A Doll's World

This afternoon I started preliminary work on the next exhibit, A Doll's World, which opens October 24 in the Keller Gallery.

We have 74 doll stands, and 551 dolls in the collection.

I've been putting off getting started on this because I know we've got so many wonderful dolls, with limited space to display them! Hopefully this week I will be able to start opening boxes and choosing which dolls will be part of the exhibition.

I'm actually surprised we have so many doll stands. I don't think I'm going to have to buy any more. Some dolls will sit up on their own. Plus, we aren't going to be building any additional cases, so we'll just have to fill the space we have and no more than that.

I'm working with Steve on an idea for a dollhouse type facade with a picket fence that you will walk through when you enter the gallery. It will have shutters and flower boxes and everything! (Plus, we'll be able to use it again next year when I do a dollhouse exhibit called Life in Miniature.)

We have some doll furniture that will also be on display (not the dollhouse furniture -- I'm saving that for next year!). We have doll carriages, high chairs, etc. that I will set up on a platform in the gallery.

I'm going to do some research on the dolls, but like the glass and china exhibit, I'm guessing there might be quite a few that I won't be able to find out about. I will do a little bit of research on the history of playing with dolls as well, but mostly this will be a "pretty" exhibit of wonderful dolls spanning the past 150 years!

I think this exhibit will be a fun one!