FAMILIES LAY WREATHS UPON VETERANS' GRAVES COMMUNITY, B1
a Gallup Sun VOL 10 | ISSUE 508
www.gallupsun.com
December 20, 2024
Preserving Gallup’s history TWO WOMEN FACE UPHILL BATTLE TO IMPROVE RED ROCK MUSEUM By Molly Ann Howell Managing Editor
W
hen Tammi Moe took over the Red Rock Museum in 2018, she couldn’t believe her eyes during her first walk through of the building. The display cases were covered in dust, and there was dirt and insects everywhere. McK i n ley Cou nt y has been in charge of the building that has housed the museum for two years. But during a Nov. 4 city council work session, Moe said the county staff doesn’t know how to properly care for a museum. “The county doesn’t have an understanding of the value of the [museum’s] collection, the care of the collection, or what it means to have an operational museum and the impact that an operational museum would have on our economy and education here,” Moe said. A LONG LIST OF ISSUES The museum is home to artifacts from two defunct non-profits — the Gallup Historical Society and the Red Rock Park Museum. Moe said that when she took over, none of the items were labeled properly, and some of them were scattered around the building’s hallways. Part of the problem comes from the fact that the museum hasn’t had a curator for the past 20 years. But that changed a year ago when Alania Nolan moved to Gallup and took on the role. Before moving to Gallup, she was the curator for the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial in Philadelphia, Penn. Nolan and Moe have spent the past year organizing the museum’s collection by going through handwritten inventories and matching items to their descriptions. Now, Nolan is digitizing that information with the help of a program called CatalogIt. The museum’s entire collection doesn’t all fit inside the building. Some of it is in storage at the Octavia Fellin Public Librar y and the Rex Museum. During the past year’s renovations, Moe and Nolan tore a wall down in the building to create more space for exhibitions, but they say it’s still not enough.
They could have more available space, but four of the building’s rooms are used for county staff offices. “If we could have control of that entire building, there is enough room to store the entire mu s e u m c o l l e c t i o n together and have a small classroom space,” Nolan said. B U I L D I N G PROBLEMS T h e wo m e n a n d county staff have also butt heads when it comes to the heating of the building. The building was built in the ‘80s, and it doesn’t have any air conditioning. Nolan said county staff often leave the building’s doors open to create some sort of air flow while they work. But that brings in insects and dirt, which isn’t good for a museum setting. T he p o or- q u a l it y HVAC system also causes problems. The museum only has heat. They have no air conditioning in the summer months. “Fluctuations in heat and humidity are the worst thing you can do for pretty much anything in a museum collection,” Nolan said. “The items like stability. But the heat and the dryness actually is particularly bad for the collections that are out there.” Nolan said many of the collection’s leather items are cracked, all the Indigenous drums are shattered except for one, and a lot of the artwork is ruined since paper doesn’t do well in super dry conditions. During the Nov. 4 city council work session, City Manager Frank Chiapetti Jr. told the council that he had recently toured the Red Rock Museum. The work session was called to go over the city’s Infrastructure Capital Outlay Improvement Plan. Chiapetti sa id he would be asking legislators for $500,000 to improve the Red Rock Museum, starting with their HVAC system. During that part of the presentation, he mentioned how hot the museum can get, comparing it to an oven. He said the $500,000 would help fund the planning, design, construction, and repair all needed for the museum. He estimated that the total cost to fix everything at the museum would be closer to $1 million. But $500,000 is a start.
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One of Red Rock Museum's curator Alania Norton's favorite pieces is this piece of dinosaur skull. She doesn't know what type of dinosaur it comes from, but she loves showing it to kids who come into the museum. Photo Credit: Kim Helfenbein
A not her problem Norton faces occurs when she tries to get into the building. Right now, the county staff are the only ones with keys. She has to wait for someone from the county to come open the doors. Norton said she and
Moe recently met with the county manager to discuss getting her a set of keys, and he agreed to do so. But two months later, that task has not been accomplished.
See RED ROCK PARK MUSEUM, Page A5
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