 Welcome to Serving Locally with Me, your host, Michelle Dynas, the podcast where we spotlight service in the Longmont and surrounding communities. Alright, let's connect. Welcome to the next episode of Serving Locally with Me. Today, we are here with Courtney with the Longmont Museum. So thank you for being here today, and I might look forward to hearing more about your guys' organization. Can you just let me know a little bit about who you are and what Longmont Museum is all about? Yeah, absolutely, and thank you for having me here today, Michelle. It's such a pleasure. My name is Courtney Pletcher, and I am the volunteer and evaluation coordinator over at the Longmont Museum. And the Longmont Museum is a center for culture here in northern Colorado where people of all ages can explore history, experience art, and discover new ideas through dynamic programs, exhibitions, and events. We have done some really cool stuff. We mean the kids have been able to go and do some stuff. The Wild Plum, we've been able to go up there and and play and look at some of the exhibits and stuff. And then just a couple months ago, we were invited by UC Health with the Line PT for the Endometriosis documentary. So I know that you guys do some really great stuff. So that's awesome. Can you give us a little bit of background about your organization? Yeah, so the Longmont Museum has been around for quite a while. The original museum opened up in 1936 in the carriage house of the Callahan House over off of what is that like third and something. And over the course of 90 years, it has grown and moved several times. After the Callahan House, it moved to the basement of the Memorial Building and then it moved to two different converted garage warehouses off of Kimbark. And in the early 2000s, we finally found our current home, which is over at the Quail Campus off of 400 Quail Road. And in our current space, we have multiple exhibits. Our current permanent history exhibit is called Front Range Riding. And that exhibit explores the people who have called the Front Range their home from the Clovis people 14,000 years ago to current Longmont today. We also have a small exhibit on our second floor that talks about Longmont's local astronaut, Vance Brand, and the contributions that he has made to to science and learning more about space. And we also have a little moon rock that he gave to the museum, which is really cool. It's really cool. The kids like that. I remember that. You were just talking about that and I was like, I wonder if she's going to say something about the moon rock or whatever that's up there. And it's really cool because it's on display. Yeah. It's the exhibit is right next to our staff offices. And so each time I go upstairs, I'm like, Okay, there's the moon. There's the moon rock. It's such a cool thing to have. It's unique. Yeah. And I think sometimes we all take it for granted to have like a little piece of the moon actually in our building here in town. Yeah. And then our third floor, we have our Longs Peak Room, which is a really, really fun interactive space for families with young children. There is a little treehouse up there. We also have plenty of like stuffed animals, puppets, some fun games. And it has beautiful views of downtown Longmont and the front range mountains as well. It's like up on the Yeah, it's like a spire. Is that the right word? It almost feels like a spire or a turret or something. Yeah, yeah. It's on the third floor and yeah, it's a beautiful view. And then on our first floor as well, we have our space for current or current special exhibitions as well. We went to a card one thing. I think you had a car's. Yes, we had I think like low riders. Yeah, it was low riders exhibit. That was a really, really popular exhibit that the museum had. It was before my time of joining, but the opening for that was just really awesome as well. I think my colleagues have told me that 1500 people came to the opening of that exhibit. I've seen pictures and I would have loved to have seen it. Yeah, it was really cool. Yeah, awesome. And outside of our exhibits, we offer a variety of programming as well. So we have adult programs that that include art and sips where you can come in and be taught by a professional artist painting or tie dyeing inspired by Shibori styles, card making, book binding. We also have children's programming that includes summer camps for ages five to 13, discovery days, which is an early childhood education program that teaches students find motor skills through art, music and movement. Thursday, 19th, which is a free creative space for teens 13 to 18 in our community so that they can just kind of explore their creative side. And then we also have a variety of auditorium programming to which features talks, discussions, concerts, films and a lot more. Yeah, you guys have the auditorium. Yes. Which is very nice. Yeah, it's a really, really nice space to do a lot of incredible programming. The endometriosis film for one was a really, really popular program that we had lately. And I'm so happy that we were able to have be the be the space for that because I wasn't able to make it, but I heard so many positive things