Catalina Island Museum Holds Open House to Relaunch Exhibits

CATALINA一 The Catalina Island Museum is hosting an open house on June 19 to relaunch the Titanic and Gayle Garner Roski exhibits for in-person viewing. The exhibits were launched online last fall, Titanic: Real Artifacts, Real People, Real Stories was launched on Oct. 17, 2020, and Gayle Garner Roski: Journey to the Titanic was launched on Nov. 14, 2020.

The Roski exhibit is the first public display of the late Los Angeles artist’s watercolors detailing her journey to the bottom of the ocean floor to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.

In 2000, Roski visited the remains aboard the MIR I submersible, and documented her journey with a series of watercolor paintings, becoming the first artist to paint the ship from a living perspective.

Roski passed away in Oct. 2020, she was an artist, University of Southern California alumni, and a previous City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs commissioner.

“I love watercolors because they have a way of being unpredictable,” said Roski in a presentation at the 2016 Masters of the American West Exhibition. “And yet they can transform us by taking an instant of time and holding it still, so that we may reflect on it and be moved by it.”

The exhibit is accompanied by an exhibit of the Titanic that shares the personal stories of ten people who were on board at the time. The exhibit uses objects and personal accounts to share the story of those individuals on the Titanic.

The exhibit displays several artifacts used by passengers and crew members that are used to tell the stories of passengers.

Objects like a launch ticket and stub, dated May 11, 1911, the day the hull of the Titanic was launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, are used to outline the story and bring the story to life.

The event will take place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on June 19 and features lenders to the Titanic exhibit who have a special insight on the artifacts, members of the Roski family, and a lecture from art historian Jean Stern. There will be champagne and appetizers served throughout the event.

From 12 to 1:30 p.m., Tony Probst, a lender and special guest to the museum, and Johnny Sampson, the museum’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, will be available to guests to answer questions and share stories about Titanic artifacts.

At 1:30 p.m. Stern will host a gallery talk about Roski’s artwork.

The event is free to museum members and is $17 for non-members, registration for the event ends on June 19. To register visit the Catalina Island Museum link at https://bit.ly/3wCS5fJ.

The Roski exhibit will be at the museum until Oct. 24 of this year and the Titanic exhibit will be on display until Feb. 13, 2022. For more information see the Catalina Museum website at https://www.catalinamuseum.org/.

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