Sarah Gilbert / The Collegian

Gilcrease exhibit has exotic display

Hidden at the end of a corridor on the first floor of the Science I building lies a doorway into an exotic world of creatures from all around the globe.

The walls are graced with the head of a black rhinoceros and a Rocky Mountain Big Horn sheep, while the pelt of a lion graces the floor of the room, ready to attack its prey.

These prized specimens are all part of the Berry Gilcrease Exhibit.

The exhibit receives around 5000-6000 visitors a year, most being students from local elementary and high schools, but there are some visits from students on campus.

“Art students have used the exhibit for their projects,â€Â Charles Kronberg, a vertebrate biologist at Fresno State, said. “It allows them to be left in peace, without the ambient noise from the outside world and the unpredictability of the weather. They can also always count on the exhibit being the same the next day they return to finish their projects.â€Â

The exhibit was named after its main benefactor, William Asberry “Berryâ€Â Gilcrease, a dairy farmer who was a native of Lemoore, Calif.

After turning 56, Gilcrease married and began traveling the world, visiting more than 135 countries and incorporating his newfound passion of big game hunting.

Gilcrease hunted, collected and preserved many of the specimens in the exhibit today until his death in July of 1995. He was 102.

“Berry was definitely an example of ‘you are never too old’ to do anything,â€Â said Dr. Steve Schmeiser, a retired director of development for the College of Science and Mathematics at Fresno State and key player in the establishment of the Gilcrease Exhibit.

Donated in 1997

After Gilcrease̢۪s death, his nephew Jeff Gilcrease and Jeff̢۪s wife Karen inherited Gilcrease̢۪s estate, which included his animal collection. Jeff and Karen prized their uncle̢۪s collection, but wanted to donate a portion of it to an educational institute in the Lemoore-Fresno area.

In October of 1996, Karen Gilcrease and her children were attending a presentation given by Tim Schweizer, a former student of Fresno State, about animals. After the lecture, Karen spoke with Schweizer, who mentioned Dr. David Chesemore, a retired biology professor of Fresno State and practicing taxidermist.

“We went down to meet Karen and Jeff, and with a handshake and smiles, sealed the donation,â€Â said Chesemore.

The collection was transferred to the campus in December of 1996 and became official property of the university in January of 1997. The two key university officials involved with developing the exhibit were Chesemore and Schmeiser.

“There was opposition from some of the faculty to receiving and displaying big game-hunting trophiesâ€Â due to a fear of animal rights organizations, Schmeiser said, but when it came to moving the specimens to the campus, several of the opposed faculty members helped with the move.

Exhibit continues to grow

After two years of remodeling and preparing the specimens, the Berry Gilcrease Exhibit had its grand opening on March 24, 1999, and has been running ever since.

It was initially under the care of Chesemore, until his retirement in May of 2006, and is now under the care of Kronberg.

While the exhibit has remained the same for most of its time at the university, there have been some additions to the collection through donations from the community, with the grandest being a donation of the four different kinds of mountain sheep in North America from the family of Lewis Carpenter, a former Fresno State student, after his death.

“Sportsmen regard taking all four of these sheep as a ‘Grand Slam’, and probably no more than 100 people had done this before protection of the desert bighorn sheep began,â€Â said Chesemore.

The collection was appraised at $361,000 when the exhibit was first opened in 1999, but Chesemore believes that it is easily worth more than $1 million today.