I enjoy museums of all forms and sizes, and I am particularly fond of small-sized exhibit halls for its uniqueness, creative display and interaction, and just right amount of info load. However, the upper valley museum disappointed me with its customer service, curation, display layout, and souvenir store.
On June 30, I was greeted by no staff during its business hour. I had to wonder around for ticket sale assistance and brief introduction. As a result, I found a staff member and paid $3 cash and no recommendation though I asked. No recommended visiting consequences later "helped' me read materials in a reversed chronological order.
Noted this museum is only a room that has lot display boards on the wall and crowded artifacts and objects inside. I do not mind long reading, but I cannot stand poor curation and lack of visual aids and examples. When I was there, exhibit of vintage accordions was featured with printed Wikipedia pages. In addition, all city history display info offers nothing unique. I could learn about the town inside out by reading online. Why bother paying a physical visit in-person?
Before finishing my disappointing visit, I took a look at the store corner. All postcards and photos were mixed together in a box for $0.50 per piece. Yes, I could choose any of them at any gift shop at downtown Leavenworth for $0.33 each. Thanks to gift shop's well-organized display hangers, I could have saved time on sorting and looking hard.
Yes, I finished my museum visit within 30 minutes. This was ironic because the museum staff member warned me of LOT reading ahead.
Yes, I wept for my $3 admission.
No, if I could have chosen again, I probably will go to nearby Cashmere pioneer village, at least for its efforts to put an interactive experience together. read more