Boulder History Museum was the venue for the May 23 Colorado Traveling Seminar

May 23, Twenty alumni and their guests packed the small meeting space at the Boulder History Museum for an Evergreen Traveling Seminar. The title was Curating the Human Story: The Power and Influence of Museums.

Faculty member Jean Mandeberg

Faculty member Jean Mandeberg and her former student Seth Frankel ’93 facilitated the discussion that swirled around questions such as: Do museums transform living, changing cultural objects into fixed, preserved, stale collections? What stories do museums tell? What stories do objects embody? And what stories do we, visitors, tell ourselves?

Adding to the richness of the conversation was the fact that the Boulder Museum’s current exhibit was one of Seth’s installations, a history of beer.  Needless to say, beer was part of the hospitality provided.

Seth Frankel ’93

Mandeberg had this to say about the event which was her first Traveling Seminar:

I had no idea that the seminar would attract such a diverse group of alumni  … . The comments I heard after the discussion were all extremely positive reports about how much people enjoyed themselves and appreciated the stimulating conversation.  That continued for me (and my husband Joel) when we had breakfast the next morning with Daniel Fonken (’95), one of the seminar participants who happened to be a former student of mine (1993-4, Sculpture in Time & Place).  Daniel told us how the event helped him understand the unique connection Evergreen alums have with each other, and he looks forward to continuing that spirit.

Hope to hear comments from other alumni who have attended Traveling Seminars over the years.  We are planning the line-up for next year right now.