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Museum opens ‘Unmentionable: The Indiscreet Stories of Artifacts’ in May; artifacts sought
The opening will take place on May 4 to the museum’s nonprofit members and on May 5 to the general public.
“Unmentionable: The Indiscreet Stories of Artifacts” is all about “the unusual, icky, scandalous, disturbing, awful, uncomfortable and surprising artifacts in museum collections all in one place,” according to museum officials.
Some of the objects in the exhibits will be crowdsourced from local communities. Each individual museum will exhibit up to 15 distinct public objects on temporary loan from private collections around the county.
The objects will be chosen for their unique “unmentionable or controversial characteristics, subject matter or material.” These items will be strictly secured and will be returned upon the exhibit closure on Labor Day.
Visitors can vote at each museum which artifact they feel most fits the theme and these winners will be displayed at the Lake County Fair as “The Peoples’ Choice” awards.
The call for community artifacts continues through April 15.
Proposed entries must be photographed from several different angles and their basic dimensions, provenance, history, stories and origins must be emailed to the curator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Private loans remain the property of the owner and are only on temporary loan to the Museums of Lake County. This is not an initiative to acquire objects for the collection. Loan forms with complete contact information and signature by owner and museum staff are required.
The curator has the final determination for inclusion or rejection of an object in the exhibit.
If you are a collector of the offbeat and want to show off one of your unique items, the museum wants to hear from you.
What sorts of artifacts meet the theme? The Courthouse Museum’s five-legged frog, the Schoolhouse Museum’s cane collection, combination bedpan/urinal, and “hazardous” mineral samples, the Gibson Museum’s Vietnam War “blood chit.” What crazy curiosity might you have?
For more information contact Curator Clark McAbee at 707-263-4555 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..