Click on stars to view specimen details
In an attempt to highlight the beauty of ocean ecosystems as well as raise awareness of their vulnerability, the Joe Webb Peoples Museum asked the Wesleyan community to “Craft Sea Critters.” The project consisted of workshops teaching people how to crochet, the distribution of “grab bags” with yarn and hooks, and drop boxes placed around campus for submitting creations. This exhibit is the culmination of our project, a multimedia representation of oceanic ecosystems, incorporating both living and extinct species, and pulling together multiple museum collections with our beautifully crafted critters created by the Wesleyan community. See a full list of specimen names above and a list of people who contributed below.
To learn more about the crafting sea critters project check out our exhibit and project details page linked below.
Cole Goco SeaScapes
An array of painted underwater environments were featured prominently on the walls of Usdan alongside the specimens and crafted critters of the Craft Sea Critters: A Look at Oceanic Ecosystem exhibit. These seascapes were created by Cole Goco ’23, a recently graduated student curator for Joe Webb Peoples Museum. His artwork can be seen in the art gallery bellow.
Exhibit Contributors
Students:
Lily Rudofsky ’25: Crochet concept, student curator of Recent Coral Collection
Cole Goco ’23: Artwork, student curator of Pierre Shale Collection
Lilly Hochhauser ’25: Student curator of Solnhofen Collection
Fletcher Levy ’23: Student curator of Fossil Vertebrate Collection, Osteology
Anya Le ’25 and Vivian Gu ’23: Taxidermy Birds Collection
Alexandre Baker ’24: student curator Turtles
Faculty:
Kate Brunson: Assistant Professor of Archaeology (Archaeology Program) and Assistant Professor, East Asian Studies (College of East Asian Studies)
Ann C. Burke: Professor of Biology, Emerita (Biology Department)
Ellen Thomas: Smith Curator of Paleontology of the Joe Webb Peoples Museum of Natural History (Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, Emerita (College of Integrative Sciences)
Johan C Varekamp: Smith Curator of Mineralogy and Petrology of the Joe Webb Peoples Museum of Natural History (Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Emeritus (Earth and Environmental Sciences Department)
Technical Assistance:
Joel T. LaBella: Facility Manager (Earth and Environmental Sciences Department)
Jennifer Platt: Manager of Print Services (Information Technology Services)
Shawn M Lopez: Makerspace Coordinator (College of Integrative Sciences)
Financial Support:
Donation by Mrs. Penny Peoples
Wesleyan Grants-in-Support-of-Scholarship to Ellen Thomas
Museum endowment by Henry Monmouth Smith
Crafters:
Alyse Wicentowski
Ana Ziebarth
Betsy McCormick
Brittney Rosenberg
Cheryl Hagner
Drew Weddig
Ellen Thomas
Emma Specht
Isa Cino
Jaydie Halperin
Jennifer Hadley
Kathryn Willebrand
Liz Boyle
Lori Stethers
Lucia Rea
Nate Kianovsky
Nola Mansour
Olivia Berger
Sam Burr
Sandy Frimel
Sarah Parke
Sarah Timble
Shelissa Newball
Teaghan Dunbar
Wendy Berlind
site contents
Event details
Patterns
Grab bag information and locations
Drop off locations
“The Beauty of Coral Reefs” story map
Organizations and projects to support
Additional resources
Project goals
Our People
Contributors
Send us a suggestion for a pattern you want on the website, or ask how you can get involved!