On View Through September 7
The current exhibit at the Shaker Museum|Mount Lebanon is The Small World of Shaker: Miniature Furniture, Books and Dolls. The show, which displays Shaker-made miniature objects alongside works by contemporary miniature artists inspired by the Shakers, will be on view in the historic 1870 Poultry House.
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Fascination with miniaturizing familiar objects has always been part of being human.
The Museum has assembled examples of dolls, dollhouse furnishings, and miniature books that have a relationship to the Shakers. In the crafting of all three types of materials, the Shakers actively participated through the making and selling of dolls, printing and reading miniature books, and helping to furnish a dollhouse for the Museum’s educational use in the 1950s. In addition to Shaker works from the Museum’s collection, several artists inspired by the Shakers are featured in the exhibit.
“I have wanted to present this material for a number of years. It’s one of the fun sides of the Shakers,” said Jerry Grant, Director of Collections and Research. “It intersects with an audience – in the same way our current exhibition on Shakers and modernism does – that may not have had an interest in the Shakers.”
The Shaker Museum|Mount Lebanon, located in New Lebanon, New York, is dedicated to engaging and inspiring local, national, and global audiences by telling the story of the American Shakers. The museum’s collections span over 60,000 objects and it stewards the North Family historic site at Mount Lebanon, a National Historic Landmark. The museum is open seasonally at the site from June to October, and offers programs year-round. Admission is $10. Please visit www.shakerml.org for more information.[/private]