The Sindecuse Museum Welcomes New Curator
The Sindecuse Museum is delighted to have a new leader on board, with the arrival of Tammy Barnes.
Tammy joins us from the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, where she was Assistant Director for Material Culture. Her background includes all aspects of museum work, including outreach to underrepresented groups and conducting oral histories. In recent years, she has explored the use of digital technologies to further engage audiences and to make collections more accessible to the public.
She has agreed to answer some questions for the blog so we can get to know her a bit more while she gets to know the museum.
M: Welcome! Tell us a little bit about how it feels to join both the School of Dentistry and the U-M museum community.
T: Joining the Museum of Dentistry is really fascinating. I have been focused on social history for many years, but within my first week at the Museum, I was reminded of my days in graduate school where I spent a great deal of time intrigued with the history of early machinery. That will definitely be helpful in this position.
Working at the University of Michigan in a professional capacity is a bit surreal. My grandmother, mother, and sister held clerical and temporary positions at U-M, but I am the first in my family to be here doing something that I consider my life’s passion.
M: Tell us something that’s the same about the two museums - the one you’re coming from and the Sindecuse - and something that’s different.
T: Easily the biggest similarity between the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Sindecuse Museum is that they are administered by institutions of higher learning. It definitely helps cement the educational mission and community bond at both places. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum attracts a VERY diverse audience base including children of all ages. The Sindecuse currently has a more narrow focus, but I look forward to attracting a wider range of visitors once the building is more open again.
M: What’s one of the best experiences you’ve ever had as a museum-goer? Something from a museum that really made a lasting impression?
T: By chance, I visited museums at Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima within a few months of one another. Both museums do an exceptional job at humanizing these infamous and tragic events. I had a personal connection to Pearl Harbor through my grandfathers’ military service - one stationed in Guam and the other sent to clean-up after the attack. While at the Hiroshima museum, an elderly man who was looking at a display next to me told me an in-depth account of his wife’s experiences surviving the bomb. In their best moments, museums are immensely powerful places for personal reflection as well as community dialogues.
M: You’re coming to us from across the mitten, but have some roots in Washtenaw County?
T: Yes, my mother’s side of the family are all from Ann Arbor, while my father’s family is from the Saline area. I grew up on a cucumber farm in Lodi Township. Readers might remember Barnes Farm Market, which was our family business in the 80s and 90s.
M: What kind of reaction have you gotten when you tell people you’ve moved to a Museum of Dentistry?
T: One friend was thrilled — she had recently included the Sindecuse Museum in her book, “100 Things to Do in Ann Arbor Before You Die.” Everyone else has been curious, having not been aware of this place. They all look forward to a visit!
M: What are some of the things you’re most excited to start at the Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry?
T: This will not sound very exciting and I know a lot of people dread this process, but I really want to develop a strategic plan within the next year. I am very much a big-picture person and I know that to move forward in an effective manner, you have to have a clear path, and you have to have buy-in from staff and others. I am also anxious to collect stories and collections that document the experiences of dentists, hygienists, patients, and office staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another long-term goal is to start actively collecting oral histories in a way that enhances or collections and fills in some of the gaps we have for the latter part of the 20th century.
M: Where do you see the Museum being in the next few years? Any long-term goals at the beginning of your time here?
T: I see the Sindecuse Museum having a far greater visibility and also being more utilized as a resource by the University and surrounding community. The collections and exhibits here are just springboards to a deeper understanding of personal and cultural connections to medicine and health, and that is why I believe this museum is a true treasure!