January 11, 2016

Nostalgia for “playthings of the past” is at the center of the Drexel Collection’s current exhibition, Toys Trinkets & Trifles, which features carefully preserved toys as decorative objects of art and craftsmanship. The exhibition, which runs through February 16, was organized by the Collection’s assistant director Lynn Clouser with help from students in the Museum Leadership course Exhibitions and Programs. Entertainment & Arts Management, Museum Leadership, and Architecture students enrolled in the course this fall collaborated on concept development, label writing, and installation for the exhibition, exploring how toys and the act of play can inspire, instruct and delight.

Museum Leadership program director Dr. Danielle Rice teaches the Exhibitions and Programs course, which covers topic conception, development, design, educational programming and marketing.

The toys and miniatures collection, from elegant miniature furnishings to horse carts and blocks, is one of The Drexel Collection’s most extensive and was donated by Westphal College 1914 alum Marjorie Ellis Kroha.

The exhibition is on display in the Rincliffe Gallery (3141 Chestnut Street, 3^rd Floor), which is free and open to the public from 8:00am to 8:30pm, Monday through Friday.