Gallery of Curiosities 2018 & 2020

As I’m a collector of many things quirky and odd, I pounced on the idea of sharing my collections in a unique public setting. The Gallery of Curiosities Show at The Bridge was held twice, the inaugural event was in October 2018, with bumping bodies bustling about inside, peaking and discovering the array on display. In October 2020, an outside view in, pressing close to the glass windows, to observe the collections from a safe, socially distanced stance.

“At its core, the “Gallery of Curiosities” is “an exhibit for Charlottesville, for the quirkiness that exists in our community,” says Alan Goffinski, director of The Bridge. The show’s power lies in those who’ve curated it, he says, and it affords us a look into the character — both hidden and otherwise — of our friends and neighbors.
Inside the gallery, Elyse Smith spins fur from a visitor’s beloved pet into yarn, and all around her, floor to ceiling and wall to wall, hang hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of curiosities, oddities, and objects, each item begging more questions than it answers.”

Erin OHare, C-Ville Weekly Oct. 17, 2018
https://www.c-ville.com/strange-lot-bridge-fills-curiosities-new-exhibition/

In 2018, I picked five random collections from my house: matches, coins, the twig table Barry built and all of our birds nests and turtle shells, a red basket and dice. Colorful backstories were written, descriptions accompanied each display, however, that archive is no more.

In 2020, we were starting over (long story, I should write a book) and I had very different things in my life to choose from. I had my Wee Wooden Spoon collection. And I had several small buckets of bent, rusty discarded house nails and some wood with unique burned areas. Yup, I used what I had on hand. Both were chosen to display. The Bridge posted a virtual, check it out at home gallery, here.