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BSHS receives
competitive funding for continuation Competing against much larger cultural institutions throughout New York State, the Big Springs Historical Society received an $11,700 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts that allows the museum to continue its work on their extensive textile collection. Jean Guthrie, past BSHS president, prepared the grant application and says being awarded this level of funding is a major step forward for the museum and historical society and recognizes its significance as an historical institution. The Big Springs Museum women’s costume collection exceeds over 400 dresses, 50 quilts, more than 400 hats and countless other garments such as hosiery, undergarments and shoes. A lesser grant from the Upstate History Alliance made it possible for volunteer workers to examine and properly archive every piece in the collection and prepare it for the much larger scale project coming up. Their efforts also minimized any further environmental damage to the pieces from light, dirt, dust, acidity and improper storage until the major project grant was received. Throughout this process the museum made environmental improvements to its air circulation, shelving and storage rooms. Museum workers called on the expertise of Mary Ellen Perry, Strong Museum consultant, educator and curator of textiles and art, who specializes in women’s clothing. Perry assisted museum volunteers with identifying, documenting and properly housing each piece in the collection. Using a special computer software program, information about each piece was entered that makes it possible to locate a piece in the collection by era, donor or story subject about it. Perry helped museum workers to develop a plan and direction for the textile collection that would illustrate how it would contribute to the interpretation of women’s history. Guthrie says they hope to make the collection available for research and or loan when all the all of the work is complete. "We should feel very proud. We have a really interesting and remarkable collection and we want to utilize our resources intelligently to care for them and to interpret what they contain. By examining an 1810 dress or a 1930’s hat, we can know what that woman might have been like, what her options were and how society defined her," said Guthrie. The museum hosted a Victorian style runway show in January for the public designed to illustrate the diversity of the collection. Perry introduced and gave information on each piece. The grant funds the majority of the $14,700 total cost of the project and members are looking at ways to close the $3,000 budget gap. Guthrie says if it were not for the countless hours of assistance from volunteers, the cost for the project would be doubled. The project will continue throughout 2008. Big Springs Museum is located at 3095 Main Street, Caledonia and is open 1-4 p.m. on Sundays and 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays.
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