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| A variety of objects are currently included in the self-curated Eye of the Collector exhibition at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, which opens April 16, 2016, and closes Labor Day, September 5, 2016. |
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In late December 2015, the Senior Manager of Exhibits, Mike Spiewak, at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, invited me to participate in the Eye of the Collector exhibition. We met in January, discussed the possibility, and I ultimately agreed to participate along with the other eight collectors of different objects. During our meeting, one of my questions for Mike was, "How did you find me?" His answer, much to my surprise was, "Your blog." He explained that he googled "doll collector Texas" (or similar key words).
Mike and I met again in February for a scheduled videotaped interview and photo shoot of me and 20 dolls that would be included, among others, in the exhibition. In late March, I selected and packed 91 dolls which were transported to the museum on March 28th. Transport was courtesy of the museum. Everything worked like clockwork.
On the evening of April 12th, while reading my Facebook feed, the following Perot-sponsored video ad fed in. Click the arrow to view or click here.
The above video contains a very small portion of February's videotaped interview. Viewing this added to my anticipation for the members-only preview, which took place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Perot on April 13, 2016. The preview was preceded by cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and a brief introduction of all collectors by Colleen Walker, the Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer at the Perot.
The preview was a spectacular event! The nine involved featured collectors' objects are beautifully displayed, which include 85 of the 91 dolls on loan. (My display case, unfortunately, could not hold all 91 dolls that were loaned.)
During the preview event, the following photos were taken by Colleen, Mike, and me, respectively, in which many of the 85 dolls in my exhibit can be seen. (Stretch or click to enlarge the photos.)
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| L-R: My mother, Colleen Walker, me, my son, and Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., a paleontologist, who is vice president of research and collections and chief curator at the Perot. |
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| In this photo, the family is joined by Mike Spiewak. |
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| The family posed for one final photo. |
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| This photo of a side-glancing me is in the lower left-hand corner of the exhibit case with a brief description of my collector's story. |
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| An almost ceiling-to-floor cloth banner of a doll-hugging me is at the entrance of my exhibit area. |
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| "The camera" took this lopsided photo of the video screen which is attached to the front side of the doll display case. Exhibition attendees can view my videotaped interview to hear me share my collector's story. |
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| Banner displays, such as the one above, which feature one or two of my dolls, can be seen throughout the museum's interior and exterior to advertise the Eye of the Collector exhibition. The doll seen here is by Gloria Rone of Massas's Servants Collectibles who sells her dolls on Etsy. I made it a point to include one-of-a-kind dolls and dolls made by African American artists. This doll, Kamica, falls into both categories.
More of my dolls can be seen in the video in this article by CW33 dot com.
I remain quite impressed with the outcome and honored to have been asked to participate.
As mentioned previously, the exhibition opens to the public today, April 16, 2016, and extends through September 5, 2016. Tickets: Members Free Adult (18-64) $24 Youth (2-17) $15 Senior (65+) $18 General Group $13
For more information about the Eye of the Collector exhibition, the participants and their eye-catching collections, navigate here.
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