MassMu Exhibits Photos of Empire State Building Construction

MassMu Exhibits Photos of Empire State Building Construction

The George Eastman House exhibition, “The Rise of a Landmark: Lewis Hine and the Empire State Building,” will be displayed in the Massillon Museum’s main gallery from April 18 through August 2, 2009. The exhibition will open with a free public reception on Saturday, April 18, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. No reservations are necessary.

The exhibition of more than 50 black and white images by photographer Lewis Wickes Hine chronicles the entire construction of the Empire State Building in New York City. The project, which included a total of more than 1,000 photographs taken by Hine during the year-long construction (1930–1931), were meant to remind viewers that buildings and the cities that they shape are built only with the direction and innovation of humankind.

This exhibition is drawn entirely from the Eastman House’s photographic collection in Rochester, New York, which contains nearly 10,000 of Hine’s original photographs, negatives, and artifacts. The Hine collection, which was given to the Eastman House in 1955 by the Photo League of New York, is the world’s largest holding of his work. The images in the exhibition are modern gelatin silver prints made from copy negatives.

Born in 1874 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Hine was a sociologist whose photographs captured his abiding concern for immigrants and working-class people. Early in his career, he documented the newly arrived immigrants at Ellis Island and worked for the National Child Labor Committee as an investigator and photographer studying children working in sweatshops, canneries, coal mines, and cotton mills. After World War I, as America became infatuated with modern machinery, Hine began to photograph men and women at work in the newly mechanized environment, thus emphasizing the human side of modern technology.

“We are particularly pleased to present this exhibition because it emphasizes the Massillon Museum’s own very strong photography collection as well as the legacy of Massillon’s legendary steel industry,” said Massillon Museum Curator Alexandra Nicholis, who is organizing the traveling collection’s exhibition in Massillon. “In fact,” she said, “stainless steel from the Massillon plant of Republic Steel was used in the construction of the Empire State Building.”

A number of events between April and July will augment the exhibition itself. On April 28, author Michael Lasser will present a free lecture, “The Hip-Hooray and Bally-Hoo: Popular Music’s Take on New York City,” at the Massillon Museum’s Brown Bag Lunch at noon and again at Kent State University Stark Campus Main Hall Auditorium in the evening. On June 6, at the Massillon Museum’s monthly free “Do the Mu!” time, families will learn about architecture with architect Don Allcorn and build their own structures. Margy Vogt will lead an afternoon workshop, “Photographing Massillon’s Architectural Treasures: History and Composition Class,” on July 11. Curator Alexandra Nicholis will present a free gallery talk on July 19.

The Museum’s Education Department of the Museum has added an interactive component to the exhibition and the second-floor Photography Gallery will include related images from the Museum’s permanent collection such as the “Rohr Barnraising” and local steel industry photos.

On Saturday, April 18, visitors can enjoy two additional exhibitions, which will open concurrently with “The Rise of a Landmark.” On the Museum’s second floor, the “Jody Hawk: Local Allegories, Stories of Massillon” exhibition will open. In the Fred F. Silk Community Room in the lower level, the Studio M exhibition, “Image to Image,” photographs by Walsh University digital photojournalism students will also open. Visitors will be encouraged to meet Hawk and the Walsh students and to view their work.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in the heart of downtown Massillon. For more information, contact the Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org.

The Massillon Museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Chit Chat Coffee Shop is open in the Museum lobby from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free.

Media Contacts:

Christine Fowler Shearer, Massillon Museum Executive Director: 330-833-4061

Alexandra Nicholis, Massillon Museum Curator: 330-833-4061

Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator: 330-844-1525

Walsh Students Exhibit Photography in Studio M

Walsh Students Exhibit Photography in Studio M

Sixteen students enrolled in Professor Lee Horrisberger’s digital photography class at Walsh University are studying the work of outstanding photojournalists from the perspectives of artistic style, technique, and history. The course will culminate in an exhibition in the Massillon Museum’s Studio M from April 18 through May 24, 2009.

The public is invited to meet the student photographers, view their work, and enjoy refreshments at the exhibition opening on Saturday, April 18, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Fred F. Silk Community Room of the Massillon Museum. The party is free and open to all.

