What started out as a reconnaissance mission for the Bruce Museum turned into a trip of good coffee, lots of laughs and some great storytelling.
I spent last Thursday in New Albany with Dudley Davis, a well known local artist who lives near the Reid Community, and Robert Stewart, a retired professor from Delta State who now lives around Duncan Hill.
The primary purpose of the trip for me initially was to get some ideas from the Union County Heritage Museum in downtown New Albany on how to make better use of space in the Bruce Museum.
Joel McNeece
I had previously toured the museum about a year ago to see an exhibit by Ellard native and craftsman John Steele Davis. The museum is on Cleveland Street just two blocks north of downtown near the rail yard. It’s a much different set up than the Bruce Museum in that it has several individual rooms rather than one large open space as we have in the former Bruce Company Store building.
A lot of thought and discussion has gone into the Bruce Museum over the years trying to determine the best means of housing regular exhibits safely, while not disturbing the large meeting space which is always in demand and critical for paying the building’s regular expenses.
We found some possible solutions in New Albany, including some new display cases we hope to take advantage of for exhibits in the works now including one featuring Civil War artifacts, another of local Bluesman Leo “Bud” Welch, a photo gallery of all Bruce mayors, and more.
My favorite part of the museum in New Albany is the William Faulkner Literary Garden. The small flower garden overflows with blooms that surround plaques featuring famous quotes from Faulkner novels. The garden path ends in a sitting area encircling a soft bubbling fountain.
Dudley, Robert and I took in all the sites of the museum and enjoyed a seat in the garden for a good while before enjoying lunch at the Tallahatchie Gourmet.
Prior to visiting the museum we stopped at AC’s coffee shop where in addition to the freshly ground cup of Joe, we studied the local art displayed on the walls and some spirited discussion.
I wondered out loud if a similar coffee/gift shop could be successful in the front corner of the Bruce Museum, where you could enjoy a nice coffee, pastry and buy some local art or Bruce/Calhoun County items. The potential revenue would certainly help expand opportunities for the Bruce Museum. Dudley and Robert were both quick to say they would be regular coffee drinkers in the museum if it came to pass.
At the conclusion of our New Albany visit, we hit the coffee shop again to get one for the road. I stepped a few doors down to Sugarees and picked out a few cupcake selections to bring back to The Journal, and we headed south to Calhoun spending the remainder of the drive offering our suggestions on how to solve much of the world’s problems.
Upon pulling into the CCJ, we decided there may be a few other issues we need to work on, so we agreed to immediately begin planning another museum trip somewhere with the stipulation that it must have a good coffee shop nearby.
Email Joel McNeece at joelmcneece@gmail.com & follow him on Twitter @joelmcneece