MODEL PROGRAMS: FESTIVALS AND OPENINGS

"GUNSTOCKS AND BUSTLES":
A NINETEENTH CENTURY WEEKEND IN ARROW ROCK

BLACK WORLD HISTORY MUSEUM:
OPENING EXHIBITS TO THE COMMUNITY

 

"GUNSTOCKS AND BUSTLES": A NINETEENTH CENTURY WEEKEND IN ARROW ROCK
Relatively early in the grant period, at the end of February, the Friends of Arrow Rock decided it would "work towards sponsoring a big event in the fall with a major speaker, or speakers, publicize it widely, and at the same time reorganize and enlarge [its] volunteer group to provide people in period costumes for the event." Because its project did not involve mounting an exhibit in a traditional sense, it could not necessarily present a big "exhibition opening" based on a traditional model. So, even while the specifics were yet to be decided upon, the Friends began to see the weekend event as a culmination, a focus. Further, because of the town size and the logistics related to drawing audiences to a small, rural institution, it felt a weekend event would be an optimum use of its resources. Kathy Borgman explained: "[W]e focused on an event...because festivals are something you do in Arrow Rock. You have some special weekends that you're able to put all your resources to, to get a larger crowd out. When we do tours, we can only have a few people at a time." In this way, the Friends of Arrow Rock could showcase its tours while it targeted a much larger audience than it would otherwise be able to target.

     SUBSECTIONS:
          The Festival
          Publicity
          Enlarging the Volunteer Core
          Success