Weve been posting recently about all the holiday social events coming to Cuchara Valley in the next several weeks. With those in mind we want to help you be a conversational star as you party. So, well be providing occasional fascinating facts that you can casually drop into any conversation, thus wowing your friends and family. Today: a question, tomorrow the fascinating answer. Question: What is the official name of our wonderful museum in La Veta and WHY does it have that name? (Caution, this might be a bit tricky. . .) While most of us are consumed with preparations for the holiday, work at our wonderful museum continues. To learn what happens in the off season in our small treasure, read what Kim McKee, Director has to say. Whod a thunk it? Kim writes: There is never a down time for a museum! Fall means covering windows and exhibits, putting outdoor things away like benches, tables, hoses, yard tools. It is also the time when we try to get some of the ‘back work’ done when there are no visitors. HOWEVER… since the buildings are not heated, this is a constant dance with the weather. Not to mention a dance with volunteers and their willingness to leave the cozy warmth of their home to come help out at the museum! Other tasks in off season include data input of the inventories, the accessioning, deaccessioning and conservation of artifacts, organizing of the collections and storage… which brings me to the BIG news… we have a new BIG STORAGE BARN! Yes-sir-ee, we will now be able to organize our over-flowing collection into a ‘museum-like’ environment! For so many decades space has been a huge issue. Basically we are what is referred to as a ‘storage exhibit’, meaning everything we have is on display. This is not good museum practice, both for the care of the artifacts (which should be rotated in and out of dust/light/display) as well as visitor interest when there are too many items displayed. There are items in closets, under furniture, in drawers, behind doors, and stuffed in every nook and cranny! Now we can really take care of items properly, as well as become so organized that the Smithsonian will be calling to come and observe our museum practices! It is also a time of planning for next season… The special events that we have on Saturdays take a lot of planning! Scheduling of speakers, presenters, artists, performers, takes a lot of correspondence and patience. Planning what exhibits we will showcase takes coordination with our historian and collection information. Here are the big event dates for your calendars: Opening day - May 23, Hispano Heritage Celebration - June 27, Native American Celebration - July 11, and Francisco Fort Day Celebrating the Cowboy - July 25. We are always looking for input, ideas suggestions, and creative people to help implement the Special Saturday events too! So far these are on the short list: Frontier School Day, Historic Fashions/clothing, Fiber arts, participating with the Garden Tour, Commemoration of the end of the Civil War and MORE! So mark your calendars, and keep watching for the final program schedule! As you can see, the museum gets quiet, but it NEVER SLEEPS!! Happy winter from Francisco Fort!! Editor: And, by the way, Francisco Fort is an indirect recipient of a Cuchara Foundation grant as the Friends of the Fort received one of CFs awards to purchase an outdoor portable stage for the summer programs that Kim lists above. Again, if you attended/sponsored the Cuchara Country Music concert you helped make Forts new stage possible! Thanks!
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:00:00 +0000
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