Collections and Connections: 150 Years of the Wisconsin Academy

Collections_exhibition title wall to right, view of gallery

Collections_view down gallery, display cases with objects

Collections_19th century sepia photograph showing display cases with specimens

Collections_microscope on right with attachments, meteorite on left

Collections_six mounted bird specimens arranged in group

Collections_open wood box with watercolors, color swatches

Collections and Connections: 150 Years of the Wisconsin Academy

dimensions variable

2020

mixed media, natural history specimens and artifacts

Collections and Connections was held in the James Watrous Gallery in Madison, WI, as part of the sesquicentennial celebration for the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. I was asked to research and curate a re-creation of the Academy's 19th century natural history cabinet. The specimens in the original cabinet were gathered by a group of early Academy members who are important figures in the history of natural history in Wisconsin, including Increase A. Lapham, Philo Romayne Hoy, Thure Kumlien,Thomas Chamberlin, Charles E. Brown, and Edward Birge.

The first two versions of the Academy's cabinet were destroyed by fire. Without a detailed listing of the original cabinet contents, creating a new cabinet version involved lots of research and enlightened guesswork.

Objects to display in the exhibition were gathered from historical societies throughout Wisconsin.

history of natural history, Wisconsin history