Description

The Burke Museum houses the University’s natural history and ethnographic collections. Through its Bill Holm Center for Northwest Native Art, the museum has built strong relationships with Native American communities in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. The Burke also stewards remarkable Oceanic collections which are, potentially, of great interest to the growing numbers of Pacific Islanders in Seattle and at the University. In addition to their aesthetic appeal, the objects in these collections encode mathematical and scientific knowledge developed by their seafaring makers. There is, however, little infrastructure and funding to support engagement with Pacific Islander communities or with STEM departments in the University. The Burke proposes to strengthen its Pacific Islander outreach and programming and to connect those efforts to analogous activities in the Bill Holm Center and to other departments. The grant will fund course development, artist residencies, graduate student projects, and exhibition activities.