This Wolf proves you can go home again; New Atomic Testing Museum director returns to Las Vegas after a decade away

Art Wolf on guard. Museum Director Arthur H. Wolf stands in the unfinished window of the reproduction of the Wackenhut Security Services NTS guard shack that will serve as the museum’s ticket office. Visitors’ museum tickets will resemble the official security passes issued for everyone entering the Test Site. (Photo by Ron Kalb)

“Yes, you can.”

That’s Art Wolf’s no-frills response to the rubric “You can’t go home again” by novelist and near-namesake Thomas Wolfe, or “a wolf of a different spelling,” as he puts it.

Being named director of the Atomic Testing Museum is indeed a homecoming for Wolf, who ran the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society in Las Vegas from 1988 to 1992.

A museum-management professional with more than 25 years’ experience, Wolf brings solid credentials and the infectious enthusiasm of a man on a mission for DRI and the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. He was hired for the post by the Desert Research Institute and will manage the museum in collaboration with NTSHF.

“Both DRI and NTSHF believe that the best possible understanding of NTS activities will be achieved through even greater accessibility to documents and information, and are dedicated to promoting a balanced view and access to all elements of Test Site history,” Wolf says. “The opportunity to assist in bringing the dreams of NTSHF to reality was a great attraction to me, and I have been gratified to see the dedication and interest shown by every single person involved in the project to date.”

Most recently, Wolf was president and CEO of the 74-year-old Museum of Northern Arizona, in Flagstaff. He also served as president of the High Desert Museum, in Bend, Ore., director of the Museum of the Rockies, in Bozeman, Mont. and director of the Millicent Rogers Museum, in Taos, N.M.

A co-founder of the Nevada Museums Association in 1989, Wolf served as the group’s president from 1990 through 1992. He is a member of the Association of Science Museum Directors, a grants reviewer for the National Science Foundation and grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wolf has also written for numerous professional publications.

As one might expect given his background, Wolf has abiding respect for the past and a strong desire to preserve knowledge. “The Atomic Testing Museum will bring to light for the general public the Nevada Test Site stories, large and small, that have been hidden from view for two generations,” he says. “The vision and passion of the Cold War-era NTS employees have given life and momentum to this project, and the interpretive aspects of the exhibits will give richness and permanence to the commemoration of that time.”

As Wolf returns to his southern Nevada home, he also takes great pride in helping create a new, enduring home that will preserve the memory and understanding of the NTS, which he sees as a lynchpin in world history.

“Yes, you can.”

That’s Art Wolf’s no-frills response to the rubric “You can’t go home again” by novelist and near-namesake Thomas Wolfe, or “a wolf of a different spelling,” as he puts it.

Being named director of the Atomic Testing Museum is indeed a homecoming for Wolf, who ran the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society in Las Vegas from 1988 to 1992.

A museum-management professional with more than 25 years’ experience, Wolf brings solid credentials and the infectious enthusiasm of a man on a mission for DRI and the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. He was hired for the post by the Desert Research Institute and will manage the museum in collaboration with NTSHF.

“Both DRI and NTSHF believe that the best possible understanding of NTS activities will be achieved through even greater accessibility to documents and information, and are dedicated to promoting a balanced view and access to all elements of Test Site history,” Wolf says. “The opportunity to assist in bringing the dreams of NTSHF to reality was a great attraction to me, and I have been gratified to see the dedication and interest shown by every single person involved in the project to date.”

Most recently, Wolf was president and CEO of the 74-year-old Museum of Northern Arizona, in Flagstaff. He also served as president of the High Desert Museum, in Bend, Ore., director of the Museum of the Rockies, in Bozeman, Mont. and director of the Millicent Rogers Museum, in Taos, N.M.

A co-founder of the Nevada Museums Association in 1989, Wolf served as the group’s president from 1990 through 1992. He is a member of the Association of Science Museum Directors, a grants reviewer for the National Science Foundation and grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wolf has also written for numerous professional publications.

As one might expect given his background, Wolf has abiding respect for the past and a strong desire to preserve knowledge. “The Atomic Testing Museum will bring to light for the general public the Nevada Test Site stories, large and small, that have been hidden from view for two generations,” he says. “The vision and passion of the Cold War-era NTS employees have given life and momentum to this project, and the interpretive aspects of the exhibits will give richness and permanence to the commemoration of that time.”

As Wolf returns to his southern Nevada home, he also takes great pride in helping create a new, enduring home that will preserve the memory and understanding of the NTS, which he sees as a lynchpin in world history.