By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Dust off those Shabbat candles your bubbe from Austria gave you, pack up that painting you inherited from your Sephardic zaide, corral the family, and get down to Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s Hidden Gems annual fundraiser on June 13 at Congregation Ezra Bessaroth to see if your sentimental “stuff” is really a “find.”
This family day is modeled after the “Antique Road Show”-style format, and it is where you’ll find world-class appraisers flown in to evaluate your treasures, and family stations where you can record oral histories. And there’s even food, if you want to nosh while you browse.
Organizers are very excited.
“Since we do not have a museum or heritage center, like most other cities our size, we will bring everyone together for a celebration of our history through all of our treasures,” said Lisa Kranseler, who has been executive director of the WSJHS for the last four years. “Even if people don’t have something they want to bring, they can come and observe. It’s a day of celebration.”
WSJHS chose some of the most knowledgeable and eclectic appraisers around the world to participate in this event. They all agreed to donate their time to the cause.
The noted 25-year collector and appraiser from Beverly Hills, Cal., David Streets, will be there, along with Asian, Islamic, and antiquities specialist Cheney Cowles, who has worked with Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses.
The local representative from one of the largest auction houses in the world, Heather O’Mahony from Bonham and Butterfields Auctioneers, will also be on hand to appraise fine art and antiques.
The cost of the event is $54 for non-WSJHS members, and includes one appraisal, which would normally cost upwards of $150 from experts like Streets.
And to encourage you to join the society, WSJHS is offering a $36 reduced membership rate at the event, which also includes one appraisal. Additional appraisals cost $18. If you only want to browse and schmooze, general admission is $18 before the event and $25 at the door. Children under 18 are admitted free.
Someone may have a menorah collection, a dreidel collection, art, or family objects that have been passed down, say WSJHS board members. There is no selling allowed, but you can arrange to donate your object to WSJHS at a future date.
A Family Tree section will provide an oral history area where people can record the background of the object they brought, and teach their kids about their family history at the same time.
“I was trying to create an event where my grandma can come and enjoy it, bring a piece of jewelry that she inherited and get it appraised, but also enjoy talking about her life with her great grandchildren,” WSJHS board member and Hidden Gems creator Miriam Sternberg told the JTNews. “I wanted to create a very inclusive event.”
Sternberg is the public programs manager for the Microsoft Art Collection and is currently in charge of its educational artist lecture series and film series. She organizes those events and curates three shows a year there. Her background is in art history and museum studies, and was also the associate art curator at the Bellevue Art Museum. Sternberg’s father is president of the WSJHS board.
“Objects don’t have to be expensive,” said Sternberg. “They can also have historical value. One of my sisters wants to bring tefillin; another sister has an interesting tea set that she’s inherited. The value is also in the story.”
Even if you are newly relocated to Seattle, organizers say that everyone is welcome because your history will become part of the state’s history.
“When history is lost, it’s lost,” said Kranseler. “We’re the only ones doing this in the state. These people are not going to be around forever.”
The events organized by WSJHS tend to draw large crowds of 400 to 500 people. Last year’s 170-storyboard display, the “Who’s Minding the Store” exhibit, and the “Six Generation Family Tree” exhibit in 2008, with more than 70 giant family trees, and the giant-sized architectural drawings at its “Synagogues to Cinemas” exhibit four years ago also drew crowds with similar numbers.
“We’re starting to outreach all over the state,” added Kranseler. “The ‘Who’s Minding the Store’ exhibit was displayed for three weeks at Temple Beth El in Tacoma, Washington. All of the stories that related to Spokane were sent there and they had it for a month, after opening with a luncheon that attracted 800 people. It is currently a rotating exhibit at The Summit at First Hill.”
This May’s most recent display at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle for Jewish History Month, “Our Village Seattle: Family of Strangers,” complemented the theatre’s presentation of Fiddler on the Roof and celebrated the early Jewish settlers of this region.
“We got a call from Whidbey Island — they have a chavurah there,” added Kranseler. “They are interested in this. Down in Olympia they’re starting to recognize us. We’ve been to the Heritage Caucus. The Capitol Museum in Olympia is interested in these stories as well as a synagogue there. We’re overloaded.”
The WSJHS is funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, 4culture grants from King County, and WSJHS membership.