Friends of St. Clair River teams up with Carnegie Museum
By Barb Pert Templeton
Classes for rug weaving and creating mosaic garden stones, several arts and crafts programs and organized nature walks are just a few of the things that will dot the calendar this spring and summer at the Carnegie Museum.
In a joint venture between the Port Huron Museum and the group, Friends of the St. Clair River, the Blue Water Green Spaces exhibit promises to be an exciting addition to the activities calendar for families across the region.
An opening reception for the Blue Water Green Spaces program will take place on Friday, April 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Carnegie Museum. It will be a free event with a suggested donation of $3 per person. After the grand opening the exhibit will remain in place at the museum until Sept. 28.
Sheri Faust, executive director of the Friends of the St. Clair River, said this was the first time the group has collaborated on a project with the museum. She said museum staff approached the Friends last summer with an opportunity to work together on this exhibit.
The project that created the Blue Water Green Spaces exhibit marks the first time the Port Huron Museum is collaborating with the Friends of the St. Clair River group.
“Since that time, our teams have met for months to develop it from a concept to a major exhibit,” Faust said. “The exhibit’s name comes from the Friends of the St. Clair River vision statement – Blue water, Green spaces, Clean air, for all, Forever. The result of the collaboration is a gift to the community that we’re proud of and excited to see how the community responds to it.”
The role of the Friends group has been to share their strength, which falls to environmental education and match it up with the museum’s exhibit building talents, in order to bring the project to life.
“We’re proud to provide our support for this exhibit by creating the content and many of the activities and materials,” Faust said.
Telling the story through something visual is a way of educating and reconnecting people to nature in the place they call home, she said.
“Introducing families to our natural resources is our business. We hope this creates a lifetime of stewards that will one day advocate for the blue water and green spaces around them,” Faust said.
To get a closer look at the museum’s role in the project Blue Water Healthy Living posed some questions to Kayla Flanagan Curator of Programs and Education at the Port Huron Museum.
A kayak will be part of one of the exhibits in the new nature program being offered at the Port Huron Museum.
Blue Water Healthy Living: What was your part in getting the exhibit ready?
Kayla Flanagan Curator of Programs and Education: I have just been trying to make myself available to help Emily (Reitzel, curator of collections and exhibits) in creating pieces when I can, but it really is an “all-hands-on-deck” situation when you get down to the last couple of weeks. I have also discussed program ideas that can go along with the exhibit to create more experience opportunities for the public.
BWHL: Can you share a few examples of things planned there for families to do?
“We’re proud to provide our support for this exhibit by creating the content and many of the activities and materials.”
Sheri Faust, executive director of the Friends of the St. Clair River
Flanagan: We have created some special art and craft programs, including things like a recycled fabrics rug weaving workshop, led by our in-house arts & crafts lead, Lisa Jo Struyk. We’re planning a nature walk, as well as a couple of kid-focused programs about natural sciences, a mosaic garden stone class, a spring painting class, and programs led by the Friends of the St. Clair River. We will be getting these programs posted on our social media, website, and EventBrite pages as the details are finalized.
BWHL: Was is difficult to come up with ideas for the exhibit?
Flanagan: For programs, it depends. There were some that were easy to conceptualize, like the nature walk, because they are programs that are popular, and we have done similar ones before. But for other ones, I definitely found myself relying on the expertise of others, who readily came prepared with great ideas, such as Ren Sontsmann, Sandra Squires, and Lisa Jo Struyk, who came to me with their art and craft-based ideas for programs, and the Friends of the St. Clair River, who brought their knowledge to the table.
BWHL: How did you like collaborating with the St. Clair River Friends Group?
Flanagan: They have been great. I’m always excited to work with people who are passionate about their work and knowledge, and grateful that they are willing to share that wealth with us, as a museum and as a community.
