Community News

THREE THINGS TO DO AT THE LINCOLN MUSEUM

JORDAN SITE HAS PLENTY GOING ON THIS SUMMER, INCLUDING A LOOK BACK AT DEATH AND DYING IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD

LUKE EDWARDS ledwards@ niagarathisweek.com

We can't escape it, so we might as well learn about it.

The Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre is gearing up for a busy summer with plenty to do. That includes the two main exhibits that continue through August, Rest in Peace and New Fraktur: "Gorge Unerring Beacon." The former examines how people in Lincoln approached death and dying during the Victoria era, while the latter is the work of Meghan Harder, a St. Catharines artist, who puts a new spin on the Mennonite tradition of Fraktur art.

Here are three ways to enjoy the summer with the help of the Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre:

REST IN PEACE EXHIBIT

Death is never something to take lightly, but in the Victorian age people followed a strict protocol that would blow the minds of many people in 2022.

"We had mourning clothes, people had specific rituals that they had to follow, a really prescribed set of behaviours," said Jasmine Proteau, exhibitions and collections curator at the museum.

The Rest In Peace exhibit covers everything from those rituals to the business of death and dying,

with local artifacts and stories. Visitors can see hair weaves and other Victorian age tributes to the dead, or learn about the rise of local funeral homes and the transition from toe pincher coffins to more ornate caskets that were built later.

They will also be taken through the process of grieving, a lengthy ritual, especially for women.

"Husbands only mourned their wives that died for six months. That usually took about a year or two for women," Proteau said. There were also specific stages of grieving for the women that begin with them wearing all black and never venturing out into society.

NEW FRAKTUR: "GORGE UNERRING BEACON"

The Lincoln Museum is well-known for its collection of Fraktur, a Mennonite folk art introduced to the area with the arrival of German-speaking Mennonites.

Harder grew up in the Mennonite community, but said Fraktur motifs and calligraphy weren't a part of her everyday life. She has taken some of the Fraktur artifacts from the museum and turned them into contemporary artworks.

Her exhibit is located right next to the museum's permanent Fraktur exhibit, which provides an interesting contrast, Proteau said.

ART LIVES HERE

A new event the museum hopes becomes annual, Art Lives Here runs from Friday, June 24 to Sunday, June 26.

People are encouraged to strike out on their own to a trail that includes some of the town's most unique and interesting artists. There will be demonstrations, workshops and public art displays.

On Saturday, as part of the weekend events, the museum will be hosting an Art Lives Here market, which will include a mix of food, local craft beverages, art demos, kids crafts and artist vendors. It's free to attend and runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Organizers are asking people planning to attend to register. For more info, visit artliveshere.info.

The museum is open Tuesday to Thursday, and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The museum also offers summer camps, drop-in tours, group programming and more. Visit lincolnmuseum.ca.

THINGS TO DO

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2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

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