​The Small Museum Association held its annual conference on President’s Day weekend in College Park, Maryland and the ACSM was well represented. Our curator Abby Harting and Museum & Archives Committee members Sadie Somerville and Barbara Macklem all attended.  And our former curator Robin MacDonald was the chair of the entire event.  The theme this year honored the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. 

The program was full of a diverse selection of seminars and workshops.  Each day Abby, Sadie, and Barbara reviewed the choices and selected different programs to take full advantage of all the offerings. Programs included topics such as What is Digital Curation, Women in the Arts, Preserving What Inspires and much more. It was a great opportunity to hear about activities in other small museums and to learn new information and techniques.  And while it was a great time to celebrate the passage for the 19th Amendment; it was even better to remember that in the Ardens we have had universal suffrage since our founding. ​

As part of the Anniversary Exhibition at the ACSM, the Museum and Archives Committee selected 15 treasures from the collection.  Not surprisingly, the Arden Forge was one of the highlights.  Many of the older homes in Arden still have pieces from the Forge in everyday use.  Impressive door hinges, wall sconces, and ceiling fixtures are just some reminders of the extensive work at the Forge. 
One of the more intriguing items at the Museum is a door knocker – although we only have the back plate – the knocker itself (probably a horse shoe) - is missing.  The plate is heavily designed with a bewitching verse.  The verse is attributed to Frank Stephens.

            Knock and enter Friend for you
            Are not barred by Horse’s Shoe
           But Witches-Wizards-Gnomes-Elves
           Take warning Fly & save yourselves.
               
Stop by the ACSM to see this great Arden Forge piece and many other treasures.
The ACSM is open Sundays afternoons from 1-3 PM and Wednesday evenings from
7:30 – 9 PM.  You are Welcome Hither!

We know that many of our friends have visited or will visit our current exhibition "15 Years, 15 Treasures", but we thought it would be fun to do a series related to the exhibition!  So with no further ado we give you our first treasure-Shakespeare!

The tradition of storytelling through theatre has continued to be a part of the fabric of life in the Ardens. Starting with Frank Stephens’ informal troupes, to the Players’ Gild, the Highway Ensemble, and now the Shakespeare Gild, the inspiring works of Shakespeare have always been an integral part of theatre here. ​

​There are lots of different skill sets that make up museum work.  Especially in small museums where we have amazing volunteers and professionals making it work with limited time and budgets.  We thought it would be fun for you to get a taste of our behind the scenes work.  As we have projects that are visually interesting we’ll try to share them here on the blog. 

Today’s behind the scenes is part of our exhibition installation.  This will be old hat for some of our artist friends-and you may even have recommendations for how to do this project better!

In our current exhibition-“15 Years, 15 Treasures” we display a test piece for an art work called the Quill and Cube created by artist Rick Rothrock.  For more information about the sculpture please visit: http://rickrothrock.com/Constitution_Park.html

Because the art work that the ASCM holds is a test piece it needs some clarifying text.  We decided to mount this text on foam-cor.
 
So without further ado!
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​Here are our materials: while Scotch photo mount isn't particularly useful for historical documents it does just fine for temporary accompanying text.

​We must make sure that the foam-cor is the correct size and level-so we drew the lines off of the text sheet.

​And our curator free cutting the foam-cor.

And here it it is cut!

You should read the directions.

Once the text is sprayed glued we're now smoothing out the bubbles.

Voila!  It's ready to be put into the exhibition!  And that’s a little look into all the things we do to bring you the wonderful exhibitions here at the Arden Craft Shop Museum! 
​Written by Abby Harting

The Arden Craft Shop Museum hosted its opening of our newest exhibition “15 years, 15 Treasures….Just the Beginning” on October 20th.  Many dear friends of the museum attended and enjoyed light refreshments.

​While the collections and idea of the Arden Craft Shop Museum is much older than 15 years, this exhibition celebrates the years that we have been at the Craft Shop!  Please stop by to see our new exhibition!

The Arden Craft Shop Museum Seeks a Curator and Archivist

​The mission of the Arden Craft Shop Museum is to collect and exhibit materials and artifacts related to the Ardens, which include the villages of Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft. The Arden Craft Shop Museum seeks to educate the community on the Ardens’ history as single-tax communities in addition to how the roles of theater, craftsmanship, art, and other aspects of life have affected the development of the Ardens as a close-knit community. The Ardens occupy a unique position in the social and cultural history of the state of Delaware.
 