about it was great. It was life changing for me. That's for sure. What is your focus at the Longmont Museum? So I have two different focuses. As the volunteer coordinator, I am responsible for running our volunteer program. I recruit and train volunteers. I supervise volunteer programs and projects. And I also create volunteer appreciation events and more. I've only been in this role for about six months now. And so I'm still developing this role as well. I'm the first person in this position, so I'm trying to figure it out as I go. And then in my second capacity as the evaluation coordinator, I am responsible for implementing evaluation programs at the museum, which means I help with observations of visitors in our galleries to see how they're interacting with our exhibit, to see if we can make any changes to make sure that the exhibit is friendly enough for all of our visitor visitors. I collect surveys to see how visitors are responding to our exhibits, to see what kind of people we're attracting to our exhibits and how we can get more of the public in to see us. It's a fun job. And I like having the two different aspects so that I can, you know, if let's say I'm a little tired of looking at visitor surveys, I can switch switched gears and and start thinking of ways that we can celebrate our volunteers or think about how we can recruit new volunteers as well. That's great. Yeah. No, that's a lot of fun. So who are you trying to reach with your organization? We work hard to bring in a lot of diverse exhibits and host programs that can appeal from anyone from babies to grandparents. And it's really wonderful to see those audiences find their niche in programs just for them, such as Discovery Days or the art and sips. Or they come to one of our exhibits. TB to Tiny House was our last special exhibition. And for that, there were a lot of people and families who came and just loved building and creating. And so for them to find themselves and and see themselves in our programming is just a really special thing to see. And also to see them join in celebration for the events that we host, like our Dia de los Muertos Festival as well. What makes the work of the Longmont Museum different than other similar serving organizations? That's a good question. The Longmont Museum is the largest museum in the region. Yeah, I was also surprised to learn that when I first started that Longmont has such an important cultural resource, I think, is really special. And we help provide critical access, I believe, to the St. Vrain Valley's history. We have a lot of information and we try to communicate as much of that as possible to the public through our exhibits and programming. But we're also so much more than just our exhibits. I think that we are a true center for culture and we provide hundreds of programs per year, many of them free. And these programs introduce our community to, I think, a lot of tough topics with our duality exhibit that has been open for the past couple of months. We were able to talk about missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, which is a really serious problem facing the Indigenous community in our country. And it's not often talked about. Indigenous women specifically are killed and go missing at a much higher rate than any other population. And to be able to have a conversation with Indigenous women and people at the museum and bring a topic like that to the community, I think, is really, really important. But we're also able to provide cost-effective entertainment through concerts, ballet, theater, feature films from cult classics. I know we also work with Montalto a lot. And locally made, we partner with Biff, the Boulder International Film Festival, and so much more. One of my colleagues always likes to say, where else can you go on a Thursday night to get a professionally taught art class? You know, maybe have a little drink with a friend, go see a world-class exhibit, and then go see a concert all in the same place. Right. Yeah. So it's a really special place. And we try to make it as accessible to the public as possible. What a great place to connect. With everybody else in the community, that you have similar interests in interests. And something else would be a good word for that. Yeah, other interests and things that are important to them. So that's really cool. Yeah, I've had the privilege of working with a lot of our children's programming, and specifically with our summer camps, and to see kids who meet on a Monday and don't know each other. And then by Friday, are running up to each other and begging their parents. They're like, so we're going to have a sleepover right next weekend. And if we don't, I'm going to throw a fit. It's really special to see things like that, or to be in an art class and see strangers who don't know each other totally connect over a painting. Or there was a performance that I went to in our auditorium, and people who didn't know each other were able to connect over that performance and have a really long conversation over how to find other performances like that in the community, or sharing their favorite artists nationwide outside of just Longmont and Colorado. It's really