The fourth annual “Image to Image: A Comparative Study of Past and Present Photojournalists’ Images, Styles, and Shooting Techniques” exhibition will feature the work of Clinton Blossomgame III, Andrew Board, Adam Brately, Bryan Bush, Ben Daleiden, Ashley Dunnerstick, Megan Garin, Molly Hyland, Alexis Kyriakedes, Kate Lombardo, Amy Police, Mark Sexton Jr., Alexandra Shorac, Brittany Smart, Sterling Tatum, and Anna Wilson. The students will imitate the photography style, lighting, and content of an eminent photojournalist of their choosing to demonstrate the impact of style and technique on artistic content.

The students have emulated some of the best-known photograpers in the history of the art form: Henri-Cartier Bresson, Elizabeth Alice Austen, Lewis Hine (whose photographs will fill the Museum’s main gallery throughout the Walsh show), Alfred Stieglitz, Weegee, Neil Leifer, Imogen Cunningham, William Henry Jackson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, Bruce Murray, Lisa Law, Aaron Siskind, and James Nachtwey.

Each student’s work will be printed, matted, and hung beside a reproduction of a photograph by his selected photojournalist, a bibliography, and the student’s photographic notes. The students and their professor will help Massillon Museum Curator Alexandra Nicholis install the exhibition.

Two additional photography-related exhibition openings will be held concurrently with the Walsh show. “The Rise of a Landmark: Lewis Hine and the Empire State Building,” will be a main gallery exhibition of photographs taken in 1930 and 1931 as the building was constructed. “Jody Hawk: Local Allegories, Stories of Massillon,” a second-floor exhibition of storyboxes depicting the lives of local women incorporating sculpture, photographs, and recordings.

All three exhibitions may be seen during regular Museum hours, Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., except when the Silk Room has been reserved for private functions. A call to the Museum office can confirm that the exhibit is available for viewing—330-833-4061.

Studio M enhances the collaboration between the Museum and the community by showcasing the artistic talents of local, regional, and national artists. The series of five-week shows will continue throughout the year, selected by jurors from proposals submitted by artists. Brochures containing guidelines and an application are available by contacting the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or www.massillonmuseum.org.

The Chit Chat Coffee Shop is open in the Museum lobby from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in the heart of downtown Massillon. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer, Massillon Museum Director - 330-833-4061

Alex Nicholis, Massillon Museum Curator - 330-833-4061

Lee Horrisberger, Professor, Walsh University - 330-490-7040

Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Book Discussion for Week Five of The Big Read

MassMu Book Discussion for Week Five of The Big Read

Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Associate Professor, History, Kent State University Stark Campus, will moderate the final book discussion of The Big Read for 2009 at the Massillon Public Library’s main branch (208 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon) on Tuesday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. The discussion is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

The Massillon Museum, in collaboration with the Massillon Public Library, encourages everyone in the community to read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton—The Big Read book selection for this year.

Copies of The Age of Innocence may be checked out at the Massillon Public Library. They may be purchased at the Massillon Museum (121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon), the Massillon Public Library (208 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon), and The Village Bookshelf (746 Amherst Road Northeast in Massillon).

The Age of Innocence is an appropriate reading level for high school students and adults. Free readers' guides are available at the Museum, the Library, and at offices and businesses throughout the area. Anyone who reads the book is invited to sign a “Victorian calling card” to be displayed at the Museum or the Library.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Local organizations and individuals collaborating with the Massillon Museum include: the Massillon Public Library; the Lions Lincoln Theatre; Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli; Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Dr. Robert Sturr, and Kent State University Stark Campus; Jason Norris; John Kiste and the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; Rotary Club of Massillon; the Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce; The Independent; the Fairless, Jackson, Tuslaw, and Massillon school systems; State Representative Scott Oelslager; Massillon Cable TV; the Chit Chat Coffee Shop; George Nicholis; Camille Leslie; Brian Centrone; Eric Myers; Gretchen Schrantz; Five Oaks and Massillon Woman’s Club; Richard Gercken; The Canton Symphony Orchestra; The Amherst Rose and Parlour Gift Shoppe; Kozmo’s Grille; St. Timothy’s Church; Massillon Family YMCA; Hampton Inn Massillon; and many community volunteers.