As the Curator/Archivist of the Arden Craft Shop Museum, the successful candidate will serve an important role in this unique, arts-minded, community-based small museum. As the regular staff member, the Curator/Archivist will make a significant difference in preserving and gaining intellectual control over the existing collections. The Curator/Archivist is the main manager of both the archival and object collections. He or she is the point of contact for questions about the collection and works closely with the Museum and Archives Committee to answer research questions, implement occasional education programs, and process collections. The Committee is made up of residents elected by the three villages who manage the daily operations of the museum and volunteer in many areas.
 
The position includes the following duties:
 
Curator/Exhibition Designer

• Help develop, design, and install exhibitions (1 major, 2-3 smaller yearly)
• Attend monthly committee meetings
• Manage the museum’s social media presence
• Act as main point of contact for researchers
• Monitor museum email account and respond on behalf of the ACSM
• Identify and coordinate collections-based projects with the Committee

 
Collections Manager/Registrar

• Process incoming object and archival collections
• Create finding aids for archival collections
• Manage PastPerfect collections database
• Oversee photograph and oral history digitization projects
• Monitor storage and exhibition environments
• Maintain donation and loan files
• Monitor pest control program

 
The position is approximately 8 hours per week. On-site hours must include 7-9 pm on Wednesdays, remaining hours flexible. $20/hour. Independent contractor position.
 
Qualifications: MA in history, museum studies, or related discipline—or equivalent experience. Must have collections management skills; archival experience strongly preferred.
 
Please email ardencraftshopmuseum@gmail.com with resume and cover letter by Friday, July 26, 2019.
 
Arden Craft Shop Museum
1807 Millers Road
Arden, DE 19810
302-475-3060
ardencraftshopmuseum.com 

The Arden Craft Shop Museum will be closed on Sunday, April 21, 2019 to observe the Easter Holiday. We will reopen on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 7:30 pm.

Arden Craft Shop Museum invites you to an Afternoon with the Artists on Sunday, April 28 in the Bernie Schwab Community Room at the ACSM.

The event will feature a presentation and video on creating the ACRA mural at the Buzz Ware Village Center with Linda Celestian, Jeanne Orr and David Gerbec.
​
This event is coordinated with the museum’s current exhibition: “They gave us good leave to wander: Celebrating 70 Years of ACRA”
​

Have you been wondering about the huge bird mural on the back of the Buzz Ware Village Center? Who designed it? How was it made? Please join us to learn about the history and the making of this community mural.

Linda Celestian, David Gerbec and Jeanne Orr will talk about their training in the Creative District of Wilmington with a visiting muralist from the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia. The training enabled Linda Celestian to take the lead in the design and creation of the new mural for the Buzz.

Starting with community meetings and many hours learning Photoshop she came up with a design that could incorporate the children’s drawings (done during the ACRA summer program) into a cohesive image that encapsulated Arden. 

The overall theme of the mural is the “Arden Child” and the kid’s drawings are about growing up in the Ardens.

The museum will be open 1 to 3pm with the talk scheduled to begin at 2pm. Drawings and other mural related art will be on display.
​
Refreshments will be served.

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Once again the Arden Craft Shop Museum was well represented at the Small Museum Association (SMA) conference! Our previous curator, Kelsey Ransick, worked on the conference committee along with Robin MacDonald, former curator and current board member of the ACSM. Our current curator, Liz Jones-Minsinger, was there with Museum and Archives Committee members Sadie Somerville and Barbara Macklem. While there, we met other small museum staff members and volunteers and learned about their collections, programming, and events.

This year's conference was held February 17-19 in College Park, Maryland, where the theme was Catch Me if You Can: Museum Leadership Flying into the 21st Century. Representatives of small museums from across the country came together to examine leadership in small museums and what it means for leadership to be rooted in and reflect values such as advocacy, inclusivity, and equity.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Suse Anderson, professor in the Museum Studies Program at the George Washington University and host of the podcast, Museopunks. She recorded her address as a podcast episode, engaging in conversation with Dr. Kasey Grier, Director of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware, and Danielle Gabriel, doctoral student in Human and Organizational Learning at George Washington University.

The Monday night banquet attendees were encouraged to don aviation-themed costumes inspired by Amelia Earhart and other early aviators with the promise of a prize for the best costume. Barbara and Sadie went dressed at vintage-style flight attendants!

--Sadie Somerville
​

Naaman's Creek in the snow, mid-20th century. ACSM02417.