Dish with Tish, Sudsin’ with Stephen Beer Fest Preview, Summer Campers’ Family Portraits, and More
2023 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier graphic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
I’m so excited to share some great news about our collection: we are starting a new guest engagement that brings more of the collection out of storage and straight to you!
Did you know that most museums only have five to ten percent of their collection on display at any given time? There are several reasons for this: it’s because museums have limited space; artifacts don’t always fit with the current exhibitions; and, sometimes, artifacts just need to rest (yes, they need to take a little sleep now and then for their preservation). Whatever the reason, there are many pieces in the Frazier’s collections that are being carefully stored and cared for until the next time we need them.
However, we at the Frazier are big believers in having an active collection—meaning a collection that is used not only for exhibitions but also engagements with our history-loving guests. (After all, what is the purpose of collections artifacts if they are never seen or used?)
Registrar and manager of collections engagement Tish Boyer talks with visitors about objects displayed outside The Commonwealth, July 12, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
So we’re starting a collections engagement called Dish with Tish! Moving forward, we’ll schedule times for museum visitors to come dish with me about some of the pieces we don’t have on display. You’ll also get to interact with our teaching collection and literally hold history in your hands! Dish with Tish engagements will occur once a week in our galleries. They will be an opportunity for you, our guests, to not only get to see up close some of the great pieces we have in our collections but talk about those pieces with me.
And let me tell you how excited I am to share! I often come out of our collection’s storage to our senior curator of exhibitions Amanda Briede and say: guess what I found? or guess what piece I’m working on today? or hey, this piece would be so great in this exhibition! So I’m excited to do the same with you all. This will be a fun conversation with the person on staff who takes care of our artifact collection. So come see me this week, Wednesday, 11 a.m., outside our second-floor exhibition The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall. After that, we’ll offer Dish with Tish engagements each Monday at 3 p.m.
I look forward to sharing my passion and excitement about our artifact collection with all our history-loving Frazier friends!
In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, as we gear up for the July 29 Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, Amanda Briede shows off a refillable beer mug from the 1930s and Stephen Yates samples brews with two of our beer fest vendors. Next, we preview a Disability Pride Month program, check in on our YourStory! summer campers, and tease this weekend’s Shared Sundays tours with Haley Hicky.
Thanks for reading!
Tish Boyer
Registrar & Manager of Collections Engagement
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Curator’s Corner: Refillable Preston Street Beer Mug, 1930s
As we prep for Summer Beer Fest at Frazier, which is our largest annual fundraiser, on Saturday, July 29, we’ll share some fun beer-related content with our Frazier Weekly readers! Note that on July 29 the museum and museum shop will be closed to the public all day so we can set up for beer fest. We hope to see you here! Tickets are still available, but they’re going fast.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
From left, Amanda Briede and Tish Boyer showcase the 1930s refillable beer mug in the Frazier’s Knight Owl, July 13, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
I hope you all are as excited about Beer Fest as we are! Like in years past, registrar and manager of collections engagement Tish Boyer and I will be inside the VIP area with some very cool beer-related objects to show off. Since last year, we’ve been working hard to find new and exciting objects to share with festivalgoers.
One of those objects is a refillable beer mug from the 1930s. The mug was recently donated to us by Mary Korfhage. Her ancestor owned a beer bar on Preston Street in the early 1900s, possibly where the Korfhage flooring building is now. After Prohibition, this mug could be taken to the bar and filled with beer for only twenty-five cents. The mug makes a pint glass look tiny, so Tish and I decided to test it out and see how many pints fit into the mug. I have to say, the answer surprised us! But I don’t want to give away the details right now: you’ll have to come visit us at Beer Fest to find out the answer.
Refillable mugs like this are making somewhat of a comeback. Many local breweries, including 3rd Turn, Upland, Great Flood, Gravely, and Mile Wide, participate in mug clubs. These clubs offer special mugs and merchandise, discounts on beer, and more. It’s not as good of a deal as twenty-five cents for a whole mug of beer, but it’s definitely a great way to get special perks from your favorite brewery!
Tish and I hope you’ll join us at Beer Fest in the VIP area (in the air conditioning!). We can’t wait to taste a few beers and to tell you more about the history of beer in Louisville!
