Sheila Markley Black exhibit in the Repository today

We are thrilled that there was a fantastic article in today's Respository about The Sheila Markley Black Collection!

In the photo Sheila is wearing this dress, which is front and center in the Keller Gallery!

If you haven't been in to see this amazing collection of gorgeous dresses, we hope to see you soon.


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Congratulations Mark and Alyson!

Our Archivist Mark Holland got married on Saturday! 

We couldn't be happier for him.  He and Alyson have waited a long time for this -- it is a first marriage for both of them.

The service was just beautiful.  Both sets of parents have passed away, and I was very much struck by how the priest referenced them during the ceremony.  Both couples loved to dance, so in the very beginning of the service, he said that they were dancing up in heaven.

Chris and Mark have been friends for a long time, and Chris was extremely honored when Mark asked him to be a groomsmen.  This is the first time Chris has been in a wedding that he did NOT have to play the piano for! 

Mark's Best Man was his niece Jennifer, with whom he is very close.  She wore a black dress to "blend in" with the tuxes on the groom's side, but wore a watermelon pink sash, the same color as the bridesmaids.  It was perfect.

Of COURSE they had pictures taken at the Monument between the wedding and the reception!  Since Chris wrote the book about the Monument, it was surreal for him to be standing on the steps having his picture taken.

Life works in mysterious ways.  So many things had to line up just perfectly for these two to meet.  Stephanie, our volunteer coordinator, actually introduced them.  She worked with Alyson at the Massillon Public Library.  God got a lot of credit during the ceremony, but Jennifer gave a "shout out" to Stephanie during her Best Man's speech at the reception.  I told Steph that she was like an archangel. :-)

Everyone at the Museum is just thrilled for them.  Alyson has become a volunteer here, so she's at most of our special events.  We wish them a lifetime of health and happiness! 

(And we hope Alyson will wear her dress in the Bridal Show next year!)

Here are a few photos:

Chris before the wedding

Me before the wedding

Alyson's oldest brother gave her away

The happy couple just after the ceremony!

Mark is a Civil War re-enactor, so they were able to get this cool sword exit from the church!

The back of Alyson's dress

Pictures afterwards

The whole bridal party

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Bridal Show 2015

Whew!  It's over!

And what a smashing success it was.  We had a wonderful time on Saturday!  The dresses were lovely, the stories were touching, and the food was out of this world.

Here are just a few photos from the event.  Check out our Facebook page for a TON more.  Thank you to volunteer Dick Conde for really capturing the feeling of the show for us!

Chris and me before the show

Volunteer Judy Gouge

Chris provides live piano music for the pre-party and the show

The basket raffle, organized by Volunteer Coordinator Stephanie Span

Beth Russ and Cindy Sober.  They work in the Museum Shoppe, and Cindy is in charge of the models and dressers for the show.

Spinning the wheel for prizes during the pre-party

Brunch throughout the Museum

Brunch throughout the Museum

Catering by Mr. Mike's

Our French theme!

I'm the MC for the show

Halle wearing the earliest dress in this year's show -- it's from 1901!

Treve Aeiling's family group.  Her mom's dress from the 1930s is out on the runway here.  Hannah is wearing Treva's dress from the 1960s, Kaity is wearing Treva's mom's Mother of the Bride dress, and Lynette is wearing Treva's daughter's dress from 2009.

Halle wearing a dress from the 1940s

Lisa wearing her grandmother's dress from the 1950s

Corie wearing a blue tea-length wedding dress from the 1950s

Tina wearing a dress from the 1950s

Volunteer Barb Hoskins's family group -- including dresses that belonged to Barb, her sister, her aunt, and her daughter-in-law

Carleen wearing her own dress from 2013!  She was our grand finale.  Her bouquet was purple flowers that she covered with antique brooches, pendants, and earrings.  It was GORGEOUS!

Keller Gallery over the years

Like most curators, I photograph the fruits of my labor when an exhibition is finally finished.  I like to take a shot from the large door into the Keller Gallery, which shows how different one exhibition looks from another.  Even though the lighting is a challenge in that spot, I do it anyway.

Here are a few shots from exhibitions I've done over the years.  I don't have all of the photos on my computer.  When I first started working here, I burned lots of CDs to free up space on my hard drive.  USB drives hadn't been invented yet.  For a brief time I created Zip disks because THAT was going to be The Future....but I digress.

Anyway, some of these are awfully blurry -- either from our old camera or my false idea that I could hold the camera steady enough without a tripod.  But you get the idea.

You can also see the evolution in design as I've gotten new equipment.  We've upgraded the lighting, built new walls, and now print panels on a plotter -- in full color!  I could not have dreamed of such a thing when I came here in October 2001.

It's amazing how many different ways you can make one space look! 

(By the way, the white walls on the exterior of the gallery entrance are from when that space was the Historical Hall.  We painted it and installed The Stark County Story in 2009.)

And now, in no particular order, here are some Keller Gallery Door Shots:

Broken Down Heroes

Footloose and Fancy Free:  Canton in the Roaring Twenties

A Doll's World

Aspectations by Su Nimon

Life in Miniature

A Secret Gift

A Stitch in Time

The Victorian Age

Mentioning the Unmentionables

Celebrate the Sixties!

Letters Home

Hearth & Home

The Sheila Markley Black Collection