Artfully Giving: Longtime Curator Leaves a Legacy of Commitment to McClung Museum

Known around campus simply as "the lady in the Karmann Ghia," the late Elaine Altman Evans was just as eccentric and rare as the 1971 Volkswagen black sports coupe she drove.

Described as "an original," Evans didn't just work for the last 41 years as a curator at the McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture; it was her life's calling. Bouts of sickness overshadowed the end of her tenure, but she still found the most desired healing back in her office at the museum.

"She was always the last to leave the office," says Jeff Chapman, director of McClung.

Her home away from home, Evans saw to it that a great part of her estate was earmarked for McClung and the UT library along with scholarships. Surprised, Chapman also received a generous gift from Evans as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. He selflessly invested the funds into a UT endowment named in memory of Evans.

"This was the best way to honor her and her service to the museum," Chapman says. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else but giving the money back to the programs which she dedicated her life."

Surrounded by Post-it notes—her official organizational system—inscribed with names, references, and observations, Evans' meticulous research gave birth to a McClung exhibit focused on the burial practices of ancient Egypt followed by a permanent prominent gallery, now named in her honor, devoted to ancient Egypt. She also curated 20 temporary exhibits and more than 100 smaller case exhibits along with designing and describing more than 150 objects from around the world in the museum's decorative arts showcase.

"Elaine was a storehouse of vast knowledge," says Chapman. "She was never happy with an identification of a piece in an eclectic collection until she exhausted the available literature and sought the input of published experts. It wasn't just what she did; it was part of who she was."

A sought-after expert, Evans examined and pontificated about hopeful treasures brought to her by community collectors. And when some couldn't find their way to her, she journeyed to their homes to unearth their findings and offer guidance.

An author and artist, Evans's passion for the ancient culture of Egypt was piqued prior to her arrival at UT at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she worked in the Department of Egyptian Art. She had already discovered a great appreciation for art after a three-year stint in South Africa, where she earned her master's degree and taught in mission schools and at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. She received her bachelor's degree in art history from Columbia University.

When she wasn't at the museum, Evans was likely on a jaunt to Egypt or Italy honing her expertise on ancient Egyptian art and culture. If not in a faraway land, she scouted nearby areas for other displays focused on Egypt, often rounding up a busload of friends and strangers alike to accompany her.

Evan's bequest to the McClung Museum is earmarked for exhibits, programs, purchases and preservation of Ancient Egyptian objects. The Evans Ancient Egypt fund will be used by the museum for the to partially fund the exhibition Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt.

While her ashes are sprinkled in the Nile, her legacy is sown at McClung, a destination of discovery for tens of thousands of schoolchildren, college students, and visitors.

–Chandra Harris-McCray