Preserving the Past to Transcend Time

From Pentacrest Museums Director Liz Crooks

For the Pentacrest Museums, 2023 was a monumental year. We took great strides in our fundraising campaign to conserve the cyclorama, hosted an international conference, made a historic collections acquisition, broadened our curricular connections on campus, and strengthened our contributions to the university's strategic goals. Once again, I invite you to join us in a look back at a year we're proud of in two museums we hope you call yours.

BY THE NUMBERS

Our Visitor Services Department works with our campus and the public to schedule class visits and tours, manage our student docents, and keep our galleries accessible to guests. 

  • Total visitors: 40,272 (↑ 3,189)
    • Note: due to multiple entrances in Macbride Hall, data recorded for the Museum of Natural History indicates only guests entering the east entrance to Iowa Hall (we estimate this to be less than half of our total guests).
  • Number of guided gallery tours: 68
    • These are tours given by student docents employed by the Pentacrest Museums. It is our honor to connect with guests this way and to give our students the opportunity to teach.
  • Total number of guests on a guided gallery tour: 1,516
  • Number of college class visits to galleries: 37
  • Number of states (not including IA) from which we had visitors: 42
  • Number of countries (not including USA) from which we had visitors from: 25

Our Education Department works to create interactive programming to support connectivity, engagement, and learning in museum spaces. 

  • Total number of programs: 54

We hosted a wide variety of programs in 2023, with something for everyone. Here are some highlights:

  • Tree Tours (Pentacrest & West Campus)
  • Trivia Night
  • Architectural Tours
  • Exhibition Spotlight
  • Art & Write Night
  • Read on the Rug
  • Special Team Building Activities

Our Events staff create revenue for our free-admission museums by offering excellence as a venue for special events in our historic spaces.

  • Total events: 70
    • Weddings: 6
    • Receptions: 20
    • Concerts: 10
  • Daily prospective student visits with UI Admissions: 84

Our Communications staff manages messaging, branding, social media, websites, signage, and more. They promote our services and keep folks in the know, prioritizing access.

A combination of more strategic content and new types of media led to an increase by all measures on our social channels, with most success on Instagram with 18-24 year olds.

  • Social media posts across all channels: 1,645 (↑ 379)
  • Social media post reach across all channels: 664,000 (↑ 74K)
  • New fans and followers across all channels: 1,300 ( 360)

Our year on social media was marked by creativity, playfulness, more collaboration, and indulging trends with value-building content.

President Wilson

 

 

 

Our Collections team cares for our specimens and objects, keeps them accessible to classes and researchers both on and off campus, and holds the incredible responsibility of preserving our history.

  • Number of newly acquisitioned items: 767, with 60,328+ not-yet accessioned specimens/objects
  • Number of class visits to collections spaces or our museum lab: 26
  • Number of students on class visits to collections spaces or our lab: 377
  • Number of collections items loaned: 705 in 30 total loans
  • Number of students impacted by collections loans: 237
  • Collections access
    • 8 research visits
    • 15 research queries
    • 7 class research projects
    • 22 collections tours with 277 people
  • Online collections access:
    • Our collections data appeared in 3,123,499,410 searches
    • Our collections records were downloaded 1,185,936 times
    • Our collections records were cited in published research 363 times

Our museums are proud to host student employment positions for many UI students each year and additional opportunities for interns and volunteers. 

  • In 2023, 28 interns, volunteers, and paid temporary staff contributed 2983.4 hours of work on projects including:
    • Insect and mammal inventory, reorganization, collection acquisition, and curation
    • Bird and mussel reorganization
    • Fish and archaeology acquisition and curation
    • Old Capitol historical research
    • Object photography
    • Object condition reports and support building
    • Archival digitization
    • Specimen preparation and taxidermy.
  • We held staff positions for more than 30 students and 2 UI REACH students
  • We held Student Advisory Board positions for 15 students
UI Museum of Natural History Collections

STRATEGIC PLAN IN ACTION

Holistic Well-Being with Museum Programming

Our museums strengthen the collective commitment to holistic well-being and success, making us a vital contributor to the university's mission and goals. We know museums play an integral role in fostering a supportive environment for our students, faculty, staff, and community.  By evaluating and enhancing existing offerings, we ensure a comprehensive framework which prioritizes recognition, recruitment, and retention. 

Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Our museums are filled with opportunities to elevate the high-quality teaching that happens on our campus. We foster dynamic, hands-on exploration and educational experiences that empower our educators to achieve their teaching goals and help our students achieve their aspirations.

A Welcoming Environment

Museums play a pivotal role in advancing the university's strategic goal of fostering a welcoming environment. Through collaborative efforts with campus-wide initiatives, we celebrate each other, creating a culture where individuals feel valued and respected. By championing these principles, we contribute to the cultivation of belonging, enriching the university experience for all.

Innovative Research and Creative Discovery

Our museums are instrumental in advancing the university's strategic goal of fostering innovative research and creative discovery. Leveraging our unique position as a hub of artistic, cultural, and scientific exploration, we actively contribute to interdisciplinary collaboration and creativity. We are proud to facilitate meaningful dialogue and knowledge exchange among scholars, researchers, and artists from diverse fields.

Museums Make Transformative Societal Impact

Our museums play a pivotal role in expanding community engagement opportunities and increasing access to higher education in Iowa. By leveraging our areas of distinction and the collective talent of our staff, we have extended our impact beyond campus, enriching the lives and education of Iowans, contributing to the university's mission of public service.

MORE TO CELEBRATE

Donor support helped UIPM approach the 1/2 way mark of our fundraising goal for the Laysan Island Cyclorama. These donations allowed us to begin further assessments, pursue grants, and begin work.
Conservators

Conservation

Conservators begin assessment of Laysan Island Cyclorama

Museum Conservation Assessment

Friday, February 10, 2023
UI Museum of Natural History welcomes team of experts to campus for museum conservation analysis.

Best web story

Museum of Natural History Insect Collection

Museums Preserve Priceless Collection in Peril

Tuesday, July 25, 2023
The University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums acquires extensive natural history collections from former Iowa Wesleyan University.

WITH GRATITUDE

We extend heartfelt gratitude to all of our campus and community partners, supporters, and volunteers. Whether you helped with the development of a program or exhibition, hosted a special event here, donated to our efforts with time or money, or backed our team, we thank you.

Thanks list

  • Our entire team of dedicated student staff employees, who serve as ambassadors to our museums. We are proud and thankful for these students, who are gaining many desired job skills while serving our mission.  
  • UI Office of the President
  • UI Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
  • UI Office of the Vice President for Research
  • UI Office of Strategic Communications
  • UI Center for Advancement
  • Iowa Magazine
  • UI Admissions
  • UI International Programs
  • UI Division of Performing Arts
  • UI Division of Student Life
  • UI School of Art and Art History
  • UI School of Journalism and Mass Communications
  • UI Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences 
  • UI Anthropology Department
  • UI Paleontology Repository
  • UI Human Resources- liveWELL
  • UI Facilities Management
  • UI Office of Sustainability
  • UI School of the Wild
  • Iowa Raptor Project
  • UI DEAI-Center for Inclusive Academic Excellence
  • UI REACH
  • UI Cultural Centers
  • UI Latinx Council
  • UI Native American Council
  • UI Libraries
  • UI Stanley Museum of Art
  • UI Lecture Committee
  • UI Public Policy Center
  • Office of the State Archaeologist
  • Iowa Public Radio
  • Iowa City Downtown District
  • State Historical Society of Iowa
  • Johnson County Conservation
  • Iowa Department of Natural Resources
  • International Panorama Council

IN MEMORIAM

Anne Smothers (1946 – 2023)

The Pentacrest Museums remember Ann Elizabeth Slattery Smothers, who dedicated decades of her life to the Old Capitol Museum in various roles, including director.

Ann Smothers on C-Span 1996

Holmes Alford Semken, Jr. (1935 – 2024)

The Pentacrest Museums remember Dr. Semken with gratitude for his herculean efforts in bringing Iowa Hall to life and his dedication to research on the Tarkio Valley Sloths.

Holmes
Iowa Hall, UI Museum of Natural History
Iowa Hall, UI Museum of Natural History
Iowa Hall, UI Museum of Natural History
UI Museum of Natural History Collections