Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology

A Blend of Virtual & In-Person Programming Expands Museum’s Reach

By Adrienne Scott, Museum Curator

Looking back over the last academic year of educational programming, the approach has been to collaborate and try new things. We have also maximized the seemingly opposite styles of virtual and in-person opportunities. By providing a blend of program styles, we captured the variety of audiences in our region (and beyond), who liked having choices on how to engage with our content. For example, some elementary school teachers loved being able to squeeze in a virtual field trip with our student docents, who had prepared presentations that corresponded with our current shows and offered 30 min tours in the classroom via zoom. But there were also bold teachers who took the post Covid19 plunge into in-person tours and would spend the morning at the museum in the 2022 spring season. The museum team was ready for it all.

Throughout the year, we offered zoom lectures or provided funding to support lectures that museum visitors might enjoy. In the fall we supported the campus Tribal Relations Office with their Orange Shirt Day zoom presentation, which corrected the omissions of many school history books regarding Native American Boarding Schools.

Every Child Matters

Later in the Fall Lupe Cruz, a student assistant at the museum, constructed a Day of the Dead altar using her family’s altar cloth and taught the whole campus about her traditions. 120 Chico High students and over 200 campus visitors, including President Hutchinson and CSU Chancellor came in person to interact with and contemplate this special holiday that honors ancestors and unites families, something we all needed more of after the pandemic kept many of us away from loved ones.

Students at the museum help with setting up the altar in the museum lobby in honor of Day of the Dead Dia De Los Muertos (left)

Lupe (center, right) adding finishing touches to altar

Lupe (right) sharing her cultural traditions with local high school students on tour at the museum.

The Museum team was excited to relaunch the Museum Weekend Event that was inaugurated two weeks before the lockdown happened in March of 2020. Museum Weekend is a wonderful chance to showcase the best of Butte County’s Museum and Gallery world. All the museums in our region are open all weekend for free. Most offered special events or grand openings of exhibits to give everyone a taste of the cultural offerings.

This year it coincided with the opening of our latest exhibit Tu Voz Importa / Your Voice Matters, a photovoice project that captures the voices of the North State Latinx migrant community. 150 guests poured in to see the show and meet the amateur photographers who spoke at a panel on Saturday, February 26, 2022. It was a tour de force by panelists and student curators! The panelists delighted audience attendees, who heard the testimony of many people in our area who might not have the chance to attend a museum, let alone be allowed to display their work.

In fact, many partners made these voices matter. The show brought together a dynamic collaborative team.

Tu voz importa opening reception

panel discussion with participants at opening reception during museum weekend.

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project was initiated by Migrant Clinician Network in Chico with Bay Area photographer, Robyne Hayes, and Northern Valley Catholic Services in Oroville. Additionally, the exhibit was supported by Instructionally Related Activity Funds and the Governor’s Award. All these community liaisons provided critical project support.

visitors view projects on a wall.

This year has required giant doses of courage and compassion for ourselves and our communities as we find our way back to new normals and new mixes of being together. We found that we enjoy the company of old and new friends whether it was over the virtual airwaves or in the literal space of our galleries. In whichever format you have the personal bandwidth to connect, we look forward to seeing you in the coming months (summer camp will be in person- yay!) but online content will continue to flourish as we grow together in this altered space and time.