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As a sophomore, Corrie Cook decided to become a docent at the Ball State University
Museum of Art where she could give tours of the museum’s
diverse collections of paintings, prints, sculptures, and decorative arts
to classes and other groups.
The rest is history – specifically, public history. That is the major Corrie chose to study at Ball State after working at the sixty-four-year-old museum. It might also become her career. "It was actually the art museum experience that pushed me toward public history," says the senior from Lafayette. Public history involves museum work and focuses on the social aspects of history more than on the theoretical and technical issues.
"You have to talk about the good stories, and I think the art in the museum is a very good tool to depict those stories. It adds something physical to what you’re talking about. Instead of artifacts, they’re actually pieces of art to illustrate history," Cook says. The museum offers the visitor a serene, eclectic, and visually stunning tour of art through the ages. Images and abstractions from various periods and places give visitors the opportunity to reflect, analyze, and enjoy. The building itself, partially funded by the Ball family, is a magnificent example of the Collegiate Gothic style. But, as Cook has learned, the museum’s 11,000 works, valued at more than $40 million, are more than just pretty pictures. They portray a world of history and culture, and they are at the heart of the museum’s mission to educate students of all ages on campus and in the community. They also reflect seven decades of generosity by the local Ball family, the Ball Brothers Foundation, the George and Frances Ball Foundation, the Petty family, David T. Owsley, and many other community members and Ball State alumni and friends. Over the years, these donors have contributed thousands of significant works of art, as well as major funds for art acquisition, education programs, and conservation. Today the nationally accredited art museum houses important collections of American nineteenth- and early twentieth-century paintings, European eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings, select works from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries, and decorative arts. In addition, there are strong collections of contemporary prints and drawings, ethnographic and Asian works, and the Ball-Kraft Collection of Ancient Glass. As a docent, Cook has helped numerous visitors enjoy the beauty of the museum’s collections as well as benefit from their educational value. She has guided nearly thirty interactive tours of the museum’s collections for Ball State classes, elementary and high school students, and other groups. Several teachers on campus and in the community take classes to the museum and use the art to demonstrate everything from English and history to math and science principles. "It has ties to so many different subjects," Cook explains. "It’s a good resource in general for students and for teachers." In an undergraduate fellowship next spring, Cook will help the museum develop new classroom materials that teach local students about American history through American sculpture.
The practical experience she has gained helped her land a summer internship and a job offer in public history at the historic Saint William’s on Long Point in Raquette Lake, New York, where she gave tours and wrote a history of the organization last summer. "You don’t come up with a lot of volunteer opportunities that help your career and your education and the work is fun," Cook says. "It’s a sense of satisfaction at the end of a tour when the kids are leaving and they’re smiling and talking about something they learned. It’s a good feeling." Cook’s public education has included an experience that was made possible in part by private giving and that will result in more public education – a spiraling connection that is almost a work of art in its own right. Continue: Academic Initiatives |
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Corrie Cook
