Thursday
/NorthernIowan
October 12, 2017
@NorthernIowan
Volume 114, Issue 14
northerniowan.com
Opinion 3 Campus Life 4 Sports 6 Games 7 Classifieds 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Heart of Darkness 2 Weinstein’s accusations 3 ‘Blood Road’ screened at UNI 4 Tennis courts revealed 6
A 'sucker’ for the faculty show AMELIA DUAX Staff Writer
BRITTANY THEIS-JACKSON/Northern Iowan
UNI’s Art Department faculty had the chance to show off their skills on Monday night at the Kamerick Art Building during the biennial Art Faculty Exhibition. The exhibit featured art of all different kinds of media, such as graphic design, ceramics, painting, photography and performance art. The event was open to all students and the public. “This is something we do every two years,” said Darrel Taylor, the director of the Gallery of Art. “The purpose is to let the students [...] know what the art faculty is doing and see their brand new work.” According to Taylor, the event is not sponsored, but rather a collaboration of the UNI Art Department and the
gallery. Taylor also said that each art faculty member has an opportunity to bring new work out and display it at the gallery. A few of the artists were at the exhibition to talk about their work, as well as see what other faculty members had on display. Aypryl Pippert, an art instructor at UNI, put on a performance art display that involved sucking on a cinnamon candy heart and then spitting into a large cup. Pippert also had super-sized suckers of different flavors set up nearby that were interactive for students and the public. Tim Dooley, Jeffrey Byrd, and Kenneth Hall were also at the event with their works on display. Byrd contributed performance art that was recorded and put onto television screens in the exhibit. See EXHIBITION, page 5
UNI Museum’s mastodon tusk to be restored ANNA FLANDERS Staff Writer
For nearly 100 years, the UNI Museum has possessed a mastodon tusk that is estimated to be between 50,000 and 150,000 years old. It’s been in storage for the last 50 years, but thanks to a grant of more than $300,000 by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, it can now be restored and stabilized. Awarded in 2016, the grant was written for three years, and the museum is currently a third of the way through restoration the process. According to Nathan Arndt, the assistant director and chief curator for the UNI Museum, the tusk was found in 1933 in Hampton, Iowa in a gravel pit. “At that time, the museum was still active,” Arndt said.
“We’ve been around for over a hundred years, and Dr. Cable, who was the head of the museum at the time, thought it would be a nice addition to the museum here.” The tusk was displayed until the ‘60s. But the standards for the time didn’t keep the tusk safe, according to Arndt. While in open display, the tusk suffered water damage from a leaking roof. Now with the grant, the museum is finally getting the opportunity to fix it. Laura Kubick is the conservator, and Ellie Akers, a UNI senior majoring in anthropology, is her assistant. For Akers, the experience has confirmed her passion for conservation. “I’ve tested samples; I’ve done all the research for it,” Akers said. “I’ve been doing a lot of back and forth with the conservator, gathering research for
the field that I actually wanna go into after I graduate.” Throughout this process, one of the museum’s major partners has been the chemistry department, especially Assistant Professor Josh Sebree and his Instrumental Analysis class. “This year’s class is involved in kind of the phase one: understanding the current state of the tusk and then [. . .] the initial cleanup of it,” Sebree said. “Next year’s class is going to start taking the first data of phase two, which is the final conservation efforts. So, from there, next year’s class and the year after will [. . .] continue monitoring the tusk.” Dr. Sebree’s class is concerned with the chemical safety issues that the tusk presents. The presence of lead on the tusk is one major concern.
ANNE MARIE GRUBER/Courtesy Photo
Some UNI students have acquired the opportunity to examine the mastodon tusk first-hand, thanks to a recently received grant. The tusk has been in possession of the UNI Museum for almost 100 years.
According to Sebree, there may also be arsenic in some of the lacquers. Many of the dangers are still unknown. “[I]n the first six weeks of the course, [students have to] come up with a research
idea of how they’re going to answer some of the questions that were brought up in the original Carver proposal that was awarded to understand this tusk better,” Sebree said. See MASTODON, page 2
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