The previous double exhibit hosted by the Healdsburg Museum — a collection of vintage Barbies and miniature wooden models of historic Healdsburg street scenes — will be a tough one to top. But the museum’s latest, which just debuted last week, looks like it’s giving Barbie a run for her money.
It’s called “Trails to Fitch Mountain: The Land. The People. The River.” And it’s a deep dive into the history, culture and nature that makes our magical little mountain unique. You can check it out through early October.
Alongside the Fitch Mountain exhibit is another one celebrating the 135th anniversary of the Garrett’s hardware store on Healdsburg Avenue, now part of the Ace Hardware family. (FYI, Garrett’s will also be hosting a big customer appreciation party on Aug. 31 to close out their anniversary month.)
One of the most awesome-looking elements of the new Fitch Mountain exhibit, IMO, is the river section. Here are some details from museum director Holly Hoods:
I invited artists Linus Lancaster and Hugh Livingston and Richard McDaniel to collaborate, which has added beautiful color, texture and oportunities for engagement. Hugh and Linus are the creators of “Your River Downtown,” a public art project that connects people to the Russian River on video screens around town. They have shared the sounds and views of a real canoe trip down the River which we are projecting on a Museum wall. Linus sampled soil from the four types of soils found on Fitch Mountain and painted a soil map with it. He also created and fired ceramics from each type of Fitch Mountain soil. Another engaging section of the exhibition is “Message in A Buoy,” in which high school students created ceramic buoys and wrote messages to the River (to roll up and stick inside the buoys). We invite you to write your own messages to the River for us to float. We also have incorporated exceptional wooden craftsmanship with Jon Lacaillade’s scale model of the Fitch home and a 1920s-30s handmade canoe and rowboat made by the Easdales of Guerneville, loaned by the Rissian River Historical Society. I have been so busy that i worked right through my 28th anniversary at the Museum without noticing it. Cheers!
