History in the making: Brunschwyler hopes to revitalize Nevada State Museum

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003 | 8:18 a.m.

Standing among stuffed squirrels, encased cacti and a bighorn sheep display, Greta Brunschwyler absorbed the dimly lit room.

Wildlife dioramas anchored the walls. A taxidermic Gila monster stared. All was silent, save for the air streaming through the vents.

Though tranquil displays are endemic to history museums, Brunschwyler understands that the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society on Twin Lakes Drive could use a little oomph.

"It could be a lot richer experience," Brunschwyler said, looking around the room. "They've been on a limited budget for 20 years."

Brunschwyler is the museum's new director. She's an affable woman who jokes about "guerilla marketing" as a way to draw visitors, and breaks into conversation with grocery store clerks by thanking them for "passing the bond measure on the museum." (In November Nevada voters approved the use of bonds to pay for protecting natural resources, wildlife habitats, improving parks, recreational areas and cultural resources).

When Brunschwyler accepted the position in Las Vegas, the bond measure vote was still an election away. Either way, she said, she wanted the project, mainly for its challenge. As one of seven state museums in Nevada, the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society falls under the Department of Cultural Affairs. Mandated in 1982, its library carries a vast resource of Las Vegas history in materials sought after by researchers, universities and documentarians.

Exhibit halls feature prehistoric finds and re-creations and gambling, military and mob exhibits. Its outreach programs extend to local schools.

Over the years, however, its attendance has dwindled. The museum reportedly attracted 61,000 visitors in 1989. Last year it had 20,900 visitors.

Representatives, blaming its location (hidden behind Lorenzi Park) have looked at other sites, including Boulder City. The museum is undergoing an aggressive revitalization effort and is scheduled to move to the Las Vegas Springs Preserve on South Valley View Boulevard in 2005.

Brunschwyler was hired to build the new museum at the preserve, while drumming up interest in the institution at its current facility.

"We want to bring more attention to (the museum)," Marcia Wolter Britton, division of museums and history administrator, said. "The main thing is we're interested in fostering more community involvement, looking at diversity."

Regarding Brunschwyler, Britton said,"We were very interested in her passion and the work that she does. She's very connected and very interested in cutting-edge philosophies."

A museum's offerings

Brunschwyler came to the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society from Novato, Calif., where she served as director of the Novato History Museum and as cultural arts supervisor for the city.

Her education is in fine arts and museum design. She has worked with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, the San Diego Museum of Man and the Southern Oregon Historical Society in Medford.

Additionally, she serves on the executive committee of the Western Museum's Association.

In Las Vegas, Brunschwyler wants to generate interest among residents and give them a sense of belonging in Southern Nevada's history.

Her intellectual fascination with the Strip seems to equal her recreational interest in desert wildlife.

An outdoors enthusiast, she said the state and national parks encompassing Las Vegas helped influence her decision to move to the area.

Brunschwyler disagrees with a common misconception that newcomers to the Las Vegas Valley don't care about its history.

"When people move to an area, they want to know the history," she said. "People often ask me (about) when casinos started. Anything that could provide them with a sense of who they are in a community, feel proud of who they are and feel a greater connection" is important, she said.

When not scheduling meetings with local arts, cultural or civic/service groups (and hotel representatives), Brunschwyler's chatting about the museum to just about anybody she encounters.

"Our strength is in the content," she said. "We do have these great things. We've got an amazing, incredible library, amazing photos, thousands and thousands of them. And expertise."

But, she said, "It's going to take us a while to develop a dedicated audience and a place in the community. Especially when the community is changing. People moving out as quickly as they move in."

Additionally, the museum has no budget for marketing. Its exhibit space faces competition from the Clark County Museum and other museums popping up in the valley.

A little more action

Bringing in livelier temporary exhibits is one way Brunschwyler is working to draw more interest in the museum. She's working with Sandra Harris, director of the Neon Museum, to bring a neon exhibit to the museum in May. (Harris is the former executive director of the Liberace Museum).

"It won't be so austere," Brunschwyler said, looking at a current exhibit of panoramic Las Vegas photographs. "It's going to be a lot more clutter, a lot more excitement."

An exhibit on the history and origin of museums will follow (using items from the American Dime Museum in Baltimore). Another exhibit, proposed by the Nevada Arts Council, examines the culture of work in Las Vegas through oral histories, artifacts, costumes and uniforms.

"It's not hard to come up with exhibits here," Brunschwyler said with a smile. "What's great here is the potential. The potential is enormous. What more exciting history do you have than in Las Vegas?"

Then and now

Permanent exhibits at the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society are categorized under biological sciences, regional history and earth sciences.

What museum staff doesn't have, it re-creates, including a 48-foot carved wall sculpture of the Ichthyosaur Shonisaurus popularis (Nevada's state fossil) and a skeleton of a 20-foot, 10-ton Columbian Mammoth that roamed Nevada 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.

The Gunnery Range, atomic testing, early natives and gambling are subjects of other displays. The library contains photographs, manuscripts, newspapers and maps of Las Vegas and Nevada history. A staff of 15 serves the museum.

Britton said statewide the museums preserve 3 million objects.

"We really are Nevada's attic," she said.

A museum buff, Britton explained, "It's important to know where we've come from so we can move into the future. It's a matter of humanities, trying to understand this human experience. History is all about change. We're all about change.

"If we don't relate the past to the present we're missing the boat."

Brunschwyler plans to increase tourist business. In Oregon, Brunschwyler received the Governor's Award for promoting cultural tourism by creating roadside and in-museum kiosks for the Applegate Trail.

People don't always equate museums with fun, Brunschwyler said, but the cultural tourists will seek them out.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, nearly 93 million Americans claim to have attended at least one cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event when traveling in the past year. The association says that a third of historic/cultural travelers say they've added extra time to their trip because of such an event or activity.

"We're in Las Vegas," Brunschwyler said. "We've got millions of visitors. I think if we talk to people in a way that's a little more lively then we can get our education message across.

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