Last updated: 4/28/2011
120 N. Trice Street
Claude, TX 79019
P.O. Box 450
Claude, TX 79019
Museum and Art Gallery Free
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Roy M. Rutherford
phone: 806-226-2451
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The Armstrong County Museum is one of a few museums in the state of Texas
that owns and operates a theater. This theater is a part of the historic six building complex that makes up the main museum area. The theater is equipped with a VHS video projector, a satellite, and Dolby surround-sound equipment. The museum uses the theater to show "Portraits of the Past," an introduction to the history of Armstrong County which has been awarded special recognition by the Texas Historical Commission
in 1995.
While the stage is small, it is used for live productions. In addition to various shows from the roster of the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster, the museum has presents each year several productions of A Soliloquy of Charles Goodnight, written by Montie Goodin whose father was the foster son of Charles Goodnight. A second soliloqiy of Mrs. Goodnight titled, "My Molly" is also presented annually and is available for touring to other theaters schools etc. The Gem Theatre is also in process of
developing a community theater group who will present various plays as Community Heritage Theatre.In short, the museum is attempting to preserve and present in this theater the sights and sounds of yesteryear and today.
The Armstrong County Museum is almost entirely a volunteer effort. There are no full time staff positions at the museum, however, we now have an Exhibit Designer Curator/Trainee provided by a grant from the Amarillo Area Foundation and a director for Community Heritage Theatre productions in part funded by Texas Commission on the Arts and several local area foundations. Through its "Green Thumb" program, the Department of Labor provides two part-time positions which can best be classified as Museum Aides, and whose duties are largely clerical in nature.
Since 1990, many of the people of Armstrong County have been giving their time and effort to establish and operate a museum which preserves the heritage of Armstrong County and the Texas Panhandle. The museum is viewed by the Board as having significance for all the people of Texas and especially the Panhandle area. In addition to the usual artifacts to be found in a museum, visual arts and audio visual technology are being utilized to provide a unique program of educational and entertainment activities which constitute a special attraction for all who visit this
museum.
The museum complex is made up of six buildings that includes a one-room country
school, which may be the last in existence in the Texas Panhandle; a theater; and an art gallery which was also a part of the original complex of historic buildings, in addition to the three main buildings of the museum. With recent purchase of another historic three building complex across the street from the museum the campus is now made up of nine buildings. The additional buildings now house a Gift Shop, a display area for large items such as a fire truck, a printing press etc. The other building is a storage building.
The three original buildings in the Armstrong County Museum complex were donated by the heirs of the B. C. Wooldridge Sr. estate to the museum Board of Directors in 1991. These buildings were built in 1915/16 by T. S. Cavins, founder of the First National Bank of Claude and father of Mrs. B. C. Wooldridge Sr. The fourth building, the long-vacated Lake Center School, has been placed across the street from the main museum buildings where it is being renovated to serve as a memorial to the schools, the teachers, and the educational administrators who have had an impact on the life and culture of Armstrong County.
At the September 1992 meeting, the board approved the plan to purchase the fifth
building, the Gem theater, which first opened on October 8, 1915. Immediately adjacent to and part of the original complex of buildings that make up the museum, the Gem theater has been completely renovated with the aid of a grant from the Meadows Foundation and many hours of volunteer labor. The theater reopened with a presentation by Amarillo Opera on May 21, 1995. Live entertainment is scheduled each month and the screen is used to provide a video orientation to the museum via the award wining " Portraits of the Past."
The sixth building, or Art Gallery, was in part donated and in part purchased by the Board in 1994. Also a part of the complex of buildings built in 1915/16, this building has been renovated and is now providing both a concession area for the Gem Theater and a gallery in which the works of local artists and traveling art works are displayed. This building provides an additional program area for board meetings, museum programs, lectures, etc. An effort is being made to have works of a different artist on display each month.
7 Structures, 42 Furnishings, 58 Personal artifacts, 82 Tools and equipment: materials,63 Tools and equipment:science and technology, 52 Tools and equipment:communication,16 Tools and equipment: distribution and transportation, 566 communication artifacts,13 recreation artifacts, 90 unclassified, 6 natural history artifacts.
At this time, the museum has more than 900 items catalogued with summary classifications available.
Archival collection includes letters, photographs, books, manuscripts, and maps. While these items are available for limited research, the facility for such research is still in the formative stages of development and will be completed in 1999.
Docent training equips the docents with the information to provide gallery tours. Exhibits include paintings, oil, watercolor, etc., and photographs by area artists. Further, the museum presents various educational programs on-screen in its theater through its satellite. At the moment, it is working with several sources to make such programming available to the citizens of the Texas Panhandle.
Programs are not available for tour/loan.
A public relations brochure and a newsletter which is free to those who place their name on the mailing list.
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