By Joe Hedges, WSU Insider
When a broken pipe flooded the Conner Museum in the fall of 2024, newly appointed museum Director Katherine Corn found herself facing a crisis just weeks into her position.
Water poured from ceiling light fixtures, threatening about one hundred taxidermied specimens in Washington State University’s historic natural history collection and nearly destroying about a dozen more.
What began as a disaster has transformed into an opportunity for campus-wide collaboration and artistic renewal. The museum is proud to announce its grand reopening at 4 p.m. on April 2 and the dedication of a new mural created by WSU art students, celebrating both the museum’s restoration and a new chapter in its history.
The public is invited to attend the reception, which will feature brief remarks from Corn, Associate Art Professor Joe Hedges, and student artists, followed by refreshments and guided tours of the renovated facility.
For us, half the battle is just people knowing that we’re here. This project has brought new energy and attention to one of WSU’s hidden gems.Katherine Corn, Conner Museum director
Washington State University
“For us, half the battle is just people knowing that we’re here,” Corn said. “This project has brought new energy and attention to one of WSU’s hidden gems.”
The large-scale indoor mural depicts a naturalistic outdoor scene that evokes the historical ranges of moose and caribou native to the Pacific Northwest. Located in a room housing the museum’s moose and caribou display, it was conceived when Hedges reached out to Corn with a collaborative proposal.
“Honestly, this is the students’ baby,” Hedges said. “I did some preliminary organizing, and they just went for it. They’ve had tremendous agency and responsibility throughout the process. I couldn’t be more proud of their dedication and professionalism.”
Students in Hedges’ Intermediate Painting course researched Palouse ecology and environment, referenced their own photographs, and studied relevant works from art history to create the collaborative piece.
“Some of these students grew up here in Pullman and visited the museum when they were children,” Hedges said. “For them, it’s really special to make this lasting contribution to a place that sparked their own curiosity and wonder.”
Andrea Zimmerman, a WSU Advanced Painting student and one of two lead artists on the project, said her team wanted to paint an interesting landscape that felt like the Palouse to help bring life to the display room.
“Something that draws you into the museum,” she said. “Getting to watch the evolution of going from flat blocks of color on a wall to a mural has been really fun. It’s very rewarding seeing all the time you’ve spent working on something come together.”
Corn, a macroevolutionary biologist and biomechanist, sees the project as embodying the museum’s educational mission.
“We are particularly overjoyed to have been able to work with painting students,” said Corn. “This collaboration helps promote an appreciation for our local ecosystem and the animals that live in it. Letting the students take ownership and get creative has been one of the true joys of the project. They’ve taken it in directions we never anticipated.”
The mural breathes new life into a display space originally constructed 30 years ago.
“The new mural transforms a room that was built around an existing moose and caribou diorama,” said Jessica Tir, curator of the Conner Museum of Vertebrates who began her career at the museum as a volunteer before becoming curator. “It’s wonderful to see this space have a new life for a new generation of students, faculty, and Pullman residents.”
The Conner Museum houses over 700 mounted specimens of birds and mammals and a scientific collection of more than 60,000 specimens. It is the largest public natural history museum between Seattle and Missoula. Located on the first floor of Abelson Hall, the museum serves as both an educational resource and a celebration of the region’s natural history.
