Creating a Leather Museum?

[charley]

A number of years ago I overheard a conversation that essentially asserted that there weren't any "real" leather museums. Specifically, the conversation was in reference to a well-known artist that died, and the family didn't have any place to donate the works so they could be seen and enjoyed.

However, it *was* mentioned that the two most likely museums were:

----------------

(1) Stohlman Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, USA:

<http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/infoandservices/stohlman-museum/stohlman-museum.aspx?navlocation=left>

I've been there. WELL WORTH THE VISIT.

Summary: Inside the TLF building. Really nice, some great works (Stohlman and others), including some classic styles that aren't often seen anymore (e.g., finished works and lessons on facial carving that were amazing). Could be bigger, apparently they have a number of works that aren't on display due to space limitations. (BTW, if you sign the guest book, TLF will later mail you a thank-you with a coupon for a free TLF stamp -- neat!)

(2) King's Saddlery Museum, Sheridan, WY, USA.

I've been there. WELL WORTH THE VISIT.

Summary: Great museum, with one of (if not "the") most comprehensive saddle collections in the world. Upstairs is some great Stohlman displays, including Al & Ann's work benches and tools, and the originals for many lessons and works. Many other leatherwork items from different eras and artists.

----------------

In reference to this overheard conversation ("no leatherwork museum"), the assertions were:

* - the Stohlman Museum (Ft. Worth) focuses on the Stohlmans (after all, it *does* bear their name), and focuses on their era, lessons, and TLF history. This mission is not focused on more contemporary artists, or more recent works (that's not the museum's mission).

* - the King's Saddlery Museum (Sheridan, WY) is principally a saddle museum, as compared to a leather artistry museum. While it does have very impressive Stohlman exhibits (as well as works from other artists), the saddle collection dwarfs the leather artistry collection (especially in consideration of non-Stohlman, non-saddle artistry).

----------------

My goal is not to start a fight -- I very much enjoyed both museums, and heartily recommend a visit to each of them, if you get the chance.

If I've missed other leather museums, please let me know (I'd like to go). (For this discussion, let's assume I'm less interested in the Adult Leather Museums. ;-))

----------------

QUESTION

From an ARTIST COMMUNITY perspective, would there be interest in a "leather artistry" museum (or gallery, or mix of both)? I understand the un-bounded business issues including location, displays, collections, rotations, overhead, etc., (those depend on lots of things). Rather, I'd like to focus on the "interest within the artist community" regarding such a thing.

For the sake of discussion:

- Museum - exhibits works, typically not for sale; For example, may own works, or may display works "on loan" that are owned by an individual, estate, or institution.

- Gallery - exhibits works, typically for sale, or where the artist may be contacted (directly or through the gallery) for other works or custom projects that are for sale.

For a museum (or gallery) to be successful, it would need to be supported by the leatherwork artist community. For example, some well-known artists already have gallery outlets for their works, and may not be interested in a gallery specific to leatherwork (if one concludes sales are more likely in a mixed-form gallery that does not specifically focused on leatherwork). Further, museums almost never make money, and will always (to some extent) be dependent on patron/donor/member largess.

However, my interest in starting a museum/gallery is more pragmatic (selfish):

* - IMHO, leatherwork artistry is sufficiently diverse, impressive, and historically interesting to warrant/justify its own institution/mission (most especially to include works by contemporary artists); I'd like to see such a place.

* - IMHO, it serves our community if we could see and examine works from different eras and styles side-by-side. (How many times have we talked about "Porter" style different from "California" or "Northwest" or "Southwest" or "Sheridan", etc.? Wouldn't it be nice to see many of each in one place, so we could compare/contrast among them?)

By way of disclosure, I may soon have access to a building that would be ideal for a museum/gallery. I'm not "pitching" for anything, but rather, am honestly interested in discussion on this topic to appraise issues and general interest within the leatherwork community.

----------------

Specifically:

(1) - Do you think a leatherwork museum/gallery is a good idea?

(2) - Would you support such a thing (in general or specific, such as through donations, attendance, memberships, purchases, exhibition, visit as guest artist, etc.)?

