendees were invited to draw some of these specimens which ranged from plants, to carefully pinned bugs, to a taxidermied badger, to a preserved monitor lizard’s head.
Artists came with notebooks and drawing tablets, and were tasked with a special project by the MSB’s Museum Program Assistant, Bre Kappel, to make a new drawing for the next event’s poster. This poster will be used for future marketing efforts of the museum’s studio nights.
Kappel, who is also an undergraduate student studying science communication and museum studies, created the event to serve as a resource for local artists. What she didn’t expect was the launch of the event to attract so many participants. Interest in the museum’s studio night resulted in an astonishing 80-person waitlist just days before the event.
The MSB is connected to the Fine Arts building by a walkway which inspired Kappel to take advantage of the shared space. Even though the event’s registration filled quickly, Kappel did her best to ensure that a chunk of the waiting list did not miss out. In cooperation with Raychael Stine, she has also helped set up a separate event for UNM’s Drawing I class to get time with specimens.
During the event, Kappel helped the artists by moving specimens and talking them through the labels. While soft tones were used to allow for concentration during the evening’s festivities, there was not a shortage of comradery.
“I think all the specimens have their own personalities. It’s a really cool event and I can’t wait for the next one,” Danielle Genero, a local artist and UNM student, said.
“My number one museum opinion is that museums should be an educational resource as their main goal. MSB does incredible research and it’s important to get people excited about what we are doing here,” Kappel said.
This event was intended to promote the museum’s collections which rank among the three largest collections of mammals in the world. The MSB is also host to over 500,000 frozen tissue samples, used for genetic research. All these resources are available online, searchable by scientific researchers and artists alike, through the MSB’s online database.
The Museum of Southwestern Biology was started in 1928 by Edward F. Castetter. It is home to eight divisions and one special program to serve the national and international scientific community. The collection serves as an incredible resource for researchers who are focused on a wide range of impacts on our Earth and its inhabitants, including climate change and evolution.
“You have two different scopes and it's great when you combine them,” Ezra Duree, a local artist and Environmental Science major, said at the event. “We live in a digital age now. It’s important to know what's going on and bringing more people into the great scientific community.”
The next studio night will be hosted on March 24th from 6-9 pm. To get notice of when sign up opens later this month, please add your info to the Studio Night info list here.