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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1985)
Local museum hosts 'Hometown Oil exhibit ByGlGISHAMSY Stall Writer It's not the Louvre or the Museum of Modem Art, but then were not Paris or New York City. The Brazos Valley Museum is a museum none theless and its doors have been open for residents of Bryan-College Station for six years. It's quietly tucked away in the east end of the contemporary Brazos Center at 3232 Briarcrest Drive. It's unassuming and discreet, hosting interactive exhibits and educational programs for children throughout the year. The museum is presently hosting an exhibit called "Hometown Oil," which creatively gives museum pa trons an indepth look at the local gas and oil industry. Each room of the exhibit calls for visitor participation. "When you walk into the area," says exhibit coordinator Diana Baker, "you become an exploration geophysicist. Your goal is to find res ervoir rock which contains oil." To complete this mission, museum patrons become oil explorers, as they arm themselves with a clip board, a calculator, a pencil and a gamebook describing the oil discov ery and land-leasing process. At one point during the game, four chairs and a table covered with a red-checked tablecloth await the participants. "In the early days of oil explora tion," Baker says, "families met with a leasing agent in their kitchen to discuss the drilling and leasing of their land. We recreated that scene, where museum visitors can sit in this kitchen and roll dice to determine their next move in the leasing pro cess. " The game ends after each partici pant choses a "drilling site" and in serts a stick into a peg board which represents land in Brazos Valley. If the peg "hits oil" you've won the game and a bumper sticker which reads "Wildcat at the Brazos Valley Museum." Baker says she and museum staff members worked intensely for about four months to construct the "Home town Oil" exhibit. Museum Director Valeen Silvy says the Brazos Valley Museum, be fore hosting the "Hometown Oil" ex hibit, hosted an exhibit called "Cot ton in the Brazos Valley." "The cotton exhibit is now split into two exhibits," Silvy says. "One part of the exhibit is in a storefront win dow of the old Lester's building in downtown Bryan. Another part of the exhibit is on display in a bank in downtown Calvert." Silvy says the museum receives major funding from the Astin and Winkler Trusts and the United Way to present programs and exhibits. "Along with the Astin Trusts, which are set up as educational funds for non-profit, community or ganizations," Silvy explains, "the museum relies on funding from the Arts Council of Brazos Valley and from private donations to make pro gramming successful. The museum's Board of Trustees throws an annual fundraiser to pro vide additional operating money for the museum. "For the last two years," Silvy says, "we've had a 'Discovery Night' fundraiser, with champagne and conversation with speakers like A&M anthropology professor Gentry Steele. "This year, we decided to have a party to raise funds for the mu seum," she says. "It's called 'kalei doscope of cultures' — an evening of fun which highlights six ethnic cul tures in the Brazos Valley, each cul ture featured in a large tent on the grounds in front of the Brazos Cen ter. It'll be on Sept. 27 from 7 p.m. until midnight. Between 7 and 9 p.m., each tent will have a dinner with ethnic food and drink, demon strations and exhibits." Silvy outlines the cultural festivi ties in each tent: •In the "Black tent," guests can sample greens and hot water corn- bread, listen to the Texas A&M Gos pel Singers, watch breakdancers and view a photo exhibit about Mar tin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. •In the "Czech tent," guests can lis ten to music from a hammered dul cimer (an instrument similar to a xy lophone), sample Czechoslovakian desserts and watch Czech folk danc ing. •In the "Italian tent," guests can sample antipasto dishes from Ce- nare Italian restaurant, taste wine from Messina Hoff, observe grape stomping and listen to accordian music. •In the "Mexican tent," guests can sample flautas by Jose's restaurant and watch the "Folklorico Dancers." •In the "Texana tent," guests can sample food from Randy Sims Bar-B- Que House and chicken fried steaks from Ken Martin's Steak House. .There will also be mechanical bull riding and a quilting display. •In the "Indian tent," guests can sample pre-cooked bison meatballs and observe a flint knapping dem onstration. Gentry Steele, an A&M anthropol ogy professor who's preparing activ ities for the Indian tent, says flint knapping demonstrations will show guests at the "kaleidoscope of cultu res" how arrowheads are made. "There will also be an artifact dis play of pottery pieces and pieces of animal bone which were recovered from an archeological site off High way 21 a few years ago," Steele says. Steele and Mike Stevens, an A&M architectural and environmental de sign student, are designing a 100 feet helium balloon sculpture for the event. There's more than just the ethnic food, drink and entertainment in these six tents at the "kaleidoscope of cultures." Silvy says at 9:00 p.m. there will be an auction of such items as two halves of butchered sides of beef, jewelry, clothing gift certificates and four tickets in the Chancellor's Box for the A&M-Houston football game. After the auction, she says there will be a street dance in the parking lot of the Brazos Center until mid night. Tickets for the fundraiser are $30 per couple. Guests also have the op tion of making a $50 tax-deductible donation and receiving two compli mentary tickets to the "kaleidoscope of cultures," along with a family membership to the museum. □