Lauren McKinney
Staff Writer
Ellen Currano, a paleontologist and professor for the University of Wyoming, has been selected to have her co-founded exhibit, The Bearded Lady Project, featured in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
According to a Smithsonianin press release about the event, the exhibit will open today at the museum in Washington D.C. and stay in-house for six months. The documentary that goes along with the exhibit will show Dec. 16 at the museum. A panel will follow the documentary screening to discuss the use of art as a social commentary.
“We are working on the schedule after that,” Corrano said, “the exhibit will continue to travel around the U.S.”
The project first went public in 2017 at the University’s Geological Museum. It has been displayed in several other museums since then. Currano has traveled to universities and museums to share information about the project and promote women in science.
Currano started the project with independent filmmaker, Lexi Jamieson Marsh. The idea began with a conversation about gender roles in certain fields.
“We were just kinda venting over dinner about the challenges that we have and how hard it can be to be taken seriously sometimes in our careers,” Currano said.
As the project started to come together, Corrano said her goal was “to start conversation about who belongs in science versus who is actually in science.”
Photos from the exhibit, taken by Kelly Vance, show female paleontologists wearing fake beards or mustaches while working. The photos were taken over a two year period in different locations of the field.
“They are doing their thing. We did not tell them what to wear or where to go or how to pose or what to hold in their picture,” Currano said about the women in the photographs.
The women in the photos and how they are portrayed are meant to challenge what is considered a professional scientist by wearing fake beards.
“There’s a lot of power in our project being focused on the geosciences, and saying like anyone should be able to be a geoscientist,” said Corrano.
Currano said the next step for the project is a book. The book is in the process of being written and will be coming out early next year.
“It’s all the portraits that are in the exhibit plus ones that are not in the exhibit. It’s also a series of essays both by the women who took part in the project and then also essays to provide context,” Currano said.
The exhibit is a science art collaboration. However, Currano wanted more context on the actual science that is happening, and she said she hopes to accomplish that with the book.
Currano said she hopes the exhibit resonates with the women of Wyoming and further to promote more women in scientific fields.
