Library discard bins. Flea markets. Roadside stands. Shops and auctions. Collectors say that part of collecting is "the thrill of the hunt": scouring those out-of-the-way places or spending hours staring at a computer screen to top that very last bid on eBay.
The Yager Museum is pleased to exhibit "Staff Collects: Collections from Members of the Hartwick College Staff." The exhibit will be on view in the van Ess gallery from September 18 through January 18, 2004. A reception for this and other exhibits in the Museum will be held on October 3 from 5:00-7:00 pm, and a special "Meet the Collectors" gallery talk will be held on Wednesday, October 15 at 7:00 pm. Staff Collects follows on the enormously successful "Faculty Collects" exhibit, which was on view at The Yager Museum last year.
Objects in the collections range from rare copies of handbills from the Titanic's maiden voyage to "tacky" roadside kitsch. People have many reasons for collecting. "It's part of our collective human history," says one collector. Ric Chrislip especially enjoys singing early American hymns from his collection of hymnals. Connie Losie feels that her collection of Native American horsehair pottery preserves a vital creativity and tradition.
A sense of humor also motivates collectors to keep adding to their collections. Jane Bachman's "tacky roadside kitsch" is a collection that she finds humorous. Daphne Ward's flyswatters have become a funny trademark for her. Family members also need to cultivate a sense of humor about their collector's habits. Collecting can become such a serious occupation that it begins to take over your home. Claude Massari has three rooms in his house chock full of his miniature car collection.
Visiting "Staff Collects" might just remind you of that set of books you have always secretly wanted or that beautiful artifact that seems to find itself repeated in various ways in your home. Part of the fun of visiting "Staff Collects" is puzzling over the insights that that the collections provide into their collectors' personalities and the nature of collecting.
