Society News
New Exhibit Now Open at History Center
How does a place get to look the way it does?
Why are some buildings built?
Why are some torn down and others preserved?
Buildings reflect our identities, our choices, and our values. They reflect our hopes and dreams. Some buildings make us stop and gape. Others are so familiar we hardly notice them when passing. Some buildings inspire passionate feelings that lead to conflict or compromise.
Buildings have stories. The stories are about us.
Explore these notions in the newest exhibit at the History Center, Stories in Structures: How Buildings Tell Us About Ourselves.
Stories in Structures was first visualized two decades ago when Greg Gaut and others joined their expertise and love of historic buildings. Two national Endowment for the Humanities grants led to the research and development of the exhibit. To tell full stories, developers decided to focus on just a few buildings in each section of the exhibit, augmenting case studies with brief treatments of related examples that can be changed out over time for fresh content.
With funding from the Elizabeth Callender King Foundation and Schwab Construction, Museology created the final result. It is the first new main exhibit in an ongoing complete exhibit update project. Come check it out!
2024 Calendar is Available!
The Winona Lake Park Bandshell will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024. The 2024 WCHS calendar celebrates that history by featuring images of historic bands from Winona County. All the images are from the WCHS archives. Get your calendars now at the History Center or at participating area businesses. The calendar is designed by Heidi Bryant of Design-on-Call.
Voices from the Past a Success!
Thank you to all involved for a wonderful Voices From the Past Cemetery Walk in October. The annual event is an important fundraiser for WCHS. This year brought in $8,200. We deeply thank our lead sponsor, Merchants Bank and Woodlawn Cemetery for their support of the event. More gratitude goes to the amazing and talented volunteers that number over 100 that make this event so successful year after year. Mark your calendars for October 5 & 6, 2024 for the 25th anniversary year!
History Center Gift Shop Specials
The History Center gift shop has some great holiday sales coming up. Mark your calendars for November 24 - 26 for Shop Small deals, including $5 off your $30 purchase in the History Center Shop. Then, WCHS members enjoy 25% off during the month of December (some exclusions apply). Membership also makes a great gift! Thank you for considering supporting local history and local makers when buying gifts this season.
MNHS Gale Scholar working with WCHS
Erich Lippman has been hired by the Minnesota Historical Society as a Gale Scholar. He will be working for a two-year term. Half of the time is in service of the research department of the MNHS, and the other half of his time is for a special research project. For the special project, Erich has chosen to aid WCHS’ research toward a re-envisioned Native American exhibit and related content.
New Artist in the Shop
Annie Grossarth-Nicol, owner of Rose Colored Glass, has some fun pieces in the History Center Shop. Annie’s glass career began back in 2011, when she took a class with Malcom Potek at Potekglass in Minneapolis while attending MCTC for Fine Art. She subsequently interned with the studio, and then became an employee and teacher until 2015. For the past few years, Annie had a basement studio set-up, and while she enjoys production and making art, she deeply missed teaching classes and sharing this craft. Annie now has her own educational studio in Winona called Rose Colored Glass.
How does a place get to look the way it does?
Why are some buildings built?
Why are some torn down and others preserved?
Buildings reflect our identities, our choices, and our values. They reflect our hopes and dreams. Some buildings make us stop and gape. Others are so familiar we hardly notice them when passing. Some buildings inspire passionate feelings that lead to conflict or compromise.
Buildings have stories. The stories are about us.
Explore these notions in the newest exhibit at the History Center, Stories in Structures: How Buildings Tell Us About Ourselves.
Stories in Structures was first visualized two decades ago when Greg Gaut and others joined their expertise and love of historic buildings. Two national Endowment for the Humanities grants led to the research and development of the exhibit. To tell full stories, developers decided to focus on just a few buildings in each section of the exhibit, augmenting case studies with brief treatments of related examples that can be changed out over time for fresh content.
With funding from the Elizabeth Callender King Foundation and Schwab Construction, Museology created the final result. It is the first new main exhibit in an ongoing complete exhibit update project. Come check it out!
2024 Calendar is Available!
The Winona Lake Park Bandshell will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024. The 2024 WCHS calendar celebrates that history by featuring images of historic bands from Winona County. All the images are from the WCHS archives. Get your calendars now at the History Center or at participating area businesses. The calendar is designed by Heidi Bryant of Design-on-Call.
Voices from the Past a Success!
Thank you to all involved for a wonderful Voices From the Past Cemetery Walk in October. The annual event is an important fundraiser for WCHS. This year brought in $8,200. We deeply thank our lead sponsor, Merchants Bank and Woodlawn Cemetery for their support of the event. More gratitude goes to the amazing and talented volunteers that number over 100 that make this event so successful year after year. Mark your calendars for October 5 & 6, 2024 for the 25th anniversary year!
History Center Gift Shop Specials
The History Center gift shop has some great holiday sales coming up. Mark your calendars for November 24 - 26 for Shop Small deals, including $5 off your $30 purchase in the History Center Shop. Then, WCHS members enjoy 25% off during the month of December (some exclusions apply). Membership also makes a great gift! Thank you for considering supporting local history and local makers when buying gifts this season.
MNHS Gale Scholar working with WCHS
Erich Lippman has been hired by the Minnesota Historical Society as a Gale Scholar. He will be working for a two-year term. Half of the time is in service of the research department of the MNHS, and the other half of his time is for a special research project. For the special project, Erich has chosen to aid WCHS’ research toward a re-envisioned Native American exhibit and related content.
New Artist in the Shop
Annie Grossarth-Nicol, owner of Rose Colored Glass, has some fun pieces in the History Center Shop. Annie’s glass career began back in 2011, when she took a class with Malcom Potek at Potekglass in Minneapolis while attending MCTC for Fine Art. She subsequently interned with the studio, and then became an employee and teacher until 2015. For the past few years, Annie had a basement studio set-up, and while she enjoys production and making art, she deeply missed teaching classes and sharing this craft. Annie now has her own educational studio in Winona called Rose Colored Glass.