Faith Lawler, the new director at the Kinney Pioneer Museum (KPM), located just off Highway 18 East, near the Mason City Airport, is trying to engage a wider audience through community outreach and new exhibits. She achieved part of that goal by bringing the museum to Clear Lake’s Thursday’s on Main.
Lawler said that a KPM volunteer is making a display centered around fossils, so she decided to bring a children’s fossil project to the Main Street event to introduce the community to the museum’s fossil project. “We’re gonna have activities with clay for kids to make little fossil molds and then, also, just giving out posters for up and coming events,” Lawler said. She, and Assistant Director Adisyn Erdman, also brought over other crowd pleasing yard games such as Cornhole, Jenga and Connect-Four.
Lawler, whose grandmother was Anna Eastman of Clear Lake and who is distantly related to Kodak camera’s George Eastman, attended elementary school in Clear Lake.
“I went to the University of Northern Iowa for art history, museum studies and nonprofit leadership, so once it came time for me to look for jobs I saw the one here and I was like, ‘I’d like to be back home,’” she said.
To create more of an on-line presence Lawler said she is working on website updates for KPM and getting some Facebook post sponsors to help pay for some display materials. Besides the new fossil project Lawler is also planning for the annual Ice Cream Day on Sunday, July 7 and a new exhibit celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Burt Kogel’s daredevil stunts over Clear Lake, which opens on July 28th.
KPM Assistant Director and Ag Intern Adisyn Erdman said she wants a career working in Public History. “Working as the assistant director gives me great opportunities to learn the executive side of museum work,” Erdman said. “I am also doing an internship at the museum to upgrade the agriculture shed [turning it into an educational space].”
More information about the fossil project will be revealed at Clear Lake’s Chamber After Hours, to be held at the museum on Aug. 20th. “So, wonderful things are coming up,” Lawler said.
