SPECIAL EXHIBITS 



In the operation of a museum, special exhibits prepared by the 

 regular staff present a special problem. If the exhibit is to be worth 

 while, much time must be devoted to its planning and execution. 

 Yet a museum can afford to spend only limited amounts of staff -time 

 and funds on exhibits that are not of lasting importance. Perhaps 

 the finest tribute that can be given a temporary exhibit is its reten- 

 tion for an extended period of time. Two of the special exhibits in 

 1958 have this distinction. An exhibit designed to answer the ques- 

 tion "What Is Primitive Art?" was on display in Stanley Field Hall 

 from July through September and then was moved to a ground-floor 

 corridor adjacent to Hall E (Africa), where it continues to give 

 a lucid answer to all who ask the same question (see page 52). 

 Similarly, the major part of an exhibit of shells from the collection 

 of the late Dr. C. W. Yarrington will be placed for continuing exhi- 

 bition in Hall M (Lower Invertebrates) at the conclusion of its 

 display in Stanley Field Hall in January, 1959 (see page 76). 



For the first time the Museum was host to the annual orchid 

 show sponsored by the Illinois Orchid Society in October (page 56). 

 For this, living orchids were displayed in an unglazed aluminum 

 greenhouse frame lent by the manufacturer and erected in Stanley 

 Field Hall. Corollary to the large showing of living orchids was 

 one of specimens from the Herbarium of the Museum to illustrate 

 historic or taxonomic aspects of the orchid family of plants, with 

 standard reference works and richly illustrated books on the subject 

 from the Museum's botanical library. Paintings by Caroline Van 

 Evera of Indian types of Central and South America and market 

 scenes were exhibited in November, and eighteen of those dealing 

 with Guatemala Indians are now in the permanent collections of 

 the Museum (see page 28). "Impressions of Iran," a collection of 

 photographs of Iranian life, architecture, and landscapes, was shown 

 during September in Hall K in relation to our Babylonian exhibits. 



The Thirteenth Chicago International Exhibition of Nature 

 Photography, co-sponsored by the Nature Camera Club of Chicago, 

 was a major attraction in February, and the award-winning entries 

 in the Eighth Annual Amateur Handcrafted Gem and Jewelry Com- 

 petitive Exhibition sponsored by the Chicago Lapidary Club were 

 equally attractive to visitors in June. Drawings by students of the 

 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, whose classes meet in the 

 Museum, were exhibited in May (see page 90). The fresh, imag- 

 inative interpretation of Museum exhibits by the younger of these 

 students is always a joy to visitors. 



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