The Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is celebrating summer with Do-It-Yourself programs on Thursday.
Summer in the Museum starts at 5:30 p.m.on the edge of IU’s campus at 416 N. Indiana Avenue. Camden Hill, the museum’s development & external communications manager, said Summer in the Museum is a free way to get out of the heat.
“We don't want to have a stuffy atmosphere,” Hill said. “We're here for the Bloomington community, for families, for students, for everybody."
Hill said museum leaders such as education coordinator Shelbie Porteroff planned DIY events for all ages.
Visitors can create their spice blends for pickling, including mustard seed, dill and coriander. The museum will provide a pickling recipe.
Hill said other programs, such as decorating a tote bag or creating a field guide of common Indiana birds and plants, can be useful for gardening or going to the beach.
Using the sun, plant parts and fabric scraps, visitors can create unique prints called cyanotypes. They can bring their own fabric such as a t- shirt, use the provided tote bag or print on paper.
The museum will also provide flowers and teach visitors how to press them.
“It takes up to a month to really finish the pressing process, but we can get people started,” Hill said.
The IU herbarium with the Department of Biology will bring part of its collections of plant species.
“That's gonna be kind of a surprise,” Hill said. “The local 4H Council will be there with a table and activities as well.”
Hill said the museum will continue to host similar events and grow its exhibitions. After recent renovations, the museum opened its City on the River exhibition on Indiana’s Angel Mound, an indigenous archaeological site.
Future events can be found on IU’s events calendar.
“There's more of that coming,” Hill said. “And if there's anything they'd like to see, just let us know.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
