MASON CITY – The Charles H. MacNider Art Museum has received an additional grant award from the Chautauqua Circuit #889 Questers chapter of the Iowa Questers. The project funded Preservation and Restoration Grants from Iowa Questers in the amount of $2985, with additional funds raised by the local chapter, to total $3735.
The purpose of the grant is to stabilize and restore artifacts in local communities. The artifacts must have significance to the community in which they reside. This follows closely the purpose of the Questers organization which exists to research, study, and preserve antiques for the future as well as promote the field of preservation.
For this project the Museum used the grant money to send two artifacts to the Midwest Art Conservation Center for conservation work. As a city entity the Museum must raise additional funds for the preservation of artifacts and must rely on grants such as these to maintain the collection. The Midwest Art Conservation Center is one of the nation’s leading conservation labs for artifact restoration.
The selected artifacts are part of the famed The Sound of Music Puppets, created by Mason City’s own, Bil Baird. The Baird family donated the puppets in the 1980s. There have been efforts to document and create custom storage boxes for the puppets through various grants, but this grant is the third one to do specific conservation work on the puppets. The puppets were transported to the Midwest Art Conservation Center where they were cleaned, stabilized, and small repairs were made. The puppets that were conserved in this round of funding were two Mountain Climbers from the “Lonely Goat Herder” performance in The Sound of Music.
“The puppets are part of a set created for the movie The Sound of Music, which turns 60 years old this year. The puppets featured in the movie are perhaps some of the most recognizable puppets in the world.” stated Museum Director Edith Blanchard. “This will preserve these famous cultural icons not only for our community but for the thousands of visitors that flock to the Museum yearly to see the famous puppets.”
Those interested in becoming a member of the area chapter of the Iowa Questers should contact Carol Tinkey at 641-423-5965 or email tinkeycarol@gmail.com.. The grant is the third grant given by the local chapter to the MacNider for the benefit of the community. The local Quester chapter has given four grants totaling over $20,000 since 2020 to the MacNider Art Museum to be used for restoration projects that will benefit the community for many years.
The Charles H. MacNider Art Museum, located at 303 Second St. S.E. in Mason City, is free and open to the public. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. More information can be found at the museum’s website at http://www.macniderart.org,