Massillon Museum Executive Director Christine Shearer leads the local project. Massillon Public Library Director Camille Leslie, Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator Margy Vogt, Museum Assistant Chris Craft, Dr. Leslie Heaphy of Kent State University, and Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce President Bob Sanderson serve on the committee.

For more information about the book discussions or The Big Read, call 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

“Do the Mu!”—Circus

“Do the Mu!”—Circus

On Saturday, April 4, the Massillon Museum will celebrate The Immel Circus. Families and individuals are invited to join staff members for a tour of the second-floor circus exhibition and a visit to the lower level lobby to see cases full of circus artifacts. Participants will then create their own art inspired by the circus.

Denny Bowe will entertain as Bo Bo the clown. He will bring examples of costumes and make-up to show how he transforms himself into a clown.

The “Do the Mu” program, instituted by the Massillon Museum’s Educator, Jill Malusky Bacon, is free and open to all. Participants may drop in any time between noon and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 4, for a tour, an arts activity, and a snack. No pre-registration is required.

The Immel Circus is a one-hundred-square-foot miniature circus lot hand-carved by the late Dr. Robert Immel of Massillon. It includes thousands of figures—animals, crowds, performers, barkers, tents, wagons, everything that would be found on the grounds when the circus came to town. Little vignettes within the layout tell stories—a sick zebra, workers carpenters a burned wagon, workers feeding the animals, muscular men pounding tent stakes, a parade, and dozens more. The miniature circus lot comes to life with circus sounds, and it is surrounded by huge posters and authentic costumes.

On the first Saturday of every month, the public will be invited to “Do the Mu!”—free activities for families at the Massillon Museum. Do the Mu! receives funding from ArtsinStark.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in downtown Massillon. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free. For more information, call the Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer, Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Jill Malusky Bacon, Educator - 330-833-4061

Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Dominick Farinacci Concert

Massillon Museum Hosts Dominick Farinacci Concert

Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci will perform at the Massillon Museum’s final Rhythms Concert of this season on Saturday, March 28. The doors will open for social time in the lobby at 7:30 p.m.; the concert will begin at 8:00 p.m.

A recent graduate of the Institute for Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, Farinacci has recorded five records for the Japanese label, M & I Jazz. They garnered the "International New Star" Award from Japan’s Swing Journal Magazine in 2003—an honor previously awarded to Christian McBride and Diana Krall, among others. He received “Gold Disc Awards,” signifying a record of the month for Swing Journal, for three of those recordings.

Farinacci has toured several times throughout Japan and has performed in the United States with Tony Bennett, Ira Sullivan, Joe Lovano, Joey DeFrancesco, Mulgrew Miller, and Jason Miles. In 2000, he performed with one of his mentors, Wynton Marsalis, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as a featured student in a Louis Armstrong tribute, which was broadcast on PBS’s “Live From Lincoln Center.” In 2005, Farinacci performed with his own groups at the Blue Note and Birdland Jazz Club in New York as well as at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. His quartet recently recorded a live performance at the Kennedy Center for NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

The $25 per-person pre-sale ($23 for Massillon Museum members) may be purchased in advance by calling the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or by visiting www.massillonmuseum.org. Tickets will be sold at the door ($28 non-members, $25 Massillon Museum members) as long as seats remain available. Cash, checks, and Visa and MasterCard are accepted. The concert is open to the public.

Community members have stepped forward to make the Museum’s music series possible: In Tribute of Kevin Alden Hunt; Mel and Ann Herncane; Affinity Medical Center; A.A. Hammersmith Insurance, Inc.; Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffith and Dougherty Co.; FirstMerit; The Health Plan HomeTown Region; and The Eye Clinic, Inc. WKSU is the media sponsor. Grant support is provided by the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Ohio Arts Council, and Arts in Stark.

The Massillon Museum hosts five out-of-the-mainstream concerts in the intimate setting of its main gallery to broaden the arts that it offers to the community.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East, in downtown Massillon. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. For more information, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer, Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

The Big Read Archery Demonstration

MassMu Hosts The Big Read Archery Demonstration

The Massillon Museum, with the collaboration of the Massillon Public Library, will host an archery demonstration on the Museum lawn on Saturday, March 21, at 11:00 a.m. The event is one of two dozen that are scheduled as part of The Big Read to encourage people in the community to read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, the 2009 book selection. A women’s archery competition is part of the novel’s plot.

