A Publication of
the University
of New Mexico
Foundation, Inc.
| The University of New Mexico |
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A Publication of the University of New Mexico Foundation, Inc. |
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As a nationally ranked program, UNM's Anthropology Department and the Maxwell Museum (AnthroMax) are dedicated to preserving and studying the past. With extensive and intriguing collections serving as tremendous resources for staff, students and the community, these entities broaden our sense of space, time and accomplishment. Times are changing, however, and with technology and ever-growing Internet use, AnthroMax is entering a new era of educational excellence. AnthroMax recently received a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, thanks to Anthropology Chair Dr. Marta Weigle, and Chief Curator and Professor of Anthropology Dr. Mari Lyn Salvador, the principle investigators of the grant. AnthroMax will put the money to use by building a center for intercultural studies and a new web site. Named for an internationally known Pueblo anthropologist, author and UNM professor from 1974 until his death in 1997, the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies will be an addition to the Maxwell. To make this addition bloom, the center still will have to raise an additional $1.5 million over the next three years to see the project to completion. The bulk will come from donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. In addition, the Maxwell Museum Association has committed to raising $60,000 over the next three years, probably through special events. With constantly changing exhibits supplementing existing museum resources, the center will be yet another extraordinary tool for AnthroMax. According to Weigle, the center is slated to contain "open study collections," which will allow for a much larger portion of the Maxwell's collections to be seen and studied. "Exhibits will change rapidly, and objects will be visible almost like in a reserve book room," says Weigle. Open study collections will give students, faculty, staff and visitors a whole new means of access to the museum's collections. Ultimately, Weigle and Salvador hope to see that most of the museum's collections become accessible as open study collections. The Alfonso Ortiz Center will feature an annual lecture series that addresses the topics of public scholarship and collaborative stewardship. A website will accompany the center as a cyber-museum, changing its look and content with the changing exhibits and lectures in the center. "This is a nice way for us to bring the public into what we are doing, and to make these facilities more accessible to the public," says Salvador. UNM
Foundation Inc. 505-277-4503 Copyright
© 2006 The University of New Mexico. |
Spring 2000
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