From the drums and flutes of First Nations through the first piano in the Pacific Northwest, and all the way up to today’s Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and local roots rockers River Twain — Clark has always been such an amazingly musical county.
Explore it all — with your eyes, ears and hands — in a big new exhibit that opens at the Clark County Historical Museum on Jan. 25. “Music, Movement and Sound: An Exploration of Clark County’s Musical Roots” features interpretive panels, historical artifacts and, best of all, interactive stations where you can explore the science of sound and a “Musical Instrument Petting Zoo” where you can try making music on instruments you’ve never touched before.
“The story of music in this region started long ago,” said Brad Richardson, executive director of the Clark County Historical Museum. “The goal of this exhibit is a family-friendly, educational and inspirational exploration of Clark County’s musical roots, and our community’s vibrant musical culture.”
It all began with the Covington piano, Richardson said, a priceless and important historical artifact from the mid-1800s that’s been in storage and unseen for years. Richardson wanted to put the treasure on display and “build a whole exhibit around it about this universal topic,” he said. “We thought we could reach a wide audience from many different backgrounds.”
If You Go
What: “Music, Movement and Sound: An Exploration of Clark County’s Musical Roots.”
Opening reception: 5 p.m. Jan. 25.
Exhibit on display: Through 2022.
Where: Clark County Historical Museum, 1511 Main St., Vancouver.
Regular hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Admission: $5; $4 for students and seniors; $3 for under 18.
Free fiddles on First Fridays
Museum admission is free starting 5 p.m. on every first Friday — when the museum also hosts an open jam by the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association. Newcomers are welcome. The next free night/fiddle jam is Feb. 1.
The exhibit focuses on local topics including the music of the people who predated white people here; military music in the Vancouver Barracks; the story and legacy of Vancouver’s unique School of Piano Technology for the Blind (“the Piano Hospital,” which recently closed), changing sound technology and much more. The exhibit highlights nationally known artists with roots in Vancouver, like country superstar Willie Nelson, a local DJ on Vancouver’s radio station KVAN in the late 1950s, and jazz singer Diane Shuur, a Tacoma native who attended the Washington School for the Blind in Vancouver when she was a girl.
A free opening night reception, set for 5 p.m. Jan. 25, will feature local musical entertainment that connects history to the present day. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe Drum Group will play and sing, and so will River Twain, a soulful Vancouver duo that calls its brand of acoustic Americana music “dust bowl soul.” There will be hors d’oeuvres too.
The exhibit, a major undertaking for the museum, is scheduled to remain on display through 2022. The Columbian will explore the exhibit in a full feature story in February.