Dustin Bounce, an archery instructor who operates Hadley’s Sports Store in Akron—an establishment featuring archery equipment and supplies, will present the program. He has been shooting bow and arrow for more than two decades; he has been shooting professionally for eight years. Bounce has won both the indoor and outdoor championship for the state of Ohio and has competed nationally and internationally. The archery team he sponsors has also won Ohio championships.

The demonstration is free and open to the public with no reservations necessary. In case of inclement weather, the archery demonstration will be held at the Massillon Family YMCA (131 Tremont Avenue Southeast, Massillon).

When attending the demonstration, visitors may also see the Victorian displays relating to the book in the Museum’s lower level and second-floor permanent collection galleries. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free.

The Big Read is a month-long celebration of the classic work of fiction, The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. The organizers selected the book because it depicts an era when Massillon’s industrialists and financiers reflected the social ways depicted in the novel. The Massillon Museum’s collections of furniture, clothing, art, china, and glassware represent their lifestyle.

Copies of The Age of Innocence may be checked out at the Massillon Public Library or purchased at the Massillon Museum, the Massillon Public Library, and The Village Bookshelf (746 Amherst Road Northeast in Massillon).

A complete schedule of events related to The Big Read is available at the Massillon Public Library, the Massillon Museum, or online at www.massillonmuseum.org.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Local organizations and individuals collaborating with the Massillon Museum include: the Massillon Public Library; the Lions Lincoln Theatre; Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli; Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Dr. Robert Sturr, and Kent State University Stark Campus; Jason Norris; John Kiste and the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; Rotary Club of Massillon; the Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce; The Independent; the Fairless, Jackson, Tuslaw, and Massillon school systems; State Representative Scott Oelslager; Massillon Cable TV; the Chit Chat Coffee Shop; George Nicholis; Camille Leslie; Brian Centrone; Eric Myers; Gretchen Schrantz; Five Oaks and Massillon Woman’s Club; Richard Gercken; The Canton Symphony Orchestra; The Amherst Rose and Parlour Gift Shoppe; Kozmo’s Grille; St. Timothy’s Church; Massillon Family YMCA; Hampton Inn Massillon; and many community volunteers.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon. For more information about the book discussions or The Big Read, call 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Victorian Tea and Etiquette Program

Massillon Museum Hosts Victorian Tea and Etiquette Program

On Sunday, March 29, at 4:00 p.m., the Massillon Museum will host afternoon tea at Five Oaks, where guests will be surrounded by the splendor of Massillon’s finest Victorian mansion. The event, part of “The Big Read: Western Stark County Reads The Age of Innocence," accents the novel’s frequent allusions to etiquette rules of socially elite New Yorkers of the late 1800s.

“This will be a proper tea,” says Museum Educator Jill Malusky Bacon, who developed an appreciation for the tradition in England, while she studied in Manchester and managed a medieval hall in York. She says that three courses will be served in tiers: scones and cakes, tea sandwiches, and desserts.

“Having tea at Five Oaks will help guests feel the opulence described in The Age of Innocence, says Museum Executive Director Christine Shearer. J. Walter and Flora McClymonds built their Five Oaks mansion in 1894, at the height of The Gilded Age. Exquisite handcarved woodwork, gold-leaf wall decoration, a Tiffany window, the Moroccan leather billiards room, a ballroom, and a grand staircase made the home a model of wealthy Victorian life.

Following the tea, guests will learn about the intricacies of those etiquette rules from a national ettiquette expert Marja Barrett of Cincinnati. Barrett is an author, national speaker, trainer, and consultant on etiquette and social skills to top businesses—Fortune 500 corporations, health care and financial institutions, federal government agencies, schools, the hospitality industry, and universities. She has been honored by the YWCA, Administrative Management Association, the Internal Revenue Service, Central Region Federal Women’s Program, The House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Kentucky, City of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Enquirer as a “Woman of the Year” recipient. Barrett started her business in 1985 after a successful career as a professional model and managing director of the Kathleen Wellman School of Fashion and Modeling in Cincinnati.

