The Art Box - Episode 87 - Barrick Museum of Art - Mixing Archeology, Art and Goodness - Meet Paige Bockman - MDM

Paige Bockman

Meet the unsung hero of the Modern Desert Markings exhibit at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art @ UNLV. You could find her on the field trips, find her arranging for art deliveries, coordinating artists, installing art and yes, even watering our special Mojave plants. 

Growing up in a small town in eastern Nebraska where everyone knew everyone, I was always 
interested in stories and eager to meet people with backgrounds different from my own. I went to 
college at Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska, where I studied Anthropology and Classical & Near 
Eastern Studies. It was also during this time that I also participated in archaeological digs on the 
Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and fell in love with the island. I went on to focus my studies on the 
ancient history of Cyprus, looking at patterns of gender identity and social power through the medium 
of ceramics.

I moved to Las Vegas in 2013 to attend the Master's program in Anthropology at UNLV. I quickly realized 
a life in academia wasn't for me, and started to look for other career paths. This led me to the Marjorie 
Barrick Museum of Art, where my skills as an archaeologist could be used to organize the large 
collection of objects housed at the museum, and my interest in stories could be used to share 
information about artwork and artifacts to an audience beyond the classroom. I am now the Collections 
and Exhibitions Manager at the Barrick, where I do all of these things and more.

Outside of work, I like to keep in close contact with my family back home, especially my nieces and 
nephews! I'm a dedicated plant mom, with a large collection of houseplants (though I've fallen in love 
with the desert, I haven't quite mastered the outdoor planting skills). I love hiking and going on bike 
rides, and going to different cultural festivals with friends. I'm an avid reader and always trying to learn 
more about something, especially the ecology and history of Nevada and this new region I'm now calling 
home.