Yes, of course, consistent with our sharing and helpful community, any conceptual museum/gallery would have a specific mandate to hold classes and do other "teaching outreach" regarding leatherwork. (I didn't itemize that, because I think that's mostly assumed these days among most of our industry's well-known artists and vendors.)

Thoughts?

--charley

[UKRay]

I firmly believe that any kind of museum which allows people to appreciate their cultural history is a good idea. I would hold up the Walsall Leather Museum as a great example of this. http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/leisure_an...athermuseum.htm

My reservations are that the tools and machines in my own workshop are, in the main, older and in better condition than anything I have seen in museums. This is probably because museums are invariable trying to do it for free with donations, scrounging and bequests whilst I have invested heavily in my workplace. Whatever the reason I would be concerned that any exhibits in a new museum should be of the very best quality and the curatorship carried out by a professional.

Supporting an establishment - any establishment - is a personal issue and I'm confident every person on this forum has their own opinion. Suffice to say that financially, museums are low on the list of prioritories for most folk. Feeding kids and keeping a roof over their heads takes center stage. If you plan to do this thing don't rely on public support for your project as, IMHO, you won't get much financial help. Even if the good folks on this forum who are enthusiastic beyond measure about their leatherwork support your project, few people are earning as much as they would like these days so you don't expect miracles.

Whilst I hate to seem gloomy - please be assured that I would like to see this project happen - I'm doubtful that running classes every night of the week would support such an enterprise. Government funding is the only viable option for such an establishment particularly if it is to grow and accurately represent your chosen subject.

Just my thoughts and worth what you paid for them...

[yaklady]

Charley, if you put in a leather museum, I'm there! There's nothing better than exploring quality, original masterpieces in leather. That's where we get our ideas and inspiration. I love going through the two museums you mentioned here. Seeing Al Stohlman's works in person leaves me in awe. Since Tandy's has so much of his stuff still in storage, perhaps you could get it on loan and the rest of the world could have the pleasure of viewing it.

Kathy

[ClayB]

Charley,

Bill had an editorial in the LCSJ a few years ago with an idea similar to yours. He talked about having a building somewhere, possibly Sheridan where leather work could be displayed, and different classes could be held year round. If I remember right, he was thinking of having different teachers come in for a couple weeks or a month at a time. Seems like he was talking about starting some kind of foundation to raise money to fund it. Don't know if the idea ever went anywhere or not.

Me, I started my very own leather museum in my house so I dont have to travel across the country for inspiration. I've been collecting pieces of different peoples works that I really like. Silva, Peter, Bob Beard, Jan Schoonover, Billy Stockill, Jim L, Christine Stanley, Kathy Flanagan, Dale Hietala, Kate Dubiel, Tina Croff, Shirley Zanelli, Caroline Watson. I've got room for lots more if anyone wants to make a donation

[charley]

Charley,

Bill had an editorial in the LCSJ a few years ago with an idea similar to yours. He talked about having a building somewhere, possibly Sheridan where leather work could be displayed, and different classes could be held year round. If I remember right, he was thinking of having different teachers come in for a couple weeks or a month at a time. Seems like he was talking about starting some kind of foundation to raise money to fund it. Don't know if the idea ever went anywhere or not. <snip>...

What scale was suggested? (How big a building, square feet for each of displays and classes?) (I'd like to read the editorial you mention, if you have a link or can reference a copy.)

I know this idea isn't new, as I've also heard it from other people (like Rick Vine) that wanted a permanent location for year-round instruction.

To host visiting artists (which I think is a great idea), the implication is that there would be regular traffic or attendance. I know we're now moving into the "logistics", which are fairly un-knowable (kind of like, "Will this restaurant make it?") -- in the end, you never know until after.

