Sept 13 – October 31, 2018
In June 2013, much was lost during the flooding in Canmore, but some things surfaced as well, including this odd collection of specimen jars on display in this exhibit.
After the flood waters receded, I helped clear out the basement of an old house not far from here. The basement was full of bags and boxes of unclaimed belongings from a generation’s worth of previous tenants.
In that mess we found a soggy cardboard box packed tight with specimen jars, each carefully wrapped in the pages of the local newspaper from the 1960’s.
We don’t know what this collection is, or who gathered these specimens and why. What we do know is that the only clue – a small coiled notebook found at the bottom of the box – succumbed to the flood waters. We suspect the notebook contained their collection notes or ledger, but unfortunately it was illegible and beyond repair.
(With thanks to Myla Corey, Curatorial Assistant)