Museum celebrates 10-year anniversary
By Amy Widner
LITTLE ROCK — The Old Independence Regional Museum in Batesville is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, but before it ever opened its doors the founding members had a vision: one museum, 12 counties.
“My most wonderful memory is working with the founding board,” said Twyla Wright, volunteer curator and founding board president. “They were so energetic. They really bought into the idea of having a regional museum to serve 12 counties. There’s nothing like a founding board. They’re just great - the camaraderie, the energy and then opening and being able to be proud.”
Wright said none of the museum’s success today would have been possible without that initial group of committed folks who began the planning process in 1991 and the millions of dollars in donations the museum has received over the years.
Today the museum annually sees about 8,000 visitors who tour its exhibits, participate in its programs and conduct research in its archives. Wright said that’s pretty good, considering the museum serves the widespread area of Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White andWoodruff counties, the counties that were part of Independence County in 1820.
Wright said the museum has lots to celebrate. Since 1999, they’ve been able to change exhibits several times a year and now average about 24 programs a year and lots of school tours. This year alone they have had three exhibits so far - exhibits on quilts, American Indians and the current exhibit, which is about maps - and several programs.
This year they’ve instituted a new tradition to accompany the exhibits: family fun day, a day of activities for young and old. People don’t always hear the word “museum” and think “fun,” Wright said, but they’re looking to change that.
“Museums aren’t just a place for antiques,” Wright said. “It’s a place for relationships. When you see a three-generational family come in, and they see something like, say, the cottonpicking exhibit, and the grandmother starts to tell the story of what it was like to pick cotton. The kids’ eyes get big. They just can’t believe it. You see then the relay of that family’s heritage right before your eyes, and it was the museum exhibit that triggered it.”
Events like the family fun days are intended to facilitate those connections, and Wright said the museum board hopes to expand and add variety to their programing so that more new visitors can discover that museums aren’t the stuffy places they’re thought to be.
Tour guide coordinator Amanda Nikkel, who has volunteered and worked at the museum for about five years, said she’s looking forward to the museum adding programming for all ages, families and school groups and doing more outreach work, something the museum is able to do only sparingly now. She gained experience developing such programs at other museums before she and her family moved to Batesville five years ago.
“I was very glad to find that there was a museum here and especially a high-quality one with the types of things they were offering and planning for the future,” Nikkel said. “And of course, watching it grow - the expansion hadn’t happenedyet (only half the building was open until 2005, when the current setup was finished through a federal Housing and Urban Development grant), and it was exciting to see that growth.”
That growth will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at a 10th anniversary gala at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville with a semiformal evening of dinner and entertainment. Gov. Mike Beebe will be the guest speaker. First lady Ginger Beebe is also expected to be in attendance. Former Sen. Kaneaster Hodgeswill be master of ceremonies. He will be introduced by Rep. David Wyatt.
Major donors from over the years will be honored, and the event is a fundraiser itself. The cost is $75 per person or $125 per couple, and all proceeds will go to the museum. Fundraising is a necessary part of what the museum does, and Wright said that can’t be excluded from their future plans and dreams.
“Honestly, with the economic hard times we’re experiencing, we will continue to search for sources of revenue,” Wright said.
At press time Wright predicted no more seats at the gala would be available by today. The theme for next year’s exhibits has been determined: living off the land. Exhibits and activities will change with the seasons, Wright said. More information is available by calling the museum at (870) 793-2121 or by visiting www.oirm.org.
The museum is at 380 S. Ninth St. in Batesville. It is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30-4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children over 6 and $2 for those over 55 and those who want to do archival research only. Group rates are available.
- awidner@ arkansasonline.com
This article was published Sunday, September 28, 2008.
Three Rivers, Pages 110, 116 on 09/28/2008
