Collaboration and Co-creation - Traveling Treasures Case Study
For more than 20 years, the Natural History Museum of Utah and Zions Bank (Image 1) have worked together on Traveling Treasures, an annual outreach partnership designed to bring the state museum of natural history, and its collections, into all of Utah’s communities. Every year, a team of educators, exhibit designers, bank personnel, and museum volunteers create a new traveling exhibit that explores an intriguing aspect of the natural history of the state, region, or planet (Images 2 and 3).
As the Statewide Community Engagement Coordinator, I direct the exhibit delivery and installation (Images 4-9) at each bank branch, develop free-to-attend community science events (Images 10 and 11), and build partnerships with local community leaders and organizations (Images 12 and 13). In September of the year before the exhibit begins to travel the state, I work with NHMU and Zions Bank executives to create a travel route for the upcoming year. During its time on the road, Traveling Treasures visits up to 12 cities, prioritizing those in rural and frontier counties.
At the most recent community science night in Park City, Utah, I organized museum volunteers to interpret education materials (Images 14 and 15), collaborated with four different community organizations to develop activities for the event, and partnered with Anna Evans, a Utah-based artist, to host a watercolor craft corner.