special, and I enjoy kind of overhearing those kinds of conversations. That's fantastic. Yeah, I love a good place to connect. Yes. That's what we're all about here. So that's great. What are your greatest needs at the Longmont Museum? So at this point, I always like to say that we need volunteers for one. We utilize volunteers for a variety of different things. I use volunteers personally to help collect visitor surveys and connect with the public to gain feedback. We also use volunteers to help with our auditorium programming, volunteer service ushers, collect tickets, show people to their seats. We also use them for our Thursday night concerts in the summer where they kind of guard the gates and make sure everyone is in a safe environment. But we also have volunteers who help with our education programming and help prep materials because children go through a lot of paper, especially when they're making really fun crafts. We have teen volunteers who help with our summer camps and they help set up, tear down, and also lead children in activities. So those are just some of the opportunities that we're looking for right now. We do get a lot of contact from people who are looking for volunteer opportunities with our archives and our collections. And unfortunately, our archives department is full of volunteers right now. But specifically, I think teenage volunteers from 14 and 19 would be a really, really great help. We only have a few spots left, but it's such a fun opportunity. That's a good thing to put on your resumes, boys and girls, when you're starting to work. Great to have that volunteer and leadership skills that you learn doing that. We each camp that we offer gives a volunteer 20 plus hours of volunteer hours a week. And I think it's a really great way to learn more about a profession, specifically if you're interested in education or potentially a career in recreational activities as well, even though we are separate from the rec department, of course, but also to explore what the museum career field could look like. Because I think a lot of people assume that working in a museum is only going to be one thing. You're going to build exhibits, and you're going to be looking at a lot of really old artifacts. And that is just not true at all. But that's still way cool. I would enjoy that. Yes, absolutely. The times that I get to spend helping build exhibits is really fun. I think as working at a small museum allows me to get my hands in. In everything. Yeah, which has been a really great experience. But I think with our team volunteers, they can explore, maybe I want to be a teacher, but I don't know if I want to serve in a classroom capacity. How else can I help educate our community in a really meaningful way? Or yeah, just exploring a bunch of career opportunities. We've worked with a bunch of the same volunteers over and over for the past three summers that I've been here at least. And seeing them grow over time has just been really meaningful to me. There's one volunteer who, her name's Kate, and this is her third summer volunteering with us and every time we see her, we're like, yes, you're back. And seeing her grow from a freshman to now I think she's going to be a junior or senior. Seeing her leadership style grow and seeing her reconnect with kiddos that she has volunteered with in the past and has helped with at summer camp has just been so special. That's great. Yeah. In other ways that the museum has needs is that we are getting ready to launch a capital campaign as well. The museum is really working toward expanding our facilities so that we can continue to offer more education spaces, add to our gallery spaces, make the museum an even bigger cultural resource so that we can continue to serve our community and offer more classes and just have more offerings available. What a great problem to have is a need for more space. Yes. When it comes to a lot of our programming and exhibits, people are like, I would love to see more. I really would love to see more classes for discovery days or I really love this exhibit. When can you have an exhibit like this again? And we're planned out for years in advance or so and being able to have an expansion like this I think will really, really help us connect to our community more. We're hoping to have a local art gallery so that artists in Northern Colorado and specifically Longmont, they can display their artwork and it's available for free to the public. So if anyone is interested in supporting the capital campaign, keep your eyes out. And if you're interested in helping to fundraise for the museum, please contact the museum, which I think our contact information will be listed as well. Yes, it will be. I'll have it on everything and it'll be on the QR code as well. So be able to find it there. Awesome. Do you have any events coming up or volunteer opportunities? Yeah, and if you're interested in helping collect visitor surveys or usher for our auditorium programming, those are our biggest volunteer needs at the moment. Awesome. How can people contact and find out more about the Longmont Museum? So people can visit us at longmontmuseum.org or just search the Longmont Museum on