Police sergeant puts together historical art exhibit

PALMER — Kelly Turney is what you might refer to as an unlikely artist, or at least a person unlikely to have an art opening scheduled for next week.

Devotees of crime reports in the Valley probably know Turney as a sergeant at the Palmer Police Department.

“One of my side interests when I’m not at work is antiques and old furniture,” Turney said.

Another side interest — the history of Palmer.

Turney put together a history of PPD for the 50th anniversary of the department in 2007. His scholarship is contained in a pamphlet police handed out around that time.

In doing that he got to know a lot of local historians, he said.

Right about here is where Rusty’s at Dahlia Street comes in. The restaurant has new art displayed on its walls monthly.

“You can sit down and be having dinner and, if you like the watercolor on the wall, you can buy it and take it home with you,” Turney said.

For June, the restaurant decided it wanted to feature a historical theme to tie in with the annual Colony Days celebration, June 10-12. Liz Thatcher, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, talked to Denise Statz, who mentioned Turney.

Somewhere along the way Turney learned that a son of former Palmer resident Clare Nichols had sent an album of photos circa 1935 and 1936 to the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp.

“His son found it and sent it up here hoping it would fill in some of the pieces, which it really has,” Turney said. “You can see the skeleton and the framing of certain buildings that are still here, which is kind of a neat perspective on things.”

So he had a space and a set of never-before-seen photographs of the building of Palmer. He added a few photos from the Alaska State Library, the University of Alaska and a historian’s private collection.

Here’s where that antiquing hobby comes in. Turney said he didn’t want these historic photos in modern frames, so he went looking for something better.

The Colony House Museum loaned him a set of Colony-era cabinet doors, which he’s using to frame some of the photos.

He hopes the reaction will be something like, “’Look at the picture,’ and then, ‘oh, look at the frame, what’s the frame?’ It’s an original Colony cupboard door.”

The owner of the Matanuska Maid property in downtown gave him permission to go into the old warehouse and take out what he needed. He also salvaged wood from the old Kertulla Colony-era barn that collapsed back in 2006.

“I’m using absolutely everything I can to keep it as true to the theme as I can,” Turney said.

The building that houses Rusty’s, he said, is itself a piece of local history. At various times it’s been a trading post, a recreation hall, a temporary space for nurses and doctors after the hospital burned down, an Alaska State Troopers post, a pharmacy and a department store.

“The basement of it was used as the shooting range by the sportsman’s club for a while,” he said.

In addition to the photos, Turney said the exhibit includes an original watercolor painting from another unlikely artist — one of PPD’s dispatchers. And there might be more paintings coming, depending on how long the show hangs.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Turney said. But in a place like Palmer, it’s not hard to do. “Everybody’s been super helpful, so it’s made it easy.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.