Sunken Cities and
Shipwrecks: The Growing World of Underwater Museums
Ever imagined having to gear up in a scuba outfit in order to tour a
museum? Sunken Cities and Shipwrecks: The Growing World of Underwater
Museums, an exhibit that introduces visitors to a new kind of museum,
is currently on exhibit at the Mathers
Museum of World Cultures.
Isaac Stone Simonelli, the exhibit's curator, is an undergraduate in IU's
Individualized Major Program pursuing a degree in underwater archeology.
His studies have led him to the Dominican Republic where he's worked with
Beeker and Geoffrey Conrad, Director of the Mathers Museum, to explore the
nature of and the issues surrounding underwater museums.
The exhibit features a variety of artifacts including drawings of two 18th
century galleons (the San Pedro and the Guadalupe), photographs, a replica
of a cannon, and ballast stones, all related to maritime history. But
Simonelli notes in the exhibit that “underwater museums not only offer the
opportunity to experience the maritime history of the site, they also
allow divers to witness the equilibrium these archaeological relics have
attained with their ‘new’ environment. In some cases cannons have become
homes to corals, ballasts stones have created homes for lobsters and
squids, and in general these museum sites have offered structure and
protection for a variety of underwater sea creatures.” Sunken Cities
and Shipwrecks: The Growing World of Underwater Museums, will be on
exhibit through December 19, 2008.
The Mathers Museum is located at 416 North Indiana Avenue in Bloomington.
Its Exhibit Halls are open Tuesdays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Admission to the
Museum is free. Free visitor parking is available by the entrance on
Indiana Avenue, and on surrounding streets (during weekends). Metered and
IU Permit parking spaces are available at the McCalla School parking lot
on the corner of Ninth Street and Indiana Avenue. An access ramp is
located at the corner of Ninth Street and Fess Avenue, at the entrance to
the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology adjoining the Mathers Museum.
Reserved parking spaces are available on Ninth Street, between Fess Avenue
and Indiana Avenue. If you have a disability and need assistance, special
arrangements can be made to accommodate most needs. Please call
812-855-1696 for assistance.
For more information, or to schedule a guided group tour, please call
812-855-6873, or e-mail mathers@indiana.edu.
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Contact: mathers@indiana.edu
Copyright © 2000 The Trustees of Indiana University
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