Sand and Rock Samples

The exhibit in our lobby this month is a collection of sand and rock samples on loan from Shannon Kenyon. Shannon is Assistant District Manager at Northwest Kansas Ground Water Management District #4 located in Colby, Kansas.

Her collection started in about 2000. Shannon has collected many of the samples herself. While her father was in the military, Shannon's mother (Ginger Bromley) collected many samples of foreign sand and rocks during her travels.

Shannon also has an extensive collection of fossils and larger rock we hope she will share with us at some time in the future. 

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Spring has sprung and Kelsi is adding new items to the Museum Mart. Stop in and check out some of the new gift items she has found made in Kansas.

WPA Dolls

The lobby exhibit for March features a collection of WPA dolls from the Prairie Museum of Art and History collection of "All Nations" figurines. Prairie Museum's collection of WPA Dolls consists of three parts. The first is a collection of "All Nations" figurines which were created by by Thomas County women and were on displayed in the Colby Elementary School from 1939-1979. They have been on exhibit at Prairie Museum for several years. The second part of the WPA collection is also a set of "All Nations" figurines given to the museum by DePaul Library University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Although similar, the two collections are different in decorative detail. The third part of the collection consists of "American Costume" figurines representing clothing fashion of men and women from 1607 to 1890. The "American Costume" collection also came from DuPaul Library.

Each pair of figurines consists of a molded papier-mache head with hand sewn cloth body. The heads of the figurines were individually and uniquely hand-painted adding hair and facial features. The finely detailed costumes are authentic, hand sewn and inspired by artist's drawings. Each pair is mounted on a wooden platform displaying the name of the country represented. Most of the men are also holding their national flag.

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WPA (Works Progress Administration, later Works Projects Administration) is part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Program not only to put people to work building bridges, roads, and buildings, but also as artists, seamstresses, and musicians in order to promote American art and culture. The objective of WPA was to provide for people by creating paid work and also by learning new skills to enable workers to find jobs. 

This is the first time any part of the collection donated by DePaul Library University of Saint Mary has been on exhibit at Prairie Museum of Art & History. This exhibit during March is a unique opportunity to see these great figurines before most of them go back into storage. 

"Craft Art"

The lobby exhibit for February is part of the Prairie Museum of Art & History collection. It is mostly craft art items collected or made by Nellie Kuska, Vern Dimmitt, and Betty Secrest.

Birds of Kansas

Vern Dimmitt spent many hours creating and painting papier-mache birds. Betty Secrest donated an assortment of ceramic birds.

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Nellie Kuska is notorious for collecting nearly anything and everything. We sometimes affectionately refer to her as a 'pack rat' or 'hoarder'. Nellie's collection is awesome - ranging from rare decorative art pieces to simple everyday items.

 

This replica of the USS Constitution is made from sea shells. 

 Someone finally captured Roadrunner! Bet it wasn't Wylie Coyote.

This cat is closely 'guarding' the collection of birds!

Visit Prairie Museum this month to see this hodge-podge of amateur art. There is no admission fee to visit our lobby, research library, and gift shop. Kelsi has been working hard to find new and unique Kansas items to feature in our gift shop for 2018.

 If you have a collection of items you would like to share with our visitors, contact Ray at 785-460-4590 or email registrar@prairiemuseum.org to schedule a month for your own exhibit.

Campbell's Soup - Mmm Mmm Good!

January is National Soup Month. No one knows this better than Pat Parker. Pat is sharing her collection of Campbell's Soup advertising and gift items with us by placing them in our lobby exhibit. Her interest in Campbell's began in the late 1950s when she first saw memorabilia collected by her sister-in-law, Carleen. Carleen worked at the Campbell's manufacturing plant in Tecumseh, Nebraska and had the opportunity to collect many pieces.

Pat didn't start collecting Campbell's items until 1980 when she moved to Colby from Stratton, Nebraska. She has acquired items from retail stores, thrift shops, garage sales, and gifts from friends. Pat's collection has grown to include hundreds of items.

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The company was started in 1869 by Joseph Campbell. The iconic Campbell's Soup Kids first appeared in advertising in 1905.


There is also another connection with Campbell's Soup in Colby -- Richard Bird.

Ceramic & Resin Angels

Just in time for Christmas, the lobby exhibit for December is a selection of angel figurines brought out from storage at Prairie Museum of Art and History.

The angels were collected by Erma Depe Griggs Hamill over a period of several years. Erma donated most of the collection to Prairie Museum of Art and History in 2004. However, she continued to collect and donated the last of them in 2011. The entire collection consists of over 300 pieces.

The angels serve various functions such as candle sticks, music boxes, clocks, soap dishes, vases, picture frames, table top fountains, and trinket boxes. A few of them are lighted and all of them are different and special in their own way.

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Come in to see this great collection during December. Don't forget to bring your Christmas shopping list. Kelsi has the gift shop filled with great gifts and stocking stuffers for everyone on your list.



You never get too many angels. Stop downtown at Pioneer Memorial Library. Some of Erma's angels are on temporary loan for their lobby exhibit during the holiday season.

Toys & Childhood Memories

The November lobby exhibit is a selection of toys from the Prairie Museum of Art & History Collection.

By definition, a toy is an item expecially designed to be used for play (usually for children). Early archaeological sites have turned up toys representing infants, animals, soldiers, and representations of tools used by adults.

Playing with toys is considered to be an important part of growing up and learning about the world around us.

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Toys are generally divided into the following types:

Construction Sets: This group includes simple building blocks, Lego bricks, Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, and models which required pieces to be assembled to create an object or toy such as cars or airplanes.

Dolls & Miniatures: A doll is a model of a human (often a baby) a humanoid (like Bert & Ernie) or an animal. This category also includes action figures, toy soldiers, animals, and other figures molded from plastic.

Vehicles: This group includes cars, trucks, tractors, aircraft, boats, military vehicles, and trains.

Puzzles: This group includes nearly anything which involves finding the solution to a problem such as picture puzzles, Rubik's Cube, mechanical puzzles, and also board games.

Collectibles: Good examples of collectibles are Beanie Babies, and Boyds Bears.

Promotional Merchandise: These toys usually represent motion pictures, television programs, books, and sports teams. A good example is Star Wars and Disney themed items.

Digital Toys: These toys incorporate some type of interactive digital electronic games.

Physical Activity: Many toys are part of active play such as hoops, tops, jump ropes, and balls.  

There is no admission to visit this temporary lobby exhibit. Maybe it will rekindle some childhood memories.

If you have either old or contemporary toys you would like to contribute to the Prairie Museum of Art & History collection, please call Ray at 785-460-4590 or e-mail registrar@prairiemuseum.org 

Ceramic Figurines

The October lobby exhibit is a selection of figurines from the ceramics collection at Prairie Museum of Art & History.

The figurines in this exhibit represent a wide variety of sizes and subjects.

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The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects like pots or vessels or figurines made from clay. Sometimes the clay was mixed with other materials like silica and hardened in fire. Later ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces. Ceramics now include household, industrial and building products as well as a wide range of ceramic art. In modern times ceramics is the art and science of making objects from inorganic, non-metalic materials by the action of heat.