Nativity Collection

The nativity scenes in our lobby exhibit for December are on loan from Regene and Evan Barnum of Colby.

"A few years ago, we noticed that we seemed to have a lot of nativities," they said. "So we started counting, but got lost after 70. Ans we keep find new ones that catch our eyes." 

 

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 Made by Regena

The nativities come from around the globe, and many are unique to different areas of the world. Places represented include Bangladesh, Congo, Ecuador, Ghana, Isreal, Mexico, Peru and handcrafted sets from the United States and locally from Thomas County. Unusual materials used to make them include brass, clay, nuts, pressed straw, olive wood and gourds.

"Some we collected in traveling, and some came from Fair Trade organizations that promote better prices for those who actually create the nativities," they said. "And a garage sale or two . . ."  

Norman Kuska Collection

In August we received a gift of fine art glass, ceramics, and Russian lacquer boxes from Norman Kuska. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Joe and Nellie, he has an eye for quality decorative art pieces. Part of this amazing collection will be in our temporary lobby exhibit during November.

Norman's collection includes crystal pieces from glassworks like Rene Lalique in France, Mats Jonason and Orrefors in Sweden, and Murano Glass from Italy. He also collected glazed ceramics from Lladro a company near Valencia, Spain and Russian lacquer boxes. 


These Russian lacquer boxes get their name from the many layers of lacquer (usually black or red) applied to both the inside and outside of the papier-mache boxes. The boxes are then decorated with miniature paintings, and covered with layers of clear lacquer giving them a brilliant shine.  

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These Orrefors crystal pieces were made in Sweden. The large bowls and candlesticks shown are all the same style and are very heavy.

Lladro, a company near Valencia, Spain is the maker of these quality glazed ceramic pieces. The elephant and baby, sorceress, and polar bear have a somewhat whimsical style.

Murano Glass from Italy produces fine figurines. Murano perfected the process of adding gold fleck, gold strands, and jewels into the glass-making process as shown in this pair of angels and the deer figurine.

As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit or visit our gift shop.

An additional part of Norman Kuska's collection consisting of outstanding French-made Lalique crystal is now on exhibit in the "Glorious Glass" section of the Kuska Gallery.

Halloween

The October lobby exhibit features Halloween collectibles on loan to us from Dan Baalman of Colby.

The collection was started in the 1960s when a paper mache Jack-O-Lantern was found at a garage sale for only a few cents. The hunt was on! Many more items were found at garage sales and auctions. Some were given by friends and a few were purchased new. The items are made from paper, plastic, wax, tin, and ceramics.

Dan's collection continues to grow and now includes several hundred unique items.  

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As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit.

Join us Saturday, Oct. 29 for "Boo at the Mu" from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for a FREE afternoon of Hallaween fun at Prairie Museum of Art & History. Everyone of all ages dressed in costume will receive a treat.

Dolls & Bears

Kelsi Lewis is sharing her collection of dolls and bears with us in the lobby exhibit during September. Kelsi's collection started on her second birthday when her mother bought her a doll. Another doll was added to the collection every birthday  for several years. 

 

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Kelsi's first doll is the one on the right with the red hair ribbons.

 

The sleeping doll is Kelsi's favorite.

In 2000 Brass Button Bears started a series of 20th Century Collectibles. They introduced a new bear every year for 10 years. Each bear represents a decade starting with 1900. Kelsi has all ten of them.

As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit or browse the gift shop.

Duckwall Store Badges

Cleo Mastin worked at the A. L. Duckwall Variety Store in Colby in the 1960's. She collected these unique seasonal button badges worn by store employees.

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 Duckwall's opened a store in Colby in 1933 at 456 N. Franklin Avenue.  In early 1949, A. W. Lauterbach began construction of a new brick building on a prime business location at 390 N. Franklin. From the onset, this new 100' by 50' on the southwest corner of the intersection of 4th Street and Franklin was designed to house the A. L. Duckwall Variety Store. The store opened on November 20, 1949 - just in time for the Christmas shopping season. After 50 years in Colby, the store closed its doors in 1983.

A. L. Duckwall opened his first variety store in 1901 under the name of "The Racket Store". By 1960 A. L. Duckwall company was operating 100 A. L. Duckwall Variety Stores in the Midwest and based in Abilene, Kansas. In 1968 the company opened the first ALCO discount store hoping to compete with much larger competition. By 1984 there were 127 ALCO discount department stores in 14 states and 33 Duckwall variety stores in a four state area. In November 1914, after 113 yesrs in business, ALCO stores announced it was going out of business nationwide. At that time ALCO operated 16 stores in Kansas.

Salt & Pepper Shakers and Dolls

Our lobby exhibit for August comes to us from Evan and Regena Barnum of Colby. It is a fine example of how collections from past generations are combined and then are perpetuated as a whole.

When Evan's mother was young, her father traveled as a bank examiner and often brought her a pair of salt and pepper shakers as a souvenir. She continued collecting as an adult. Evan's aunt also collected shakers and he now has part of her collection too. The oldest salt and pepper shakers in the exhibit are a pair of silver ones from Evan's paternal grandparent's and were possibly one of their wedding gifts. Regena's mother was also a collector of salt and pepper shakers. 

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Evan's father and step-mother were able to travel much of the world while he was a senior engineer for Conoco Oil. While traveling, she acquired dolls from various areas. Regena was given the bridal doll when she was a child. It was put away in a drawer to keep it in pristine condition. The Barbie and Ken dolls were also hers. The monkey and original "Teddy Bear" belonged to Evan's paternal grandparents when they were young.

Be sure to visit Prairie Museum of Art and History during the month of August to see this amazing family collection. You will also want to see the artwork of Julie Peterson-Shea from Phillipsburg, Kansas which is on exhibit in the Garvey Education Room. Both of these exhibits are open to the public without admission fee.