I'm thinking of something like the National Carver's Museum that used to be located in Monument, Colorado. It had GREAT exhibits, but sadly, shut down due to lack of money in the 1980's. I visited before and after the shutdown, and even bought some exhibits when they liquidated in auction ... they had some absolutely fantastic carvings the likes of which I'd never seen before or since. So sad. (The 1980's were really hard on Colorado, and I think part of the problem was that it was located in the middle of nowhere, 30+ miles from a population center.) (Web search will tell you lots about it, but a nice pictorial overview that doesn't do it justice can be found at: <http://richardstamats.com/NCM/index.html>

I agree with UKRay that it's important to have it be run by a "professional", with good sense of curation (pieces must rotate, and it really needs to bump lower-quality pieces with a critical eye, which can sometimes be awkward). Further, I think it would generally be better that it be a "working" museum -- for example, all the sewing machines should probably be maintained in working order, and ACTUALLY USED (even if only lightly). Like UKRay mentioned, really old tools that are well maintained are sometimes still the best ones for the job (and for leatherwork, the museum should probably demonstrate that message).

We all invest in our shops -- like many, I'm a "tool collector" with many hundreds (maybe thousands? hard to count). However, it's probably unrealistic to see someone's shop with "one of every sewing machine", which is something I'd REALLY like to see ... so I could do side-by-side comparisons ... In theory, a good infrastructure like this could also be the basis for reviews, as new materials, tools, products, and ideas are being proposed all the time, some better than what they did 100 years ago, some not. ;-))

Oh, well. Daydreaming. ;-))

[yaklady]

A working museum would be the best way to do, and having classes there would attract people who wouldn't come otherwise. I could see it in a small mountain community with lots of mountain sights to see nearby. That would attract me, but would other people go out of their way for it? It seems most people want to stay where the action is. To simplify things, we could put the museum in Clay's basement and Clay could teach everyone who walks in the front door. He's already got a good start on one.

I didn't know there was a National Carver's Museum in Monument. Of course, I was born in 1980 and wouldn't have thought about museums at that point in my youthful age. )

Kathy

[ClayB]

Hi Charley,

I found Bill's editorial. It's in the Sept-Oct 2000 issure of the LCSJ. His idea was to create a National School of Leather with a building containing 6-12 classrooms, a theater, and a kitchen facility. In the editorial, he stated that the Al and Ann Stohlman Award Foundation's by laws and purpose include the formation of a school and assisting potential students. His reasoning for having it in Sheridan was because they already has the King Musuem and the high concentration of top quality makers. I guess his idea is a little different than your idea of a leather museum or gallery, but the two ideas would sure go well together.

[charley]

Hi Charley,

I found Bill's editorial. It's in the Sept-Oct 2000 issure of the LCSJ. His idea was to create a National School of Leather with a building containing 6-12 classrooms, a theater, and a kitchen facility. In the editorial, he stated that the Al and Ann Stohlman Award Foundation's by laws and purpose include the formation of a school and assisting potential students. His reasoning for having it in Sheridan was because they already has the King Musuem and the high concentration of top quality makers. I guess his idea is a little different than your idea of a leather museum or gallery, but the two ideas would sure go well together.

Cool. That's quite a scale, 6-12 classrooms means 6-12 simultaneous classes. Adding the theatre, you're starting to reach the scale to host a whole show (Wickenburg, IFoLG, etc.). (Of course, you need an exhibit hall, and maybe a banquet hall -- both at the same time, and the theater would probably be just one of them ... maybe two halls? ;-).

I'll see if I can track down that copy in my library when I get home tonight (not sure if I have that one).

I *do* like the idea, though. I'm just afraid of the overhead, and not sure how many leatherworkers would be needed to keep that thing viable. I recall recent discussions that were concerned that there might not be enough people and vendors to even host "main" shows in both the "Eastern" and "Western" USA each year. In part, a strong museum (moo-seum ;-) component might also extend "outreach" to people that want to "see", but aren't yet convinced they want to "do" (or which are hangers-on to a friend or family member that is taking a class). Even for the class-takers, good exhibits could certainly be inspirational.

(I did leatherwork for many years before really looking at great works by great artists ... WOW has my work ever improved since I started actively studying details and tricks from masters.)

Sheridan *is* an artist community, but it has less than 17,000 people: <http://www.city-data.com/city/Sheridan-Wyoming.html> ...

Like Kathy said, though, I can see that facilities like these could readily help each other out and "share" resources with each other (loan works and exhibits to each other, advertise programs and route students to each other, etc.)

Hmmm...

--charley