Interview with Cindy Angelich - Neil Allen reporting
Neil: I was excited to receive the news about the Upper Room collection moving to Georgia.
Cindy: It is exciting, isn't it? I was out of office yesterday so just seeing your emails. We definitely share your excitement. I apologize for the random paragraphs strung together below but I'm attempting to share and receive as much information as possible as it comes to mind.
Neil: We can handle random thoughts. We're nativity collectors!
Cindy:
First, we learned this morning that the new flooring work is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 9th. I've attached an overall photograph of part of the room (our former Library hence all the permanent shelving) which includes the current carpet (to be removed).
Neil: That's awesome. I'm sure our Friends of the Creche would love to see this in progress.
Cindy: I've also attached a photograph of our entrance Rotunda (with the 9' gold statue of John Wesley) which shows our new flooring to be installed. Please understand we are nowhere near finished with the nativities display. Obviously we have a great deal of work to be completed. While the nativities will be a sight to behold on their own, we plan to include educational information regarding cultural Christmas traditions around the country and the world while showcasing the incredible variety of materials found in each.
Neil: Is there anyway we can help?
Cindy: Neil, we would welcome input from FOTC regarding what makes a great Creche display. You are the experts and have seen far more displayed nativities than we have so please spread the word that we love suggestions. Anne, museum curator, and I are the only museum staff and we currently have a very small group of volunteers. We are thrilled this project pretty much "fell into our lap" with the addition of the Upper Room's collection but we don't qualify as experts (maybe in a few years?).
Neil: we are "experts" in the making ourselves. FOTC constantly learns new things, so don't feel alone.
Neil: We have collectors that are trying to find homes for their nativity collections are you open to receiving collections?
YES!!! We are definitely open to nativity donations. We are so excited about this collection and hope to see it grow tremendously. We only ask that the donor contact us first to discuss any duplicity, size of creche, shipping arrangements, etc. We had a visitor last year ship a beautiful German nativity but sadly it arrived in broken pieces. Also, we generally do not showcase the donor's name unless it is a VERY special creche. We do however keep donor information in our collection database.
Neil: Most of our collectors are modest folks, but some have rather extensive collections. I'll pass along this information.
Neil: Are you interested in doing an article for our Newsletter?
Cindy: YES!!! We are definitely interested in writing a piece for the summer issue of the Creche Herald. We should have much better photographs of a more complete exhibit to submit by April. What is the deadline for photo and copy submission for the summer issue?
Neil: Michael says he's starting the summer issue work now.