The Wenham Museum will mark 100 years in 2022.
simple joys The
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WENHAM MUSEUM DIRECTOR LEADS CALL TO CONNECT WITH REGION’S ATTRACTIONS
Tracey Westgate Photography
A young visitor is captivated by a model train on display at the Wenham Museum.
By Kristin Z. Noon Wenham Museum 44
“I used to have one of those!” It’s a popular sentiment heard in the train gallery of the Wenham Museum. While our youngest visitors enjoy the motion, colors and lights of our museum’s model trains, the adults remember trains around the Christmas tree, a parent or grandparent with a basement full of model railroad tracks, or their own experiences in tinkering with trains. These simple joys have been mainstays of the Wenham Museum experience for generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that simple joys are valuable, and that time with friends and loved ones is precious. Now, as always, the best reason to visit a museum is to spend time with the people you care about. Like many of the cultural and historical attractions on the North Shore, the Wenham Museum provides a wonderful place to foster quality time among all generations of the family. We strive to create exhibitions that are engaging and playful for children and interesting and informative for adults. As the first teachers our children encounter, caregivers play an important role
in talking with them about what they see in the museum and in sharing their memories. These multigenerational conversations are at the heart of our Kristin Noon mission. While the Wenham Museum is certainly a destination for families, a solid 20 percent of our audience is adults who enjoy local history and culture. From our diverse permanent collections to tours of the Patton Family Archives and popular events like our annual Sleigh Bell Artisan Fair, there truly is something for everyone at the Wenham Museum. Visiting a local attraction like the Wenham Museum in the coming year will not only benefit you and your family, it will also help preserve our futures. The pandemic has challenged many businesses and organizations to reinvent operations and to develop new ways for the community to engage with them. Despite successes in many of these areas, it has been difficult to IMPACT MAGAZINE
