QUOTE
Bigfoot exhibit kicks off April 7 at institute
Web Posted: 03/29/2006 12:01 AM CST
Edmundo Conchas - Express-News Staff Writer
The Institute of Texan Cultures is preparing to spotlight the mystery of a creature known by several names — Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti/Abominable Snowman — with a reported history stretching from the Himalayas to Texas.
Starting April 7, the ITC will offer "Bigfoot in Texas," an exhibit presented through a cooperative effort between the institute and the Dallas-based Texas Bigfoot Research Center.
Institute officials said they are not taking a stand on the actual existence of Bigfoot, described as a large, ape-like creature that walks upright and has been chronicled worldwide in various publications. Instead, they said the exhibit is meant to be both educational and fun for all visitors.
"The Bigfoot exhibit is very much an examination of a facet of Texas culture from folk belief to the nature of scientific proof," said John L. Davis, the executive director of the institute.
"This is a wild and woolly subject, certainly, but the underlying educational content here is how something can be proven — or disproven — by logical and scientific means."
In the mid-1920s, the first recorded sightings of the Abominable Snowman were made by members of a British geological expedition in the Himalayas. Subsequent sightings occurred around the world, according to news reports.
Recently, a group called The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, founded in 1995, reported sightings throughout the United States, with most coming from five states: Washington, California, Oregon, Ohio and Texas.
The ITC exhibit will feature photographs and hair samples as well as footprint and handprint casts and Fiberglas impressions, courtesy of the research center in Dallas. Visitors also can watch a video presenting Native American beliefs regarding Bigfoot.
Guest speakers, including forensic consultants, fingerprint experts and other officials, also are scheduled during the exhibit, which ends July 30.
Craig Woolheater, co-founder and director of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, said he plans to visit the exhibit. Although the Bigfoot legend is something that has held his interest since childhood, he said his life changed one night in 1994 when he and his wife were driving back to Dallas from New Orleans.
"We saw something," Woolheater said. "It was dark but it was at least 7 feet tall and walked upright and was covered with hair. I turned to my wife and said 'Did you just see what I saw?'"
That sighting led him in 1999 to co-found the center, which follows up sightings and reports from Texas and surrounding states. Most sightings in Texas come from the eastern part, where the forests are thick with vegetation, Woolheater said.
Even though Bigfoot has not been scientifically proven to exist, Woolheater said people still wonder about the creature. The exhibit is aimed at capturing that interest.
"Everybody loves a mystery," Woolheater said. "The fact that there could be a large creature roaming the woods of America fascinates people."
"This is a research-in-progress exhibit," Davis said. "It should be educational and fun for all ages of visitors no matter which way they believe."
Tickets for the exhibit are $7 for adults and $4 for children, seniors 65 and older and military personnel with proper identification. The institute is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
Read ecwool's original thread announcing this exhibit over at Bigfoot In Texas?, Museum Exhibit and Lecture Series.
Web Posted: 03/29/2006 12:01 AM CST
Edmundo Conchas - Express-News Staff Writer
The Institute of Texan Cultures is preparing to spotlight the mystery of a creature known by several names — Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti/Abominable Snowman — with a reported history stretching from the Himalayas to Texas.
Starting April 7, the ITC will offer "Bigfoot in Texas," an exhibit presented through a cooperative effort between the institute and the Dallas-based Texas Bigfoot Research Center.
Institute officials said they are not taking a stand on the actual existence of Bigfoot, described as a large, ape-like creature that walks upright and has been chronicled worldwide in various publications. Instead, they said the exhibit is meant to be both educational and fun for all visitors.
"The Bigfoot exhibit is very much an examination of a facet of Texas culture from folk belief to the nature of scientific proof," said John L. Davis, the executive director of the institute.
"This is a wild and woolly subject, certainly, but the underlying educational content here is how something can be proven — or disproven — by logical and scientific means."
In the mid-1920s, the first recorded sightings of the Abominable Snowman were made by members of a British geological expedition in the Himalayas. Subsequent sightings occurred around the world, according to news reports.
Recently, a group called The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, founded in 1995, reported sightings throughout the United States, with most coming from five states: Washington, California, Oregon, Ohio and Texas.
The ITC exhibit will feature photographs and hair samples as well as footprint and handprint casts and Fiberglas impressions, courtesy of the research center in Dallas. Visitors also can watch a video presenting Native American beliefs regarding Bigfoot.
Guest speakers, including forensic consultants, fingerprint experts and other officials, also are scheduled during the exhibit, which ends July 30.
Craig Woolheater, co-founder and director of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, said he plans to visit the exhibit. Although the Bigfoot legend is something that has held his interest since childhood, he said his life changed one night in 1994 when he and his wife were driving back to Dallas from New Orleans.
"We saw something," Woolheater said. "It was dark but it was at least 7 feet tall and walked upright and was covered with hair. I turned to my wife and said 'Did you just see what I saw?'"
That sighting led him in 1999 to co-found the center, which follows up sightings and reports from Texas and surrounding states. Most sightings in Texas come from the eastern part, where the forests are thick with vegetation, Woolheater said.
Even though Bigfoot has not been scientifically proven to exist, Woolheater said people still wonder about the creature. The exhibit is aimed at capturing that interest.
"Everybody loves a mystery," Woolheater said. "The fact that there could be a large creature roaming the woods of America fascinates people."
"This is a research-in-progress exhibit," Davis said. "It should be educational and fun for all ages of visitors no matter which way they believe."
Tickets for the exhibit are $7 for adults and $4 for children, seniors 65 and older and military personnel with proper identification. The institute is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.