This is Ozarks at Large. I'm Kyle Kellams. Let's go the other way. And as you know, our guide every Wednesday to go the other way is Becca Martin Brown, who's joining me on the phone from Bella Vista. How are you, Becca?
Brown: That's an absolutely fabulous introduction, because if anybody can find a way to go the other way, I can find it.
Kellams: Which way are we? You know, we're in the dog days of August. This used to be a time when there was nothing to do. That's not the case anymore. Where are we going this time?
Brown: We're going down the hill and around the corner from you. We're going to go to the University Museum.
Kellams: Interesting, because the University Museum at one point was this very obvious physical structure, but it still exists.
Brown: I love building.
Kellams: It's now the Faulkner Performing Arts Center. So it still has a great life. But where are we with the University Museum now?
Brown: The answer to that question is the fact that they're having an open house this Saturday, and you can go and see the University Museum and its somewhat unusual environment.
Kellams: And if I know you, you've got someone set up to talk to us about this.
Brown: I do. Laurel Lamb is curator of education and engagement for the University Museum. We will call her and find out more.
Kellams: And now on the phone with us is Laura Lamb. Laura, are you there?
Lamb: I'm here.
Kellams: Fantastic.
Lamb: Thank you for having me.
Brown: The first thing I want to ask is, perhaps people don't know that there still is a University Museum. Can you clue them in on that?
Lamb: Sure. The museum does still exist. We have all of the collections that, if people are familiar with the museum previously, still exist at the U of A collections facility, which is where we will have an event this Saturday. Over the years, all of those collections still exist, and I help take care of them and share them with the community.
Brown: Does it require an open house, like the event this Saturday, to see the University Museum collections? How does one see them?
Lamb: No. We offer collections tours throughout the year. They're free and available to anyone who is interested. You simply have to make an appointment with us.
Kellams: Any idea how many items are in the collection?
Lamb: We have approximately 7.5 million objects, give or take.
Kellams: What?
Lamb: Yes.
Kellams: 7.5 million?
Lamb: Down to the littlest objects.
Kellams: There's no way you've seen them all, is there?
Lamb: No, I've seen many of them, but I haven't seen all of them either myself. I still encounter surprising and interesting things every day.
Kellams: I'm glad you brought that up. I'm sure there isn't a typical day, but what is a day like for you at the museum?
Lamb: I look out for the tour requests I mentioned when people want to schedule a tour. I help give tours. I help put together events for the museum. With school starting, I help with class visits. We have classes from the university, as well as K through 12 classes who come out to visit us. It's working with the public a lot.
I also help researchers. This is a research collection, and we have people who come out to study the collections, both at the University of Arkansas, in the community, and out of state. It's a variety of people coming out to see us for a variety of reasons, from fun events to research to studies.
Brown: Do you have favorite things in the collection that you're always happy to see when you go into the collection?
Lamb: It's kind of like asking, what's your favorite pet? What's your favorite child? It varies depending on what I'm working with most currently. I would say some of my favorites in the collections are meteorites. We have a meteorite that fell here in Fayetteville back in the 1930s, which is really interesting.
We also have beautiful pottery from the early 20th century Arkansas Niloak ceramics. We just received a new donation that includes some really cool Apple computers. I know when people think museums, they think really old things, but everything gets old eventually. We're looking at computers and technology from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s already.
Kellams: Oof!
Lamb: Makes you think. If I know you have the open house Saturday, but there's also a website where people can take a virtual tour. Correct?
Lamb: Yeah. There is a video virtual tour you can take, and there's interesting information on our website about what we have in the collections. There's an online database with some of our collections. It takes time to add them online, but we have around 1,000 items there you can look through. Our website is really helpful for learning about the museum, where we are, and how to visit us. It's UAmuseum.
Brown: Am I remembering correctly, isn't there part of a dinosaur hanging around there somewhere?
Lamb: We do have the foot of the dinosaur, actually. That was found back in the 1970s. We have dinosaur tracks as well that were found in the last 20 years or so. We have several dinosaur fossils from the state of Arkansas. There's something for everyone here.
If you like history, there are historical items. If you like dinosaurs, there are fossils — dinosaurs, plants, mammals — as well as rocks, minerals, animal specimens. We have an elephant bird egg, which will be the largest bird egg you ever see. There are really interesting items for a lot of different interests.
Kellams: One more time, the specifics for the open house this weekend.
Lamb: It's this Saturday, Aug. 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. It's our campus open house to celebrate the start of the new school year. Everyone's welcome. It's free to visit.
Kellams: All right, Laurel Lamb, thank you so much for your time.
Lamb: You're welcome.Thanks for having me.
Kellams: Becca, thank you.
Brown: I'll see you again soon. Thanks, Laurel.
Lamb: You're welcome.
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