3 minute read
A Perfect Fit at Middleburg Museum
A Perfect Fit at Middleburg Museum
By Charlotte deButts
Every organization can use a small miracle now and then. We’ve been helped by one at the Middleburg Museum.
Personable, knowledgeable, intellectual, and all-around delightful, Georgina Ohrstrom has been the answer to the museum’s prayers. While board members are busy developing exhibits, refurbishing an antique building, planning events, and fundraising, someone has had to keep the doors open. Enter Georgina, our Fall Middleburg Museum Docent-Intern, with impressive curatorial and archival experience under her belt and always with a smile on her face.
A native of The Plains, Georgina has brought with her a polymath’s approach to the world around her. While digging for human remains in a gap in the Pyrenees Mountains, caring for George Washingtonbranded 19th-century decorative art at Mount Vernon, or handling historic wallpapers in the Netherlands, this French speaking University of Virginia graduate has developed a sponge-like approach to learning about people, their culture, and their art.
How does this help a tiny museum in a tiny town? Enormously.
Not only has she greeted visitors (good for social skills, she said) with a warm hello and a pocketful of information, between visitors, she has worked on an archive database (of her creation) of hundreds of artifacts in the museum’s possession.
If you’ve happened to drop in with a historic something-or-other, she’s handled the accession records, keeping the loan or donation of items straight and documented. With confidence, she’s handled urgent calls from board members regarding humidity levels and HVAC complaints, and with enthusiasm, has made recommendations to out-of-towners about our local businesses.
Georgina said she’s enjoyed meeting locals and running into people she has known growing up here. She’s particularly happy about the new appreciation she has for the heritage and culture of the area.
It’s easy to take all of it for granted, having lived here all her life, but working at the museum, where she has learned so much about the history and people of the region, and sharing that information with visitors has felt like a tutorial on the Piedmont.
As director of meet-and-greet, Georgina has described for visitors the people, history, and culture of a larger community comprising the town of Middleburg, the numerous villages surrounding it, and the open land in between. It’s all about who we are, how we got here, and where we’re going.
Speaking of going places, Georgina has been brushing up on her Latin with more study of medieval art and paleography (handwriting) on her schedule. Ultimately, a career in preserving art and cultural heritage sites is her preference. As she explained, the study of art and culture is a pathway to an understanding of and empathy for all people. A noble endeavor with a smile.
Visit the museum at 12 North Madison Street and meet our Winter Middleburg Museum Docent-Intern: Thursday-Sunday, 11-4.
