This summer, an exhibit on chairs comes to the Glover institution.
By Javi Huta
GLOVER — The Northeast Kingdom is a place defined by its rugged individualism, hyper-traditionalists, some of the last true hippies of North America, and, of course, regular, everyday people. At least that’s how Clare Dolan explains it.
Clare Dolan’s property, just south of Glover on Route 16, consists of many things: her home, her dog, an ample garden, and the old barn that houses the Museum of Everyday Life.
The Museum of Everyday Life is filled with objects that many might overlook. The collection is comprised of objects that represent the common, the ordinary, the universally experienced moments that connect all of us; the aspects of life that make us human. This includes things like knots, scissors and lists.
Each year, Dolan collects a variety of objects pertaining to a specific theme. Last year she filled the barn with an exhibit based on stains, which included yellowed teeth, bloodied aprons and dirtied farm clothing. Parts of her yearly exhibits are then incorporated into the permanent collection, which is always changing and growing. This year, an exhibit on chairs, titled “Deep Seated,” will open in June.
Originally from Illinois, Dolan came to Vermont through her involvement in Bread and Puppet. She toured with the theater company for a number of years before eventually choosing to settle down in Glover. She created the Museum of Everyday Life in 2010.
Her first exhibit was for the bicentennial anniversary of a famous local natural disaster. In 1810, laborers unintentionally caused the banks of what was once Long Pond to give way. Millions of gallons of water rushed into the Barton River, draining Long Pond and creating Runaway Pond, now a marsh.
Just up the road from Dolan’s property is the Bread and Puppet Museum. It is housed in another old barn, slightly bigger and full of handmade puppets ranging from six inches to over 20 feet tall. Dolan says that the museum taught her a valuable lesson.
“You don’t need to be a professional to create a museum,” Dolan said, “as long as you make something that people will want to visit.”
Amy Cunningham is deputy director at the Vermont Arts Council, which is a supporter of this year’s “Deep Seated” exhibit. For Cunningham, small institutions like the Museum of Everyday Life are what make Vermont’s art scene so special.
“They can try stuff out, they can experiment. They can be responsive to community needs in a way, where there’s no hoops or bureaucracy,” Cunningham said. “Clare can decide to do an awesome project because that idea came to her, or it came to her in conversation with folks in her community.”
Dolan’s process of developing each year’s new exhibit usually starts in the fall. She decides the final theme over the winter and announces it in the spring.
Dolan reaches out to her advisors, a group of like-minded individuals passionate about the museum’s mission. She and her team begin collecting items. Then, she opens the call to the wider community for donations and suggestions.
“Sixty to 70% I collect and 30 to 40% are donations from folks, but that really depends on the topic of the exhibit,” Dolan said.
Theresa Peura of West Glover is one of Dolan’s collaborators. She helps design and execute exhibits at the museum.
“I think what Clare’s doing is so important because it’s letting people have the opportunity to share parts of their lives,” Peura said. “These little stories have value and they have meaning and they have connection.”
As a society, we typically imagine museums as large institutions, and what we deem valuable is housed inside – be it a taxidermied animal or the largest diamond found. By displaying regular, everyday objects in a museum space, Dolan invites visitors to reconsider what we as a society deem valuable.
“Big fancy museums are so wonderful but carry a baggage that attaches to what is singular, rare or associated with fame,” Dolan said. “Museums are everywhere; appreciate the smaller places, the richer places, not only what our culture emphasizes.”
What Dolan, whose day job is as an intensive care unit nurse in St. Johnsbury, wants to emphasize is more simple: living life.
“Being a nurse lets me see some momentous moments of the ordinary. Like taking the first drink of water can be momentous for someone who has been on a ventilator for weeks,” she said.
For Dolan, the point of a museum is not just to display things; it’s to invite visitors to think about them. She says anything can be a museum:
“The spider makes the dew drop museum on her web every morning,” she said.
Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship