Awaken ______: An Experimental Exhibit offers visitors a reimagined and awakened Mercer Museum experience, reinventing unused museum spaces into areas in which to engage more deeply with artifacts and one another.
These exhibits are working prototypes and are designed to offer “mini-excursions” adjacent to the larger experience of the Mercer Museum historic core. The final prototype in the Awaken series, on display now through April 30th, is entitled “Crossroads: Doylestown.”
Since Doylestown was founded in the 1700s, its small-town “heart” has been the intersection of what is now Main and State Streets, in the center of town. In this four-block “square,” and in other blocks nearby as the town expanded, residents have walked, shopped, paraded and gathered for almost three centuries.
Most of us have strong emotional attachments to the places we call home – and Doylestown residents are no different. In creating this experimental exhibit, the museum worked with local residents to identify some places in Doylestown that hold particular meaning for them.
One of these residents, Sue Lee, described the joy she felt sharing the tradition of celebrating Lunar New Year at the Michener Museum last year. “When I finally got to celebrate this holiday with my community in 2022, my heart was filled with so much gratitude and joy… I felt seen by our community and was affirmed that my identity as a Korean American woman could be valued and celebrated in our town.”
To see more stories like this and to share your own, visit the Mercer Museum or go to awakenthemercer.org.
Awaken: An Experimental Exhibit has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
PHOTO CAP: Awaken ______: An Experimental Exhibit at the Mercer Museum, photo courtesy of Kevin Crawford.