Narrowing it down...

So far, my volunteer Kathy and I have narrowed down Sheila Markley Black's collection of almost 300 vintage dresses to these two racks:

And there are still too many!  Final decisions will be made in the next few weeks in the following categories:

• Evening Gowns
• Cocktail Dresses
• Designer Suits
• The Little Black Dress

The Sheila Markley Black Collection

On view in the Keller Gallery
March 27 - July 5, 2015

Sponsored by:

McKinley Day is almost here!

Tomorrow is McKinley Day!  Here is the program for the day:

The biggest change this year is that we have moved the Wreath Laying Ceremony to 1:00 PM.  Regular admission, members free.  We hope to see you tomorrow! The weather is going to be MUCH better than it was last year.

Here are some highlights from years past:

Day Ketterer Ltd will sponsor the exhibition "The Sheila Markley Black Collection"

THANK YOU to Day Ketterer Ltd. for sponsoring our next Keller Gallery exhibition "The Sheila Markley Black Collection" opening March 27!

In addition to the wonderful dresses that will be display, there will also be fabulous shoes:

Fancy fashions

Work has begun on selecting what will be included in the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Sheila Markley Black Collection opening on Friday March 27.

The hardest part of this entire process is deciding what is in and what is out.  Yesterday my volunteer Kathy and I created four sections to organize the exhibition.  They are:

• Evening Gowns
• Cocktail Dresses
• Designer Suits
• The Little Black Dress

Our goal is to narrow it down to 10 examples of each category, sprinkled throughout several decades, for a total of 40 ensembles in the exhibition.  There are also some hats and shoes which we will also display in cases.

It is very exciting to be able to display one person's collection in a thematic exhibition like this!  We are very grateful to Sheila Markley Black for donating her amazing clothing collection to us.  We heard from her today and she is planning to attend the opening on March 27.  If you'd like the chance to talk to a textile collector about her amazing finds, mark your calendar!

Although final selections have NOT been made, these are some of the pieces in the collection (photos courtesy of Kathleen Wieschaus):

Dirty hands

My job can be so strange sometimes!

Today I received the following image of "dirty hands" to approve for the new guy in the Gas Station:

Aren't they so cool? And creepy? And PERFECT?

I also had to pick where I wanted his face smudged.  This was a rough idea of where they will be:

The numbers are backwards because I had to reverse the image.  He will be facing this way, so his left side will be what visitors see.

Who knew there was so much detail involved in getting this right?!

Happy New Year! And a look back at 2014

Today is the first day of the first full work week of 2015.  Christmas decorations are coming down, plans are underway for January events, and there is a feeling of excitement and renewal around here!

Last year was an extraordinary year for the Museum.  Purchasing this little beauty was definitely a highlight:

But there were lots of other great things too.  We had some wonderful exhibitions in the Keller Gallery:

We added this guy to the Street of Shops:

We got a grant to conserve two more of Ida McKinley's dresses:

We did our first series of preservation workshops:

And we launched a brand new website:

Our events and programs were great, in spite of a few lousy weather days (for McKinley Day and the Car Show).  We had a great bus trip to Marietta, outreach programs all over town, and some fantastic donations to the permanent collection.

All in all, it was a fabulous year for us!  And we're looking forward to all the great things to come in 2015.

Stay tuned!