Montpelier Archaeology Public Programs (2019/2020) Curation Tour | Page 2

about the archaeological and architectural
history of the building.
Your walking tour will end in the South
Yard area, which houses a portion of our
award-winning Mere Distinction of Color
exhibition. In this
space, you will
join Dr. Furlong
Minkoff in the
completion of an
artifact conditions
assessment for
the items in the exhibition. This is a
unique opportunity to open display cases
and actually handle the artifacts within
Mere Distinction !
Dr. Furlong Minkoff will then lead you
to the Grills Gallery in the Visitors Center,
where you will have special access to our
newest exhibition, which she had a crucial
role in creating. This is your time to find
out how curators decide what goes into an
exhibition space!
Following a lunch provided by the BBQ
Exchange Café, you will tour portions of
the Montpelier property normally off-
limits to visitors. We will regroup in our
primary artifact storage facility, where you
see a portion of our archaeological
collection and learn how curators check
artifact inventories by participating in a
Scavenger Hunt. The group will be
divided into teams, and each will be
responsible for successfully pulling
artifacts from storage and ensuring all
artifacts are present and accounted for
(the winning team will receive a special
prize!).
We will end our day back in the
Archaeology
Lab, where you
will discover
what happens
to artifacts
before they are
placed on
display or in
storage. Our
Archaeology Lab Manager, Ben Kirby,
will guide you through all of our daily lab
tasks, including artifact washing, sorting,
picking, and floating.