Description
Museum of Northern Arizona
Curator’s Statement
Some ideas have been contemporary for a long time. The Museum of Northern Arizona has been trying to democratize and expand access to the arts since our founding in 1928. In 1934 one of MNAs founders, Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, wrote “We do not believe that art is for the very few, somewhere far beyond the understanding of the majority; it is for every one of us.”
This project is another way to bring the arts to every one of us, particularly some of the cultural treasures of our region that the museum takes care of for the community. Often people are asked to make time to go see art, but many people don’t have the time, or the energy and money, to step away from their busy lives for a moment of cultural respite. These same people may be the ones who will most appreciate enjoying a glimpse of art or a line of poetry as a break from the tedium of the daily grind. We want to bring the art to them and incorporate art into everyday life by putting it onto the buses.
Kristan Hutchison runs a writers’ workshop through the Museum of Northern Arizona and is on the board of the Northern Arizona Book Festival. She also founded the Poetry Omnibus project in Juneau, Alaska, which has put poetry on the buses there since 2006.
As Director of Public Engagement, Kristan handles press and public outreach for MNA, as well as overseeing Public Programs. She started as a journalist, a 15-year adventure that took her from Alaska to Antarctica and around the world. Among her journalism highlights were five seasons writing about Antarctic science for the National Science Foundation, a science journalism fellowship at the Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole, MA, and a Pew Fellowship in International Journalism.
Kristan transitioned to teaching and marketing after moving to California, where she worked with the Maker Faire, a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness.
