The Sharp Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, formerly known as the University Museum, is part of the SIUC College of Liberal Arts, and is housed in Faner Hall on the SIUC campus. Sharp Museum has been a repository of artifacts since Cyrus Thomas was commissioned to begin collecting for a museum by the first board of trustees of Sout…The Sharp Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, formerly known as the University Museum, is part of the SIUC College of Liberal Arts, and is housed in Faner Hall on the SIUC campus. Sharp Museum has been a repository of artifacts since Cyrus Thomas was commissioned to begin collecting for a museum by the first board of trustees of Southern Illinois Normal University some time before 1871. Originally housed in the building known as "Old Main", the museum first opened to the public in 1874. The museum is considered to be an "encyclopedic museum", with an inventory of 70,000 artifacts.