The tea and etiquette program are open to the public. "If you have read or are reading The Age of Innocence, the tea will transport you for an afternoon to the era of the book. If you have not delved into the novel, perhaps the tea will inspire you to read it," says committee member Margy Vogt. Tickets, $25 per person, may be purchased in person at the Museum Museum or by phone at 330-833-4061. The Museum accepts cash, checks, Visa, and Mastercard. Reservations should be made by March 20.

The Big Read is a month-long celebration of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, funded by a competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Massillon Rotary Foundation has provided additional funding to purchase copies of the book for classroom use. 2009 marks the second year the National Endowment for the Arts has granted funding for the Massillon Museum’s ambitious participation in The Big Read—a national initiative to help Americans return to reading for leisure.

The Big Read, the largest federal literature program since the W.P.A., is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Five Oaks is located at 210 Fourth Street, at the heart of Massillon's National Register historic district. The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon.

For more information about western Stark County’s Big Read project, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-844-1525

The Big Read Film: “The Age of Innocence”

MassMu Invites the Community to The Big Read Film: “The Age of Innocence”

The Massillon Museum, with the collaboration of the Massillon Public Library and Kent State University Stark Campus, will show the film, “The Age of Innocence,” as part of The Big Read.

On Thursday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m., “The Age of Innocence,” based on The Big Read book selection of the same name, will be shown in Main Hall at Kent State University Stark Campus, 6000 Frank Road Northwest. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder, the film tells a tale of 19th-century New York high society.

The film night, part of “The Big Read: Western Stark County Reads The Age of Innocence,” is free and open to the public. Ample free parking is available in visitor lots.

The Big Read is a month-long celebration of the classic work of fiction, The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. The organizers selected the book because it depicts an era when Massillon’s industrialists and financiers reflected the social ways depicted in the novel. The Massillon Museum’s collections of furniture, clothing, art, china, and glassware represent their lifestyle.

The movie night is among two dozen events scheduled to encourage the community to read The Age of Innocence. A complete schedule of events is available at the Massillon Public Library, the Massillon Museum, or online at www.massillonmuseum.org.

Copies of The Age of Innocence may be checked out at the Massillon Public Library or purchased at the Massillon Museum, the Massillon Public Library, and The Village Bookshelf (746 Amherst Road Northeast in Massillon).

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Local organizations and individuals collaborating with the Massillon Museum include: the Massillon Public Library; the Lions Lincoln Theatre; Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli; Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Dr. Robert Sturr, and Kent State University Stark Campus; Jason Norris; John Kiste and the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; Rotary Club of Massillon; the Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce; The Independent; the Fairless, Jackson, Tuslaw, and Massillon school systems; State Representative Scott Oelslager; Massillon Cable TV; the Chit Chat Coffee Shop; George Nicholis; Camille Leslie; Brian Centrone; Eric Myers; Gretchen Schrantz; Five Oaks and Massillon Woman’s Club; Richard Gercken; The Canton Symphony Orchestra; The Amherst Rose and Parlour Gift Shoppe; Kozmo’s Grille; St. Timothy’s Church; Massillon Family YMCA; Hampton Inn Massillon; and many community volunteers.

For more information about the book discussions or The Big Read, call 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Victorian Salon Features Historical Characters

Massillon Museum’s Victorian Salon Features Historical Characters

Step into The Gilded Age for just one night on Sunday, March 22. Visit Massillon’s finest Victorian mansion, Five Oaks, for “Edith Wharton’s Salon,” where guests will mingle with famous 19th-century artists, writers, and political leaders. The event is part of the Massillon Museum’s project, “The Big Read: Western Stark County Reads The Age of Innocence.”

At the salon, which opens at 6:00 pm., Olivia Langdon Clemens (Jill Malusky Bacon) will share some of Mark Twain’s witticisms. Alex Nicholis will portray photographer Belle Johnson and Chris Craft will be John Singer Sargent for the night. Sandi Thouvenin will bring to life author Virginia Wolfe, and Mandy Pond will impersonate Massillon’s suffrage leader Caroline McCullough Everhard. With such an illustrious guest list, other literary figures are sure to show up.

