Museum unleashes creative characters

Had he been a visitor of the Dorothy G. Page Museum in downtown Wasilla over the past year, Bob Dylan’s famous lyric may have gone more along the lines of, “For museums, the times are a-changing.”

As it is, patrons of the museum were treated to Dylan’s iconic summation of the social turmoil of the 1960s, “For the times, they are a-changing,” this past October. It was part of “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music,” a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit.

The presentation filled the museum with sounds, photos and information about American roots music. Native American, African and European sounds combined to make new musical styles completely American. Gospel, blues, country and bluegrass, for example, have these historical roots.

Or maybe you caught the more recent exhibit in May, “The Best of Alaska Positive: 35 Years of Award-Winning Photographs.” A unique perspective on Alaska and the world as seen through the lenses of some of the state’s most talented, award-winning photographers.

Perhaps you visited last month when the work of Southcentral cartoonist Lee Post was featured in “Lee Post: Everything Is a Little Bit Better Than You Remembered.” Known mostly for drawings that push the envelope outside that which the typical comic strip readers of mainstream newspapers are accustomed, Post’s work is familiar to many area residents.

While Post, at age 34, may be an up-and-comer, there’s no denying the influence Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” has had on American cartooning. A small slice of that is on display now at the museum in “Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace.”

Along with the typical information and displays that reflect local history, we commend the Dorothy G. Page Museum for its efforts to bring vibrant, interesting and entertaining exhibits to the Valley. This makes the Wasilla museum much more than a place to see grandpa’s old work boots.

The Snoopy exhibit is entertaining and carefully chosen, with descriptions that detail accurate historical references incorporated into the World War I Flying Ace’s fantasy world.

It’s a fabulous exhibit and a great example of a local entity expanding its horizons, and ours as well.

Keep up the good work.