The Colorado State University Department of Design and Merchandising and the Avenir Museum are pleased to welcome Gabrielle Friesen, the new collections database coordinator, to the Avenir team. Friesen brings a wealth of knowledge and experience working in museums to the Avenir.
Where are you from?
I’m from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Tell us about your inspiration and educational paths to working in the museum field
I attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for my undergraduate where I pursued dual degrees in history and women and gender studies. I have always been a fan of microhistories and overlooked stories, and after finishing my undergraduate degrees, I was looking for a way to help other people get as excited about those stories as I was. I visited the Wallpaper Museum in Rixheim, France, and was so excited at the ways the museum was able to make something as overlooked as wallpaper exciting and to explore the unsung social histories of wallpaper. I enrolled in the museology graduate program at the University of Washington in Seattle shortly after.
Why did you feel drawn to the collections database coordinator position at CSU’s Avenir Museum?
Previously, I worked for The Fine Arts Center at Colorado College digitizing their collections; during the course of my work, I discovered that I really enjoyed working with students. After the position ended, I kept an eye out for a way to re-enter the field of academic museums. When I saw the collections database coordinator position at the Avenir, it seemed like the perfect fusion of my professional skillset and my goal to continue working with students in an academic setting.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at the Avenir?
I play the accordion and like to birdwatch. I also read a lot of science fiction.
What was your best takeaway from representing CSU and the Avenir Museum at the American Alliance of Museums national conference held in Denver in May?
I last attended AAM in 2018. At the time, climate change was not a part of the discussion on the future of museums at all. This year there were multiple sessions on climate change, how to get visitors involved in citizen science efforts, and how to foster climate optimism and actionable engagements among visitors. These actions are being undertaken by a range of museum types – not only by natural history museums but also by art museums, children’s museums, and history museums. I felt this demonstrated the different ways museums of all genres and with all sorts of collections can leverage their mission to help bring about a greener future.
The Avenir Museum is in the Department of Design and Merchandising, part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
