Treasures of the
Past

By KERRIE L. MILLER
News Staff Writer
There are a lot of unexpected things in Northeast Michigan, one of the most interesting and educational is the Jesse Besser Museum.
Most don’t realize it is the largest and only nationally accredited museum in the 15-county area it serves.

“This is not just a one-city museum,” said Janice McLean, executive director of the museum. “We are a regional museum and we are a museum of art, history and science and we try to present balanced programming in all three areas.”

The museum offers a planetarium, exhibits on area geology, mounted specimens of the wildlife of the Northeast Michigan.
There are both temporary and permanent exhibits on local history as well as traveling and permanent art exhibits.

“We want to offer people something educational and interesting and fun year round,” McLean said.
In addition to exhibits, the museum offers educational programs for people of all ages. The programs vary from quarter to quarter.

“We try to set up our classes to correspond with the exhibits,” she said. “Everything from lectures to workshops to hands-on crafts.”
An art workshop for adults with instructor Jan Upp is scheduled to align with the showing of art and photography by Jan and Don Upp in February.

“Hands-on interactive learning ... is a trend in which we’re going and will continue to go,” McLean said.
The museum has several major annual events including Fall Harvest Day, Season of Light and Log Cabin Day, which is tied into the state log cabin days and is always the last Sunday of June.

“We actually have two log cabins, so we participate by opening those up and having programs,” McLean said.

There are several original historical buildings including a bank, church, school and cabin on the museum property. One of them is the Maltz Bank, the oldest, still-standing structure in Alpena. The buildings are decorated as they would have been in their day and open during the Season of Light in the latter part of November through December.

“They are treasures,” McLean said, adding there will be new editions every few years.

The first edition, 2003-04, is the Maltz Bank and is available in both an ornament and a magnet.

The museum is also home to the Katherine V, a commercial fishing boat.

“What we want to do is restore her to back to the early 1930s look and inside the Katherine V will be an exhibit to celebrate the history of commercial fishing in Lake Huron,” she said.

Local artists are highlighted at the museum as are artists from throughout the state and nation.

A showing of Mark Beins’ art will be held in September. Beins was the first-place winner of the last juried art show. As such he is to have a one-man showing at the museum.

Another local man will be sharing his collection of Star Wars replicas and collectibles in June. McLean said he has a significant collection and is willing to share it.

“This is something the Smithsonian did ... we’ve got a collector in town and we’re going to do it too,” she said.
There are several painting workshops scheduled throughout the year, in acrylic, portrait, and oil painting. McLean suggests calling the museum for days and times.

New this year for the museum is a celebration of the Polish heritage, beginning in August. McLean said this is the first in a series of similar celebrations.

“We want to showcase the various groups that came to northern Michigan and played and important role in the settlement of the area ... we are starting with the Polish group because it’s the largest,” she said. “It should be a lot of fun.”

The museum is open year round but closed on Mondays to change out shows. Tuesday through Saturday the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the Season of Light Exhibit, the museum extends the Friday and Saturday hours to 8 p.m. Sunday hours are from noon to 4 p.m. with a planetarium show at 2 p.m.

Admission for the museum is: $5 adults, $3 children ages 5-17 and seniors over 60. No charge to people with disabilities or children under 5.  Planetarium shows are an additional $1.

For more information call 989-356-2202.