Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / May 27, 1993, edition 1 / Page 44
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i/i^/'ririrnir _ . , , . . , , . STAFF PHOTO BY LYNN CARLSON VIC GILUSPIE gets started on the mural to serve as backdrop for the swamp and forest diorama which will be the Museum of Coastal Carolina's next addition. Museum Gets To Work On Its Future With New Diorama BY LYNN CARLSON On a warm day in an unfin ished building, the artist works by floodlight, not on a canvas but on an expanse of white wall that curves just over his head and several yards to both his left and right. The project presents unique chal lenges, some unrelated to its shape. Not least among them is that this wall is in the Museum of Coastal Carolina at Ocean Isle Beach. That means Stuart Ingram is at the helm with a clear picture in his mind of what the finished exhibit should be and do. That means perfection is a fore gone expectation. The man behind the brush is Holden Beach artist Vic Gillispie, and he's up to the task of turning this white space, not unlike a casse role dish set on its side, into a mural depicting the coastal swamp and forest. The stream in the mural must match the shine of the epoxy resin ?'stream" Ingram has designed for the exhibit floor. Clouds must be painted to give viewers a feel for the arc of the sky. "It's unusual working with curved walls, and this piece is as large as anything I've done," Gillis pie says. "But it's fun." "It's real different doing a piece for a museum, knowing it's going to be right here indefinitely, than one someone buys from you and you're never going to see it again." The mural is intended serve as the backdrop, but not the predomi nant element, of the museum's next new exhibit. It must flow seamless ly into a to-be-recreated forest floor, complete with stream, trees and creatures?from bear to bobcat to bugs?who belong in coastal Carolina. The exhibit will be a natural habitat diorama, where realistic sur roundings are created as a means of teaching viewers about the natural world The "stars" of the show will comc from the museum's stunning taxidermy collection, which cur rently can be enjoyed in the animal room. When the diorama is com plete, some of those creatures will be reborn in the imaginations of visitors when the animals are placed in this replica of their natur al surroundings. "The bobcat might go on a tree limb, or a gator in the stream, or a deer in a pasture," explains Ingram, the museum's creator, benefactor and designer of exhibits. "The trees, the branches, the artwork will be here to enhance the creatures, The exhibit will be a natural habitat diorama, where realistic surroundings are created as a means of teaching viewers about the natural world. not the other way." "We hope to even have some of the larger insects, such as grasshop pers and bees, up close for people to see. Never in nature would you find the animals in this kind of con centration, but we will be placing each into the environment common to his modus operandi." The diorama, he says with cer tainty, will compare to the muse um's Reef Room, not in size, but in quality. The Reef Room is the museum's most popular exhibit, giving visi tors a feel for what it would be like to lake a walk across the ocean floor. It is the largest underwater diorama in Southeast. The Reef Room's attention to scale, detail and drama hint at the beauty and precision to expect from this next diorama. There's no timetable for comple tion of the swamp and forest diora ma or opening of the 2,000-square foot museum addition which also will include a mini-auditorium and a new, improved, "Litter Hall of Shame" exhibit Thai's because the museum is a pay-as-you-go propo sition. Not a dime has been bor rowed; work on the addition will progress as on-hand funds permit. That in no way precludes dream ing and long-term planning. Among the longer-range goals is a major bird collection. "We have every class of birds here, from rap tors to sea, shore, song and marsh birds?a tremendous array," Ing ram says. "We hope to assemble the type of specimens college students would study and art students would paint. That will be the next addi tion." "Eventually we'd like to have a botanical garden with indigenous plants, even the rare and endan gered." In the nearer future, when the current addition goes public, the an imal room will become the home of an exhibit featuring artifacts of na tive Americans and early settlers. Ingram has been assembling what he calls "a very outstanding Indian artifacts collection," as well a reproductions of tools used by settlers and Indians. "The point of reproductions is to show what the implements would have looked like when they were being used, since their wooden parts would have long since deteriorated." But there's no need to wait. There's plenty to enjoy and learn from at the museum today. Plan A Visit A trip to the Museum of Coastal Carolina is a must for South Brunswick Islands visi tors. You'll find it on the island at Ocean Isle Beach, at the comer of Third and Laurinburg streets. Hours as of May 31, are 9-5 weekdays (and 9 to 9 on Thursdays), 9-5 on Saturdays and 1-5 on Sundays. In addition to its many fine exhibits, the museum's gift shop is an excellent source of unique gifts and souvenirs. Groups of any kind can book a tour or plan to hold a meeting at the museum; school groups are admitted at no charge. For more information call Martha Benton, volunteer coordinator, at 579-6995 or 579-1016.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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May 27, 1993, edition 1
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