'Pop-up museum' comes to fair
The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center will sponsor a 'pop up museum' during the Grant County Fair next week.
MOSES LAKE - A museum exhibit created by the participants will be sponsored by the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center during the Grant County Fair.
It's called a "pop up museum," according to a press release from the museum. "We (the museum staff) name the theme and the date. You bring something on-topic to share with others."
Museum Director Freya Liggett said it's the first time the museum has exhibited at the fair in about 10 years. "We're really excited to go back," she said.
The museum also will sponsor an activity booth for children every day, she said. Along with different crafts daily, museum staff will be promoting the Free Family Saturday program.
Free Family Saturday is held on the first Saturday each month, and features a craft for children to make. It's funded through donations, the annual silent auction each December and its membership program.
People bring their treasures or their curiosities to the pop-up museum, along with a few details about the item. Museum officials take a picture of the exhibit and exhibitor, and all pictures will be displayed throughout the week.
The theme will change every day during the fair, Liggett said. "Bring items that are nostalgic, intriguing or just plain funny, along with your stories of why these items are important to you and why you've collected them," the press release said.
"Community wide show and tell," Liggett said. "Everybody has something that should be in a museum."
The fair opens Aug. 18, and "Toys" will be the theme on opening day. "Something everyone can relate to really well," Liggett said. Museum staff will be looking for old toys, new toys, from favorites belonging to contemporary kids to old toys that adults have kept.
"Photographs, mementoes and heirlooms" are being solicited for Aug. 19, for "Memories." Participants are encouraged to bring objects that remind them of people and places important to them, the press release said.
"Handmade" is the theme for Aug. 20. Exhibitors are encouraged to bring items they made or handmade things they purchased or inherited.
The Aug. 21 theme is "recipes," and participants are encouraged to share their favorites, new and old. The theme is "Journey" on Aug. 22, the fair's last day. That's designed for travel souvenirs and travel stories.
The pup-up museum is sponsored with the help of Humanities Washington, Liggett said. It's a trend that's caught on among museum administrators, she said, bringing objects (or copies) out into the community.