Amanda Briede
Senior Curator of Exhibitions
Sippin’ with Stephen: Ales and IPAs with Against the Grain and Goodwood
This episode of Sippin’ with Stephen takes a sudsy turn as we preview the third annual Summer Beer Fest at Frazier with the help of two local beer luminaries! Against the Grain Brewery owner and head brewer Jerry Gnagy and Goodwood Brewery VP of sales and distribution Thomas Crockett give viewers insights into their downtown breweries and sample some of the products they’ll be serving at our July 29 beer fest. For the second year in a row, we’ll block off Main Street to host the best in local and regional beer, hard seltzer, and ciders. Food, music, and a brand new Fun Zone will round out the festivities.
We hope you’ll join us for a great day on Main Street!
Stephen Yates
Community & Corporate Sales Manager
Frazier Staff to be at NuLu Summer Fest 2023
NuLu Summer Fest 2023 graphic. Credit: Cambium Marketing.
As a Butchertown resident, on Saturdays in the summertime, I tend to go for hot chicken and cold beer on Market Street. That’ll be true this Saturday, July 22: you can find me and my colleagues at NuLu Summer Fest, promoting the museum’s upcoming fundraiser, Summer Beer Fest at Frazier! So come by, say hello, and secure your beer fest tickets. We’ve asked Cambium Marketing owner Lauren Hendricks to share the details of this weekend’s festivities.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
NuLu’s inaugural summer celebration is making a splash on Market Street, Saturday, July 22, 12–7 p.m. Featuring live surf-inspired tunes from Bungalow Betty and the Get Down, a live BBQ Demo by Pig Beach Ribdiculous Bar B-Krewe, family-friendly summer games, food trucks, refreshing seltzers, beers, handmade cocktails from Crowler Catering, and a showcase of REAL Infused Exotic cocktails from Clash of the Cocktails Competition, which took place on July 11, leading up to NuLu Summer Fest. Admission to NuLu Summer Fest is free.
Lauren Hendricks
Marketing Maven & Owner, Cambium Marketing
Guest Contributor
Museum Shop: Flag Fork Herb Farm Dip Mixes
Flag Fork Herb Farm dip mixes sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
These delicious mixes from Flag Fork Herb Farm are blended with locally grown herbs and spices without any preservatives. They are great to keep on hand to bring to a party, gift to your neighbor, or serve at the ultimate 1970s throwback dip party! Try one or get them all: the varieties include Herbed Cheese Spread Mix, Tex-Mex Jalapeno Dip Mix, Very Veggie Dip Mix, and Zippy Beer Cheese Mix. They’re available in the Museum Shop.
Celebrate Disability Pride Month Sunday with Louisville Author Jenny Smith
July is Disability Pride month. It’s called that to commemorate the passing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in July of 1990. It’s also a time to recognize people with disabilities and certainly their contributions to society.
Live the Impossible with Jenny Smith graphic. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
We will do just that at the Frazier History Museum on Sunday, July 23, with Louisville author and blogger Jenny Smith. Her recent book is titled Live the Impossible: How a Wheelchair has Taken Me Places I Never Dared to Imagine.
I got to know Jenny not long after a spinal cord injury left her paralyzed from the chest down back in 1989 when she was just a teenager.
If you don’t know anything about her, I recommend you take a look at her website. She is not only an author, but a blogger, and a self-help guru who offers advice from her own experiences. One example of that: wheelchair-accessible tours in Rome after what she calls her “misadventures.” Or her advice on perfect seated jeans. Jenny goes there. She goes everywhere, both figuratively and literally—and we’re all better off for it.
Come learn how Jenny lives the impossible at the Frazier on July 23.
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
YourStory! Guest Educator Ashlee Phillips on Family Portrait Workshop
At the Frazier’s YourStory! camp (formerly called Chicks Rule), which was held this year June 12–16, campers got to welcome incredible ballet dancers, musicians, and artists! They also recreated the achievements of some impressive engineers, designers, rulers, and leaders from history. We’ve asked one of those esteemed guest educators, social art activist Ashlee Phillips, to recap the family portrait workshop she taught. You can learn more about Ashlee’s work at her website.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
During camp YourStory! participants had the opportunity to create their version of a family portrait. In this hour-long workshop participants started with a blank canvas that consisted of just two items: a piece of foam board and an empty four-by-six picture frame.
This is where the fun begins!
