MONROE — Museum Village is enhancing its exhibits of 19th-century Americana artifacts with the help of grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The living history museum is celebrating its 62nd anniversary this year.
“As a result of the two federal grants from IMLS, we are now working on cataloging our over 27,000 artifacts to entice and intrigue our visitors with more and better exhibits,” says Museum Village Managing Director Michael Sosler.
While Museum Village already offers a variety of classes and demonstrations to schools, private groups and the public, Sosler said he hopes that the expanded exhibits will bring the museum to the forefront of Hudson Valley attractions.
“Museum Village, in addition to being a community and educational resource, is poised to become a destination in the Hudson Valley,” Sosler said. “We have an incredible wealth of opportunity but just need the public to find us, visit us, and ultimately embrace us.”
To assist in these expansion efforts and to help Museum Village become a more prominent attraction, Sosler and the Museum Village board of trustees have enlisted the aid of Capacity Consulting Inc., a management consulting company in Rock Hill.
Eric Egeland, president of Capacity Consulting, said that Museum Village already has a good foundation to become a main attraction in the Hudson Valley.
“If you live within 100 miles of Museum Village, you remember the school class trip where you made a candle by hand,” Egeland said. “Due to school budget cuts, Museum Village is working toward increasing its attractiveness to a broader range of consumers while also preserving its historical dignity as a museum. Director Mike Sosler and the current board are doing a stellar job; we are just going to help refine their efforts with some quality market research.”
For more information, go to museumvillage.org.