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Celebrating Black Architects (Part 3) - by Doug Daye

Doug Daye Norma Merrick Sklarek is referred to as the “Rosa Parks of architecture. She is recognized as one of the first black female architects in the United States. Norma Merrick Sklarek (from Pioneering Women of American Architecture) Born in Harlem, New York, on April 15, 1926, she was the only child of Trinidadian immigrants. She attended schools that were predominantly white,…

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Celebrating Black Architects (Part 2) - by Doug Daye

Doug Daye Everett Fly is a notable landscape architect and architect in San Antonio. Born and raised in San Antonio, he lived in a building owned by white businesspeople who employed his mother as a maid. His fascination with architecture began with watching the carpenter who worked in that building. His interest in architecture continued through his time in school. He attended college at the…

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Celebrating Black Architects (Part 1) - by Doug Daye

Robert Robinson Taylor (1868 – 1942) is renowned as the first black architect in the United States. Born in Wilmington, NC, he grew up learning carpentry from his father, who was formerly enslaved. He went on to work in construction before studying at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, becoming the first Black student admitted to the architecture program. Despite the prejudice he endured,…

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What’s the Deal With Boxing Day?? - by Doug Daye

When I was little, I was disappointed when Christmas ended. However, Boxing Day was always listed on Dec 26th on every calendar I saw. I knew it was recognized in the UK and Canada, but I never gave much thought about it until I watched the holiday rom-com “Boxing Day” on Netflix a few years ago. (I don’t care much for holiday rom-coms, but this one was pretty good … I recommend it!! This made me…

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Villa Finale Goes to Omaha! - By Sara Taylor

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An Inside Look at Museums (part 5) - by Doug Daye

We present to you, the final post of Doug Daye’s museum careers series! Doug Daye Development Coordinator (or Advancement Director) The development coordinator oversees the fundraising efforts of the museum. This includes membership programs, special events, grant writing, major gifts, and planned giving programs. They must keep in constant contact with individual donors, businesses,…

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An Inside Look at Museums (part 4) - by Doug Day

Our museum careers series continues with Doug Day providing more insightful information! Doug Day Archivist Similar to curators, archivists also see to the arrangement and exhibition of the collection. They work with technicians and conservators to ensure historical items are maintained. While a curator works with historical objects (ex., sculptures, textiles, paintings, etc.), archivists…

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An Inside Look at Museums (part 3) - by Doug Daye

Doug Daye is back with more insightful information regarding careers in museums! Conservator Conservators are directly involved with caring for the collection’s art and artifacts by performing restoration and preventative care. They work to repair damage to paintings, murals, textiles, rare books, and other cultural items. They may utilize special scientific tools to detect deterioration,…

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An Inside Look At Museums (Part 2) -- by Doug Daye

After a “brief” hiatus, Doug Daye is back to tell us more about jobs in museums! We get many visitors who are not aware of the various job positions in museums. Of course, the number of job positions may vary depending on the size and budget of the museum. Large museums have a substantial number of staff who work in different departments. Smaller museums have limited staff, which means employees…

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A Stitch in Time: Oleta Montgomery & the Crazy Quilters Bee

It isn’t too often we get the opportunity to put a face and name to an item in our collection. A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at my desk working on details for an event when my desk phone rang. On the other end was a very nice woman named Anita Nail who was calling from Missouri regarding a quilt she believed was in Villa Finale’s collection. “It’s a Christmas quilt,” she said, and Anita…

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Looking Ahead: Some of the Things You Can Expect From Villa Finale in 2025

Many museums around the world have collections of dinosaur bones. Inthe museum field, we try not to turn into dinosaurs ourselves. That is,we don’t want to turn into fossils in the way we operate; rather, we wantto keep up with the times and change to acclimate to today’s audiences.Whether with technology or the way we communicate through socialmedia, Villa Finale has been looking into new ways…

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Two Minute Read: "Hello From the Other Side:" An Inside Look at Villa Finale's Séance

When Villa Finale began to host séances back in 2017, we knew it was a bit of a gamble because we recognized that not everyone would understand why we would choose to have such an event. However, séances, and spiritualism as a whole, were a big part of this country’s history back in the mid to late 19th and early 20th century. To give a historic context to the occasion, Albert Lucio and Jake…

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The Stuff of Nightmares: How the Victorian House Became a Horror Prototype -- by Sara Taylor

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Two-Minute Read: From Music Boxes to Turntables

Music was always being played during Villa Finale’s heyday. Walter Mathis installed his own “surround sound” system throughout the house with different turntables and speakers, including one under the back porch for outdoor gatherings. Our current mini exhibit, From Music Boxes to Turntables featured in Villa Finale’s Dining Room, highlights Mathis’ varied taste in music and his appreciation for…

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Two Minute Reads: Fairings - The "Victorian Memes"

Have you seen Villa Finale’s collection of Fairings? Fairings are small porcelain figures – ranging from three inches to no more than five inches – that depict a variety of political or domestic scenes, usually with humor – they were the “memes” of their era, if you will. The term was used for a variety of prizes awarded mainly at English country fairs but somehow, the name “Fairing” would be…

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Two minute Reads: How Charlie Brown Killed the Aluminum Christmas Tree

Aluminum Christmas trees were all the rage between 1958 and the mid-1960s. The shiny trees had branches with aluminum needles and were produced in a variety of colors. Many came with a spinning color wheel to add more “pizzaz” as the lights would shine from below and bounce off the reflective aluminum material. Imagine sitting in your mid-century modern home while having the lights from one of…

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Napoleon Bonaparte's Funeral - by Sara Taylor

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