Museum Exhibit Spotlights Czech Traditions

The traveling exhibit, "Texas Czechs: Rooted in Tradition," opens Thursday at Victoria College's Museum of the Coastal Bend. Through engaging text, colorful photography and short films, the exhibit educates audiences about the impact of Texas Czechs on the state's shared culture and about the value of cultural preservation. The exhibit is sponsored by Spoetzl Brewery and Victoria community members and is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Christiana Gentry, Miss Texas Czech-Slovak, will attend the exhibit's grand opening Thursday and will sing the Czech national anthem in full regalia. "Texas Czechs: Rooted in Tradition" is presented at the museum in collaboration with the Victoria County Czech Heritage Society and with PolkaWorks, a nonprofit organization a mission of highlighting cultural traditions through multimedia projects designed to educate and inspire. "History and heritage are not only about past events but also about how those events have shaped who we are in the present," Sue Prudhomme, Victoria College's director of cultural affairs and museum director, told the Victoria Advocate. "We're pleased to have been selected as the debut venue for this unique exhibit that examines a significant component of our region's cultural heritage."

Activities during the exhibit include a family discovery program about Czech traditions from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Lectures will be in September, October and November. Activities are open to the public, and admission is pay what you want.

The presentation "Come to the Table: Local Victoria Cooks in Discussion" brings together a Texas Czech cook with a Mexican-American and an African-American cook - all from Victoria - for a panel discussion. The panel will highlight commonalities and discuss differences in foods to broaden the audiences' understanding of the three cultures. Dawn Orsak of PolkaWorks will lead the discussion, which will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18.

"Stories Matter! Gather-Capture-Share" is a workshop led by Lori Najvar of PolkaWorks, designed for those who want to acquire and hone their recording, interviewing and photography skills to document their own family's stories and memories in the digital age. The workshop will be at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 9.

The exhibit's public programming wraps up with a discussion about Czech traditional music on Nov. 6 and a St. Nicholas Day Celebration on Dec. 6.

For more information, visit the museum's website at MuseumOfTheCoastalBend.org.