New director, new exhibits

Alyssa Peterson creates a portrait studio with paint, backdrop, antique cameras and darkroom equipment at the Baker Heritage Museum. As one of the new displays at the museum, the studio will emphasize the works of Esther Munk. Visitors will be encouraged to use the wall hanging behind Peterson as a backdrop for their own photos during the fund-raising event, “A Night in Old Auburn,” Saturday. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

“My first day as a customer service supervisor, a man threw a suitcase at one of my employees,” she says. “I’ve been trained in just about everything.”

Cantrell is the new director of the Baker Heritage Museum. She applied for the position after a six-month stint as the  museum assistant.

“I knew everyone, knew the facility, knew what the strategic plan is,” she said.

Plus, she likes the museum.

“It’s a wonderful place,” she said. “I’ve gained so much knowledge and a sense of place by learning about the stuff preserved here.”

In 1984, she and her husband, Danny,  moved from Kauai, Hawaii to Baker City, where he had spent his childhood.

“We lasted a year,” she said with a smile.

In 1985 they moved to Chicago (her hometown), and she began working for United Airlines. She started in reservations, and later in computer support.

So she became the customer service supervisor at O’Hare in the summer of 2000 (that’s when the suitcase-throwing incident happened).

And then 9/11 happened a year later, throwing the airline industry into heightened security measures.

“Terrorism was a very real, everyday impact on the conscience of airplane employees,” she said.

In 2004, they moved to Oklahoma City where she took a job as general manager of the airport there.

“You’re responsible for all the flights, all the passengers, all the problems passengers have,” she said. “I’ve been trained in just about everything.”

She retired in 2006, and they moved back to Baker City in 2007. She worked as the volunteer coordinator at the Baker Food Co-op before taking the assistant job at the museum.

As director, she will work about 30 hours per week during the season, which runs from March 15 to the end of October.

But first comes the museum’s major fundraiser — “A Night at Old Auburn” on Saturday, Feb. 27, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The event is a Monte Carlo-style casino night designed around the theme of the old gold rush town of Auburn, which was noted for its saloons and gaming parlors.

Advance tickets are $35 and available at Betty’s Books, the Chamber of Commerce and the Historic Baker City office. Tickets at the door will be $40. This price includes dinner and the chance at a door prize.

Those who attend the fundraiser will get a sneak peek at the museum’s new exhibits. One is the Esther Munk photographic studio highlighting Munk, who had a studio in Baker City from 1946 to 1954.

The other display, set against walls painted a brilliant red and deep black, will feature the Chinese history of Eastern Oregon.

Both are being designed by Joan Jacobs, the former museum director, and Alyssa Peterson.

Also, Jacobs is seeking Esther Munk photographs from the community — the photos will be scanned and returned to the owner.

“We’re hoping that the community will donate or loan to the museum Esther Munk Studio items that can be used in the exhibit,” Jacobs said.  “Donated items would be catalogued and added to the museum’s collections and loaned items would be held in secure display cases and returned to the owners when the exhibit closes at the end of October 2010.”

The exhibit will include cameras and other photography paraphernalia held in the museum’s collections.  Additionally, a studio setting will be installed that will allow visitors to pose for their own formal photographs.

To donate or loan Esther Munk items to this special museum exhibit, call Jacobs at the museum, 541-523-9308, or e-mail jjacobs.bakercounty.org.

The goal with offering new exhibits each year is to draw the local community back to the museum.

“We’d really like to see our local people come see the changes that are going on, and look at the treasures we’ve got,” Cantrell said.