The Extraordinary Times blog wishes a happy and healthy 2024 to all readers! This new year we have the pleasure of catching up with Carrie Halim. Carrie is Curator of the Robert McCloskey Museum at Heritage Hall, 20 Hight St, Hamilton, Ohio, dedicated to the life and work of Robert McCloskey, Hamilton’s celebrated children’s author and illustrator (Make Way For Ducklings, Lentil, and many other classics). Carrie was raised in a small rural town in Northwest Ohio and rode her bike uptown when our town got its first stoplight. She graduated from Miami University, and has spent the better part of two decades singing songs, telling stories, leading and learning from children. * How did you come to work at the Robert McCloskey Museum? I came to this role as curator first as a lover of history and as a resident of German Village. When my daughters and I would walk in our neighborhood, the Butler County Historical Society became a regular part of our route. We would stop, tour and chat with Kathy [Creighton] the executive director and volunteers. Soon I found myself volunteering with the Multigenerational Programming, and was asked to join the board. Soon after, I became a member of the committee that oversees Heritage Hall and the Robert McCloskey Museum. My joining the committee coincided with the opportunity for the museum to expand into a wing of rooms in the old Municipal Building. Ideas began flying, programs were planned, and fresh energy flowed into the McCloskey Museum in the form of newly published picture book biographies of our hometown author and illustrator Robert McCloskey. I found myself in a wonderful position of being supported by my board and committee, encouraged and spurred on by local city and arts leaders, and so stepped into the role of Curator of the McCloskey Museum and Heritage Hall. * Why does Robert McCloskey deserve to be better remembered in relation to Hamilton, Ohio? While Robert McCloskey never sought fame or attention, his work continually attracted it. He was deeply involved in the region as he grew up. He went to Hamilton Schools, was a camper and later leader at Camp Campbell Gard, played in a harmonica band and led the Marching Band as Drum Major. Similar to the inventive boys in his books, he was always tinkering and creating. As he grew, art became "the life for him," so he says. He won a national scholarship competition based on a pamphlet made with the Hamilton High History Club that took him to Boston for art school, but it was his hometown that inspired his first published book. In fact, his lifelong publisher May Massee told him to go home and write what he knew. Perhaps she knew how great our region is, as she was related to one of our local families, the Fitton Family. Luckily, he took her advice, for his vision of community and home life has inspired families around the globe for generations. It was his book, "Make Way for Ducklings" that pointed to the safety of home that was read aloud to families as their fathers went off to war. His illustrations were sent to bring joy and a vision of home to soldiers overseas. His book became the book of the city of Boston and is celebrated in the famous duckling statues in Boston's Public Garden. Replicas of those statues were given from the children of the United States to the children of Russia as part of the peace treaty signing in the 1990s. And the week after the tragedy of 9/11, Nancy Schon and McCloskey's daughters, Sally and Jane, unveiled the Lentil sculpture and park in Hamilton. The children of Hamilton named Lentil's dog (a part of the sculpture) Harmony—a word that rang loudly in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Though he didn't seek accolades, he was the first illustrator to win two Caldecott Medals for the best children's picture book of the year, and was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. Beyond all of that, he understands hometowns. He understands the importance of home, wonder, creativity and community. His stories inspire and bring people together. * How does the Robert McCloskey Museum celebrate McCloskey's life and works?
The Robert McCloskey Museum has been a part of Heritage Hall alongside the Mueller Exhibit and the Council Chambers at the previous Municipal Building for 15 years. In that time, there have been many lectures, celebrations, programs and an exhibits of original artwork, artifacts, medals and memorabilia. We are expanding our scope in this season to include more storytimes, programs, and partnerships. We shared McCloskey's story, "Journey Cake Ho!" an Appalachian folk tale, at Operation Pumpkin with local drama students. We 'Made Art Like McCloskey' by drawing ducklings from life with the help of local artists and ducklings from Hopefull Pastures Therapeutic Farm, and recently received funding to partner with the artists of Inspiration Studios for our Hamilstorian Project. The artists of Inside Out Studios are creating interactive wonder based exhibits based on two McCloskey stories as well as celebrating the Heritage of other Hamiltonians: architect Frederick Mueller and philanthropist and former CEO, David Belew. There is a wonderful connection to Sally and Jane McCloskey through Dave and Marge Belew some of our founders. McCloskey's daughters who appear in his books, gave two of their father's kaleidoscopes to Dave and Marge Belew, with the story that their father used the kaleidoscopes as a sort of visual palette cleanse, a lens cleanse, to see afresh. As we celebrate these Hamilton stories, McCloskey's and others', we invite young and old to look again at the world around them through the eyes of art and to be inspired like McCloskey was inspired. * How do you hope to tie your work at the museum with the cultural and economic growth of the city and its community? As Hamilton is enjoying a renaissance of its own, it’s important to (re)connect with our history. That includes the people, places, architecture, manufactured items, and stories of Hamilton. Robert McCloskey was unique in that he was an author and illustrator, but started out as an artist. He created well-known icons, from the Camp Campbell Gard totem pole to the bas reliefs on the former city building. Winning those design commissions as a high schooler. He told modified stories of his hometown, using architectural details from local buildings and incorporating real events like the opening of the city’s “newest” hospital. Many well-known Hamiltonians went on to lead national and international businesses. McCloskey, however, showed us that wonder, design, and creation are all important. And that children, can often see what adults don’t always notice. It’s a gift that he gave his hometown to see through the eyes of a child, the wonder and magnificence of our city.
2 Comments
Chris Jones
1/22/2024 08:07:36 pm
Thank you for highlighting, celebrating and keeping McKloskey’s work alive here in Hamilton! As a child, his illustrations and stories inspired and empowered me to create and appreciate art as well
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AuthorMatthew Smith, PhD (History). Public Programs at Miami University Regionals. Historian of Appalachia, the Ohio Valley, & the early American republic. Archives
February 2024
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