Be a part of the collection and provide your community with interesting learning opportunities!

Did you know that most modern museums originated from private collections?

• These collections were started by royalty, the wealthy, and institutions who amassed objects for personal interest, display, or prestige, and were often housed in "cabinets of curiosity" or other private spaces before being made public.

• Composed of rare and unusual objects, they were collected with the purpose of being preserved and interpreted to ultimately offer an understanding of the world. This shift marked the transition from private collections for elite enjoyment to public spaces dedicated to education and preserving cultural and scientific heritage.

​

Do you have an interesting collection of curiosities at home? If so, we’d love to include them in our Community Curiosities Collection!

• Items need to be no larger than 9x10x1.5 inches deep to fit in our cabinet.

• Your items will be on loan with us, secured in the cabinet for a set amount of time. You’ll receive a certificate denoting your contribution to our collection, and your item will be returned to you at your selected date. Each item in the cabinet will include information about your items, including but not limited to, who the collection belongs to, where the items were found, and estimated age/time period they are from, and any other interesting facts you’d like to provide.

• So if you've got a cool collection (stamps, coins, foliage, insects, feathers, shells, animal bones, you name it!), fill out the form to the right, and we'll be in touch soon!