St. Catharines museum wants to receive modern postcards
New exhibit to feature postcards from near or far travels
Postcards are more than just a pretty photo — they’re about staying connected, says St. Catharines museum curator Kathleen Powell.
St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre wants to explore that idea further with modern postcards that residents have received or sent to others from anywhere in the world.
It’s asking for submissions to be part of an upcoming exhibit, “Just a Line to Say: Postcards from the St. Catharines Museum Collection.”
But Powell said the museum is looking for used postcards, not blank ones that have been purchased to put in a photo album.
“The idea is not just a picture on the front, it’s the message as well,” she said.
“Part of the exhibit concept is about connection between two people. It’s the sending of the postcard through the mail to someone with a message on it.”
It’s a bit of a coincidence that the museum is asking people to reminisce about travels at a time when people can only dream of faraway places because of the pandemic.
The museum plans its exhibits a couple of years in advance, but Powell said it does try to tie in current relevant topics to the themes as they are being developed.
“The fact that people are not able to travel, but might be able to send a postcard from where they are, is kind of an interesting connection with where people are at today,” she said.
The exhibit is scheduled to open in spring and will feature some of the historic postcards of Niagara Region and area from the museum’s large collection.
Residents’ modern postcards from around the world will complement the archival pieces on display.
To submit a postcard for the exhibit, residents can contact visitor services co-ordinator Adrian Petry by email at museum@stcatharines.ca. Postcards will be scanned for display and the original returned to the owner.
Submissions are due by March 15.
The museum is currently closed due to the provincial lockdown and has been since Christmas. It’s been busy running virtual programs, lectures series and online exhibits. More information about programming can be found at stcatharines.ca/museum.
Powell said when the museum does open its doors again, visitors will not only be able to see the postcard exhibit about April, but another new exhibit that was installed during the closure in partnership with Positive Living Niagara.
Another display, “Marking Time,” which looks at how the community marks time and creates memories, was opened in early December right before the lockdown.
“Nobody really saw it, which is a drag, but that’s OK,” Powell said. “It will be there waiting for people to see when they do come.”