It's always fascinating to see a space you are familiar with transformed into something new. On Friday, I went to The Essex County Historical Society and 
Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown, NY and took in their new exhibit, "Worked/Wild" which combines Adirondack history with a fresh and modern look and approach. I absorbed a little more of the history of our cultivated farmlands and rugged wilderness from the artfully curated exhibit.
The Essex County Historical Society and Adirondack History Center Museum is full of artwork and artifacts documenting over two centuries of life in Essex County and the central Adirondacks – vouchsafing stories that present "the human face of the Adirondacks." The Center also holds the Brewster Research Library which is full of documents about Essex County homes, preservation, history, genealogy and family history research. At the museum you can climb a fifty-eight foot Fire Observation Tower, see an 1850s Washington printing press, and an iron bobsled from the 1932 Olympic Games. Go out back and explore the beautiful Colonial Garden adjacent to the museum - beautifully patterned after the gardens of Hampton Court, England and Colonial Williamsburg.
"Worked/Wild" explores "how the Adirondack landscape has determined the path of its human history," says curator, Jenifer Kuba. The Worked/Wild exhibition explores two diverse geographical regions: the working farmlands to the east along Lake Champlain; and the High Peaks mountain wilderness region to the west. Kuba says that "Essex County, historically, was home to many industries large and small. Now located within the six million acre Adirondack State Park, Essex County is sparsely populated and economically disadvantaged but known outside the region as a wilderness and vacation destination. The exhibition explores the question, 'How has the Adirondack landscape determined the path of its human history?'" The exhibit explores the always controversial and fascinating discussion about the tension that occurs when humans come to inhabit natural, wild spaces; and how they contrive to work (or not work) together. Juxtapositions such as wild vs. tame, controlled vs. unmanageable, and pristine vs. cultivated are artfully explored in the exhibit.
The first room of the exhibit displays a striking juxtaposition: the huge modern
font on the wall the reads: "Wild?" The modern font is filled by an old Adirondack photograph of a man standing on a mountain top looking out at the wilderness. Immediately below the word is a taxidermy bear. Each room's display has a commanding presence. Walls variously held combinations of images like Wadhams artist Edward Cornell's interpretation of the Adirondack landscape alongside historic photographs of local farms and livestock. Informational video displays play in both rooms. There are great Adirondack artifacts on display including a wall of historic Adirondack signs, blacksmith's tools, 19th century women's clothing and a game pouch from 1860. The articulate transformation of the museum will get your brain whirling about what it means when we say our Adirondack land is "Worked/Wild."
To find out more about upcoming events involved with the Adirondack History Center exhibit, check our website at www.lakeplacid.com. To find out about visiting the exhibit and taking in the rest of the The Essex County Historical Society and Adirondack History Center Museum go to their website at http://www.adkhistorycenter.org/. 
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