Google, of course. You can come visit us at 400 Quail Road. We are open daily Monday through Saturday, 9 to 5 and on Sundays from 1 to 5. You can also call 303-651-8374 to learn more about our exhibitions or programming. And if you're interested in learning about volunteer opportunities with me, you can email me. You can also, my email is available on our website. My phone number is 303-651-8624. I think those are the best ways to get in contact with us. Do you guys have a Facebook? We do have a Facebook, Longmont Museum. We're also on Instagram at Longmont Museum. And we're always sharing behind the scenes of our exhibits. We're sharing upcoming programming and some photos from our collection as well. A lot of really great information on there. Awesome. And I will have that all in the show notes and you can find them on the QR code when you go to the QR code, serving partnerships, and they're in alphabetical order. So there's a lot under L because there's lots of Longmont. Yeah, awesome. Is there anything else you would like to add or talk about? Well, I also really would like to shout out our Day of the Dead exhibit and festival. This year I think will be perhaps the 23rd year that we have been doing the Dia de los Muertos Festival. And it was started by El Comite in conjunction with El Comite and we have become the host and the larger organizers of the event. And so in October through November, if you'd like to see or participate in learning more about the Day of the Dead holiday and festival and the cultural meaning behind it, not only in parts of Mexico and Guatemala but also in Colorado and in Longmont specifically. Come check out our altar exhibit. We also have a community partner or artist every year that displays artwork related to the holiday. It's free to the public and we always encourage people who are interested in building their own altar to participate as well. Every year we also have a festival. It is downtown again this year off of 4th Avenue on the west side of town. And if you're interested in volunteering there will be volunteer opportunities for that as well. You can serve for one or two hours or the whole day. But that is also, it's such a fun festival to be engrossed in such upbeat music, dancing, the colors. There are people dressed in just traditional style clothing for the holiday. It's very lively. Yeah, it's incredibly lively. Yeah, we have food trucks. We have vendors come out and they sell maybe crafts that they've been working on or just their products that they are so talented in making that I could never make by myself. Do they do sugar skulls? We always try to have us sugar skull makers. I think we have one lined up again this year where you can come in and decorate a sugar skull for free. And each vendor or each booth that is set up we like to make sure that there is a craft. Available so that people can learn about the types of items that are traditionally found on altars. So the sugar skull for one, we had a booth last year that had a little cut out of an altar and you could draw in personal items that would mean something to you or you could decorate a picture frame so that when you take it home you could kind of cut and paste your own photo into it and put it on your own altar. Oh, that's good. It's such a community driven event and we're really grateful that the Longmont Museum is that people trust us enough to have such a large hand in this community festival. And so I feel like it's really important to mention because it is such an important part of the Longmont community. It's an important part of just life is celebrating and remembering and bringing honor to those that have passed that we're grieving. Yeah, I found it incredibly meaningful to connect with other people who are grieving and learning about their family and their family history and the altars are just... They're beautiful. They're so beautiful. So beautiful and it's just like, wow. And like you said, they're not alone in their grief. Everybody is... You will grieve and to come together, to grieve together and share stories and just to be able to talk to each other and I think that's a great way to connect. Yeah, I completely agree. Well, awesome. I just wanted to say thank you again for coming on the show and I hope you guys get in contact and come check out the Longmont Museum. I've been there with the kids and they had a lot of fun with the little magnet building things and that turret or whatever up there. It is just stunning to look out and see all of Longmont and what it has to offer. It's just phenomenal views. The rock I'll remember too. The human rock is really sweet. So yeah, if you haven't checked it out, you need to go check it out. It's awesome. And yeah, thank you. Thank you for all that you do for the community. Thank you as well. Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, I think that's all. Cool. Thanks. Thank you to my guests, my listeners, and my supporters. Serving together, we can strengthen our community. Please like and subscribe. Do all those other things. You know you got to do them because that's the easiest way to that you can serve right now. All right. Now go connect with others and be a blessing.