Inside the CU Museum of Natural History is a home to multitudes of treasures and artifacts. Instead of just being something to look at, the museum has turned into a source of inspiration.
Poets Bryan Roth, Barbara Ellen Sorensen and Martin Balgach visited the museum on Wednesday to present poems that they wrote about objects in the Modern Life Exhibit.
The three objects that acted as muses for the night were a sewing kit from the Inupiat tribe, estimated to be from 1,200 years ago, fragments of a fossilized tortoise shell aging back to 33 million years ago, and a bird nest found by the original curator of the museum, Junius Henderson.
The interpretations of the objects by the poets differed from person to person. Sorensen looked at them through a feminist lens while Roth incorporated his life in Alaska into his works.
The project came together when Sorensen was approached by exhibit technician Bill Moats, who said he had an idea to bring new life to the CU Museum of Natural History.
“[Bill] Moats called me one day and told me they were working on a new program to make the museum more interactive by showing how art and science are integrated,” Sorensen said.
From there, Sorensen said he contacted Balgach and Roth, who all knew each other from local poetry readings, and they went to the museum to view the objects and speak with the experts there.
Indeed it seemed as though the central theme of the night was the integration of art and science, a bond that was very apparent after speaking with the poets.
“We are very similar to scientists; we have the same goal to bring awareness to these objects,” Balgach said. “They just use a scientific background while we bring an artistic and emotional background.”
Poet Bryan Roth originally studied math and science, which he said gave him a special perspective when writing the poems.
“I was always interested in archaeology, paleontology, astronomy and other sciences,” Roth said. “It’s always interested me how linked we are to all of these things. Time is not as long as we think, even 34 million years is not as long as we comprehend it to be. It’s interesting to see how all organisms are linked through this time.”
The evening concluded with an open-mic segment, which allowed members from the community to recite their own poems inspired by nature.
The poems by Balgach, Roth and Sorensen are still on display in the Modern Life Exhibit at the museum, located in the Henderson building.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Matt Glassett at Matthew.glassett@colorado.edu
