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EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
(subject to change)

2001


OPENING RECEPTION
Alaska Gold
   
Details at right
October 21, 2 - 4 PM
At the Museum

Family Program
Details below right
Nov. 18, 2 - 4 PM
At the Museum

Holiday Open House
Details below right
Dec. 1, 11AM - 4PM
At the Museum

Volunteers' Christmas
Meeting and Lunch
Details below right
Dec. 4, 11AM - 1PM
At the Museum

2002


California Paintings 1910-1940
Selections from
Mills College Museum
Details below right
February 2 - May 12
At the Museum

Link to Previous Shows:

Drawing From Nature, 1999
The 4th Dimension, 2000
A Continuous Thread, 2000
Elemental Interpretations, 2001
Current GHM Exhibit

When gold was discovered in Alaska's Seward Peninsula in 1898, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. The Grace Hudson Museum's current exhibit, Alaska Gold: Life on the New Frontier, tells the story of Wilfred and Edmund McDaniel, brothers from Santa Clara who left home at the turn of the last century to seek their fortune in the far North. For six years they lived and worked as gold miners on a Bering Sea beach near Nome. In 1904, Edmund married Jessie Drake of Santa Clara, who joined the brothers and doubled the population of white women west of Nome. Wilfred was one of the few prospectors who brought a view camera and tripod with him, taking shots of the voyage to Nome, the arctic landscape, miners' lives, and native Alaskans. The exhibit, drawn from Wilfred's photographs, along with letters, mining artifacts, and Native tools from the McDaniel family collection, provides an intimate look at life on this new frontier.


The McDaniels traveled thousands of miles to prospect for gold in Nome. Once in Alaska, they did more than simply dig up the land to reveal its hidden treasure - they grew to appreciate its stark beauty, natural rhythms, and Native peoples. The words penned by the McDaniels, Wilfred's photographs, and the items they collected while in the Arctic all serve as trail markers for us today, clues to what life was like for the prospectors who dared to endure hardships in the far north for the sake of finding the precious ore. The McDaniel brothers' legacy is not a pot full of gold dust or stack of ingots, but rather experiences and memories. "The GOLD? Most of it has long since taken wings - all but forgotten," wrote Wilfred some forty years later. "In its place, something far more precious has replaced it, something not to be taken away or lost - memories of earnest endeavor and love for our fellow travelers down the trail of life."

Lottie Renny holding a live salmon in Cripple River near Nome. She was
one of the few women among the 20,000 gold prospectors who migrated
to Nome at the turn of the century.
Photograph by Wilfred McDaniel, 1901

Opening Reception
Alaska Gold: Life on the New Frontier, 1898-1906
October 21, 2001, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, Grace Hudson Museum

Guest curator Jeff Kunkel presents a slide-lecture on the Nome Gold Rush, followed by a exhibition catalouge book-signing and reception.

Family Program
November 18, 2001, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, Grace Hudson Museum
Mike Wilson portrays author Jack London, focusing on London's adventures in the Klondike. Reception and book-signing to follow. Attendance is free.

Holiday Open House
December 1, 2001, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Grace Hudson Museum
Come and see the Sun House decorated for the holidays. Free admission, tours, Santa Claus, caroling, bay wreath sales, refreshments, 15% off all Museum Store purchases.

Volunteers' Christmas Meeting and Lunch
December 4, 2001, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Grace Hudson Museum
Special luncheon honoring all our hardworking volunteers and the presentation of the Volunteer of the Year award.

California Paintings 1910-1940
Selections from Mills College Museum
February 2, 2002 - May 12, 2002, Grace Hudson Museum
The core of this exhibit is a group of paintings collected by Mills College for the opening of its new Art Gallery in 1925. These oils and watercolors provide an enlightening cross-section of art activity in the state during this eclectic period.

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Link to previous shows:
Drawing From Nature, 1999
The 4th Dimension, 2000
A Continuous Thread, 2000
Elemental Interpretations, 2001

Return to Current GHM Exhibit.