Some of the family portraits campers made during the workshop with Ashlee Phillips, June 12–16, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Some of the family portraits campers made during the workshop with Ashlee Phillips, June 12–16, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Some of the family portraits campers made during the workshop with Ashlee Phillips, June 12–16, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
Some of the family portraits campers made during the workshop with Ashlee Phillips, June 12–16, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
With mixed materials such as colored tassels, 3D stickers, metallic flakes, and buttons, they were allowed to let their creativity run wild while they kept in mind what “family” means to them. One participant named all seven of their stuffed animals—which included “Big Jeff, Little Jeff, and Medium Jeff”—while others mentioned pets, siblings, parents, and friends.
Camp YourStory! was a great opportunity to allow kids to participate in storytelling without the use of words: instead, they used the power of arts and crafts to define, display, and depict the numerous ways family can be explained.
As a social art activist, my workshops consist of one end goal: empowerment. When a person is empowered to create their own narrative and then tell their story in a way that is creative, fun, and therapeutic, they leave feeling confident, powerful, and secure in who they are and what they will become.
Ashlee E. Phillips
Social Art Activist & Cultural Curator
Guest Contributor
Sink Cornhole Bags for Prizes with Guest Services Associate Caden Sterner
Guest services associate Caden Sterner chats with guests on the sidewalk on Main Street, July 6, 2023. Credit: Frazier History Museum.
If you’re roaming the 800 block of West Main Street, come greet our guest services associate Caden Sterner! He’s been posted in front of the Frazier, on select afternoons this summer, with a cornhole board. Sink a beanbag for discounted—perhaps free!—admission to the museum. He’ll also answer any questions you’ve got about where to eat or how to spend an afternoon in the area. Plus, if you want a pose in our 1920s Model T, he can snap the photo!
Visit the Frazier History Museum, where the world meets Kentucky.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
Shared Sundays: Haley Hicky to Lead Bourbon & Pop Culture Tours July 23
The Frazier has got a very deep bench of knowledgeable staff members! So we’re trying something called Shared Sundays. Each Sunday, a different staff member will lead special tours tailored to their interests. In each Monday’s issue of Frazier Weekly, look for a quick preview of the coming Sunday’s tours.—Simon Meiners, Communications & Research Specialist
For one day, I get to switch rolls at the Frazier: this Sunday I’ll be trading my office duties upstairs for the thrill of leading tours in our galleries! So join me for a day filled with learning, laughter, and a dash of Kentucky magic.
First, I’ll be leading a tour of our Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition at 12 p.m. We’ll dive headfirst into the world of Bourbon—its history, its craftsmanship, and all the little secrets that make it oh-so-special. Who knows, we might even uncover a hidden treasure or two along the way. So gather your fellow Bourbon enthusiasts and join me for this adventure.
Next, I’ll lead a Cool Kentucky exhibition tour at 3 p.m.—which will start once the Live the Impossible with Jenny Smith program (2–3 p.m. in the Frazier’s Brown-Forman Theatre) has concluded. Prepare to be dazzled as we journey through the fascinating tapestry of Kentucky’s past and present.
How much is it? The program and the tours are free with museum admission and free for members (membership starts at $20!). So round up your friends and family and come spend the day with us at the Frazier, where the world meets Kentucky.
I can’t wait to meet you and embark on this journey together!
Haley Hicky
Senior Manager of Sponsorships & Programs
Bridging the Divide
Painting Unveiled at First Alberta O. Jones Park Day in California
From left, artist Josh Bleecker and Elmer Lucille Allen pose with Bleecker’s artwork of Alberta Jones, July 8, 2023. Credit: Elmer Lucille Allen.
It was an unveiling with a whole lot of meaning in Louisville this past week.
I’m talking about a painting of Alberta Jones that will be part of a photomosaic in the new park that bears her name on Maple Street in the California neighborhood.
Jones was the first Black woman to attend U of L’s law school and the first Black woman to pass the Kentucky Bar Exam.
She also helped Muhammad Ali negotiate his first professional contract.
Elmer Lucille Allen sent me this photo of her and the artist posing with the painting. Allen attended Central High School with Jones and has her own place in history as the first African American chemist at Brown-Forman.
Jones was just thirty-four years old when she was murdered in 1965. Her murder has never been solved.
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
