ETSU’s B. Carroll Reece Museum has been in its present location at the corner of Gilbreath and Stout drives for more than 40 years but the staff is taking a new approach to attracting students.
Reece Museum offers many cultural opportunities to the public of Johnson City, but many of the students have never been inside the building. “I didn’t even know we had a museum,” said Matt Noe, a senior at ETSU.
In order to attract more students to the location, the staff have been making some changes.
One change that is occurring is the work they are doing to update the collection into a database, said Director Theresa Burchett-Anderson. “We are converting everything to a digital database,” said Interim Collections Manager Jessica Evans. “We are re-entering all the files, taking digital images, re-housing in archival materials, re-shelving and making sure all files are up to date.”
After this long process is complete the Reece Museum’s collection will be more available and easier to access for students and staff wishing to view the objects for research purposes, said Burchett-Anderson. In addition, the staff will be regularly changing out the artwork in different areas of ETSU, such as the Culp Center and the Administrations Office. Every six months the museum staff will put up new pieces in order to display some of the aspects of what the Reece Museum’s collection holds.
The Reece’s rooms are also undergoing reorganization.
Gallery B has long housed many antique musical instruments, but in recent months the room has become space for temporary exhibitions such as “Artistic Revolution: Where Science Meets the Arts,” an exhibit devoted to the Gray Fossil Site, which just wrapped up March 30.
The old Frontier Room which held many artifacts from colonial America, such as a log cabin and a large loom, will now be the Collections Room.
“The staff is working to move the collection from the previous cramped space in Room Six, to a more open area with easier access,” Evans said. “The personnel are also working to clean and organize the workshop area in the basement of the museum to better create new displays for the exhibits.”
The larger collections room will allow students to see more of the collection that the Reece holds by making it more accessible. Students wishing to do research on specific artists will have a greater area to work in the museum.
Another room in the museum that is undergoing change is the Reece Room. The purpose of the room is to house pieces once owned by B. Carroll Reece.
“Some ideas for the Reece Room include an open workshop where the visitors can see the staff working on the collections,” Burchett-Anderson said.
Another idea is having a permanent exhibit of local history, post Civil War. “[The people] can go to Rocky Mount and get frontier history and then come to the Reece and get the rest,” Burchett-Anderson said.
The staff of the Reece also wants people to be able to come and learn about Reece while visiting the museum. This could include a permanent exhibit dedicated to the politics of Tennessee, including Reece, Jimmy Quillen, Andrew Johnson, and women’s and minorities’ rights. This exhibit could also include an audio tour with B. Carroll Reece, Burchett-Anderson said.
The staff is also open to hosting events for organizations and is trying to get the museum’s name out all over campus, Evans said. They have been posting fliers around campus every time an event occurs. Each time a new exhibit opens, the museum hosts a gathering which usually includes a visit from the artist or a special presentation relating to the works.
While there is no charge to visit the museum, all donations are welcome and helpful in keeping the facility up to date. “I think that it is beneficial,” Evans said, “to the ETSU community to visit the Reece because of the collections we have.

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