Curating Your Home

In 2013, I took a week-long course at University of Victoria on Exhibit Design and Installation. It was part of the Cultural Resource Management Program, and was taught by Tim Willis, a brilliant exhibit designer and great teacher.

One of our pre-course assignments was to find an article in our own homes and write an exhibit label for it.

It didn’t take me long to decide on the item that I wanted to describe. Two framed embroidery pieces done by my mother are displayed on my living room wall, and they give me great joy. My mother died in 2010, just one month short of 90, and having her work displayed keeps her close in my memory and thoughts. She gave them to me unframed many years ago, and one year for Christmas, I had them framed and gave them back to her so that she could enjoy them in her own home. After her death, they came back to me. They are both lovely, but the other one is a cross-stitch of pansies, and although I like it a great deal, the piece that I chose shows a high level of skill and artistry.

My mother was skilled at many things, but always underestimated her own talents. She was a master baker, and my mouth still waters thinking of her doughnuts, apple pies, and other treats. She was known for her beautifully made Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, and gave dozens of them away to grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Embroidery by Eileen Harrison, circa 1945.

When I wrote the exhibit label, I thought about Mom’s life and how it influenced her as a person. She grew up during the depression, as part of a large family, and while they were never well-off, they never went hungry. My grandmother, a master seamstress and craftsperson herself, made sure that her children were always well-dressed. Anyone who grew up with parents who lived through the depression will know that they never wasted anything, and I have memories of Mom bagging up the leftover soaps in nylon netting so that we could keep using them until they were nothing but suds. These lessons of making-do and frugality are ones that serve me well now.

My grandmother raised her children on maxims and we heard our share of them too, growing up. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” was one that we heard if we were lazing about. It was meant to caution against getting into trouble if we weren’t busy with something productive, like shelling peas or dusting the furniture. My mother seemed to be always busy, and even into her late 80s spent her days baking, walking her dog, working in her yard, and knitting socks.

Reflecting on her life and work, here is the exhibit label that I wrote:

Floral Embroidery on Black Cotton, circa 1945

Eileen Harrison, 1920 – 2010

“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” This was one of many maxims that the artist heard from her French Canadian mother. Sitting idly was not an option for a child growing up in rural Manitoba as the third of 10 children. Eileen’s mother taught her the skills of knitting, sewing, embroidery and crochet. By the time she reached adulthood she was proficient in all of them. This embroidery is one that she completed in her early 20s. She continued to do needlework all of her life.

Writing artifact labels and photo captions is a key part of a museum or gallery exhibit. The text panels give the big story, but a label can focus on a smaller element within the exhibit, and really bring it to life for the viewer.

I encourage you to look around your house and find an item that speaks to you, and write a descriptive label for it. While many of us are spending more time in our homes, it is a good time to reflect on our own environments. On a practical level, we may plan on handing these items down to other family members at some point, and having a description of them, and an explanation of how they were significant to you will give them greater value.

Feel free to share your own items on our Facebook page, or in the comments section.