04 Broadcaster Press January 3, 2012 www.broadcasteronline.com Reeves: The arts is ‘what makes life worth living’ By David Lias david.lias@plaintalk.net When Deborah Check Reeves describes her role at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, she notes that, just like her fellow staff members, she “wears a lot of hats” at the museum. Deborah, an associate professor of music, serves as the museum’s curator of education, curator of woodwind instruments, and the institution’s public programming coordinator. “We all wear multiple hats here. My official title here at the museum is curator of education,” she said. “I am in charge of all aspects of educational programming, and that means that I personally interact with virtually every group tour that comes into the museum. “I’ll never forget the group of 2 and 3 year olds that I had a couple years ago. It was a riot. And I may get graduate classes in music that will come and visit, and I interact with every single one of those groups,” Deborah said. She is also in charge of the programming for the museum’s popular Brown Bag Lunch series. “I design and teach our summer classes for young people, I do summer classes for the USD summer camp,” Deborah said, “and in addition to what I do with education, I’m also the curator of woodwinds – specifically, any instruments that come in that are woodwind instruments, I’ll catalog and do research on them.” She has been associated with the museum for 16 years. In WANTED Junk cars, trucks, semi trucks, & trailers, plows, construction equipment, dozers, scrapers, trackhoes, backhoes, etc., misc. ...and other misc. irons and metals. Also wanted: Batteries. Call 712-898-8244 FOR SALE 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis, 75,000 actual miles. $2,995, firm. 4 like new Drifz 17x7.5 GM rims, black mach, $300 firm. Oak roll top desk, $300, firm. New & Used name brand western shirts & boots. We Buy, Sell & Trade 605-638-6111 Also good furnace & water heater, yard toys, retailer call Art John Wayn Products Spotlight On her role as associate professor of music, she used to teach clarinet students in USD’s music department. “My duties were reassigned several years ago,” she said. “I teach in our graduate program in the history of musical instruments, and I teach classes for the Honors Department.” The National Music Museum was founded on the campus of The University of South Dakota on July 1, 1973. It is housed in the restored Carnegie library building, built in 1910. The museum’s renowned collections of more than 15,000 American, European, and non-Western instruments are the most inclusive in the world, making the museum the premier institution of its kind. Included are many of the earliest, bestpreserved, and historically most important musical instruments known to survive. State-of-the-art, self-guided multi-media tours allow visitors not only to see and hear many of the instruments, but also to learn more about them through curatorial commentary and videos. “When we say the National Music Museum, it’s not bragging. It really is the largest musical Highway Maintenance Worker The SD Department of Transportation is accepting applications for a Highway Maintenance Worker in Beresford, SD. Duties include performing routine maintenance activities such as roadway patching, ?agging and directing traf?c, hauling materials, mowing, weed spraying, roadside cleanup, sign and guardrail repair and installation, and snow plowing and sanding. Will operate a variety of large equipment. Duties involve heavy lifting and working outdoors in all kinds of weather. Must live within a 15-20 minute commute of Beresford. Requires a valid driver’s license and a Commercial Driver’s License. Employee will be subject to drug and alcohol testing and a driving record check. 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It’s not just the largest collection in South Dakota.” Reeves admits she finds it frightening that, in this present era of tight government funding, arts program are often the first to be trimmed in public school budgets. “The arts can reach out to everyone, and, for example, when you think of the number of students who are involved in a music program at school, you come to realize that it touches everyone,” she said. “It’s a lifelong hobby, it’s a quality of life issue, and if you didn’t have the arts, what would be the point of living? That’s what makes life worth living.” The one-on-one interaction Deborah has with visitors of all ages who come to view the unique collection of DEBORAH CHECK REEVES instruments is “truly the best part of my job. “But even just being around these instruments – and I guess what gets me excited about showing people around, is that every time I do that, I’m rediscovering some of the wonderful instruments that we have here, she said. “ It constantly amazes me how ingenious and how creative people have been in all cultures, at all times, and it’s so exemplified. When I show people around and I start to see all of these instruments again, almost with new eyes, it’s like I’m experiencing it for the first time as well. I just get all excited again about it all.” ridal Directory B Wedding Rentals, Invitations, Set-Up Trudy Anthofer • Jade Anthofer 605-624-3421 Phone: 411 E. 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