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James Museum exhibit shows woman's journey west
FOX 13's Travis Anthony takes us inside a James Museum exhibit that puts you in the shoes of a woman travelling west in the 1840s.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - The James Museum of Western Art and Wildlife Art has an exhibit of Perseverance: A Woman's Journey West.
The entire exhibit is based on the journal of Keturah Belknap, a pioneer woman, who documented her family's trip from Iowa along the Oregon trail with sketches and descriptions of what her family went through.
Artist Heide Presse brought to life parts of the journal to capture the feeling of everything Belknap went through, from the day-to-day ride to the actions she took each day.
The backstory:
Imagine taking a long road trip without your favorite playlist. Now take that same road trip and do it without GPS guidance or even a map with directions. If you're already saying, "No way!"
Now remove the road, air conditioning and add a significant amount of dust and danger to the mix.
Would you ever even start?
Keturah Belknap did and she wrote her experiences down.
"She was a pioneer woman in the 1840s, and she was a very prolific writer," shared Emily Kapes, Chief Curator at the James Museum. "She was very detailed."
That detail was important as artist Heide Presse used the journal to bring to life the colors, the scenery and the actions that took place on that journey west.
"This old journal really got into the daily life of the Belknap family. It was no easy life," said Capes.
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More than a century and a half before the internet, before map systems and GPS guidance, before paved roads even, people like the Belknap family journeyed west by covered wagon in caravans.
The trips were long days on bumpy ground with unknown access to water and even any reliable food source.
Presse explored that journey through Belknap’s descriptions and sketches. She then visited the Oregon Trail museums to see the artifacts and feel the textures of the materials and equipment used.
"The artist chooses to focus on the positive aspects in the journal," admitted Capes, "She focused on the daily life."
For the exhibit, Capes found that the Belknap family had a photo, a very old one, of the matriarch and writer of the journal. Capes included that photo in this exhibit for the visitor to see who was behind the stories in this exhibition.
Keturah Belknap shown in center of bottom row
"Artist Heide Presse has always loved depicting history, and she’s always loved women’s perspectives," admitted Capes.
What you can do:
While the exhibition is on display until September 28th at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, visitors can experience two special curated tours on August 19th and August 26th.
You can learn more about the exhibit and those experiences from the James Museum website here.
The Source: This information was gathered from in-person interviews at the James Museum.