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Kent Schwartz, lead painter at Durham Western Heritage Museum, works on a mural for the exhibit, “The Signers,” which opens in April. |
The concept of the exhibit, titled “The Signers,” began as an off-hand comment during a discussion about the treasures held within the Durham Western Heritage Museum.
Museum executive director Leo Smith II was visiting with a member of its executive board of directors and an idea was born as they strolled through the museum’s Byron Reed Document Collection.
“Leo mentioned that we had original autographs of many of the signers of the most famous document in American history — the Declaration of Independence,” exhibit designer Tim Hantula said.
“Quickly the two of them realized that they had an exhibit concept that would allow Durham Western Heritage Museum visitors to introduce themselves to the people behind this incredible moment in our history,” Durham curator Luis Vasquez said.
Museum staff turned the idea into reality and began planning for the design of the exhibit. The museum’s design team took on the challenge of putting the signers’ names with their faces by creating a larger-than-life replica of John Trumbell’s famous painting “The Declaration of Independence,” which hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Kent Schwartz, the Durham museum’s lead painter, used reproductions of the painting to create a new mural.
The mural will serve as a focal point where visitors can identify the people in the painting and learn more about them through the rest of the exhibit.
“The Signers” is scheduled to open for viewing April 28 and will run through Sept. 2. Additional events, including a lecture on UNMC’s campus, are being coordinated to complement the exhibit.
As part of a partnership with the medical center and the museum, employees and students from UNMC, UNMC Physicians and The Nebraska Medical Center can get into the museum to see this and other exhibits free with valid identification.
Check back with UNMC Today for more information about the lecture, as well as an inside look as the museum prepares for the exhibit debut.