SARANAC LAKE - Historic Saranac Lake has received a $3,000 grant from the New York Council for the Humanities to support the design of a new exhibit on Saranac Lake history.
The exhibit is slated to open in the John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory in the spring of 2012.
"Our village is lacking a museum space where people can go to learn the unique history of Saranac Lake," Amy Catania, executive director of Historic Saranac Lake, said in a news release. "This professionally designed exhibit will be a great resource for residents and visitors. The exhibit will tell the story of our village, from the days of the guides and the great camps, to the years of the fresh air cure, and the decades of reinvention after the TB era."
Historic Saranac Lake is seeking small artifacts to display in the exhibit, and invites community members to contact the museum if they have something to share. The plan is to install a semi-permanent exhibit.
"Some panels are being designed with an eye toward being able to change them out for new mini-exhibits, to keep the exhibit fresh and interesting for repeat visitors," Catania said. "But the overall plan is to install a top-notch exhibit that will be a lasting asset to the community."
The exhibit is being designed to capture the interest of visitors of all ages. Each year, hundreds of area students visit the museum on class trips, and Catania said the new John Black Room exhibit will be a valuable tool for teaching young Saranac Lakers about their history.
The recently announced grant is the third awarded to support the new exhibit. A Museumwise Get Ready grant supported the initial planning in the spring, bringing together 15 community members to brainstorm exhibit topics and audience-involving approaches. The meetings were led by professional museum consultant Kevan Moss of Paul Smiths. Another grant from the Humanities Council supported the work of writer Field Horne to develop the exhibit script in consultation with humanities scholar Christopher Clarke Ph.D.
Historic Saranac Lake is now raising funds for the final phase, the fabrication and installation of the exhibit. In addition to the new John Black Room Exhibit, a number of upgrades are planned for the museum, including improvements to exhibits in the adjoining main floor laboratory, built by Dr. Trudeau in 1894 for the study of TB.
Founded in 1980, Historic Saranac Lake is an architectural preservation organization that captures and presents local history from its center at the Saranac Laboratory Museum. For more information, visit www.historicsaranaclake.org or call 518-891-4606.