What's Been Going On At The Clarke?

It's been really, really quiet on the blog for the last few months- oh my it's been about 4 months since I last posted! Things have most definitely not been quiet around the Clarke though. Here's what's happened since August:

New Exhibit: Whiskey in the Wall!

Whiskey in the Wall opened at Arts Alive in September with great enthusiasm from those who came out to the opening. We spent a good chunk of September setting it up, which included printing and sticking 8 inch by 11 inch sticky labels onto foam core then individually cutting them out to make the timeline cards around the exhibit. Time intensive, but so worth it! We also held a special curator-led tour of the exhibit which was a big hit.

Archaeology Day in October

Our attendance numbers this year topped last years and we added California State Parks to the list of groups that hosts a table at the event.  Flintknapping, as always, was a big hit. Thanks to Humboldt State's Anthropology Club for coming out with fun activities!

First Annual Humboldt History Symposium

At the very beginning of November, we co-hosted the Humboldt History Symposium at the Wharfinger Building with the Humboldt County Historical Society. Tickets sold out and the house was packed. We featured 9 speakers, with Ray Raphael as the Keynote and had representation by a majority of our regions historical organizations in attendance. It was great catching up with other local history professionals and hobbyists, and there are already calls for another Symposium in November of 2020.

The Historic Weapons Vault

I had set the goal of opening the historic Weapons Vault in December, which meant that as soon as the Symposium was over, it was time to dig into moving stuff and putting guns in displays. Thanks to Volunteer Christina, who has been coming in weekly since January 2019 (if not earlier than that) to help with the big move, Volunteer Dean who provided a lot of helpful information on how to display the guns, and staff members Ben and Brittany for doing a lot of the facilities type work to prepare the room with a fresh coat of paint and new cases, the exhibit is ready to open to the public this Saturday, December 7, for Arts Alive. But wait, there's more!
December's Arts Alive will also feature a variety of home brewers and local distilleries who will be offering tastings of their brews in the Prohibition exhibit space, which features an authentic homemade still on loan from the North Coast Redwoods District of the California State Parks.

The Chandelier Saga

Throughout the last few months, Museum Director Ben Brown has tracked down the original Bank of Eureka chandeliers to be restored and re-hung as part of our ongoing interior restoration project. Additionally, Lisa Jarrow who came out earlier this year to start restoring the interior paint came back out and did a bit more work on the back wall of the museum. It's looking spectacular, just like it did in 1911! Katie and Ben co-authored an article on this ongoing project, which will be in the Spring 2020 edition of the Humboldt Historian.

Nealis Hall: Community Dresses

Set of girl's regalia made by the Trinidad Rancheria Cultural Department and community members, on view from May-October 2019

Over the summer months into fall we were able to host newly made dresses, necklaces and more by local regalia makers as a part of the ongoing exhibit in Nealis Hall Long Ago to Today: Women's Ceremonial Dresses. 

The first set of regalia we hosted over the summer months into Fall was from the Trinidad Rancheria. This set of regalia was made by Trinidad Rancheria Cultural Department with community member assistance as a part of a regalia making program for youth in 2016. It is taken care of by the Trinidad Rancheria Cultural Department and comes out for ceremonial dances and dress walks.
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​Making this set of regalia meant gathering and processing materials like the brain tanned elk hide, clamshells, picking out glass beads, cleaning and drilling pinenuts for the strands. Further cutting materials, laying out the design of the dress and finally assembling it together. Youth program participants assisted in preparing materials and stringing necklaces and dangles for the dress.

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Newly completed set of regalia by Marlette Grant-Jackson, on display until January 2020

In November we were elated to receive as a loan until January, a newly completed set of regalia by Marlette Grant-Jackson. ​She is a Yurok Tribal Member, raised in Hoopa and an alumn of HSU & ITEPP.  She is a mother of four (3 adult children and 1 three year old granddaughter).  She is the ITEPP Cultural Resource Center (CRC) Coordinator, and ITEPP Professional Academic Advisor. Marlette made this dress apron and skirt, finished in September 2019 and beaded cape, finished August 2019, over the past year and a half.
 
She had documented and shared in-progress photos of her project over social media. She had originally planned for the apron to look differently, as can be seen in the photographs at the top. She had made two different designs and had ultimately cut each apart as she started on a new design. Leileanna Brown is shown wearing this dress in the photo at the bottom.
 
The dress is made from deerskin, chartreuse green beads, clamshell discs, pine nuts; deer dew claws, abalone disks, & jingle bells. The dress makes a beautiful sound when moved, due to the dangling sound elements.

We have been blessed to host these newly made sets of regalia from the community to connect to the older regalia items in the collection. Showcasing the revitalized and continued connection to ceremony and making here in our local indigenous communities. 

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Be sure to come out for tonight's Arts Alive!
6-9 pm in Old Town Eureka.