Infestation!!

And here we are, finally caught up to present day.  As you can see, we had a lot of excitement happen last semester.  This semester should be just as exciting but not in a stressful way (hopefully).

We have opened our spring show, Bugs:  Outside the Box.  The crates came in a week before we were to open because Paul was coming in to set up the exhibit on a day where the campus was closed so we wouldn’t have access to the forklift.  The exhibit got here just fine which was a nice change from events that occurred in the fall.  Unpacking the truck took about an hour.  When everything was in the gallery Darrell and I looked at eachother with some concern.  There was a lot of furniture but we didn’t see anything that these giant bugs could be in.  We called Paul and he assured us that everything was there.  Paul came to the Museum on a Monday and he and I moved things around a bit.  He wasn’t worried about time at all and said it was usually a 3 day set up.  We did end up setting up over three days but total time was really more like 2 days thanks to the help of the NMJC grounds and maintenance crew.  Paul was very impressed with our staff.  He took off Wednesday at lunch to avoid some bad weather coming in but we were ready.  Honestly we didn’t know what to do with ourselves because we’re never done a day and half early.  Turns out it worked out well because we had a snow day the day of the opening so we pushed it back a day.

The Friday opening went really well.  Over 300 people came out Friday night to celebrate the Bugs opening.  There was a lot of excitement concerning our Bugs exhibit.  I knew kids liked bugs but I never expected the reaction we got.  Even people who don’t care for bugs admit that these sculptures are beautiful.  A week after opening we had our first Family Fun Day which was entitled Bugs:  101.  Dr. Carol Sutherland came and spoke about bug basics.  She also brought about 20 drawers of bugs from the Eastern New Mexico University collection.  The drawers were a huge hit!  All throughout the day there were people studying the bugs.  The Master Gardeners even joined in and talked to people about bugs.  We had crafts, talks and a bug autopsy.  Over 1,000 people came out for Family Fun!!  I didn’t expect bugs to be dinosaurs big.  It’s pretty awesome.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and learned something new.

Since opening, we’ve had school tours almost every day.  The kids and teachers seem to be really excited.  I have personally helped with a bug autopsy and the kids had some really good questions about the stag beetle and bugs in general.  It is a fascinating world that we really take for granted.  These tiny creatures live in their own world with their own rules.