The Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded a MHC Major Grant of $10,000 to Dr. Billie Follensbee, Professor and Museum Studies Program Coordinator, Department of Art & Design, Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at Missouri State University, in support of the 2024-2025 project, Helping to Bring the Humanities to the Public Square.
This grant award is being used to purchase two large, secure display cases that will be placed in the Park Central Branch Library at Park Central Square in Springfield, Missouri, which will enable Grant Project Director Dr. Billie Follensbee, in coordination with Library Branch Manager Shannon Wortham, to curate and present six public, interpretive exhibits of historic Missouri Ozarks and Native American artifacts. These exhibits will include detailed labels and informative display texts that were researched by advanced students in Missouri State University’s Museum Studies and Art History & Visual Culture programs. The grant project will sponsor a public opening for each exhibit during the opening month’s First Friday Art Walk, with an opening reception, an invited presentation by one or more student/alumni researchers for that exhibit, a question-and-answer session, and a children’s activity.
Exhibit Program for the Project Helping to Bring Humanities to the Public Square:
October 4 through November 30, 2024
Celebrating Native American Cultures of the Ozarks Region
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, October 4, 2024
6:30 p.m. “Researching and Preserving Native American Artifacts” presentations by MSU alumnae Jessica Winslow and Kylei Giles
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
December 6, 2024 through January 31, 2025
What’s on Your Wishlist? Toys of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, December 6, 2024
6:30 p.m. “Researching and Preserving Vintage Toys” presentation by MSU student Emery Wilcoxon
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
February 7 through March 30, 2025
Keeping Warm in the Ozarks: Cast Iron Stoves in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, February 7, 2025
6:30 p.m. “Researching and Preserving Iron Artifacts” presentation by MSU alumna Madelyn Pohl
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
April 4 through May 31, 2025
Occupations of the Late 19th to Mid-20th Century in the Ozarks
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4, 2025
6:30 p.m. “Preserving Artifacts of the Early 20th-Century Ozarks” presentations by MSU alumni Sarah Dotson and Kevin Frey
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
June 6 through July 31, 2025
Rose O’Neill, Author, Illustrator, and Artist
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, June 6, 2025
6:30 p.m. “Preserving O’Neill’s Books and Illustrations” presentation by MSU alumna Vinita Williams
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
August 1 through September 30, 2025
Artifacts from the Bonniebrook Homestead, Late 19th to Mid-20th Century, Missouri
Park Central Branch Library Gallery
Opening Reception: Friday, August 1, 2025
6:30 p.m. “What Common, Everyday Objects Can Tell Us about Life in the Early 20th-Century Ozarks” presentation by MSU alumna Renee Walker
7:00 p.m. Questions & Answers and Children’s Activity
For more information about this grant project and the exhibit program, please contact Dr. Billie Follensbee at BillieFollensbee@MissouriState.edu
The Missouri Humanities Council is the only state-wide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971. For more information about the grants program of the Missouri Humanities Council, call 314-781-9660 or 800-357-0909, or write to the MHC, 415 S. 18th Street, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63103-2269.
