Exhibits Program

Why

A key part of our mission as a historical museum is to share history with our community. We do so by exhibiting the stories represented by our collection of artifacts. We also often borrow artifacts and already-curated exhibits from neighboring institutions to enrich our display, and loan out our own artifacts for others to see and learn from. Our exhibits program is a key part of our mission as a historical society.

What

Our current permanent exhibit covers Cupertino/Santa Clara Valley history from the early days of the Ohlone to Cupertino City incorporation in 1955. We have ambitions to expand the scope of the permanent exhibit to include history after 1955, which requires identifying key people, events, and facts to highlight and curating artifacts, imagery, and signage to tell those stories.

Ideas for future roating exhibits are still in the works.

When

We put on around 2 or 3 rotating exhibits every year. We have been planning to update our permanent exhibit in Spring/Summer 2026.

Who

Our current exhibit team includes:

• Jana Kilpatrick, Staff — Jana is a researcher, exhibit curator, and collection manager, leading the team with a narrative concept and gathering information to tell history.
• Savita Singh, Staff — Savita is a graphic designer, supporting curators with designing the display, assembling imagery, and producing signage.
• Anya Nazarova, Staff — Anya assists with collection management and supports with projects adjacent to exhibits - the production of the Cornerstone newsletter and maintenance of the website.
• Gail Fretwell-Hugger, Exhibit Committee Chair — Gail is an expert in the subject matter of our collection and supports with research and curation. Gail reports on Exhibit Committee projects at Board meetings.
• Bruce Parsons, Treasurer — Bruce supports the team with exhibit- and collection- related expenses, including the acquisition of supplies and the costs of printing imagery, signage, and the Newsletter.
• Docent Volunteers — Our volunteer docents keep the museum open and welcome the public to view our exhibits. Without them, our museum could not be open to the public!

How to Help

1. In order to create informative and captivating exhibits, we rely on our talented staff and hard-working volunteers. Join us as a volunteer, intern, or paid staff and get involved in putting together exhibits! Positions can be tailored to fit your unique skills, ideas, and interests. If you are interested in becoming a member of our team, please reach out to our Board President (president@cupertinomuseum.org).
   • Researchers gather information and compose a storyline
   • Curators select relevant artifacts and design the display
   • Collection managers fill out paperwork and appropriately handle the artifacts
   • Exhibit Volunteers help put together the display and transport items between the museum and offsite locations
2. Exhibits require various supplies, services, and other expenses to maintain our space and produce new materials. Donate to help us fund the exhibits program! Your contributions will go towards expenses such as those listed below.
   • Imagery and signage is curated, produced, and professionally printed for each rotating/special exhibit.
   • Museum wax is used to adhere posters and display signage to walls, stands, and barriers, and to secure items on display
   • Glue dots and mounting squares are used to adhere non-archival posters and signage to walls, stands, and barriers
   • We have 6 display pedestals and 3 large display cases. They need to be cleaned regularly and occasionally require more involved maintenance.
   • Insurance and freight are required for any loaned/borrowed items.
   • The exhibit space itself is within the Quinlan Community Center, which provides air conditioning and janitorial services.
   

   Donation:

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3. This project cannot stand alone by itself. It needs other CHSM projects to move forward so that we have well-preserved items to display, stories relevant to our community, and reliable supplies, tools, and software. Support for the following additional projects would strongly help us keep displaying exhibits:
   • The Collections Management Program which digitizes and organizes all the archives so we can conduct research within our collection and efficiently identify items to put on display.
   • The Sharing History Program which allows our extended team to work with our collection records to research, curate, and manage the central asset of our organization.