In the winter of 2024, I was hired to curate an exhibition that explores how six ancient civilizations engineered water systems that met the needs of their people. My research revealed that each culture created remarkably innovative, long-term solutions to its water needs. In addition to examining the ancient water systems, the exhibit looks at the impact of climate change in each of these locations. Whether facing drought or flooding, public officials in every place are actively pursuing ways to ensure that their citizens have access to clean water.
Truro resident and history buff Jay Vivian leading a Corn Hill History Walk. He began his presentation at the plaque that describes the infamous theft of corn that helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in New England. He led the group on a 2-mile walk through the area.
Local historian Dan Sanders has made many models of Cape Cod shipwrecks and knows the stories behind all of them. Here he points to a display case containing some of the models that he has made. Both children and adults were captivated by his storytelling.
After touring the Shipwreck Room at the museum, the group gathered at the North Truro Cemetery, where a crew from a local shipwreck is buried. Showing the tombstones was a powerful way to explain the impact of the tragedy.
As director of the Highland House Museum, I met with school children to talk to them about the museum. The kids shared their experiences at other museums, and we discussed what they liked about going to museums.
After talking about museums and history, school children had a chance to try on white museum gloves and handle an object from our collection!
Dedham Storytellers was a collaboration between Dedham High School and Dedham Historical Society and Museum (DHSM), where I worked as an educator from 2015-2018. The project brought together senior citizens and high school students as a way to exchange memories, life stories, and experiences. As the senior citizens shared anecdotes and scrapbooks from their teenage years, the students listened and took notes. The students wrote essays based on their partners’ experiences. DHSM archived the students’ essays so that future generations can read them and learn from the project.
As an independent consultant, I curated Thinking About Water: Artists Reflect, an exhibition for the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum in Boston. The exhibition featured paintings, photography, and mixed media pieces by 19 Boston-based artists whose works revealed their aesthetic appreciation for water, as well as their concern for the impact of climate change on our water resources.
Mags Harries, Rising Water Aqua AltaKatherine McVety, Hobbs Brook, Lower BasinDiana Arcadipone, Swimming BearIsabel Beavers, BalsfjordJaclyn Kain, Water Surfaces #2
In the summer of 2018, I curated Mid-Century: The Outer Cape Comes of Age as a consultant to the Highland House Museum. The exhibition explored the various factors that emerged in the late 1950s and mid-1960s and resulted in significant growth and development on the Outer Cape. Topics included the creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore, the role of the North Truro Airforce Station, the Mid-Century Modern Architecture Movement, and the Extension of Route 6 to Provincetown.
The creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore was spearheaded by President John F. Kennedy, whose personal connection to Cape Cod inspired his commitment to preserving and protecting the region for future use.
The extension of Route 6 to Provincetown resulted in increased tourism, a building boom, and the flourishing of commerce on the Outer Cape.
Famous 20th century architects, such as Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, built homes on the Outer Cape that embodied their desire to merge nature with domestic life. Their use of natural materials and blending of interior and exterior space aimed to harmonize a home with its surroundings.
I borrowed wooden models of mid-century modern homes from the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. These three-dimensional representations offered museumgoers a close look at the spatial planning of these homes.
I assembled this timeline to provide historical context for the exhibit. The images and information described events going on in the U.S. and around the world from the mid-1950s until the mid-1960s.
From the 1950s until the mid-1980s, the North Truro Airforce Station was home to several hundred people. The radar station was used to detect Russian submarines off the Atlantic coast. While the mission of the station was sober, the tight-knit community enjoyed everyday activities and holidays.
This new permanent exhibition digs into the history and culture of the Wampanoag, the Indigenous People who have lived on Cape Cod and the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. Drawing on contemporary craft, archival photography, historical maps, and scholarly research, this seminal exhibit reflects a two-year effort to learn about Wampanoag history, and acquire images, objects, and photographs.
One of the recurrent themes of the exhibit is that despite ongoing loss of land, legal rights, culture, and language, the Wampanoag People have endured. Through carrying on their rich traditions and sacred beliefs, they preserve their history and culture. This theme is revealed in many different ways. The four wampum belts (below)—a contemporary piece made by an Aquinnah Wampanoag artist—illustrate how current members of the tribe continue to practice traditional crafts.
Aquinnah Wampanoag artist Julia Marden wove four wampum belts that present a pictorial history of her people. This contemporary work of art carries on the longstanding Native tradition of making wampum belts to record treaties, mark council meetings and adoption ceremonies, and tell stories.
Archival photographs make a powerful statement about the Wampanoag People, showing how they have adapted and survived by passing on traditions and beliefs to younger generations.
A series of historical maps shows what European explorers found, and what they chose to ignore, when they traveled to New England prior to colonizing the region in the late 1600s. Their omissions reveal a desire to promote unsettled land as a way to attract more European settlers.
Handmade objects, on loan from the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, exemplify the ongoing tradition of craft that is integral to Wampanoag culture. The ceramic pots were made from the clay of the cliffs of Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard.
In the summer of 2019, while director of the Highland House Museum in Truro, MA, I curated Rising Seas/Falling Dunes—an exhibition focused on the issue of climate change on the Outer Cape. Spotlighting original artwork by Cape Cod artists and photographers, the exhibit addressed some of the critical problems that are the fall-out from climate change—coastal flooding, beach erosion, and the precarious relationship between the delicate eco-system of the Outer Cape and our everyday lives. I partnered with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown and relied on their scientific data and photographs to support the text.
Cherie Mittenthal, Floating HousePhotograph by Theresa Smith, Center for Coastal StudiesDaniel Ranalli, Provincetown, Summer 2024, High Tide
