Curious Collection | Former school houses natural history museum, hosts floating art exhibit
Nikki Burk
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: TruLife
The second level has much more to offer. The first sight at the top of the second floor is a mural that shows Tharp smiling and driving a car full of The Beatles. In the same hallway are bathrooms whose toilets, painted by University students, will provide an exciting bathroom experience for visitors.
In the room across the hall, a history of colorful typewriters decorates rows of shelves behind a wall of old and new computers.
The next room is one with shelves upon shelves of fossils, artifacts, bones, rocks and stones. In a room connected to this one, the body of a stuffed tiger stands on display.
"That poor tiger has the oblivious distinction of being the last legally killed Sumatran tiger," Tharp said. "It was shot in 1967 just before they went on the endangered species list."
The tiger is accompanied by displays of varying nature. Parts from the no-longer-standing Kirksville Kennedy Theater rest on a shelf and hang on the wall next to a photograph of the original building. Medical tools from the 19th and 20th century surround a human skeleton in a glass display case, while ancient artifacts and photographs of caves fill the rest of the room. The museum's crest, painted in an upper corner, looks down over a cabinet of medicines from the 19th century.
A third connected room will be the art room. Here, an enormous fresco painting, done by the University senior art class of 1997, covers an entire wall.
Piles of samples of plants and flowers, mostly from Tharp's mother's farm, fill a room down the hall. Tharp said his mother used to teach in the Washington School.
"She thinks it's really great that I have one of the schools that she used to teach in," Tharp said. "In fact, one of her classrooms is the one with the tiger."
The Washington School does not serve solely as a museum.
Tharp welcomes University art students to use empty rooms as studio space.
"I don't charge anything for any usages of the building," he said. "They leave something that other people can enjoy. Just a contribution, some way to help better the museum."
In the room across the hall, a history of colorful typewriters decorates rows of shelves behind a wall of old and new computers.
The next room is one with shelves upon shelves of fossils, artifacts, bones, rocks and stones. In a room connected to this one, the body of a stuffed tiger stands on display.
"That poor tiger has the oblivious distinction of being the last legally killed Sumatran tiger," Tharp said. "It was shot in 1967 just before they went on the endangered species list."
The tiger is accompanied by displays of varying nature. Parts from the no-longer-standing Kirksville Kennedy Theater rest on a shelf and hang on the wall next to a photograph of the original building. Medical tools from the 19th and 20th century surround a human skeleton in a glass display case, while ancient artifacts and photographs of caves fill the rest of the room. The museum's crest, painted in an upper corner, looks down over a cabinet of medicines from the 19th century.
A third connected room will be the art room. Here, an enormous fresco painting, done by the University senior art class of 1997, covers an entire wall.
Piles of samples of plants and flowers, mostly from Tharp's mother's farm, fill a room down the hall. Tharp said his mother used to teach in the Washington School.
"She thinks it's really great that I have one of the schools that she used to teach in," Tharp said. "In fact, one of her classrooms is the one with the tiger."
The Washington School does not serve solely as a museum.
Tharp welcomes University art students to use empty rooms as studio space.
"I don't charge anything for any usages of the building," he said. "They leave something that other people can enjoy. Just a contribution, some way to help better the museum."
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