Discover the Treasures of the Swashbucklers at The Museum
July 5, 2009
By JENNIFER COLTON
Index-Journal Staff Writer
Greenwood, SC - Treasure chests and golden doubloons, sunken ships and cannon fire will all play a part in the newest exhibit openings at The Museum this week.
The Museum will debut two companion exhibits Friday - "Pirates and the Hunt for Treasure!" and "Discovering The Treasures of a Lifetime: The E. Lee Spence Collection" - for the summer quarter.
- The pirate theme was inspired by Greenwood Community Theatre's production of "Treasure Island" and the popularity of pirate-themed movies and news, The Museum Executive Director Matt Edwards said.
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- "I wish I could say there was some higher reason for it, but they're just cool," he said. "Everybody loves the romantic notion of the classic pirate."
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- The pirate showcase is the most recent installment of The Museum's "Destination Exhibit" series.
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"Destination Exhibit is a project launched in '06 to bring high-quality exhibits to The Museum that would be something for area people to enjoy as well as attract people from surrounding metro areas, Greenville, Spartanburg," Edwards said.
Past Destination Exhibits have centered on Ansel Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright and dinosaurs, and the upcoming show will feature pieces of NRG! Exhibitions, a company responsible for the traveling exhibits "Treasure!" and "The Hunt for Treasure!"
"We had originally looked at "The Hunt for Treasure!" for our Destination Exhibit, but like many folks this year, we were forced to trim our budget, so we worked with them to develop this new small venue show," Edwards said. "I think it's a testament to their willingness to work with smaller museums within the budget we had set."
The exhibit will feature interactive stations - including design your own pirate flag, see what it's like to fire a cannon and smell the smells of a pirate ship - the director said.
"This is really a very interactive exhibit. We want people to come in and experience the exhibit rather than just see or read the exhibit," he said. An exhibit featuring pieces from the personal collection of E. Lee Spence, a South Carolina marine archaeologist and shipwreck expert, will open simultaneously.
"The companion exhibit will focus on what is a treasure," Edwards said. "This is a man who is in his 60s and literally discovered his first ship wreck when he was 12. This has been his life's calling, his life's passion and his career and he's been very successful in it. It's a remarkable collection, and we're only going to bring a small part of it."
The treasure features also mark the first of The Museum's sponsored exhibits, as The Sunshine House, the Humanities Council of S.C. and Ro Mac Trophy & Signs each came on board to support the show.
The exhibits open Friday with a pirate re-enactor on hand and are scheduled to run until September 30.
In conjunction with the exhibit, The Museum will also have pirate-themed events July 18 and September 19. Spence will travel to the facility for a guest-speaker piece on his exhibit at a date to be announced, and a local professor will offer a couple of lectures on pirates during the summer as well.
"Pirates are just fun, and with the tremendous success in recent years, the success of 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' there is definitely an interest in the romantic side, and that's what we're shooting for," he said. "It really challenges what people think they know about pirates and treasure."
For information, visit www.greenoodmuseum.org or call The Museum at (864) 229-7093.
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