Exchanging and rerouting old routines, adjusting to accumulated changes from the last calendar year and figuring out what to do in the absence of previous volunteers.
That’s what executive director Carol Swenson said occupied her mind at a Monday morning, May 17 meeting at the Legacy of the Lakes Museum.
The museum will open for the season Friday, May 21, and five new exhibits will be featured.
Kaci Johnson, communications and programs director, has helped coordinate and curate these on the museum front, but she said most of the ideas and inspiration have come from committee and board members.
One board member’s suggestion was to partner with the Alexandria Golf Club to showcase the 100th anniversary of the Resorters Tournament. The display includes stories, photos and items from the century-long history of the tournament.
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In addition to fresh ideas, Johnson said long-time board members also provide input on how to show previous exhibits from new perspectives. For example, the exhibit “There is Only One: Chris-Craft” in the museum’s North Gallery focuses on hardtop boats. One of which is Topper, a 1929 28-foot Chris-Craft sedan on loan from the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, N.Y.
For the past two years, the museum has been working on a series called “Slo Boats” to highlight boats without motors.
“We dedicate a lot of our floorspace to power, so this is a way to talk about boats that have been powered by wind or oars or paddles,” Johnson said.
Last season, that was canoes. This year, it includes “Clinker-Built Boats.” The centerpiece of this exhibit is a 21-foot faering. Dating back to the age of Vikings, faerings are still used today for fishing and racing. The boat on display in the museum was hand-built by Nóatún Community Wooden Boat Works in Duluth.
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More than 40 paddle entries from the Pledge-a-Paddle Community Art Contest will be displayed in the Paddle Art Gallery. Visitors can stop in for free to vote for their favorite in the adult and youth categories. The People’s Choice, Juror’s and Artists’ awards will be announced once voting ends in early August.
“ On the Pontoon,” the museum’s fifth new exhibit, outlines the history of the modern pontoon and the culture surrounding the “floating living rooms.”
Piecing together the finishing touches to all of the new displays this week, Johnson said she’s most excited for the museum to be fully open to the public again. Although she appreciated last year’s new pieces, she was disappointed that many people missed the opportunity to see them because of the COVID-19 restrictions in place.
“While we did do some great innovations with technology, there’s nothing that compares to seeing something in person,” Johnson said.
The museum is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, visit legacyofthelakes.org .