The salon is open to everyone. Victorian costumes and characters are encouraged, but participants are always welcome to attend Museum events wearing appropriate contemporary attire. The $5 fee includes light refreshments. Advance reservations—requested but not required—may be made by calling the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or emailing info@massillonmuseum.org. The Museum accepts cash, checks, Visa, and Mastercard.

Five Oaks, now the home of the Massillon Woman’s Club, was the local epitome of the Victorian lifestyle depicted in The Age of Innocence. Its extravagant woodwork, Tiffany appointments, gold leaf wall designs, and period furnishings will create an ambiance reminiscent of social settings in The Age of Innocence. The early 1890s-era mansion is located at 210 Fourth Street Northeast in Massillon.

The Big Read is a month-long celebration of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, funded by a competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Massillon Rotary Foundation has provided additional funding to purchase copies of the book for classroom use. 2009 marks the second year the National Endowment for the Arts has granted funding for the Massillon Museum’s ambitious participation in The Big Read—a national initiative to help Americans return to reading for leisure.

The Big Read, the largest federal literature program since the W.P.A., is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

For more information about western Stark County’s Big Read project, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

The Big Read Night of One-Acts to Star Local Thespians

The Big Read Night of One-Acts to Star Local Thespians

On Thursday, March 26, the Massillon Museum, with the collaboration of the Massillon Public Library, and Washington High School, will present an evening of original one-act plays relating to The Big Read and this year’s book selection, The Age of Innocence. Washington High School dramatics students will perform three plays under the direction of Eric J. Myers.

The evening will begin in the Washington High School auditorium at 7:00 p.m. with period music performed by members of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. The string quartet will perform between each of the plays.

Massillon Public Library Director Camille J. Leslie—a Georgia native fascinated by foreign languages, animals, folk music, and the The New York Times—wrote “A Heavenly View” for The Big Read project. The characters, representing actual people from Massillon’s history, depict a slice of local life during which an itinerant artist/cartographer began work on the 1870 birdseye view of Massillon. Joseph Morales (Nahum Russell), Samantha Smith (Esther Russell), Rebekah Seesan (Flora Russell), Dorroh Smith (Annie Russell), Alexis Jones (cousin Lucia), Kori Baker (Mary), Daniel Murphy (Albert), and Elizabeth Remley (Dorothy) will portray a scene in the Nahum and Esther Russell home on historic Fourth Street—later the home of the McClymonds Public Library, forerunner to Massillon Public Library.

Screenwriter George Nicholis is the full-time Public Relations Coordinator for Home and Garden Television in New York City. His original one-act for the Massillon Museum’s 2008 evening of one-act plays was well-received during the community's first Big Read project. Daniel Condo and Alexandria Burch will perform the two roles in “The Ghost,” Nicholis’s new play for this year.

Brian Centrone wrote “The Gilded Strings.” An accomplished short story writer, Centrone has an MA in Novel Writing from The University of Manchester (UK). He is an Adjunct Professor of English at SUNY/Westchester Community College (New York). Jenna Brinker plays Mrs. Winterguard, Tyler Bennett plays Howard, Elizabeth Remley is Nellie, and Kathryn Leffler is Ms. Shanksman.

Admission is free and open to all. No reservations are required. Washington High School is located at One Paul Brown Drive Southeast in Massillon.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

For more information about western Stark County’s Big Read project, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Brown Bag Lunch Features “The Age of Innocence”

Brown Bag Lunch Features “The Age of Innocence”


Bring a sack lunch or purchase lunch from the Chit Chat Coffee Shop for the Massillon Museum’s next Brown Bag Lunch on Tuesday, March 24. Christine Fowler Shearer, Executive Director of the Massillon Museum, will speak about this year’s book selection for The Big Read—The Age of Innocence—and how it relates to Massillon’s era of greatest wealth and the legacy left by its most prominent families for the permanent collections of the Massillon Museum.

Shearer’s program will highlight the success of Massillon’s industrial and financial leaders during The Gilded Age, when Russell and Company was shipping steam engines across the nation, the Bucher Opera House was drawing leading national orators and musicians, and Fourth Street families were hosting dinners and balls and wedding receptions for hundreds of socialites. She will relate the Victorian era in Massillon to the characters and events in Edith Wharton’s novel, The Age of Innocence.

