Joel Bartsch: Hall of Ancient Egypt Undergoes

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Hall of Ancient Egypt Undergoes

In his position as president and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), Joel Bartsch oversees the Texas institution’s full range of exhibits and community offerings. One major project that Joel A. Bartsch and the HMNS team oversaw in April 2021 involved a renovation of the Hall of Ancient Egypt.

Opening its doors in 2013, the hall provides a high-profile third floor home to the museum’s Pharaonic antiquities collection. As described by the HMNS consulting curator of Egyptology, the renovation includes a reconceptualization of the gallery walls, with an aim of making them more like actual ancient Egyptian tombs and habitations. The update also includes new wall paintings that depict sites of the New Kingdom-era, as well as private and royal tombs. Newly created models and animations serve to broaden the cultural context of antiquities on display.

Rather than a full closure of the Hall of Ancient Egypt, as was originally planned, the exhibit space is remaining partially open throughout the duration of renovations, which are proceeding in phases. This allows visitors to continue to enjoy Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman period artifacts, as well as sarcophagi, mummies, and a full-size Rosetta Stone replica.

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About Joel Bartsch

Since 2004, Joel A. Bartsch has led the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) as president and CEO. In this capacity, he coordinates and leads museum staff and curators in the creation and maintenance of immersive exhibits, implements renovation strategies, and promoting museum-wide leadership. Through these efforts and many others, Joel A. Bartsch has nearly doubled both the institution’s annual attendance and membership base. He also oversaw two major expansions at the museum that added more than 250,000 square feet of space.

Mr. Bartsch began gaining experience in museum leadership more than three decades ago, when he joined the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum as a curatorial assistant and assistant to the director. He held this role during his last years as a mining engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. From there, Mr. Bartsch took on staff roles at the Texas Memorial Museum and HMNS, curator of earth sciences at Lyman House Memorial Museum in Hawaii, and director and curator of the California State Mining & Mineral Museum.

Through these positions, Joel Bartsch gained extensive experience in everything from managing daily operations and directing fundraising efforts to writing corporate grant requests. He drew on this experience when he returned to HMNS as a curator, project manager, and director of earth sciences, the positions he held immediately prior to his current role as the president and CEO.