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Historic Bethlehem putting ‘steampunk’ on display at Kemerer Museum
April 18th, 2015 | In The News
Written by Lynn Olanoff for Lehigh Valley Live
Think of the costuming in “Wild Wild West” or the most recent “Alice in Wonderland” and “Sherlock Holmes” movies.
That is steampunk.
Steampunk is a current art craze that draws its inspiration from 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. With Bethlehem’s rich industrial history, Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites thought a steampunk exhibit would be a great fit for its Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.
“Steampunk” opens at the Bethlehem museum Saturday and runs through Nov. 1. The exhibit includes Victorian-inspired gowns with modern-day touches, modern photography using the old tintype style and machinery loaned from the National Museum of Industrial History, America on Wheels and the Sigal Museum.
“It’s ‘Lemony Snicket’, it’s ‘Harry Potter,'” said Daniella Romano, who curated the exhibit. “It’s a big popular movement.”
Romano, who recently moved to Bethlehem from Brooklyn where she oversaw the creation of a museum at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, said she was blown away by the number of talented steampunk artists she found within the greater Lehigh Valley. Local artists in the exhibit include Quakertown resident Desiree Isphording, whose pieces include brooches, belts and drawings, and Historic Bethlehem’s own blacksmith Ed Land.
“Everyone thinks it’s in New York but it’s here,” Romano said.
The exhibit also incorporates several artifacts already owned by Historic Bethlehem, including a 1936 cigar ashtray commemorating the launch of the Hindenburg and part of its apothecary collection from the Moravian Museum.
Historic Bethlehem learned about steampunk from two staffers who are passionate about it – including one who buys steampunk items at RCMoore in Allentown – and is excited to spread it to the greater Lehigh Valley, said LoriAnn Wukitsch, Historic Bethlehem’s managing director.
“I think we’re introducing many people to this subculture for the first time,” she said.
In addition to the exhibit, Historic Bethlehem also has planned a number of steampunk activities, including the chance for children to make a steampunk-inspired pocket watch collage at the Kemerer museum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. More information on all the steampunk programs can be found at historicbethlehem.org.
Admission to “Steampunk” is included in Historic Bethlehem’s Pass Into History, which starts at $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 and is valid for a year. The Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, at 427 N. New St., is open from 12 to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday but other “Steampunk” viewings can be arranged by calling 800-360-TOUR.
