KENTUCKY MUSEUM VIRTUAL CONNECTION
The Kentucky Museum created this page as a central location for all virtual resources. Museum staff will continue to add to the page. If you have questions about available resources, please email kymus@wku.edu.
VIRTUAL TOURS
WKU student docents give tours of exhibits.
A Star in Each Flag: Conflict in KY
Snell-Franklin Decorative Arts
FOR KIDS
PHOTO GALLERIES
2020 US Bank Celebration of the Arts Online Exhibit
Snell Franklin Decorative Arts
SELF-GUIDED CAMPUS TOUR
How about a tour of campus? Use this script with photos and be your own family’s tour guide! Start in front of the KY Building, walk up to the Augenstein Alumni Center, Cherry Hall and so on. Easy to follow numbered guide with photos so you can give your family a great tour of campus!
CLASSROOM CLOSE STUDY OF COLLECTIONS (CCC)
Each semester, the Kentucky Museum (KM) and the Department of Library Special Collections (DLSC) fill a classroom with WWI/WWII artifacts and invite WKU history classes to schedule sessions. Click here for a virtual version of this CCC.
ONLINE EXHIBITS
The following exhibits have one or more webpages associated with their content, and provide additional resources for remote study. These exhibits lend themselves to classroom use with college and K-12 curricula.
Facing the Freshman Year: Essential Conversations This exhibit is designed to convey the stories of the freshman year, allowing authentic student voices to speak to the complexity of navigating the transition to higher education. Consult the “For Educators” options for writing prompts, exhibit text and more.
Gazing Deeply: The Art and Science of Mammoth Cave Visit online exhibit page to look at the objects, stories, and involvement of WKU at Mammoth Cave National Park. Educational activities that can be utilized by WKU courses and K-12 students include:
- Exploring Echolocation,
- Designing a garden for bats, or
- Exploring the Bat Friends guide to bat species in North America.
Kentucky Women Rising will be a new physical exhibit at the KM, but for now enjoy content virtually with our new webpage. Kentucky women have been active in politics for over 200 years. Before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment which granted women the right to vote, they repeatedly sought to participate in political life and make their voices heard. Educational activities include:
- Telling HERStory (downloadable Word activity, focused on historical biography and creative writing for grades 6-12 and college courses),
- Viewing and discussing various videos in the exhibit on feminism's history, and
- Inviting students to take the Washington Post's Feminist Typology Quiz and reflecting on their results.
Out of the Box In honor of our 80th anniversary, this exhibition showcases how historical artifacts, photos, and records tell multiple stories. Visit online exhibit page with object lessons. Educational activities include:
- Write an Object Lesson about an artifact in the Museum's collections (available via KenCat).
- Develop an "Out of the Box" exhibit for the Year 3020, individually or as a class.
Seat at the Table: Kentucky Women in Office. This poster exhibit highlighting 11 women in KY's political life will be on physical display at the Museum. The individual posters are available for viewing online. Exhibit sponsored by Wells Fargo.
Stickwork/Highbrow This is an outdoor, easily accessible sculpture in front of the Kentucky Building. The impressive sculpture was made from interwoven tree saplings by nationally renowned artist Patrick Dougherty, with the assistance of local volunteers. Video of build.
Collections
Our Collections page provides an overview of the Museum's major collections. If you find a topic that interests you, try searching on KenCat. If you are interested in objects, or images of objects, to support classroom instruction, or have a question about collection items--please contact either Collections Curator Sandy.Staebell@wku.edu (270-745-6260) or Education Curator Christy.Spurlock@wku.edu (270-745-6082).
ONLINE COLLECTIONS
KenCat is the online database shared by the Kentucky Museum and the Department of Library Special Collections. Go to Keyword Search and for example search over 20,000 items related to WKU!
STUDENT RESEARCH
The History of the U.S. Senate Desk presentation. Olivia Bowers is an art history and studio art major, and has researched the US. Senate Clerk’s desk. Olivia’s presentation is part of a Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis project executed in conjunction with funds from the Faculty-Undergraduate Student Engagement (FUSE) Grant. Bowers' written research and images are available online. Video of presentation available on the Museum's YouTube.
COMING SOON . . .
The Museum will soon post video of an exciting performance.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Performance. In conjunction with the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, WKU theatre major Liza Rash has written a script and will be performing a dramatic piece.
Hilltopper Family Fun
Our friends at the WKU Alumni Association have created a great web page with Topper Zoom backgrounds, coloring pages, and more. Check out the Hilltopper Family Fun page.
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.