By Erika Flores |Staff Writer|
The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA) is located on the northwest side of campus and offers students opportunities to educate and express themselves.
RAFFMA first opened its doors in 1996 and became accredited in 2008 by the American Association of Museums.
Visiting its different exhibits is a great way to expand your knowledge of culture and history.
In Fall quarter, RAFFMA will be opening its doors to the renovated Ancient Egyptian Exhibition.
The exhibit will include new artifacts that students and the public can learn about and appreciate. They also expanded the collection from what they usually have available.
Megan Hast, a CSUSB art history major, recently got the opportunity to visit the exhibit with her art history class while it was still under construction.
“I really like Egypt and the culture and having this opportunity to learn about the set-up of the exhibit has helped me understand that even at other museums there needs to be a story related to the line-up of artifacts,” said Hast.
The Egyptian antiquities are what the RAFFMA museum is best known for since it has one of the largest displays of Ancient Egyptian history west of the Mississippi river.
Although the museum is temporarily closed through June for renovations, there have been other exhibits that have inspired students and feature emerging and established artists.
“The Hero’s Journey” is a student exhibition by A.E. Van Fleet that was on display from May 20-29 inside the Dutton Family Gallery.
The pamphlet for the exhibit states that “the Hero’s Journey provides an opportunity to re-examine traditional categorizations in art and culture, such as sacred and profane and high and low, while attempting to demystify the veil that separates the experiential from the transcendent.”
Not only is this museum an interesting part of our campus, but they also keep their doors open to the public.
Each year, during the month of July, the RAFFMA holds an educational and fun two-day workshop called “Kids Discover Egypt,” which is typically for 4th to 6th graders, where they can participate in activities like clay art projects, bead making and creating cat “mummies.”
“I feel like it’s good that we have the RAFFMA here at CSUSB because students can utilize it for research, writing papers or even just to get inspired by works of art without having to travel far,” said Hast when asked what she enjoyed most about having the museum available to students.
Kids who participate in workshops, visitors and CSUSB faculty who take their students to view the displays have the chance to see a little bit of our history and the expressions that artists create up close.
Hast wants to one day become a curator for a museum and said, “I hope to succeed in my field by utilizing the skills I have gained from the art department and I plan on learning more about the process of setting up an exhibit from the opportunities the museum here has to offer.”
Eva Kirsch is currently the director of RAFFMA and any questions regarding the upcoming Egyptian exhibit should be directed to her at (909) 537-5493.
For more information about RAFFMA and their other exhibits, please contact them at (909) 537-7373 or e-mail them at raffma@csusb.edu.
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