Choices, Choices

It's an exciting time here at the Longmont Museum. We are in the middle of developing our changing exhibit schedule for 2009 and beyond. We use a mix of different kinds of exhibits to provide a diverse range of topics in the gallery. Some exhibits come from traveling exhibit companies, which put out glossy catalogs with their latest offerings for museums all across the country. Others come from individual museums that have developed an exhibit and now are looking for other sites to show it. We also are always on the lookout for local and regional artists that are doing new and innovative work. Finally, we aim to develop 2-3 exhibits ourselves each year, focused around a theme or a local topic.
There are always far more outstanding exhibits and exhibit ideas than we have the space for. This year, we are inviting the public to help us choose traveling exhibits. Take our survey to see some of the options that we are considering for the future.

Quilts are going up

The quilts for the Museum's newest exhibit, Don't Fence Me In: Contemporary Quilts, are being installed this week. In the photo above, our Curators of Exhibits, Svein Edland (right) and Jared Thompson (left) hang a quilt on the wall. This exhibit shows how far the idea of a "quilt" can be taken. The artists in this show have used Photoshop, glass, and even burial to achieve the look of their fabrics.

The Longmont Museum has a long tradition of innovative quilt exhibits. Our series of traditional quilt exhibits in the 1980s and 1990s, A Stitch in Time, uncovered local and regional quilt artists. More recently, we have explore contemporary quilting with shows like Full Deck Art Quilts, Potluck: Quilts from an American Tradition, and Hawkins & Hawkins. Our newest quilt exhibit, but by no means our last, features the work of two quilting groups -- the Piecemakers of northern Colorado, and Denver-based Quilt Explorations.

The artists from this exhibit are even willing to share some of their secrets. Several adult workshops and lectures, plus a kids' quilting workshop, accompany Don't Fence Me In. Visit our website for details.

New School Tours

Our new permanent history exhibit, Front Range Rising, may have opened last September, but that doesn't mean that the development process is complete. We are still creating new programs that use the features of this exhibit to enhance school and group tours of the Museum.

Two new guided gallery tours, plus three new or revised cultural programs that take place in the classroom, are now available for grades 3-5. Hands-on activities led by the Museum's team of expert guides, or "docents," make each program one your child will surely enjoy.
Other programs, including Scout programs and adult tours, are planned for the future.

The cars have arrived!

When we were designing the new Longmont Museum & Cultural Center back in 2000, one of the challenges that we set to the architects was that we wanted to get a car into the gallery. Until now, we had never tested that.

I'm pleased to report that we have four cars sitting in the gallery, with neither the cars nor the walls any the worse for wear. The cars were driven to the museum (yes, they are all still driveable), on loan from the private collection of Stephen Tebo, lifted up on a flatbed towtruck to our loading dock, and smoothly manuvered into place.

The cars are part of the new exhibit "Return to Route 66," which opens this Saturday January 19, 2008 to the general public. For members of the Friends of the Museum, there is a special preview party this Friday from 7-9 pm. At the preview party, enjoy diner-inspired food, 1950s and 60s music from the band "Etch" and, of course, the new exhibit.

A look back at notable additions of 2007

The end of the year is always a good time to take a look back and explore some of the less well-publicized aspects of the Longmont Museum. While the year was filled with exciting new exhibits and programs, other important work continued. In 2007, the Museum's collections were enriched by no less that 45 new accessions. Some accessions were very small -- a single photograph of the Longmont High orchestra in Denver for Music Week, 1936. Others were much larger, like a three story handmade Victorian dollhouse with all the furniture and accessories.

Since Front Range Rising, our new permanent history exhibit, occupied much of our time, it's not surprising that many of this year's accessions were acquired specifically for that exhibit, including a buffalo hide, a horse stick (pictured above), 1930s Depression glass, and photographs of Longmont's Suazo family, including the one shown above. Just weeks before Front Range Rising opened, a newly-donated paperweight from a local flour mill became the last item to get added to the exhibit.

Each donation to the Museum's collection helps us tell the story of our community a bit better. Objects, photographs, letters, map and diaries are just a few of the things that make up the Museum's collection. Perhaps there is something in your house that would help tell an untold story of Longmont. Visit our website for more information on how to donate to the Museum's collection.

Longmont's Founding: Utopian Dream or Development Scheme?

The story of the founding of any community tends to get wrapped up in legends that emphasize civic pride and reverence for ancestors over historical accuracy. Longmont is no exception. Founded in 1871 by the Chicago-Colorado Colony, Longmont's founders today are remembered for the motto "Industry, Temperance, and Morality," and for naming the streets after themselves and their benefactors. As the photo above shows, early Longmont may not have been quite the paradise its backers proclaimed.

On Wednesday, December 5, at 7 pm, here at the Longmont Museum, historian Dale Bernard will bring a broader perspective to the founding of Longmont and the idea called the colony movement that gave it birth. Her lecture, "Longmont and the Colony Movement," will look at how capitalist corporations like the railroads played a role in promoting the communal utopian dreams of colony planners.

Cars coming to the Longmont Museum

The Longmont Museum's next special exhibit, Route 66: Photographs from the Mother Road, has an exciting local enhancement planned. Through the generosity of a private collector, the Museum's gallery will include four classic automobiles -- one from each decade that Route 66 was in operation.
We will also feature gas station memorabilia from our old friend Clyde Hodge. Of course, the fascinating photographs of Shellee Graham form the core of this exhibition on the most storied road in American history.