Adopt-An Exhibit/Sponsor-An-Exhibit

If you've got a favorite exhibit or a special topic that you're interested in, we've got just the way you can help the Museum. 

The Museum has many long-term exhibits that have been enjoyed for over a decade.  We're interested in cleaning, updating, and even expanding them when we have the resources to do so.

To the right is a couple of our major exhibits and their needs. 

How does an exhibit get adopted?  Interested parties can pick a particular exhibit and donate funds toward any or all of the associated needs.  Once all of the estimated costs are covered, we will launch the refurbishment, reconstruction or addition to the exhibit.  Since exhibits are integrated presentations of artifacts, text, and design, for the most part, they need to be worked on as a whole rather than doing only one improvement at a time.

Upcoming exhibits need sponsors to launch them.  It takes a tremendous amount of planning and work to create a new exhibit from scratch or to find an appropriate traveling exhibit to rent.  If you're interested in bringing a particular topic to life, please let us know.  There's a good chance that we've got that interest, too.

Please contact the Museum Director if you're interested in adoption or sponsorship!  Contact us. 

Exhibits In Need of Care & Attention

• The Willits Creamery is an iconic display that never fails to bring up memories for Willits residents.  The exhibit itself is the real thing, however, there are two specific enhancements that would make the exhibit:
  

      1. A station where Museum visitors could record their Willits             Creamery memories in writing, audio or video and then
          people could select among the recorded memories to read,
          listen or watch. 
      2. An interactive station for younger children about food,
          maybe a short table with stools and jigsaw puzzles about
          food, or fabric food that can be arranged on plates
          (designing the station would be part of the project).

• The Frolic Shipwreck is particularly special because the Museum is the official repository for Frolic artifacts and because of the relationship between the researcher, Professor Layton, and the Museum.  The desired enhancements include:
  1. Conservation of a salvaged cannon so that it can be
      displayed publicly.
  2. A new lighting system for the Frolic artifacts (the
      Museum gets complaints that it's hard to see the
      items).
  3. Display of wood panels similar to those from the
      Chinese pre-fab house that the Frolic carried
  4. Text panels that provide information on the route
      followed by the Frolic, the connection with the Gold
      Rush, and the significance of the shipwreck to
      Mendocino County
• The Native American section of the Museum has traditionally been focused almost entirely on baskets.  We are designing a new and expanded exhibit focused on Native American history and culture, to debut in Fall 2012.  Vicki Patterson, PhD, has agreed to be guest curator and to work with all interested parties and tribal representatives to create a larger exhibit with interactive elements.  We are looking for creative input and major sponsors for this endeavor.
• Other upcoming exhibits include: Solar Pioneers, on the local development of solar energy systems; 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge; Vintage Vehicles; Veterans History Project, which includes oral history recordings and loaned objects from local veterans; our annual Vintage Toy Display in December, when we welcome people sharing their collections.
• We have a strong need for someone specifically intrigued by Willits history to do research and organize archives in that subject area.