Museum Dioramas

Painting a Diorama, 1939

NPS

For decades, visitors to Mesa Verde National Park enjoyed and learned from the diorama exhibit in the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum. The dioramas were created by workers and artists from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The figures are made of beeswax, balsam resin, and cotton, and feature fiberoptic lighting to illuminate hearths and rooms.

When the diorama exhibit opened in 1939, they were cutting-edge museum technology. Alfred Rowell, the WPA artist who painted some of the backdrops and made the human figures, went on to have a long career as a dioramist at the Field Museum in Chicago, and three people who were involved in the project went on to serve as park superintendents.

As part of the ongoing renovations and exhibit redesign of the museum, Mesa Verde National Park, in consultation with tribal community members, has decided that it is time to retire the diorama exhibit.

Are the dioramas going to remain on display in the museum?

No, the dioramas will not be on display in the new exhibits. They have been covered and are being preserved in place. New exhibits will be placed in front of them.

Why have the dioramas been taken off display?

At the beginning of the current project to reimagine and redesign Mesa Verde’s Museum, the National Park Service (NPS), along with the University of Colorado Boulder and representatives of the park's 26 Associated Tribes formed a Native Interpretation Working Group to represent Native perspectives and priorities.

Establishing this working group, with members selected by the tribes, reflects the NPS commitment to building a collaborative relationship based on mutual trust and respect. Further, the NPS at Mesa Verde committed to privileging Native perspectives in the new museum exhibits. Native Interpretation Working Group members conveyed early on that the dioramas are problematic and felt strongly that they should be taken off display. The NPS is honoring the request from the Native Interpretation Working Group to take the dioramas off display at the museum.

Why are we listening to tribal communities?

The Ancestral Pueblo people who made their homes in what is now Mesa Verde National Park are the ancestors of these communities. There are also other Tribes for which the park has been a homeland or remains a place of cultural importance.

The National Park Service preserves Mesa Verde National Park for all Americans, including these Tribes and Pueblos. There is a special responsibility to engage these associated communities because of their connections to the park. The new exhibits offer a particularly powerful opportunity for these communities to inform the new exhibits and share their connections to Mesa Verde with visitors. Their perspectives and voices deserve more prominence than given in the past and can improve the sense of recognition and inclusion for Indigenous visitors. We also believe they will deepen connections for all visitors to Mesa Verde National Park as a fuller, more inclusive story of the park and its people is told through new exhibits.

What were the problems with the dioramas?

The Native Interpretation Working Group communicated to us that the dioramas are inappropriate and offensive representations of Ancestral Pueblo people. The dioramas make Indigenous people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in the museum. Some of the Native Interpretation Working Group’s criticism of the dioramas include that they reduce human beings to a static exhibit, people are portrayed as primitive, they perpetuate stereotypes, and relegate people to the past.

Why can’t we just reinterpret the dioramas with new text?

Numerous tribal members on the Native Interpretation Working Group have told us that the dioramas themselves are offensive. They report that the dioramas remain symbols of oppression and racism that make them feel unwelcome in the museum. Through collaboration, we are seeking more respectful and effective ways to represent Ancestral Pueblo life at Mesa Verde.

Aren’t the dioramas an important part of the history of Mesa Verde National Park?

We recognize the dioramas are artifacts in their own right. The dioramas have been accessioned into the collection at Mesa Verde National Park. They were created in the 1930s as a project of the WPA and the CCC, so they have historical value, and their preservation is mandated by NPS guidelines. Covering the dioramas ensures they are still valued and preserved.