Current Exhibitions

Crowdsourcing a Collection
The Concord Museum’s 125^th Anniversary Exhibition
On view October 22, 2011 through March 18, 2012

In the fall of 2011, the Concord Museum will mark the 125^th anniversary of the establishment of the Concord Antiquarian Society in 1886. In honor of that remarkable achievement, a special exhibition, “Crowdsourcing a Collection,” offers new and unexpected perspectives on an esteemed collection. Pulitzer-prize winning author, historian, and Concord resident Doris Kearns Goodwin is serving as the Honorary Curator for the exhibition.  A cross-section of the individuals who make up the Museum’s diverse community, including nationally-known individuals with connections to Concord, have been invited to serve as Guest Curators and have selected objects from our holdings that have special meaning for them. Guest Curators include historians Nathaniel Philbrick and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich; Senator John Kerry; novelist and physicist Alan Lightman; author and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Robert Coles; craftsman and North Bennet Street School president Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez; arts journalist Joyce Kulhawik; Nanae, Japan mayor Yasukazu Nakamiya; Concord Honored Citizens Marian Thornton and Dot Higgins; and many others.  In addition, the exhibition includes the “favorite” objects of Concord residents from the past, including Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to join the crowd, choose an object, and share their own story.

The Museum’s objects speak to such contemporary topics as freedom, independent thinking, craftsmanship, and the environment, among others, and are already drawing a wide variety of responses. As the Museum reaches beyond its walls to celebrate the 125^th anniversary, we will daily make new discoveries about our distinguished collection and the many personal ways in which the objects carry history into the present. This special exhibition is on view in the Wallace Kane Gallery at the Concord Museum from October 22, 2011 through March 18, 2012, free with Museum admission.

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Skinner Appraisal Day at the Concord Museum
Saturday, March 10, 2012

Do you have a family heirloom passed down through generations? Maybe a great yard sale item or flea market find that might be a treasure? Would you like to know what it is worth? Bring your special items to the Skinner Appraisal Day at the Concord Museum for averbal appraisal. Stephen Fletcher, Executive Vice President of Skinner, Inc. and Director of the Americana department, is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts on early American furniture, American decorative arts and folk art. LaGina Austin is Skinner’s Director of Appraisal & Auction Services. As a Senior Appraiser she evaluates and brings to auction a wide range of material, including American and European antiques, fine art, ephemera, and collectibles. In conducting her very first Appraisal Day for Skinner, she identified what turned out to be a $250,000 painting! 

$20 for one item or $50 for three; Members: $15 for one item or $35 for three; 11:00-4:00; reservations required, (978) 369-9763.  Reserve early as space is limited. All proceeds benefit the Concord Museum.  The appraisal day is offered in association with the 125thanniversary exhibition, Crowdsourcing a Collection.

Tips: Attendees should not bring coins, stamps, jewelry, and musical instruments to be appraised. Paintings and other art objects are highly recommended. Skinner also recommends that good quality photos be substituted for large or particularly fragile items. For services of china or silver, one example of each piece in a set accompanied by a list of the total number of pieces will function to represent the entire set.