All posts from Curator's Corner

This week Chris and I lost our other kitty, Bailey, also to cancer. I found a lump on her neck 2 weeks ago. Although it did not show up on her x-ray, the biopsy came back as a carcinoma. A second x-ray showed it was in her lungs. Countless tiny clusters of cancer cells in both lungs. We were shocked, and devastated. We canceled weekend plans to visit friends in Pittsburgh and stayed home with her all weekend. As her breathing got progressively worse, we knew we had to have her put to sleep. Chris called on Monday morning, and we went home to spend her final hours with her. I brushed her for nearly an hour, which seemed to calm her and ease her breathing a bit. The time we got to spend with her that day was so precious to us. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Klein and the staff at Stark Animal Hospital. Dr. Klein especially. His guidance helped us make this difficult decision, just as he did 8 months ago. We are so thankful to have found him when we moved here from NY 9 years ago. We had "the ladies," as we called them, one year before we got married. Bailey just turned 11 in July. We lost her sister in December, when they were both 10 1/2. We are just heartbroken. The house is empty when we come home, and we absolutely hate it. We know there are two more kitties out there who need a loving home. We just have to find them. Our cats meant the world to us and more. We will miss them every single day. They were great companions when we were strangers in a strange land, moving three states away from friends and family so I could take this job as Curator. They have made us laugh for most of their kitten lives, and at the end, they made us cry more tears that we ever thought possible. They wrapped their little tails around our hearts, and made an impression that will last a lifetime...

Photo by Steve SecrestThis year the banners around the double drive of the McKinley National Memorial feature a fallen Stark County soldier from Iraq or Afghanistan. Each one features a portrait of the soldier and the city or town they are from.Scott Warner, whose son Private Heath Warner was killed by an IED in Iraq, sponsored these very moving banners.Since President McKinley was a war veteran himself who died tragically at the hands of an assassin, it is a perfect setting to honor these hometown heroes on our grounds.When you drive up the majestic double drive, please take a moment to look at each banner as you pass.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for big fins and lots of CHROME!!We had a great day for our car show! Everyone had a wonderful time. Special thanks to all of our volunteers who make this day possible. And to everyone who brought a beautiful car to display. We couldn't have a car show without you all!

Don't miss our 9th annual Cruisin' Thru History CAR SHOW on Saturday June 26!!It is FREE to come look at the cars. Registration for cars is $10 on the day of the show. If you get your registration here by tomorrow at 4PM, it is only $7.The show starts at 9:00. Trophies are awarded at 2:30 PM. There will be shows in Discover World, extra Planetarium shows, and we will be serving lunch starting at 10:30 AM. The menu includes hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken -- all grilled fresh by our Special Events Committee! Milk & Honey will be here again selling their delicious ice cream.Plan to come out and see us this Saturday. It's a great event!

I am thrilled with how The Victorian Age turned out!It looks exactly like I imagined it would in my mind. It's always fun to see things jump off of the page and into reality!The exhibition opens tomorrow night -- June 18 -- with a FREE reception from 6 to 8 PM. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. Please call 330-455-7043.Here are just a few highlights. You have to come in and see this one for yourself to truly appreciate the beauty of these artifacts.Nine gowns are on display, plus one mourning dress and three of Ida McKinley's gownsThis is my favorite hat in the exhibit!There are two cases of glass and china, plus a small case of glass 1876 commemorative itemsThis is a wire bustle, used to prop up the back of women's dresses.Punch & Judy jack-in-the-boxChildren's clothing in the Victorian era was just as fancy as what the grown-ups were wearing!There is also a corset on display, with its original box!I hope you will come to see the exhibition. It was a lot of fun to put together and features lots of great information about what it was like to live in the late Victorian era (1870-1900).It will be on view in the Keller Gallery through November 21, 2010.

(Click on image to make it larger!)

I am pleased to report that the new cases for the Keller Gallery are HERE!The are gorgeous, even if you can't really tell in these photos: The new cases will make their debut in the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Victorian Age, opening June 18. They are modeled after the ones we got from Split Rock Studios in The Stark County Story.I am SO excited to see how the artifacts really shine against a dark background!Steve and his crew are also working on building the shelving for the new storage building. Thank you again to Gergory Industries for their generous donation of perimeter shelving!We also received some small shelving from the Hoover Company a few years ago when they were emptying out their building in North Canton. Those shelves are being installed at the far end of the new building and will house our shoe collection. As always, there is a lot going on in the Curatorial Department!!!

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I've pulled some more interesting artifacts, including an inkwell featuring a brass deer (complete with antlers!), a sliver caster set (sometimes called a cruet set) and some realy neat games.I'm planning to spend the next two days in collections storage slogging through my lists. There is still much to do, but I'm making good progress!!I made four newsboy ads this week that will appear in Ticket beginning next Friday. I also finished a full page ad for About magazine.And I designed a new dash plaque for this year's car show:It's been a busy week!

On this rainy Monday, I'm going to be chained to my computer for a little while doing graphic design projects!First, I have to design a few newspaper ads. We were given an in-kind donation and we have quite a bit of money left that has to be spent before the end of the year. Which means we have to start cranking out some ads!Second, I have one more panel to finish for The Victorian Age exhibition opening next month in the Keller Gallery. It is on Architecture. It has taken me three weeks (including the week I was out of town at a conference, so it isn't as bad as it seems!) to remember to bring my archicture textbooks from grad school into work so I can finish researching styles of the era.I've already dressed six mannequins in AMAZING gowns.This is one of more than a dozen Victorian gowns that will be featured in the new exhibit!If time allows, I am going to continue pulling Victorian-era artifacts today. I hope to complete artifact selection by the end of this week. I have already pulled some really cool things!!a corset in its ORIGINAL BOX! a fan made of peacock feathersa wire bustlea gorgeous black and white silk and gauze parasol!I started with my "accessories" list first. Other artifact categories include children's fashion, toys & games, household items, furniture, mourning artifacts, glass & china, and Ida McKinley artifacts.I'm excited about putting this exhibition together!

The winners were announced moments ago and the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum was named BEST MUSEUM in the 2010 Best in Stark County Awards!THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us. We truly appreciate the opportunity to serve this community.

The Harter Mansion was a grand dame in Victorian-era CantonNow that the Bridal Show is over, I am concentrating on the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Victorian Age, which opens June 18 and will be on view through November 21.The exhibit will feature a wide range of Victorian-era artifacts, including fancy dresses, furniture, vintage photos of Stark County and other items from the era. Visitors will learn about fan language, mourning customs, flower symbolism and much more!PLUS we will be exhibiting some of our collection of Ida McKinley dresses, which are rarely on view!I will begin with a quick database search for things I'm looking for, and then I will move into the collection storage areas to select the artifacts that will be included.It's going to be a great exhibit!