The Brown Bag Lunch, which is held in the Museum lobby, is free and open to the public; no reservations are required, but seats fill early.


Guests are invited to visit the Museum's Victorian displays in the second floor permanent collection gallery and in the lower level. Both have been installed in conjunction with The Big Read and its focus on the late nineteenth century.

Bates Printing sponsors the Brown Bag Lunch series, which is in its seventh year. In conjunction with the next main gallery exhibition, “Lewis Hine: Rise of a Landmark,” Michael Lasser will present April’s program: “The Hip-Hooray and Bally-Hoo: Popular Music’s Take on New York.” Massillon Police Captain Joe Herrick will present “CSI Massillon: Unsolved Murders” in May.

The Big Read is a month-long celebration of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, funded by a competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. 2009 marks the second year the National Endowment for the Arts has granted funding for the Massillon Museum’s ambitious participation in The Big Read—a national initiative to help Americans return to reading for leisure.

The Big Read, the largest federal literature program since the W.P.A., is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon. For more information, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org.


Media Contacts:
Christine Shearer, Massillon Museum Director - 330-833-4061
Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum PR Coordinator & Lunch Series Chair - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525

Book Discussions for Week Three of The Big Read

MassMu Book Discussions for Week Three of The Big Read

The Massillon Museum, with the collaboration of the Massillon Public Library, encourages the community to read for leisure with The Big Read, a month-long celebration of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. A series of one-hour book discussions offers readers the opportunity to talk about the book.

Richard Gercken, a former department head at Massillon Public Library, will lead a discussion at the Massillon Museum (121 Lincoln Way East) on Sunday, March 15, at 2:00 p.m. Kozmo’s Grille (37 First Street Southwest) will host a discussion on Wednesday, March 18, at 7:00 p.m.; Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Associate Professor, History, Kent State University Stark Campus, will moderate the session. The Massillon Museum will host another discussion on Friday, March 20, at 7:00 p.m. Dr. Robert Sturr, Associate Professor, English, Kent State University Stark Campus, will focus the conversation on the film, “The Age of Innocence,” which will be shown the previous evening at Kent State University Stark Campus.

Discussions are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. The direction of the discussion changes with each session, so readers are encouraged to attend more than one. Additional discussions will be held later in the month: Hampton Inn Massillon—Monday, March 23, 7:00 p.m.; Massillon Family YMCA—Monday, March 25, 7:00 p.m.; St. Timothy’s Church—Saturday, March 28, 11:00 a.m.; and Massillon Public Library’s main branch—Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 p.m.

Copies of The Age of Innocence may be checked out at the Massillon Public Library. They may be purchased at the Massillon Museum (121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon), the Massillon Public Library (208 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon), and The Village Bookshelf (746 Amherst Road Northeast in Massillon).

The Age of Innocence is an appropriate reading level for high school students and adults. Free readers' guides are available at the Museum, the Library, and at offices and businesses throughout the area. Everyone who reads the book will be encouraged to sign a “Victorian calling card” to be displayed at the Museum or the Library.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Local organizations and individuals collaborating with the Massillon Museum include: the Massillon Public Library; the Lions Lincoln Theatre; Mayor Francis H. Cicchinelli; Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Dr. Robert Sturr, and Kent State University Stark Campus; Jason Norris; John Kiste and the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau; Rotary Club of Massillon; the Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce; The Independent; the Fairless, Jackson, Tuslaw, and Massillon school systems; State Representative Scott Oelslager; Massillon Cable TV; the Chit Chat Coffee Shop; George Nicholis; Camille Leslie; Brian Centrone; Eric Myers; Gretchen Schrantz; Five Oaks and Massillon Woman’s Club; Richard Gercken; The Canton Symphony Orchestra; The Amherst Rose and Parlour Gift Shoppe; Kozmo’s Grille; St. Timothy’s Church; Massillon Family YMCA; Hampton Inn Massillon; and many community volunteers.

Massillon Museum Executive Director Christine Shearer leads the local project. Massillon Public Library Director Camille Leslie, Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator Margy Vogt, Museum Assistant Chris Craft, Dr. Leslie Heaphy of Kent State University, and Massillon Area Chamber of Commerce President Bob Sanderson serve on the committee.

For more information about the book discussions or The Big Read, call 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum PR Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525